What is the best filter method for small batches?

[barnbc76]

This is my 3rd season and I have discovered that there are many ineffective ways to try and filter syrup. I tried a dish cloth mainly, but I also tried a syrup filter which sort of worked but got clogged ect. I also learned that squeezing the filters is not good. Most of my jars had 1/2" or so of niter in them, not that big a deal, but I would like to get better this year.

I see the cone filters look much easier to use, do they really work? And do I have to use prefilters that go in them. Tell me what you find to be the best method. I will likely be doing batches of 1.5-3 gal of syrup at a time for a total of 6-10 gal. Oh and I am willing to spend $20 but I don't want to go insane.

[1arch]

Settlement is a great solution for small batch such as 2 quart mason jars. After a couple months of sitting on the shelf decanting off the top offers crystal clear product. Whatever is left on the bottom can be further setted out for future use.

[Paddymountain]

Buy an old coffee urn on E-bay and use a cone filter and 3 or 4 prefilters, You'll keep your syrup warm for filtering and be able to bottle right from it.

[farmrelated]

We used cone filters with a prefilter for years and never had any sand go through. Buy one for 20 bucks and a pack of three prefilters for 7 bucks. It will last you for years. Money well spent imo. We really really liked that system. Works for 1 gal batches or 10 gal. Good luck!


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[scottdevine]

Barny,

This will be my second season, and through a ton of research on MT last year, 2015 (my first season) was an incredible journey, and i have the bug BAD. I made 17 gallons off ~45 taps on open firepit, and barrel evap. Here is how i bottle my product. I loved the idea of keeping the syrup hot (185 deg F -190F), and the coffee urn seemed like a great idea. I picked up 2 locally (tag sale, craigslist etc) for $5ea (i wanted a spare). The pre-filters are a must, as is the synthetic cone. I made a stand (its too heavy), to support the cone filter lined with the prefilters, i use 5-6 per batch. While my syrup is finishing on propane, i sterilize the bottles, and prep the area. Once the bottles are clean, they are dried in my oven at 200 Deg F to maintain the heat, and ensure they are dry. The urn is filled with water and turned on to get it to get the pot to max temp. When the hydrometer tells me its, time, i empty the urn into a spare pot to use the hot water later, i set my stand lined with filters over the urn, and pour in the sweet. As i pour, depending on batch size, i have someone filling bottles. If the flow slows, i remove one of the prefilters, and dump into the next, and so on until i am down to 1 prefilter (usually). When my bottles are full, i hang the cone filter from a cabinet door, and let it drain into "my" container that will sit until the cone is empty. My syrup is very clear, i am very happy with my process. I did 15 batches like this last year, and got the hang of the flow around batch 9! I can't wait to get bottling this year.

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[psparr]

Here's my setup. https://youtu.be/9kdVThgyq_M

You still get a little niter from the heating element, but it's not bad. Letting it settle is the easiest method, but takes a while.

One trick for small guys like us. After your done filtering, put the syrup soaked filter in a gallon zip lock bag and throw it in the freezer. Next time you boil, rinse the filter in the hot sap and your ready to go for the next batch.

[unclejohn]

15454

hope i loaded this photo correctly. i used some small bar and wirestock welded up to support the wool cone filter by its 4 loops and its high enough to clear the bottom of the urn. from our evaporator, we bring syrup to the stovetop, heat it to about 217, run it through the cone filter (with a pellon filter inside) and drain into another stockpot. this filterstep captures a bunch of niter and sand. then we cook to 220-221 deg, then we put the urn under the cone filters, and fill jars right out of the spigot. this 2 step process makes a pretty product. we dont use the urn heater, concerned that the tiny heat element might scorch or cause niter. john

[Sugarmaker]

15454

hope i loaded this photo correctly. i used some small bar and wirestock welded up to support the wool cone filter by its 4 loops and its high enough to clear the bottom of the urn. from our evaporator, we bring syrup to the stovetop, heat it to about 217, run it through the cone filter (with a pellon filter inside) and drain into another stockpot. this filterstep captures a bunch of niter and sand. then we cook to 220-221 deg, then we put the urn under the cone filters, and fill jars right out of the spigot. this 2 step process makes a pretty product. we dont use the urn heater, concerned that the tiny heat element might scorch or cause niter. john

That second heating to 220-221 will make niter again in your syrup.:(
Maybe recheck these temps?
Should be at 180F for canning.
Regards,
Chris

[whity]

We have a flat filtering system. 1 synthetic finish filter and 7 prefilters. pull prefilters as they clog up. Make sure syrup is hot and filter are moist and hot as well. We filter right off the finish pan. Once filtered it get decanted into our water jacket canner. Brought up to temp of 185 to 190 then canned

[Maple Ridge Tapper]

We have a flat filtering system. 1 synthetic finish filter and 7 prefilters. pull prefilters as they clog up. Make sure syrup is hot and filter are moist and hot as well. We filter right off the finish pan. Once filtered it get decanted into our water jacket canner. Brought up to temp of 185 to 190 then canned
Do you moisten your filters with hot water before filtering? If so, do you not find you get a tiny bit of water in with your syrup from that?

[whity]

Yes we do. After they are wet and the arch is getting up to temp, We hang them over the front pans and allow the steam to keep them warm and moist. The little amount of water that would leak into the syrup would not affect the density.

[Maple Ridge Tapper]

Yes we do. After they are wet and the arch is getting up to temp, We hang them over the front pans and allow the steam to keep them warm and moist. The little amount of water that would leak into the syrup would not affect the density.
Thank you Whity

[jrm]

Nice stands psparr and scottdevine.

I am have had.smaller batches and my tools have evolved. Process has remained the same in that I finished on the stove in a stock pot. I then filter into another pot. Bring temp back to 180-185 for bottling. My bottles have been sanitized and are kept warm in a 200 degree oven. I use a ladle and funnel and fill my bottles. The coffee urn and spigot method definitely seems easier.

My first year on I used a orlon cone filter hanging from and upper cabinet knob without and prefilters. The syrup was pretty clear, but, my filter got clogged quickly.

The second year, I added three prefilters, still used the upper cabinet knob as my holding device, as the prefilter clogged, I removed and dumped into the next one below. Syrup was nice and clear, except for crystallization. That occurred after bottling ... my syrup got too hot waiting to bottle the last few. The worst was the loop slipping off by cabinet know and spilling a bottles worth of syrup across my counter and floor,

Last year, I changed and bought a grease cone filter to hot the filters. It works very well. Just need to have it resting on buckets to keep it high enough so the filter doesn't sit in the syrup. I also bought grease cone filters to use as prefilteers. Cheaper than the maple prefilters and they work very well.

I'm not certain I can get ahead of the game and find an urn, but I think that will need to be on next year's improvements.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/royal-paper-efc10-10-paper-grease-filter-cone-50-box/121100.html
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/10-fryer-oil-cone-filter-holder/682FCH101.html

[GramaCindy]

I originally used a french fry basket, https://www.amazon.com/Thudner-Group-Inch-Basket-Small/dp/B001PZF2DY?th=1 lined with a flat filter and several layers of prefilters.
I used the larger one, bought it at my maple supply store. Andersons, back in the day.

[Person25]

materials i use, 3 five gallon buckets, four deckscrews, cone filter, and several prefilters. the process the same as everyone else with prefilters etc.

I use the first bucket as my collection bucket, the second is for the final drops once the majority has passed through the filter. The third bucket is a donor, cut the bottom off about half way up, so only the top section with the handle is left for you to use, use a small hole drill to drill four holes near the top for the cone filter loops to go through, use the deck screws through the loops so the weight of the syrup cant pull the loops back through the holes (works better than clothes hangers). this way when you nest the collection bucket and the filter bucket can be hung above the level of syrup collecting by using the bucket handle still atached to the bottomless filter holder bucket. I filter hot enough to be able to bottle with a funnel and waiting mason jars out of the collection bucket once the majority has been filtered, i let the filter hang over the second collection bucket while i bottle the bulk of the syrup. i use the 'drippings' for breakfast the next morning.

[valleyman]

For yearsI used the settling method and after 3-4 months it will be clear. When i was ready to bottle, I would carefully pour off the clear syrup until the niter started to get into the stream. Let those jars resettle, pour off agin for baking and ditch the cloudy sludge.

Finally this year I went the coffee urn route with a modified bucket on top. Great youtube vid on this. (Thanks a million for the video) Cut a hole in the bottom of bucket making sure it's smaller than the uurn diameter. Position and attach 4 hooks so the cone filter drops about 4-5" into the urn. (Orlon and 3 pre filters) In the 2nd pic There are clos pins. I ended up not using them. Oh lastly, I did a 3/4 gal batch and the syrup loss to the filter gods was way more noticable as compared to 2 and 3 gal batches.

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-Coffee%20Urn%20Filter_zpsseex33yv.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-Coffee%20Urn%20Filter_zpsseex33yv.jpg.html)

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-Coffee%20Urn%20Filter-2_zpsaelgbxod.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-Coffee%20Urn%20Filter-2_zpsaelgbxod.jpg.html)

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-Syrp%20Bottles-1_zps4xg5eie1.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-Syrp%20Bottles-1_zps4xg5eie1.jpg.html)

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-0219171853_zpsc96secpo.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2017%20Maple/MAPLE-2017-0219171853_zpsc96secpo.jpg.html)

[psparr]

Don't waste the syrup in the filter. When done filtering throw the syrup soaked filter in a gallon zip lock bag and pop it in the freezer till next boil. Take it out and rinse it out in the hot sap to recover any syrup.

[valleyman]

Don't waste the syrup in the filter. When done filtering throw the syrup soaked filter in a gallon zip lock bag and pop it in the freezer till next boil. Take it out and rinse it out in the hot sap to recover any syrup.
Pspar,
Thanks to you, my 2nd syrup soaked filter is in the freezer, thanks a million !

[Pauly V]

Barny,

This will be my second season, and through a ton of research on MT last year, 2015 (my first season) was an incredible journey, and i have the bug BAD. I made 17 gallons off ~45 taps on open firepit, and barrel evap. Here is how i bottle my product. I loved the idea of keeping the syrup hot (185 deg F -190F), and the coffee urn seemed like a great idea. I picked up 2 locally (tag sale, craigslist etc) for $5ea (i wanted a spare). The pre-filters are a must, as is the synthetic cone. I made a stand (its too heavy), to support the cone filter lined with the prefilters, i use 5-6 per batch. While my syrup is finishing on propane, i sterilize the bottles, and prep the area. Once the bottles are clean, they are dried in my oven at 200 Deg F to maintain the heat, and ensure they are dry. The urn is filled with water and turned on to get it to get the pot to max temp. When the hydrometer tells me its, time, i empty the urn into a spare pot to use the hot water later, i set my stand lined with filters over the urn, and pour in the sweet. As i pour, depending on batch size, i have someone filling bottles. If the flow slows, i remove one of the prefilters, and dump into the next, and so on until i am down to 1 prefilter (usually). When my bottles are full, i hang the cone filter from a cabinet door, and let it drain into "my" container that will sit until the cone is empty. My syrup is very clear, i am very happy with my process. I did 15 batches like this last year, and got the hang of the flow around batch 9! I can't wait to get bottling this year.

1497414975149761497714978
17 gallons off of 45 taps?
Madone.

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[Pauly V]

17 gallons off of 45 taps?
Madone.

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i made 7 gallons on 42 taps my 1st season on a 55 gal drum set up. are you using a hydrometer?

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[Joe Hillmann]

I filter through tea towels. They are cheap, a pack of five is about $3. I one so it sits on top of a bucket with lots of sag in it then I put two more loosely on top of it. When I pour the syrup through the top towel clogs up pretty fast so I keep moving it so the syrup can run through clean spots on the towel. Once I can't move it to a clean spot anymore I slide that towel out and the second towel usually doesn't clog up but if it does I could remove that and still have the third towel that is tied in place to catch it.

[Galena]

I use clean, cut-up white T-shirts that have never been worn. They are boiled only in distilled water to help leach out any chemicals from manufacturing then allowed to air dry. Easy enough to swap them out by having another piece of T-shirt clothespegged into place on a funnel. And if there is still nitre - like if syrup goes through the T-shirt filters way too fast - the next day I let them warm to room temp and then repeat filtering process only this time I use paper coffee filters. Works great!

[sappytapper]

Galena, this might be a silly question, since I imagine if you weren't getting good results with this method you probably wouldn't continue to use it. But any details on the filtering temp through the teeshirts, time between finishing to syrup and filtering, and the amount of nitre that makes it through on average after the bottles have had some time to settle for a few weeks to a month?

Thanks!

[barnbc76]

Thanks for all the responses, Ok so i took finally filtered my first batch about 1/2 gal, i bought the prefilters and cone filter 2gal capacity, it took an 1hr and was pitiful. I read in another thread how someone rigged up a way to use all of the cone filter and thought i would try this. Using a collander strainer thing a similar shape to the cone filter i flipped it upside down and just like the other guys i was able to use all of the filter it worked 2x as fast and syrup looks great. I used 4 prefilters and the cone filter with just under 3 gal of syrup. It still took 3 1/2hrs but manageable.

[On the ledge]

I'm a small hobbyist also. What I do is put it in the fridge for 4 or 5 days and let it settle and then decant it slowly so all the sludge stays on the bottom of the pan. then reheat and bottle. I don't bottle in glass and give it to friends and family, never had any complaints.

[Helicopter Seeds]

I also use the cone setup I got from Bascom, and a special bucket arrangement. I had first got a fry oil filter setup from a kitchen supply store but found the filters clogged quick and if you filled to top, I spilled out the edge more than once. So what I did is use the stainless steel holder for that, which straddles any pot, pan, or even my evaporator, and I put a 5 gallon bucket on top. The bottom of bucket was simply cut off, so it holds no syrup behind. Then the filter loop simply go around the lid, with a piece of wire run through and twisted tight to the rim. Holds solid, very stable.

Last year I did this after allowing syrup to cool from boiling, back up to 180 on very low propane heat, then poured through, into another pot, also turned on very low heat. Put the lid on top of filter stack to keep the remaining steam and help drip off syrup. Then the pot was fridged until ready to bottle using the coffee urn. I still had some niter that formed after several weeks in the bottles. This year, my four gallons are in the fridge, but I will re-heat using a steam pan unit, then filter it all again, to see what else I can take out, into the coffee urn, and bottle. I like Scott's stand, to hold the filter steady above the urn. My only concern on my rack is that it may be top heavy on the smaller urn and risk spilling over.

I also rinse the filters into my preheat sap pan, then filter that stuff all through. I definitely get syrup out, and have clear sweet, but darker pre-heat sap. I may boil that separate to use for candied nuts.

[BSD]

this is my setup, 6-7 pre filters into a cone filter into a coffee urn. once there is some syrup in the bottom of the urn i'll turn it on, it holds 180-182 degrees well. then i can bottle right out of the urn. The pre filters are the real work horse. the first three take 90% of the abuse and the rest get the residuals which keeps the load off the real filter.

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[Helicopter Seeds]

BSD,
that is nearly identical filter rack that I rest my bottomless bucket on. Caution that once the syrup level is above the metal rack, then it may suddenly tip even on one side. I was using it with the small cone filters extensively for sap filtering, and for 'nearup' filtering too, but got lazy and figured I would first pass syrup through it. Sure enough I spilled. Probably a small bottle worth is now in the ground.

[BSD]

BSD,
that is nearly identical filter rack that I rest my bottomless bucket on. Caution that once the syrup level is above the metal rack, then it may suddenly tip even on one side. I was using it with the small cone filters extensively for sap filtering, and for 'nearup' filtering too, but got lazy and figured I would first pass syrup through it. Sure enough I spilled. Probably a small bottle worth is now in the ground.yep, i pour into it, and let it filter, then start bottling to bring the level down, then pour more in, remove prefilters if necessary, and keep bottling as i go.

Also, make sure you have the spigot closed on the urn or bottling unit. I lost almost a quart from my first batch because i failed to notice it coming right out onto the floor... i was so angry at myself for that one.

[Jamieson]

For REALLY small batches, like 1/2 gallon or just a few bottles, I'm looking for a filter method that doesn't waste much syrup. Coffee filters are too slow, and it seems like one of the large synthetic cone type filters would saturate and hold/waste about half my batch. I was thinking about trying one of those AeroPress coffee makers, essentially a piston with a reusable filter on the bottom. Anyone tried one of these?

[SeanD]

Also, make sure you have the spigot closed on the urn or bottling unit. I lost almost a quart from my first batch because i failed to notice it coming right out onto the floor... i was so angry at myself for that one.

There could be an entire thread on the Trader devoted to "Valves Left Open, Buckets Knocked Over, and Disconnected Hoses". You stay mad for that particular season, but usually by the next season it becomes a war story. Usually. This season is especially historic for me. With the heat waves, I've been cleaning more often and making all kids of goofs.

BSD, for a half-gallon, I wouldn't bother running it through a filter. Let the niter settle and decant the clear syrup off the top. The filter you are talking about sounds like a French press. If so, that screen won't be fine enough to filter out niter.

[BSD]

There could be an entire thread on the Trader devoted to "Valves Left Open, Buckets Knocked Over, and Disconnected Hoses". You stay mad for that particular season, but usually by the next season it becomes a war story. Usually. This season is especially historic for me. With the heat waves, I've been cleaning more often and making all kids of goofs.

BSD, for a half-gallon, I wouldn't bother running it through a filter. Let the niter settle and decant the clear syrup off the top. The filter you are talking about sounds like a French press. If so, that screen won't be fine enough to filter out niter.Well, yesterday i bottled up my second batch of about 5 gallons, just as i was about to start filling the urn my 7 year old says "dad, isn't that supposed to be closed?" this coming from the most un-observant kid in the world.... well he saved my first pour of the batch. well not 25 minutes later i was getting ready to do another pour and i did the same **** thing, syrup all over the floor again...

I've now made up a label that says "CHECK SPIGOT FIRST!". apparently i just get so focused on pouring from the finishing pot into the urn while it's over 180 that all logical visual checks get forgotten.


just FYI, i was about to do almost a whole 5 gallon finish on 7 pre filters a cone filter. it was down to the last quart that just wouldn't go through the cone filter. i think if i had used 8 or 10 prefilters i would have made the whole thing in one go.

[SeanD]

Ha, ha. I have a Post-it on my truck dash right now that says, "Tank valve is OPEN". I won't be able to miss it, right?

The success of filtering that batch is less about the number of pre-filters than it is about keeping it hot and not letting it sit to cool down. I'll bet your bottom 3 to 4 pre-filters were pretty clean. Try wrapping a thick towel around the setup and put a lid on top to hold the heat in.

You can also take the amount of syrup that is stuck and pour it back into the pot to heat it up again and re-pour it through the next filters. I just did that with my last batch. The last quart was stuck. It only takes a few minutes. It doesn't even have to boil. Don't worry about the reheat and being a little heavy. You can just correct it once everything is through the filters.

[sappytapper]

I've had great luck this season so far running 185deg or so syrup through a couple layers of a tightly woven cloth napkin layed across a canning funnel. Half gallon or so batches thus far, and it clogs up a little bit, but removing a layer of cloth and/or moving shifting the cloth sideways within the funnel to expose an unused section of it gets it going again.

It certainly accumulated a good deal of sludge, so I imagine the lion's share of the niter got pulled out. But, we'll see what the bottom of the container looks like after a few weeks settling. :-)

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[johnpma]

Filtering is like waiting for that Christmas present you wanted as a kid! You wait and wait and wait and hope that when you open it its exactly what you wanted :)

[wlatrout]

In filtering the syrup out of the evaporator I use a cone filter with 5 prefilters. I then take a piece of white felt ( bought at Walmart) and put it down into the last prefilter and run the syrup through that. It takes a lot of of the junk out and the filters don't plug as quickly . Then when I fill the quart jars I put 2 pieces of the felt into a canning funnel and run it through that. Comes out pretty clear.

[sappytapper]

Also worth mentioning that the last batch I did, I took down to about 3/4 gallon of nearup outside ont he evaporator and poured that through 7 or 8 layers of cheese cloth into the pot i was intending to finish with on the stove inside.

After finishing on the stove and letting it settle overnight, there was DRASTICALLY less niter than the previous batch that I waited until it was completely finished to filter.