Filter aid and Cone filters.

[Johnny t]

I'm a 40 gal. a year producer and have been using cone filters for a number of years. For some reason I am having a hard time with filter's plugging right away this year. I plugged 3 pre filters in the first 2 gallons the other day. I ended up letting the rest settle and pouring off to get rid of the majority of the niter then reheating and filtering again. I'm filtering 5-7 gallons right off the fire and am wondering if DE filter aid is a viable option with cone filters.

Although a press is overkill for my little operation I'm seriously considering it for next year.

[maple flats]

There are a few producers who use DE (filter aid) with flat or cone filters. What it does is gradually build up a filter cake rather that deposit all the sugarsand all on the surface of the filters. To do it, just mix in about 1 cup of FA for each 2 gal of syrup, then pour the syrup in the cone or on the flat filter. Still use your pre filters.
Using FA will improve the filtering and will greatly extend the filter's ability to filter.

[dcast99]

I was useing a cone filter for the last 3 years. This year I made a filter rack to fit a steaming tray. Draw off directly into it. It filters 200% faster than the cone filter. It has a lot more surface area.

[Johnny t]

Thanks guys! I was wondering about the flat filter vs. cones route as well. Good info.

[Bucket Head]

I'm with Johnny t on this. I've always used prefilters and cones but never had the trouble I had today! I bought new ones this year from Leader and have used them in the past. Did they change something with the prefilter material? The prefilter would fill up and just sit there. My father and I shuffled draw off pails and filters around today like never before.

Maybe the filter aid trick might be worth trying. Anything would be better than todays filtering experience.

Steve

[RollinsOrchards]

The high daytime temps during sap flow sure bring out the Sugar Sand. With syrup that is difficult to filter it is important to keep it hot. Put the pot that you are filtering into onto a burner to keep it warm while filtering. The other thing I do it to put several pre-filters side by side in the cone. Some days I only put a quart in each pre-filter at a time.

Rather than simply reversing the flow in the pans when it gets that bad we drain the front pan a the beginning of the day and scrape the sugar sludge out with a rubber spatula. We filter that syrup through just one layer of paper filter before putting it back in the front pan.