What am i doing wrong?

[Scott Ameigh]

Ok i bought a hydrometer for syrup, and finished it to the line hot. I've been using 3-4 layers of prefilter and about the same of cheese cloth and it won't run through. I also have a 5 quart cone filter and tried that with a few layers of pre filter. Nothing is working and I'm beyond frustrated.

[Pibster]

Are you filtering hot syrup? I start with 4-5 per filters inside the cone filter. once it starts to slow down to a trickle, I remove a filter and continue. Repeat until done.

[morley]

I read somewhere on here to presoak your filter with hot sap first. Seems to work for what I've seen.

[PerryW]

It's all about dumping the syrup in the filter just after you took it off the heat, and keeping the whole thing hot while you are filtering.


For the record, I have never tried presoaking the filters, and use one prefilter at a time, but change the prefilter on each takeoff.

[KevinS]

I prefilter through two prefilters one very good one and one woreout one laid on the good one.pour in and cover with lid. I give it a couple minutes and by then the top one is pretty well plugged. I slip it out to one side and it goes through fast again. this gets most of the gunk clear out of the way fast.

[KevinS]

I do that into a pan that is on blocks of wood to keep the table from sucking out heat.

[Scott Ameigh]

I try running it through. Right off the cooker as so as its finished. At over 200


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[John c]

I try running it through. Right off the cooker as so as its finished. At over 200


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I have to admit that filtering syrup is my nemesis. I've had a few mediocre experiences filtering, but it typically just frustrates me. For the past few years I have been saving all of my "almost syrup" and just finish it all at once, so I only have to filter once! Fortunately my goal is only 3 - 5 gals a year...
Best of luck to you!

[Scott Ameigh]

I've done almost 5 gallons already. It's my first year and I'm just trying to
Get this stage of it figured out.


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[Sweet Shady Lane]

Are you getting your filters wet, You should get them wet with hot water or hot sap before you use them. I just squeeze the filters to keep them damp. it works for me, and I use four pre filters inside my wool ( I think it's wool ) filter.

[TheMapleMoose]

This will be our first year with a press. So over the past. 4 or 5 years I've been cone filtering off the evaporator and in our bottler. The key is having the syrup hot, and keeping it out of the air. A cone filter hanging in the breeze will cool on the outside of the filter surface and keep the syrup from passing through. We made a stand and some open bottom cylinders out of aluminum for the filters to hang in. When I wasn't drawing syrup off there was a lid over the top, or the lid was slid partially open to stuck the drawoff valve in. We were also presoaking our main filter in water, and then whipping the excess water out. (Wringing it out will break the fibers). I always used a prefilter, and when it got plugged, yanked it, and babied the syrup into another new prefilter in a way that the sugar sand would stay in the old filter.
Just a few thoughts from a guy who's wrestled 250 gallons per year though a cone filter....it can be a struggle. Very much looking forward to using a press.

[Scott Ameigh]

When I am trying this it's right outta the pot when it's done. So syrup is hot. Do you just put a lid over the cone filter? Next year I'm gonna get a coffee urn to use


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[KevinS]

I will take some pictures of how we do it tomorrow. if I boil I will get some video of the crude but effective way we do it.
There is a valid reason I say I dream of a filter press while filtering...
Maple Moose I foresee big grins in your sugar shack next year...

[Sugarmaker]

When I am trying this it's right outta the pot when it's done. So syrup is hot. Do you just put a lid over the cone filter? Next year I'm gonna get a coffee urn to use

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Scott,
I assume the batch is small like maybe a gallon or less? if so then it just does not filter well. We did just over 200 gallons last year through cone filters. Hot syrup was being poured into them several times per hour. We could maybe get 2-3 gallon through each then they would need cleaned.
We did pull the trigger on a new 12 inch SIRO and since Sunday have used it for filtering 70 gallons of syrup.
Regards,
Chris

[RollinsOrchards]

With some batches of syrup I only can get between half a pint and one pint through a paper cone filter before needing to wash it. I place half a dozen paper filters side by side inside my felt cone filter and put a splash of syrup into each.

[dcast99]

I draw off into a ss pot that has a collander rested inside it. Then a filter and pre-filter. A few mintues before the draw off I rest the filters on top of the finsh pan to get them hot from the steam. After the draw off I put a lid on it and rest it on top of my flue pan steam hood to keep it hot. Seems to work great. Pre-filter washed after every draw, filter after every 3-4 draws.

[slw105]

I had problems with foggy syrup when I started in 1986. I now pre-heat the filter with hot water. I filter the sap twice.
As I am boiling I use a screen scoop and scoop out as much as the foam as I can. This really helps keep the filter from clogging.
My syrup is now crystal clear even after sitting in the jars a year or two.

Hope this helps
Stephen

[Scott Ameigh]

I do the same slw105 but have a hard time getting in through. Gonna try warming filters with steam this time


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[Twindadx2]

I have the same issues with filtering. FRUSTRATING!!! I filter the almost syrup through 2 pre filters off the flat pan. Then I finish in a turkey fryer. The first boil I added 4 pre filters inside an Orlon filter that was placed in the hot water from my coffee urn, and lightly squeezed the water out. Once I poured all the syrup through the filters I started pulling out the pre filters 1 by 1 as they were holding the sugar sand. The first 8 L went through nice but the last 2 L now sat in the Orlon filter. I bottled the 8 and poured the other 2 L through the pre filters knowing that I would probably end up with a bunch of sugar sand in it..... and I was right. I guess I will try adding more pre filters into the Orlon for the next round and see what happens

[CampHamp]

I use a cone synthetic thick filter and pre-filters, too. The key piece of advice I got here is to "decant" your syrup so that you put the sediment through the filter LAST. You can do that by just pre-filtering off the evaporator (so much more fun) into a pot and go to sleep while it settles. The next day, decant and deal with 80% of your syrup much more easily. You still have the last bit to battle with, but it's a much easier fight... If it clogs, I use a wooden spoon to scrape around a bit and/or fold the cone by lifting the nose up and filter through the less-used surfaces. I can usually work a gallon of sediment-syrup through this way.

[smokeyamber]

Ditto on everything everyone said, :cool: only thing I would add is I use sythetic prefilters that you can wash out and use LOTS , I used seven per filtering last season for each filter, even that seemed like too few sometimes ! I also gave up on the thick cone filter ( felt ) for small amounts like I filter flat filters work much better. I also will rinse out the final pre filter in the sap pan when done to get back some of the syrup as the last filter left is usually not too clogged or dirty. Once again small producers hate to lose syrup. :D Final note , I gather alot of syrup before I filter, seems that with more volume ( weight? ) of syrup it filters better and also stays hotter.

[Scott Ameigh]

Last time I ran warm sap through everything and kept it hit over steam till ready them put lid over cone filter and seemed to work better


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[CWebster]

I struggled mightily with filtering when I started. So much so that it almost became a deal breaker on making syrup. I altered my process and invested in a filter tank and it has made all the difference. I draw off right into a single cone filter tank that has 2 pre filters and the one finish filter. This tank stays right up next to my evaporator and maintains a good amount of heat with the hot syrup and proximity to the heat from the evaporator. Once I'm done boiling for the day (actually night, cause I never finish during normal daylight hours) I cover the filter tank and leave. The next morning I'll go back and grab the filter tank to take home and bottle and 99% of the syrup has gone thru. Whats left I slowly pull the pre filters out without dumping the contaminants and let the syrup flow thru the "unused" sides of the filters. The final filter I'll do the same thing but I usually turn the filter sideways, clip the filter to the side of the tank and let it hang for a bit until the last of the syrup filters thru. Once I slowed down and let time, heat, and gravity do its thing it has made the filtering a non issue for me..Hope this helps