Filtering and Canning Questions

[GSCampChris]

2 questions

1. I have a leader canning unit and somehow the air/propane ratio is off. My flame is orange, and is leaving a TON of carbon residue on my canner. Is there away to adjust the air flow? Am I missing something?

2. I have the felt filter, and a pre filter in the unit. They lye right on top of each other, right? After
One draw off, the filter is getting so bogged down that syrup is not passing through it. We are putting it through right after draw off, so it is hot, but all the syrup is not making it through. Tips for adjustments?

[abbott]

can't help you with the first question. As for the second: are you pre-wetting the filters? here's my basic technique: place felt and 4-5 papers in filter rack. put rack on top of channel dividers in flue pan (above the sap) and dump about a gallon of boiling sap from the back pan through them. after i draw off, I move the rack to the canner and dump the hot syrup in. I generally get 1-2 draw-offs (1.5-2 gallons each) through a paper, then I remove that paper and go through the next. When the felt starts filtering really slow I switch to a clean felt. At the end of the day I put all used filters back in the rack and dump boiling sap through it all into the back pan to get as much sugar back as I can. Then I wash the filters at the house for the next day.

I am making about 2 gallons of syrup an hour and usually my 12x20 canner keeps up. BUT there is often a spell near the beginning of the year (it started today) when there is a really fine niter that goes through the papers but clogs the felt quickly. When this happens I stop filtering through the felt and only use papers. The syrup still comes out pretty clear, but I use it to make maple sugar so it doesn't matter if its a bit cloudy. The problem solves itself in a couple of days and I'm good to go for the year.

[psparr]

There should be a thing that looks like this where the gas enters the burner. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160301/8fc71bff8e3ea8ba45723b2783c33af9.jpg use that to regulate the air mixture.