color differences and a filtering question.. sediment!

[zandstrafarms]

I currently boil 3 flat pans over home made arch and a drip system of new sap. Boil 55 gal sap in a run (10gal per hr ).

My sap has been continually dark (2nd year tapping ), and I've had issues keeping sediment out of my sap post filter. Husband paints cars so he brought home unused paint filters, one similar to a wool filter (might be wool, don't know ) other is a prefilter and we filter into our pot to keep warm for bottling. Keep temp around 200 and use fine mesh cone filters when bottling.
First boil had lots of sediment (even after I reboiled, adjusted density and refilterd). Dark and a bit cloudy.

Second batch had less sediment, but still there and very dark!

BUT, I did a test boil of one gallin from a red maple on the stove and it came out yellow with slight butter taste (yummy). Still cloudy but no sediment.

What's up? Should I use DE and how would I do it? Definitely going to invest in quality evaporator next year!

[saphound]

I don't know, but I would suspect using paint filters. I have seen no sediment using filters designed for maple syrup. I don't think paint would go through them very well..could be a finer filter than paint filters.

[Cedar Eater]

I haven't been here long, but it seems that many people consider Red maple to be milder, often lighter, and with hints of honey and butterscotch in the tasting, especially when reduced in small batches. Some keep the sap from each tree species separate so they can get a variety of flavors. I thought that I have only Red Maples, but I'm beginning to wonder, because some of my trees have prominent red buds and some have no apparent buts yet, making me suspect they are sugar maples.

I don't know what to say about the filter issue. I'm still struggling to find a small batch filter solution that I like.

[Russell Lampron]

The sediment is because the filters you are using aren't fine enough. What you need is an Orlon filter and some Orlon pre-filter papers. They are available through maple suppliers and you can get them as flat filters or cone filters. I would stop using the paint filters ASAP because they may not be food grade.

The dark color is probably from boiling the sap too long before it turns to syrup. The color isn't important as long as the syrup tastes good.

[zandstrafarms]

All good thoughts! Could a real evaporator that runs 30 gph result in a lighter color? I'm not disagreeing with fkavir, but I'm trying to understand all aspects of how our product is produced. Good to know about the reds. I might try to do a separate run of just reds next season. I also plan to expand to black walnut...my dad has at least 20 in his yard.

It's posdibe the filters are letting stuff through. ..our first run was on black metal barrels and paint was flaking off the metal barrels into the sap pans. I pointed out to husband that maybe the filters were letting it through since maybe the paint particles dissolved into the hot sap. Yeah he waited until that morning to build evaporator and we didn't do a test burn with water (would have been wise).

Food grade? Gotta be pretty close if not. Professional painters don't want anything messing up a multi thousand dollar paint job. The slightest chemical can react with the paint causing it to bubble.

With that said, it won't break the bank to buy a true sap filter.
I am going to post a secondary post relating to nutrients and niter, different but similar to this one. Please don't think I don't value your input I just want to keep the two questions separate :)

[optionguru]

You'll see a big difference as you up the filtration. I had run out of filters when I did my first batch of the season, all I had was two of the paper prefilters and they still let through some sediment, it settled in the jars and wasn't a problem but as soon as I went back to 4 prefilters inside the orlon filter everything was very clear again.

[VTmaplehobby]

Going from batch boiling last year in a hotel pan to a commercially produced pan proved to me the color difference. The amount of time to condense a gallon of syrup was about 14 hours. That was 14 hours of constant and intense heat that the sugar that was in the first gallon of sap had to carmelize, hence the darker color. Our first batch ever was about the color of a tire, and didnt lighten up much with filtering, but it tasted great!!

If you are suspicious of the syrup filters, buy just a few of the pre-filters (fairly cheap), and run your already filtered syrup through it, you will be surprised at how much niter you still remove.

[zandstrafarms]

UPDATE:

Ran our third batch last night of red and silvers (same as first run). Approx 60 gal sap gave almost 1.5 gal syrup. 8 hrs of boiling.

Filtered same as last two runs and poof! Clear syrup! Still pretty dark but I can see through it!

I must clarify though. I was incorrect about our heavy wool filter. The mesh filters we use for bottling are paint filters, but the wool one is actually a water filter they would use to make sure the water was particle free before mixing into paint. So it should be exceptionally fine!

My theory is that maple filters are preshrunk so they maintain the same level of filtering. Eriks filter had no reason to be preshrunk, so by running hot syrup through it and cleaning with boiling water it has been tightening the weave each time. Hence the lesser amount of niter in my bottles each run.

[Cedar Eater]

Your theory about the wool makes sense. Congrats on getting a clear syrup.

[JDP]

I learned a lesson regarding filtering as a newby.......... DONT SQUEEZE the filter!!!!!!!!!!
Let it drain naturally while still hot. Squeezing it pushes through fine particulate. No squeezing of the filter has given me clear batches ever since. Just my two cents.