filtered clear syrup

[lisound]

Finally! My first season, I used cone orlon filters....clogged, always.
well, tonight, I used 3 prefilters only. Right off the evap. filter through in 10 min and crystal clear.


yeah for me!!!!!

[valleyman]

The quest for clarity has been accomplished. Sure is satisfying after all the effort that goes into it.

[harrison6jd]

it is disappointing when the syrup is cloudy after all the work. im glad you things got figured out. good job! i too use paper pre filters and finally through a synthetic prior to bottling.

[SeanD]

Finally! My first season, I used cone orlon filters....clogged, always.
well, tonight, I used 3 prefilters only. Right off the evap. filter through in 10 min and crystal clear.


yeah for me!!!!!

I've often wondered about that. Usually the first prefilter gets most of the crap, the second a little bit then the third is usually clean (to the eye). The last bit of syrup sits in the bottom of the Orlon filter more because it cools than clogs. I'm currently experimenting with putting the prefilters in loosely so there's a little space between them to see if that makes a difference.

How do you support the three prefilters under the draw off? It seems like I need the Orlon just for the tabs alone.

Sean

[maple flats]

After the pre filters you still need the final filter. If not a cloudy haze will form in a day or 2 if using just pre filters.

[hodorskib]

We fought with this for years until we finally figured out a system that works for us. We batch boil and pick the pan when we have boiled enough for 2-3 gallons worth of syrup. We pull it off well before it reaches the correct density usually when the hydrometer begins to float between 50-55 brix. We then filter it through 3 paper filters. This takes all of the sludge and some of the sand. We then put it in a pot and finish it on an outdoor propane stove. When it reaches the correct density we then filter it through 3 paper and 1 felt filter. Because we filtered once it goes through without a problem, even at the end of the season when the sugar sand gets really bad. Since we have been doing this the past 5 years we have been able to package in glass without it clouding up. Check out my website I have details on an easy build for a filter tank that costs near to nothing and works great for batches under 3 gallons. Good luck and keep at it once you figure it out it is a great feeling!

https://sites.google.com/site/mattatuckmadnessmaplesyrup/

[lisound]

thanks guys. but my cone filter always clogged...even with fairly clear syrup.
those bottles have yet to haze up.

Will try with 4 prefilters for the last boil. Last weekend, I didn't filter off the evap. I bottled tonight and got very poor results using the prefilters. didn't really seem to get much at all?
oh well. Done after this weekend.... i think. :)

[wnybassman]

I get pretty decent results using just three prefilters just before I bottle as well. I have some in glass from last year and they are still as clear as when I filled the bottles. I do reuse them and am careful rinsing them as any other filter. No wringing, just squeezing.

[bigjohnsons]

When you say three pre filters, you mean that you have the 3 pre filters inside one another which is inside your felt filter? When you pull a prefilter out, you put a new one under the 2 that are left? When I filtered a batch this weekend my pre filters were getting plugged up along with my main filter. I ended up half way through the process taking all my filters and rinsing them out with hot water to clear them and start again. That sugar sand was like molasses. This is my first year doing this and I'm finding the filter process is very time consuming.

[lisound]

When you say three pre filters, you mean that you have the 3 pre filters inside one another which is inside your felt filter? When you pull a prefilter out, you put a new one under the 2 that are left? When I filtered a batch this weekend my pre filters were getting plugged up along with my main filter. I ended up half way through the process taking all my filters and rinsing them out with hot water to clear them and start again. That sugar sand was like molasses. This is my first year doing this and I'm finding the filter process is very time consuming.

No. I just use the 3 prefilters. i pour a gallon of boiling water through them just prior to filtering, let that sit until I'm ready to take off. Dump the water and pour the hot syrup through the hot prefilters. and yes, they are nested one into the next.
When the first one clogs, which is the dirtiest, I take it out while holding the top closed moving the syrup around the upper clean edges till i get most or all of the liquid. Put that dirty filter to the side or in a pot, and do the same to the next.
By the time I get to the third, it has all pretty much gone through. I end up tossing the first clogged dirty one and keep the other 2. I only use each filter twice. them seem to not work as good.
may cost me a bit more in the end but you get 12 prefilters in a package. the felt one just holds too much syrup...
hope that helps.
Produced clear syrup again this weekend on 2 different batches.

[wnybassman]

Using just three prefilters, no other filters. Same results as last year, pretty clear stuff. Lots of sand in my syrup last night, but the first filter caught 95% of it. The next filter caught the rest , and the last filter was just wet with syrup. Put all three in the coffee urn with the bottoms of the filter just about touching the bottom, maybe an inch up. The tops of the filter fold over the top of the urn. I usually finish in about 1 to 2 gallon batches and it all gets poured in at once and I set the urn top on top to keep the heat. Then I just bottle until it's gone. These jars were filled about a third of the way through the bottling.

Perhaps not quite retail shelf type clarity, but pretty darn close. Great for the smaller home producer though.

Is it possible that prefilters can be of different quality? I bought a pack of 12 a few years ago and am still using those. I might be surprised some day when I have to get more (and I don't even remember where I got the ones I got) and my results change.


http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/wnybassman/maple/3-28-2013_zps07dd7cd9.jpg

[bigjohnsons]

Interesting, so if the bottom of your filter is about an inch off the urn, once you get a gallon or so in the urn your filter is submerged on the outside with syrup. The way that I did it is that I set up a bucket above my coffee urn and cut the bottom out and let it drain into the urn. I also used the synthetic filter along with one pre filter and had a lot of trouble. I can't wait to next season to try a new method. I wish that I had reads up more on filtering before I brought the synthetic filter. Thanks for the advice.

[wnybassman]

Interesting, so if the bottom of your filter is about an inch off the urn, once you get a gallon or so in the urn your filter is submerged on the outside with syrup. The way that I did it is that I set up a bucket above my coffee urn and cut the bottom out and let it drain into the urn. I also used the synthetic filter along with one pre filter and had a lot of trouble. I can't wait to next season to try a new method. I wish that I had reads up more on filtering before I brought the synthetic filter. Thanks for the advice.

Just a disclaimer that what works good for me may not work good for anyone else, but worth a try if you're having troubles with something else. Yeah, the whole filter is submerged, and may be why it works so well. I had the syrup an inch or two from the top of the urn last night, and was filling bottles as fast as I screw the top on and grab another. So the filtering was easily keeping up with my bottle filling.

[bemer]

I let my syrup settle in jars. The I pour off the clear stuff and rejar the nitter. This goes on for a year or two, in the end we get a jar of mud. Put this mud in a strainer and rinse to get the crystalised sugar. No filtering required, or so it seems..