16x16 Leader Filter Canning Unit

[BranchHillMaple]

New to the forum so Ill say hi, also my first year as a sugar maker. Well anyways Ive been seriously looking into these Leader 16x16 all in one units for filtering Im just wondering how they work and if there worth the 600$. Im not planning on doing huge batches at a time now or in the future my future goal is to make around 50 gallons of syrup a year and Im on pace this year to make around 15-20 depending on how things go. I really would just rather spend the money once on a unit build for filtering and canning so 3 years from no im not trying to upgrade everything again.

Guess my biggest questions are:

1. The batch sizes you can do with this unit do you need to make 5 gallons of syrup to use it or can you do it a gallon at a time
2. Will this handle my future growth up to 50-60 gallons of syrup a year.
3. For those that own them can these units be hard pipe lined into a 100 pound propane tank instead of using the 20 pound system its built with

Thanks guys for any help

[Loch Muller]

I'd say that is a good unit for your anticipated level of production. If it doesn't work with 1/2-1gallon at a time then you could just wait till you have more if your going to make 20 gallons a year then can all at once. I just bought a homemade unit that is 10"x18", holds 5-6 gallons below the filter rack, and I'm planning on using it for my 35-50 gallon/year operation. Probably would have ended up buying something like that if I hadn't found one used. Should work fine on a larger propane tank, use a regulator with it. Good luck.

[Flat Rock Farmers]

We bought a Lapierre 16" x 16" filter/canner last year and love it. We bottled 46 gallons with it. The flat filters work great, I think we put four or five pre-filters on top of our Orlon filter and had very little niter left in our glass bottles. A few were cloudy from our first batch but as with anything there's a learning curve!
I wouldn't worry too much about batch size. I think the capacity of ours is 5 or 6 gallons but we've bottled smaller batches near a gallon or two at a time. One word of caution though, on those smaller batches watch your heat so as not to go over 190 deg.. With less liquid it's apt to go fast and could burn your pan if not careful. I also found it works better to heat your batch slowly before you bottle to prevent hot spots and more niter production, which might make your syrup cloudy again. We draw off into a stainless pail and then it goes directly into the filter rack so the temp of your filtered syrup in the canner usually hovers around 90 to 100 deg. throughout our boiling time. When there's about an hour or so left of the boil, we fire up the canner and usually bottle as the evaporator is shutting down.

It should handle the 50-60 gallons you anticipate in the future with no problem.

As far as the propane hookup, we use the 20 lb. cylinder so aren't familiar with a permanent hookup but imagine it can be done.

I don't think you'll have any regrets with that unit!

[PACMAN]

I just bought that unit from Leader. It just came today.Im going from the press to the canner,so i will be able to put 10 gal in it at a time. I think it will work fine with a 20 lb. cylender as my syrup will be going in it hot out of thepress.

[Russell Lampron]

I've got one of those and used it for filtering for a few years producing 50 to 60 gallons of syrup per season. The flat filter works much better than the cone filters and you can do small batches with it. You need about a gallon in it to cover the thermometer stem and it will hold 8 gallons to the bottom of the filter rack.

I don't see any reason that you couldn't hard pipe it to a 100 lb tank but if you do you lose the portability of being able to move it to a different spot. I move mine from the sugar house to the house when I need to can syrup in the winter.

I still use my 16x16 for canning but use a filter press for filtering now that I have 800 taps and RO and vacuum.

[Loch Muller]

The only thing I might add to mine in the near future is a steam pan to go underneath the main one. I've seen Smokey Lake makes some with steam pans to avoid hot spots from the that create niter. Seemed like a neat idea.

[blac]

Look at sunrise metal or smokey lake water jacket canner, you can get them with a flat filter rack option. One of them (can't remember which) offers an electric or gas unit, about the same $$ as you stated for the 16x16. At about the same price once you filter and store it you can be certain as to not overheat it.IMO more bang for the buck.

[Paul VT]

I think every one has covered it. I agree it will work great. I bought one used 2 years ago. Last year filtered and canned almost 40 gallons with it. We used a small gas grill tank all year and never ran out. Still feels pretty full.