Filtering sucks!!!

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

So last year I had some of the thick wool filter material and ran my sap through that with some pre-filters. Overall I was please with the results but mad cause as a small timer I seemed to lose so much sap in the filter material.

This year I upped my game with more sap and a real evaporator, tried to use another method I read about. Bought some Tshirt material from the craft store, and put it in a embroidery circle holder thing LOL then I put 4 pre-filters on top of that. Tried filtering my syrup last night that I made, 150oz, and it just seemed to do nothing. It was almost as if the prefilters were bad...they didnt let the syrup flow through at all....it was still VERY hot, just came off the stove at 219 and tried puring in to the filters and it just made a mess.

So now im back to Square 1....may have to take a ride to the maple guys and get some more of the thicker material and go that route again...ugh!!!!

Anyone else have any home grown tips? I remember seeing last year about the Jelly Cone filter or something like that, but no clue where I could even buy one of those around here in NH.

Any advice is appreciated.
-Scott

[Pibster]

I use the wool filter with 4-5 prefilters inside. After filtering, I either put the wool filter in the freezer until next time or rinse it out in fresh sap and dump into the evaporator. Never waste much syrup this way.

[Sandersyrup]

Personally I like my method.

Boil syrup to 217ºF, Filter through Felt. Hold in Batch container for 4 days while niter settles, top 90% become crystal clear. Heat top 90% back to 219ºF and bottle. bottom 10% get filtered through coffee filters and settled again for 4 days then the clear part is added to the next batch.

Repeat. Beautiful syrup. no waiting around for a filter to drain.

However I can say that if you are SUPER OCD picky about clairity a trained eye can spot some particles. But from a foot away it looks crystal clear.

Johh

[CincySyrupPusher]

Last year filtering was not that bad. but this year (now that we have 4 gallons to filter/bottle) it's getting tiresome :(

What are the best ways for small timers to filter? I have been using paper towels but need to ramp up so we don't loose as much syrup.

Looking at Bascom, there are some filters. Is the best method to use the fabric with the disposables inside that (stacked 5 thick)?

Can you guys show some pictures of your filtering setup?

[Ausable]

Ah yes filtering! As a Hobby Producer I have tried many things. What seems to work for me now is - When I gather my sap and pump or pour it into my storage barrels (I have used 5 gallon buckets) I place a chunk of clean cotton (white) cloth over the barrel opening and pin with cloths pins or clips along the edge with a sag in the cloth in the center - this filters out the debris in my sap prior boiling. When I draw off near syrup into a pot from my evaporator I use the same trick - only my filter this time is clean white cotton pelon which I dampen in warm water and squeeze out the excess (works better when damp) - This filters out a lot of niter (sugar sand). I save the syrup in the dirty filter using care to leave the nitre trapped inside and squeeze out and re-filter. I let the dirty pelon filter soak in very hot water and clean and reuse. I have several of these and buy pelon by the yard. I filter again when at syrup prior to canning. Works for me as a strictly hobby producer that gives his syrup away. A Commercial Producer would never use my method. But - It works for me.

[maple flats]

Do it right and get the real thing, if properly taken care of they will last a very long time. Never wring a filter, that will break fibers and ruin the filter. Freezing the filter until next use works OK, but don't do that all season. Every few times you must clean the filter. Rinse with sap first, and put the sap in the evaporator, then wash in clean plain water, just squeeze it, do not twist.
The prefilters are really not designed to be disposables. You can and should wash them and let air dry. Back when I filtered before my filter press, I ran a cycle in the washing machine, just water, then ran an extra rinse cycle. Then I put the prefilters in the washing machine, just hot water. Then I hung them to dry. I got 3 or 4 seasons out of a prefilter before it needed to be retired. I had about 2 doz. prefilters and ran a wash load when I had over a doz. that needed cleaning.The prefilters can also be washed by hand, just remember, they also should not be wrung out.
Whether you sell, or give your syrup away, the consumer deserves a top quality syrup. Using substitutes that are not labeled food grade are risky at best.

[hounder]

I agree that filtering is the worst of the process of making syrup! Getting your filters wet before you put syrup into them will help get them to run better. Also, if your using the settling method, don't reheat so high when you go to bottle it. 190 is plenty hot enough. If you go to 219 you probably are creating more nitre.

[Sandersyrup]

Hounder? Do you suggest going to 219°F then letting it settle? I make almost syrup first, let it settle then make full syrup. Maybe I'll try settling full syrup with today's run.

[happy thoughts]

I ditto what maple flats said. A few years ago someone posted instructions on this forum for making filters made from felt bought at a fabric store. Thinking I'd give it a try I went to my local fabric store and started reading the ends of the bolts. All of the felts stated they were made from recycled materials. That raised a red flag right there because you don't know if those materials were food grade to begin with. Also, the smell of the felt was very chemical and I worried that would transfer to the sap. And lastly, most fabrics made for dressmaking are treated with chemical finishes to add body to the fabric. I think any material from a fabric store including pellon would raise similar concerns for me. You also don't know safe temp ranges for pellon. Having worked with that before I know it doesn't take much heat to melt or scorch it and wonder if the temps needed for filtering would be high enough to cause chemicals leaching into the syrup. Using materials meant for the purpose is always going to be the safest route.

[psparr]

I dont have pictures, but I will try this weekend.
I use a coffee urn to filter into and bottle from. Search on here for coffee urn for the steps to use one.
I have a 5 gallon bucket with a hole cut in the bottom a little smaller than the opening of the coffee urn. The bucket sits on top and my cone filter is clothes pinned in the bucket. I put 3-4 prefilters in and leave this setup as I preheat the urn. That moistens the filters. Then as I filter, the urn helps heep the heat in. I also put a lid over the bucket to keep heat in. Every few minutes while im bottling I pull out a pre filter being careful not to dump the niter into the next one.

[Snowy Pass Maple]

The best advice I got from this site on filtering - use some food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE). It's not just for filter presses.

I mix about 1 cup with the first gallon I filter - right after stirring, pour it into your filter setup which should be felt topped with at least 3 prefilters. You'll be amazed at both how long it filters without clogging - because the DE settles and essentially creates a very high surface area filter on top of the felt. For each additional gallon, I mix in about 1/2 cup of DE. If it slows down, pull off the top prefilter layer - you'll also remove the now clogged DE, so when you pour the next batch of syrup in, just add a cup to re-establish it. Meanwhile, your felt filter should be holding up much better through all of this.

The DE layer will take out way more of the microscopic niter. I actually do this filtering process twice and when doing so, we are able to pack in glass with excellent clarity. This was the reason I started using it - but the speed of filtering is also a great benefit!

Last night I was re-filtering a 5 gallon out of the freezer that had been filtered once previously. I only heated to 190 F to avoid making new niter, and it was actually stored heavy at around 68.5 brix. Still, the 5 gallons was entirely through the flat filter stack in about 20 minutes using this method.

The Maple Guys that run this site are one of the only places I've seen that sell this in 5 lb bags that are cost effective to mail order - kudos to them for offering it!

As others say, anything you use in filtering can be rinsed with some hot sap to extract all the syrup and reprocess it through the evaporator in season. You should only lose syrup in your filter at the final end of season cleanup when you're not boiling anymore.

[Sandersyrup]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/14/paqeqe9u.jpg

Proof, don't use fabric store felt. I learned that early in the season. Luckily it was only this bottle. Notice the off (blueish?) color.

Free to anybody who will consume it. ;)

[BlueberryHill]

As others say, anything you use in filtering can be rinsed with some hot sap to extract all the syrup and reprocess it through the evaporator in season. You should only lose syrup in your filter at the final end of season cleanup when you're not boiling anymore.

When I pulled my first prefilter out (first time using real filters) there was some heavy, dark sludge in there. I just inverted the prefilter and rinsed it down the drain. Are you saying that it is ok to just reintroduce that gunk into the sap in the evaporator? Seems to me that it would just make the next batch that much darker and harder to filter?

Also, when I pull out a prefilter, it might still have a pint to a quart of syrup in it that has not filtered through. Do you just dump that all right in to the next prefilter?

[hounder]

Sandersyrup you should never bring to a boil after you have filtered. Any boil creates more sugar sand. You know how the bottom of the pan can get hotspots as you are reheating, you can hear it bubbling? That will even create sugarsand. It probably isn't much, but ever little bit you keep out the clearer your syrup is.

[StayinLowTech]

I have had good luck with the felt cone filters and 3 paper filters inside. After a few draws, the top paper prefilter is clogged so put it aside and add a new prefilter closest to the felt filter, and so on. At some point, the felt filter will need to be changed to a new one. All this must be protected from the cold air with a box or something built around it. At the end of each day's boiling, clean the felt and pre filters by holding them under hot water tap always going from the outside of the filter to the inside. Hang up to dry and then can reuse.

[psparr]

When I pulled my first prefilter out (first time using real filters) there was some heavy, dark sludge in there. I just inverted the prefilter and rinsed it down the drain. Are you saying that it is ok to just reintroduce that gunk into the sap in the evaporator? Seems to me that it would just make the next batch that much darker and harder to filter?

Also, when I pull out a prefilter, it might still have a pint to a quart of syrup in it that has not filtered through. Do you just dump that all right in to the next prefilter?

Just tilt the prefilter and let the remaining syrup flow through the side of the filter. Then rinse the prefilter in sap not emptying the sludge.

[blac]

I agree with Maple Flats use the real thing, when I wasn't producing as much I used a wool cone filter with the 3-4 prefilters inside and just remove prefilters as it slows down, by the time you get down to the last one usually you have captured much of the niter and the last bit falls through the filter. Not many places sell the wool anymore but have the synthetic cone filters. I used to finish in the kitchen and had a metal coat hanger with the cone filter hanging above the syrup while it was finishing to get moist and heated, that seemed to help a bit. Secondly do yourself a favor and get something stationary to hang the filter from..I actually put a small eye hook in my kitchen to hold the cone filter. It will help with your patience so your arms do get cramped and you can do something else while it filters. Hope that helps some.

[maplerookie]

I have good luck with filtering hot I put my filter cone synthetic or wool in a tomato juicer stand it is basically a big aluminum funnel with a lot of little holes in it . it was my moms i think it has no big open end. There is a picture of one on this site somewhere. One of the gals posted it. Look for one at yard sales during the off season get your filter wet then let it drain a bit before adding your syrup. I use the pre filters one at a time.. to clean I rinse from the outside in.. using the sink sprayer on high pressure right up against the filter. washes out real clean then let it air dry. the pre filters I turn inside out and rinse well under running water. It is still time consuming but makes a nice presentation of all of your hard work.

[MapleLady]

Scott, Last year I got a jelly cone filter rack at the County Store in Milford - noticed 2 weeks ago that Achille Agway in Milford also had some. I used the cone filter rack to support my wool filter and pre-filters over a medium sized kettle. I carefully folded my large wool filter to fit the rack and clipped it there with clothespins. I then wrapped the entire contraption in aluminum foil. This set-up worked for me, but I have to admit it was a little 'scary' to use and I wasn't trying to filter nearly as much syrup as you are. I am still not completely tapped in in my neck of Merrimack and may only reach 45 taps this year. Still waiting on the sap to really pick up!

[wnybassman]

Ever since I have filtered right into my 30 cup coffee urn I have never looked back. I just use 3 or 4 paper cone filters inside the urn and folded over the top and every couple bottling sessions I replace the last one the syrup goes through with a new one. I am also very careful cleaning them out, squeeze only and no wringing. If I have glass to bottle I always do that first during bottling to I get the absolute clearest syrup, although I have bottled glass at the end also and it is pretty decent.

[RollinsOrchards]

Filtering by gravity is almost the most time consuming part of making syrup.

After reading almost every thread on here about filtering at one point and it is true that everyone has at least one good idea, the trick is to make them work for you.

I double filter, sometimes triple filter to get the best clarity. I pack in glass while someone else runs the 4 by 12 evaporator. It can get hectic to filter it all when we start drawing off two or three gallons every 15 minutes, so this is what works for me:

initial filter: Take three food grade five gallon plastic pails. Cut the bottom out of one. Screw some blocks of wood to the outside near the bottom so it will sit on top of another pail. Hang a wool/felt/orlon filter on two wooden dowels on top of the pail. Place two or three paper cone filters inside that. Always protect your felt filter with at least two paper filters to prevent sugar sand from getting to your felt. (I might have to do 25 or 30 gallons of syrup in a day, so I don't have time to wash my felt filters)

Depending on how "dirty" the syrup is you may get anywhere from one pint to one gallon of syrup to go through a paper cone filter before it plugs. To speed up the process I slide 4 paper filters side by side into my "basket" (felt with two paper filters in it), add some syrup to each one and allow to drain. I keep adding a bit more while it runs good. As a paper cone gets clogged I bring it up to the edge of the pail and clip it there with a clothespin to let it drain slow, and replace it with another. If one is totally plugged i carefully empty the syrup into another filter and toss the dirty slimy filter in another clean pail to be washed.

As soon as a gallon of syrup drains into the bottom pail I swap pails and pour the still warm syrup into my final filter. Final filter is a single cone filter tank on a propane burner. One orlon/felt/wool hanging in the top lined with a new never before used paper filter and a couple of other paper filters. I heat the syrup to 180 or 190 degrees and bottle in glass. It comes out very clear when done right.

I take the slimy used filters (paper and felt) and swish them in hot sap to clean them. I hold the top closed so the "sand" doesn't' escape but wash all the valuable sugar out of the filters to go right back into the evaporator.

[wall hollow]

when I clean pre filter I turn them inside out and spray them with hot water and they clean up easily. Do you guys turn the orlon bag inside out and spray it or will that ruin it?

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

yes three prefilters on inside the felt or the other one since leader or CDL dont have felt any more and put on prefilter on outside of cone to catch any fabric particles that happen to come loose during the filter process.
Never canned in glass but I am going to try the DE.
I could barely filter a couple gallons tonight when prefilters start to clog.

[bowhunter]

This is my second year, but agree filtering is tough. My most recent attempt has worked best. I draw syrup off in a turkey frier without filtering. I let it sit in the turkey frier for 1-2 days and decant off the syrup into some gallon jugs while it's cold. I pour any syrup that's left back into the evaporator. I wash the sugar sand out of the bottom of the turkey frier and put the decanted syrup back into the turkey frier. I heat it up to 214 and filter in a flat filter. The last batch I did flowed right through. I filtered two and a half gallons in 5 minutes. It sounds like a lot of trouble, but it really worked for me. I keep most of the sugar sand out of the filters and recover all the syrup.

[RollinsOrchards]

when I clean pre filter I turn them inside out and spray them with hot water and they clean up easily. Do you guys turn the orlon bag inside out and spray it or will that ruin it?

I take the Orlon/felt filter bags and swish them in hot sap first. I have a stainless milk pail hanging on the drain of my flue pan. Draw off a gallon of boiling hot sap, hold the top of the filter bag closed to keep the sand contained and swish it up and down in the sap for a few seconds. That gets the syrup out and loosens up the sand. I pour the sap back into the evaporator and take the filter to the sink. Turn it inside out and run hot water out through from the clean side through the filter to the dirty side. It uses lots of hot water but it gets clean.

Never wring, twist, or scrub the filter as you could weaken it and also embed the sand deeper in to make it permanently plugged.

[buckeye gold]

I am doing small batches as a hobby guy. I have a wire fryer basket and my wife sews up prefilter paper filters and orlon basket filters to fit. They look just like the basket and fit in it. At the beginning of season I filter through two prefilters and a finish filter. About mid season I start double filtering. I should say I finish all my syrup on propane. During the early season I filter my draw through a cone prefilter into my stainless finish stock pot. Mid season I set up a complete filter with prefilters and a finish filter after the draw prefilter. I usually bring the draw back up to heat at 217 (where I draw) and filter. I then finish and filter again through the pre and finish filters. I bottle in all glass and all my bottles are clear. It may seems like a lot of extra work and lost syrup but it's not. I will do like every one else and run some hot sap through the filters, let that settle in a pot and pour the recovered syrup back in the pan. During that mid to late season the first filtering of thin syrup really dirties the filters, a lot of sand is caught then. I find my syrup finishes faster and better without that heavy sand robbing heat.

[CampHamp]

I put the things that I do that I didn't read here yet in bold...

I dip the thick and pre-filters into boiling sap at the start (to make wet) and the end (to recapture the sweet) but never let the niter back in to the pan. After the final rinse I balance the thick filter on the back pan's divider to drip dry with top edge up against the pan's end wall.

I start with 4 pre-filters in the cone with the top 2 side-by-side and remove the top one once it starts to clog. When a filter clogs (the prefilters and the thick one at the end of the night), I pull the bottom up to the side (hot and sticky) to force the sap to use the higher, clean part of the filter).

Prefilters seem to clean fine with just hot tap water up-side down. I think the thick filter needs some pressure to clean, so I press it up against the kitchen tap tight and draw it around making clear lines in the felt, making sure the cone is opened so the debris doesn't flow into the other side of the cone. I'll turn it inside-out if the seams start getting dark. I'll use the thick filter in-side-out sometimes to help even the wear.

[Spolcik]

http://sugarbushsupplies.com/2014_Catalog/filtertankscanningunits.pdf they have a hobby filter kit great for small guys comes with easy instructions and works awesome. Used last year after trying many other things only $25 bucks well worth the price

[wvfarmboy]

Hi new to the form. I'm not up on all this high tech filtering systems they have now days that is why I have come here to learn a few things. The way my granddad,dad and uncle's always did it was the old-fashioned way we use a white cotton pillowcase. We have always had 80 gallon pans and once it gets down to the right consistency we strain it through a pillowcase. When we bring it in to finish it up on the stove we will add a half cup to one cup of milk this will bring all the crud to the top just skim it off. And the only thing that I do is use the corner of a pillowcase cut to fit the funnel when I put it in quart jars and it is always nice and clear.

[KevinS]

Filtering sucks.. yes...but not as much as sugar sand in your syrup...