First Final Finish

[frjeff]

Just finished my first batch on kitchen stove. Water boiling point here this morning is 211.7 degrees.
Had to take syrup to 224 degrees to see any sheeting. Filtering was slow!. Have lots of sugar (niter) in the filters.

Thinking I waited too long to see sheeting or was looking for the wrong thing??

Just bottled (pic) and they are bit cloudy.

Anyway, 2 - 12 oz bottles that look and taste great!

10.25 gal. of mixed sap = about 24 oz of sweet nectar!

7523

[Run Forest Run!]

Congratulations! I see pancakes in your future. :)

[Ausable]

Good for You! You did it and have joined the ranks of the Maple Syrup Makers. The syrup will clear and the sediment on the botton is sugar sand or nitre.

You did good! ---You going to make some more? I'm still waiting for the trees to give up some more sap - Think I'll walk around with a rolling pin and squeeze them

a little - Hey! It will make me feel better. Have fun. ------Mike-----

[frjeff]

Indeed, I hope to make more. The week ahead looks much better for temps. I'd love to have the problem of keeping up with the flow on my small 12x18 SS restaurant pan/turkey fryer evaporator system.
Maybe I could wrap em with heat tape?

J+

[frjeff]

Karen,

Your syrup looks so much more clear than mine. I filtered through a felt final filter and a pre-filter (Hobby Filter Kit from Sugar Bush Supplies). I'm thinking I took the final boil too far and had far more solid sugar (niter) than if I had stopped boiling a bit sooner?

Fr. Jeff+

[Run Forest Run!]

Karen,

Your syrup looks so much more clear than mine. I filtered through a felt final filter and a pre-filter (Hobby Filter Kit from Sugar Bush Supplies). I'm thinking I took the final boil too far and had far more solid sugar (niter) than if I had stopped boiling a bit sooner?

Fr. Jeff+

Are you filtering your "near syrup" before you do your final boil on the stove? That really helps. I prefer to not use a felt filter because my batches are so small. The felt really soaks up syrup and I don't have that much to spare.

[frjeff]

No, I only filtered when ready to bottle.
Great input; I had never thought about that.
And you are right, my felt filter ate a bunch of my tiny batch!

Thanks for the great tip, makes sense, just never thought about that.

Jeff+

[Run Forest Run!]

No, I only filtered when ready to bottle.
Great input; I had never thought about that.
And you are right, my felt filter ate a bunch of my tiny batch!

Thanks for the great tip, makes sense, just never thought about that.

Jeff+

Jeff, after you filter your next batch try this tip from another member on this forum - put the filter(s) in a ziplock bag and pop it/them in the freezer. When you do you next boil, swish the filter(s) in the warm sap in your pan to release the lost syrup. (Just don't dump the niter from inside the filter(s) into your next batch.) You'll be able to retrieve a lot of "lost" sugar.

[DonMcJr]

Just incase you were going by my video read below it. Sheeting is how it falls off a wood spoon or other spoon after it cools a bit. If you were waiting for it to do what it did in my video then you still should be good but the only sure way is a hydrometer.

[frjeff]

You guys (and gals) are great! You just sem to keep pulling tricks out of your sleeves.
Much, much help and encouragement here.....

Jeff+

[MapleLady]

You're off to a good start! The more you do, the easier it gets!

[Yellzee]

I never had alot of luck with sheeting, i recommend to buy a hydrometer and take the stress out of it. A bit too thick and it is almost impossible to get thru a filter.

Another tip i learned the hard way... Do not try to force syrup thru your filter or attempt to scrape niter off it during filtering. Lets alot of stuff thru for some reason. I used to squeeze the filter to help it get thru. Bad idea with a normal filter.

[Galena]

Dang the things you think you've *discovered* about this insane hobby, only to read threads like this and realize others already know what you've just learned...'cuse me while I have another slice of humble pie...

I learned only today, on my own, that if you filter near-syrup, eh wala, there goes 98% of any possible nitre problems. I already figgered out to not use felt filters unless you're one huge operation, or it'll eat your syrup.

And I literally just learned about the filters/ziplock bag/freezer thingy right now!!!!

Now if I can add to make things easier (or more complicated depending on your outlook)...was online earlier today trying to find 100% cotton jelly bags. Well I found a site called Homesteading.com, and there found that some members will simply substitute a 100% cotton white pillowcase, cut up, for a jelly bag.

Well the local Sally Ann was 1 min drive away, so $1 and 5 min later I walked out with a 100% cotton white pillowcase. Obviously used but I cut out that side and discarded it, then ran hot water through the clean side and hung it up to air-dry. Plan to get busy with the scissors soon.

Have yet to actually try it as I have a helluvalot of sap to evaporate down before I boil for syrup again...but will let you guys know how it works in conjunction with a coffee filter as a prefilter!!! (For some odd reason no prefilters readily available locally and by the time they ordered them in, too late for this year is my guess).

Keep the great ideas coming, can't get enough of them! Oh btw anyone want to buy a felt cone filter? :lol:

[beefmaster]

Galena,
I have been using the white dish towels you use to dry the dishes after you wash them, and they seem to work good (remember this is only my second year and lots yet to learn). Last year i used coffee filters just before the final boil and it seemed to take forever and plug fast with nitre.