Water Jacketed Bottler question

[Birddog]

I have been drueling over the electric water jacketed bottler that Smokey Lake makes. It is way over kill for how much syrup I make each year I'm sure but my goal is to make the best syrup I possibly can and to make things as easy as I can afford. It's all justan expensive hobby/addiction for me.

So my questions are for those that have used one, will the 6.5 gallon unit work (position of thermometer read temp properly) ok with smaller batches in the 1-3 gallon range? How well does the flat filter setup work. I currently use a cone filter in a coffer maker and that works OK but I occasionally get a little Nitre in some batches.

IF you have one, do you like it and would you buy one again? They are not cheap but my bride might get me one for my birthday if I beg enough. lol.

Thanks for any input!

Larry

[adk1]

I filter the same way you do. I have been looking at SL steam filter canner. I think that is the one you are thinking of. Its not technically a water jacketed filter/canner. The flat filter is far and above better than the cones. The cones are the "bottom of the barrel" of filtering really, it doesnt mean they dont do an adequate job, its just time consuming and you lose allot of syrup.

[Birddog]

I filter the same way you do. I have been looking at SL steam filter canner. I think that is the one you are thinking of. Its not technically a water jacketed filter/canner. The flat filter is far and above better than the cones. The cones are the "bottom of the barrel" of filtering really, it doesnt mean they dont do an adequate job, its just time consuming and you lose allot of syrup.

This is the one I was thinking of: https://www.smokylakemaple.com/product/water-jacketed-bottlers/

[rayi]

I don't have a water jacketed bottler but I have a propane burner that I put a resturant pan on. In that pan I put water then a steam table pan (one with holes in it) I then put a felt filter in and several prefilters. The heater heats the water in the bottom pan that keeps the syrup hot with no scortching or nitre. Works great even for bottling in glass

[killingworthmaple]

I own an earlier version of that bottler and it would work fine for 1-3 gallons because the water temp has nothing to do with how much syrup you have in the pan. There are some things that I wish were designed a little different like the hole to fill the water is small with but all in all I think its an ok unit. Any question give me a call.

Nathan
860-604-8115

[maple marc]

Larry, my family gave me the 6.5 gallon Smokey Lake WJ canner last season for a big birthday. It's great. The workmanship is a thing of beauty. I set the thermostat 185-190 and I can bottle at my leisure. No more stress. We bottle into glass, so it's critical that no niter forms during the reheat. We filter with a hand pump filter press directly into the canner. 1-3 gallon batches should be fine. My average batch is about 5 gallons. For your first several batches I recommend a thermometer in the water jacket to calibrate your thermostat. Warm it up before you put in the syrup.

Start begging!

[Birddog]

Everyone, Thanks for the replies. I like to bottle in glass so eliminating Nitre is obviously important. I didn't think about how this unit will make the bottling process less stressful and more leisurely. Now I want one even more.

Good info.

Thanks again!

[Birddog]

OMG - My wife really did it. She told me last night that I have one of these (Smokey Lake Electric Water Jacketed Bottler with filter tray) on the way. I can't wait to see and use it. I'll post some pics and let you all know how it works out!

[CampHamp]

That lady must really love you (or your syrup).

[Birddog]

That lady must really love you (or your syrup).I'm feeling pretty lucky. She's had to put up with a lot being married to me!

[Birddog]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/27/1d7340e5a4247f63740b5897561f5f4a.jpg It arrived today! Beautiful workmanship and they even put a note inside wishing me a happy birthday!


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[WI Sugarpop]

I want one also, and I showed this thread to my wife but I don't think that will help. Smokey Lake is only 35 miles from me so I would even pick it up. If we have a good season this year then hopefully we can get one.:)
P.S. Happy birthday Birddog.

[wiam]

Check out this one.

https://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/18/Honey-Harvesting/Honey-House-Processing/4705/Water-Jacketed-Double-Boiler-Tank

[1arch]

Sugar pop
I purchase one last fall from SL and it is one of the better pieces of equipment one can have to make life easier. It's going out to the sugar shack in Cport soon for this season so I can filter and bottle each day's production. If you would like to try before you buy your welcome to use mine.

[WI Sugarpop]

Sugar pop
I purchase one last fall from SL and it is one of the better pieces of equipment one can have to make life easier. It's going out to the sugar shack in Cport soon for this season so I can filter and bottle each day's production. If you would like to try before you buy your welcome to use mine.

We had a good year so I picked ours up today. What a beautiful piece of workmanship! Will use it soon.

[Retsapper]

I bought the smaller SL finisher,bottler this year, not the water jacket one. It works great including the flat filtering.The only issue is maybe I should have bought the larger unit which I believe was only $50 more. I will go to the larger in a year or two if I am still feeling as I do now.

[Birddog]

I thought I'd update this post after using my new Smokey Lake Water Jacketed bottler for the season. You guys were spot on. Having this bottler makes bottling a lot easier and more relaxed task. No more worries of my syrup getting too hot or too cold to bottle. Another observation for anyone wondering about using a flat filter verses a cone filter, the flat filter is hands down the way to go in my opinion (if you can't justify a filter press) and was a nice add on option for this bottler. The bigger flat surface area makes it filter faster than the cone filter and doesn't clog as quickly. I've got beautiful clear syrup this season!

A big thumbs up for the Smokey Lake Water Jacketed Bottler.

[adk1]

I just picked up a used 12x20 filter bottler for about half the price of a new one. I have been holding onto 13 gallons of syrup just to use it and will tomorrow. It would take me 3 hours to bottle 13 gallons of syrup the way I have been doing it!

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Larry - Congratulations on your new bottler. SL says that unit has "positive drain" but its hard to see on their website so maybe you can answer this question.
Does this unit have a flat bottom or are the sides tapered down to the drawoff spout to achieve complete draining during bottling.

Thanks

- Russ

[lpakiz]

Rusty Bucket,
I have one of Jim's 16 gallon, water jacketed, thermostatically controlled bottlers. It IS a thing of beauty. I had a smaller one, but had to constantly watch that I pumped slow enough from the filter press, or bottled fast enough to keep up with the flow. This got dicey when filling smaller containers. My strategy was to have some small bottles ready, as well as quarts or gallons. When I fell behind, I would get several large containers filled, to keep the level down, then switch back to smaller containers.
Now with this unit, I pump the whole re-heat pan (12-15 gallons) into the bottler, put the cover on, and start to bottle. I know that no matter how long it takes, density won't change, and the temp stays right where it should be.
I thought it would have been a luxury before I had it. Now it's a necessity.
It drains pretty good, as the floor is slightly sloped and veed towards the center drain, which is in the floor of the unit, like a kitchen sink, instead of in the vertical wall. The drain makes a right-angle within the cavity of the water jacket.
With the optional SS valve reducer, I filled 50ml bottles, which is usually pretty tough to do neatly.

[Birddog]

I have the smaller unit and I love it. The bottom is tapered to the drain but I have found that it helps to put coasters under the back 2 legs to help it drain completely and it works great. I love the unit and highly recommend it!


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[RUSTYBUCKET]

Thanks for the quick replies !

- Russ

[Baker]

I also got the SL 6.5 gal canner.can't speak highly enough about it.thing of beuty.and a huge up grade from cone filters.bottling is much more enjoyable.I highly recommend it.

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Retsapper

Does your SL finisher/bottler pan have a flat bottom or are the sides sloped/veed towards the drain spout ??

Thanks

- Russ