Steam bottler vs water jacket

[Bricklayer]

I am planning on getting a smoky lake steam bottler/filter unit for the upcoming season. Is there a huge difference between the steam unit and the water jacket unit other then price? I usually only bottle 5-8 gallons at a time. But I'm getting pretty sick of cone filters and filling bottles with funnels and ladles.

[Daryl]

I have a SL steam bottler. It is a 110 volt model but can be used on a gas burner. I have water boiling over on the counter top every time I use it. It is a pita. It does heat faster than the water jacketed one that was 110 volt.
I sold the water jacketed canner in September.

[whity]

I have never used a steam bottler. But I do use a water jacketed bottler. They work slick. Fill with water and turn the heat on. That simple. No funnels needed. Has a 1/2" bottling spout.

[n8hutch]

I am planning on getting a smoky lake steam bottler/filter unit for the upcoming season. Is there a huge difference between the steam unit and the water jacket unit other then price? I usually only bottle 5-8 gallons at a time. But I'm getting pretty sick of cone filters and filling bottles with funnels and ladles.

I have the steam bottler, it works fine, if you set the burner properly it just steams the bottom of the pan and doesn't boil over.

That being said if I had to do it all over again I would spend the extra money and get the water jacketed version with the larger heating element. I think this would be much simpler to use and when I get a Filter Press next year I think knowing the electric unit will maintain the temperature you want would be a real selling point for me.

[wiam]

So, this works by suspending the syrup compartment over a pan of boiling water?

[wishlist]

I am planning on getting a smoky lake steam bottler/filter unit for the upcoming season. Is there a huge difference between the steam unit and the water jacket unit other then price? I usually only bottle 5-8 gallons at a time. But I'm getting pretty sick of cone filters and filling bottles with funnels and ladles.

Save your money and look for one of the commercial coffee urns. I have a 14 gallon , 2 separate 7 gallon containers. This is water jacketed so as a bonus I have 28 gallons of hot water . They have single units that would work great for your size operation. If your planning on 150 taps on vacuum in the future then one of Daryl's filter presses would be ideal. No need for anymore of those cone or flat filters and very little , if any, wasted syrup.

[Ed R]

Also keep your eye on craigslist for a water jacketed wax melter, I found one 10 gallons, and they work great. They honey supply stores like Dadant and Walter Kelly have water jacketed bottlers/wax melters that are cheaper than the maple suppliers if your looking for new.

[Bricklayer]

I'm usually all for making something work that was designed for something else but will do. But I've been noticing lately after building my RO this past off season that sometimes it's just better to buy something that was designed for maple. By the time it's jimmy rigged and a whole bunch of plumbing fittings to make it work ok but not great it ends up costing just the same as buying it new. I have looked at wax melters before. They would work but since I would like to use my bottler as a filter tank also I think I'm going to buy one that is designed for maple and comes ready to go. Saves a whole bunch of time and I can have the piece of mind knowing that if I have problems with it I can call someone that knows maple. I just wanted to know what the main differences were between a steam bottler and a water jacketed bottler.

[Bricklayer]

I have a SL steam bottler. It is a 110 volt model but can be used on a gas burner. I have water boiling over on the counter top every time I use it. It is a pita. It does heat faster than the water jacketed one that was 110 volt.
I sold the water jacketed canner in September.

So you prefer the steam bottler over the waterjacked bottler? It's faster?

[Lano75]

Food for Thought!

We have the Smoky Lake finisher/bottler. We have had it two years and last year refined our process and now it works really well. We actually run our syrup through the flat filters after the draw every time we boil. Once we have 5-8 gallons in the finisher we reheat and filter one more time. Check density and bottle. Be sure to stay between 180-190 degrees, we found if you go over 190 niter will start to form again BAM! cloudy syrup. Ended up with about 15 bottles that were cloudy. They cleared up but left niter in the bottom of the bottle.

Lano

[Ed R]

The only reason I would not go with a water jacketed bottler with electric immersion heat is if I did not have consistent electrical service in my canning area (Dealing with freeze up and draining). Control of heat is way easier. If your impatient go with a 240 element they are way quicker. At the family farm we have a 40-50 gallon wax melter we use with three cone filters utilized as an upright water jacketed filter tank with a 240 element, very quick to heat up even cold syrup to canning temp. My 10 gallon 120 volt melter is way slower but I can plan around it by doing other things while it heats up. With a burner/steam unit you need to supervise, I tried one before, it did not go well, as I think Daryl was referring to. You are correct that a 10 gallon melter is not deep enough to use as a upright filter tank, but a 20-25 gallon would be fine with cone filters. Do you want to gets away from cone filters? They work way better inside a heated water jacketed tank.

[Snow Blind]

Sure would like to see some pics or a video of one of the systems that you guys are using that work. And could the wax melter double as a syrup heater and wax melter?

[wishlist]

Sure would like to see some pics or a video of one of the systems that you guys are using that work. And could the wax melter double as a syrup heater and wax melter?

Here is a pic of mine . A SL 16 gallon water jacketed with the 240 volt element is $1600. If I was bricklayer I would buy filter press from Daryl and a coffer urn then pocket the rest of the money. The middle valve on my urn is for hot water . The urn has a sloped bottom for positive draining of the syrup.14629

[Bricklayer]

I'm sure coffee urns like that aren't cheap? My thought was that with the steam bottler. I can use it for filtering, canning and if need be finishing? According to the write up on smokey lakes website it can be used for bringing syrup to proper density. I'm assuming it would take longer then say using a pot and a burner. But would definitely save space. I usually get my syrup almost perfect off the evap but sometimes with long draws it comes off a Brix or two higher. Is that coffee urn water jacketed?

[Ed R]

could the wax melter double as a syrup heater and wax melter?[/QUOTE] You could bottle syrup and honey and melt wax. Wax can be a pita to clean out and some of the candle waxes have a lingering odor so be careful. I will try to take some pics latter.

[Bricklayer]

Wax melter is out of the question for me. If it was brand new maybe. But not used. I actually went to the CDL dealer and looked at their version of the steam bottler. Pretty much the same as smokey lakes. But I'm in Canada and at 75 cent to the dollar I think I'm going to go with the cdl unit. Basically $1000.00 for the whole kit. Propane fired steam bottler. With filter rack. All I need is the thermometer. And filters of course

[n8hutch]

I think You will like the CDL unit, I think it comes with a Taller Stand than the Smoky lake version.

[Bricklayer]

I ended up getting the CDL steam bottler. Propane fired

Couple questions

Since I'm using it as a filter and want to keep filter warm and wet before I put hot syrup through do I put a bit of water or permeate in the bottler then fire it up. My theory is that the steam under the pan will warm the water in the pan, make steam and keep the filter hot and wet. Right before I'm ready to filter dump the water out in the pan leaving unit on. Filter syrup and bottle at proper temp
Will pouring the syrup into an empty pan that's hot scorch the syrup? I would think not because the syrup will be hotter then the pan.
I have about 5 gallons of bulk stored syrup from last year that I need to bottle , so I was going to try the bottler out today as a test run.

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Bricklayer

Revisiting this topic to see if would share your thoughts (pros/cons) on the CDL steam bottler ?

Thanks

Rusty