over boiling

[maine guide]

Seems I am over boiling my syrup; I'm getting a lot of almost on its way to be sugar stuff in the jars. I tried to fix it by reboiling the syrup with some water added and pull it off the heat sooner but still its there. This stuff is not niter I have had pretty good luck filtering that out. Can syrup be Fixed after over boiling??

[Bucksaw]

Not trying to hijack your thread but how do you over boil? Reason I am asking is because I finished my first ever batch the other day and it seemed to take a long time to get up to temp. Just want to be sure I know what you are talking about so I can try to avoid it.

[happy thoughts]

Seems I am over boiling my syrup; I'm getting a lot of almost on its way to be sugar stuff in the jars. I tried to fix it by reboiling the syrup with some water added and pull it off the heat sooner but still its there. This stuff is not niter I have had pretty good luck filtering that out. Can syrup be Fixed after over boiling??

I think it's niter. In my short experience, if it's sugar it's going to take a few weeks or longer to form and it will look like rock candy not like granular sugar settled on the bottom. You could have a worn filter or you could have reheated too high after filtering and before bottling causing more niter to form.

[maine guide]

what I mean is ive been watching the hydrometer get closer and closer to the 211 mark. Then just as it hits pull it off the fire and bottle it ASAP. But Last night I got a bunch of whitish matter in the bottom of each jar perhaps as much as a half an inch. I just figured I boiled it past the point where the sugar begins to form as a solid cause the liquid cant hold anymore. Don't know if it is possible to make it return to all liquid. Perhaps my Hydrometer isn't working but I don't see how that could possible.

[happy thoughts]

How/when are you filtering? If you bring the temp past 195-200F after filtering then more niter will form.

[maine guide]

there no way i could pour hot ready syrup thru the cloth i use. What we do is bpio it outside till its reduced to a couple of gallons then when we take it inside to finish it off we filter it really well and then re heat it to 211 So you think this will cause more niter to form. I'm not going to spend a lot to filter for the several gallons i'll make.I have used the cloth bags they sell but I don't think they work very well . When the syrup is hot and ready it's to thick to pass thru

[happy thoughts]

Why 211? That's what threw me in your original post. You don't need the hydrometer either at that point. Just go by temp. Once filtered or settled and you've poured off the clear stuff, don't go over 195ish or more niter will form. Definitely do not go over 200F. Just reheat it to adequate packing temps. 180-190F

At this point I'd let it settle out on it's own assuming you're using lead free equipment (not old galvanized buckets, taps, etc).

[maine guide]

o.k. heres why i have a hydrometer that i got at the local sugar supply place. it has two red lines on it one says hot test 211 degrees that line is also at 58 brix. the second line says cold test 60 degrees or 67 brix. once the syrup gets thick enough the hydrometer floats at the red line. its done. I'm all food grade plastic and stainless. I figured the niter could be filtered when im finished boiling outside. but i still have to reheat and boil for a good hour to get rid of the last bit or water. I just don't think I can pour warm syrup thru a cloth filter it clogs up so fast and the syrup gets colder and you know the rest.

[happy thoughts]

If you reheat filtered syrup over 195- 200F more niter will form. There's no way around that. You could let the niter settle out on it's own then pour off the clear stuff and reheat to packing temp but with your number of taps a good filter might be worth it.

[sams64]

I used to hate filtering and had teh same issues you are having. After looking around on here I saw that people were using a coffe urn to filter in and it has made filtering and bottling much easier.

You need to use a coffee urn like they have at large events with the pour spout at the bottom. Hang your filter inside the urn so the syrup stays warm and flows nicely. Right before you are ready to start filtering pour a pot of boiling water through the filter and let it get the filter warm and wet. Then drain the water and add your syrup. You will probably not be able to get the top on the urn with the filter hanging out, so use a small lid from a sauce pan that you can fit inside.

Once the syrup drains through the filter you can use the spout to pour it into your jugs, mason jars etc...

You will get build up in the filter. The proper way to handle this is by using prefilters. I don't have anyplace that stocks prefilters nearby so I just scrape the build up out with a spoon once the filter starts to clog.

I will try and post some pictures next time I filter/bottle.

Sam

[Shawn]

We started small and still not that big and a lot of mistakes and talking to people helped and this site was a plus. We filter our sap coming into our holding tank, and I use yes Walmart t-shirts that I cut the fronts and backs out of to lay over our draw off pails they work slick. From here we boil in our pan and check with the hydrometer to the point of draw off where we like it or use our dipping scoop to get he aproning and draw off. From here it goes into our bottling container that we pour the syrup through again the good old walmart t-shirts that are doubled up, works great with no crap going into the final product. We also use the cone filters but the T-shirts seem to work very well and we have checked and it does the job. We get a good batch of syrup and heat it back up and use the hydrometer again to check it and to make sure its thick enough. We go so the second red line on the hydrometer so that it is showing and we turn the heat down a little on our turkey propane heater and start to bottle. Has:cool: worked very well for years with us and no complaints on the final syrup from people.

[maine guide]

I like the coffee urn idea. Do you plug it in and keep it warm I suspect you do. That plus getting the filters hot and wet sounds like something to try. I think I'll get some haines T shirts at Wally world as well.

[wnybassman]

I like the coffee urn idea. Do you plug it in and keep it warm I suspect you do. That plus getting the filters hot and wet sounds like something to try. I think I'll get some haines T shirts at Wally world as well.

With the urn I run it through it's brewing cycle with a quart or two of water. Use an extension cord because you want to leave it plugged in at all times, unplugging it will start the brewing again and you don't want that. When it clicks into warming mode I dump the water, place a thermometer probe in, and place three already moist prefilters into the urn and fold over the top to keep in place. Timing is sort of critical because you want the syrup to be ready at this same time. I literally pour the finished syrup right into the urn and start bottling with the spout right away. When the first prefilter becomes plugged, I pull it up and grab the bottom with tongs and dump it into the second. With one or two gallon batches I never have to go past the second prefilter.

Usually I am hovering around 190-194 degrees while bottling. I have been doing this for a couple years now and just use the prefilters. I have bottled in glass with excellent clarity results. I don't sell anything, and just use at home or give away to family and friends. I often fill glass first then plastic jugs for the rest in case slight cloudiness does form, but I have filled glass at the end just to test and that is usually still clear too.

It's slightly cumbersome at first but it becomes really efficient and easy once you do it a few times. The next time I bottle a batch I have to take some pictures.

[Bucksaw]

With the urn I run it through it's brewing cycle with a quart or two of water. Use an extension cord because you want to leave it plugged in at all times, unplugging it will start the brewing again and you don't want that. When it clicks into warming mode I dump the water, place a thermometer probe in, and place three already moist prefilters into the urn and fold over the top to keep in place. Timing is sort of critical because you want the syrup to be ready at this same time. I literally pour the finished syrup right into the urn and start bottling with the spout right away. When the first prefilter becomes plugged, I pull it up and grab the bottom with tongs and dump it into the second. With one or two gallon batches I never have to go past the second prefilter.

Usually I am hovering around 190-194 degrees while bottling. I have been doing this for a couple years now and just use the prefilters. I have bottled in glass with excellent clarity results. I don't sell anything, and just use at home or give away to family and friends. I often fill glass first then plastic jugs for the rest in case slight cloudiness does form, but I have filled glass at the end just to test and that is usually still clear too.

It's slightly cumbersome at first but it becomes really efficient and easy once you do it a few times. The next time I bottle a batch I have to take some pictures.

So you only use the prefilters not a wool or synthetic cone filter?

[maine guide]

Thanks everyone who helped me out on this one. I'm all over it now. I'm gonna try to post pictures of my new evaporator on the "Homemade Maple " section. Its funky but cheap and easy and boils 2 gallons a day. You might want to check it out. It's pretty cool.

[wnybassman]

So you only use the prefilters not a wool or synthetic cone filter?

That is correct. It may not work for everyone, but I have had fantastic results. Plus I know I'm not losing as much syrup as I would in a thicker filter.