Maintaining temperature when filtering and bottling

[BillinTennessee]

I posted this in the Maple syrup thread before I saw this section. Sorry about that. I see there might be some options.

I am trying to figure out how to keep my Syrup at a high temperature when bottling it. All the info says to bottle it at 180 degrees. I am doing a few gallons at a time. By the time it runs through the filters and I get it to the bottles it cools down considerably. Last year in my attempt to keep it hot I caused sugar sand to develop and two months later I had sediment in the bottom of the jars. The year before I did not and had some mold in a few bottles. It does not seem to affect the flavor but I don't want to be giving out Syrup that has sediment or worse, Mold. At what temperature is it still safe to bottle. If it cools down to 140 or 150 before I get it in the bottle is that OK? Any suggestions on how to maintain the Temperature as it is filtered will be appreciated.

[MapleMark753]

Are you filtering now with a cone filter and pre-filters? Sometimes a well used filter set like that may leave just a bit of sediment not visible at first, then sort of appears on the bottom later. Just a thought.
Also, maybe heat just a bit higher than 180, say 185-189 or something like that. With just a few/several gallons to filter at a time (that's all we do) it doesn't go below 180 in the time it gets up to temp, filters, and into the bottles. Sometimes we'll put a bit of heat to it after filtering, but on low (propane), and we don't let it get over 185 at that point. Seems to work ok, no sediment developed later with that process.
I'm sure others will chime in, but I'd venture that 140 to 150 isn't a good bottling temperature. just my 2 cents, good luck...I'm sure you'll get it down.

[psparr]

On the cheap, a coffee urn works well. Search here for info how to use them.
You can't bottle below 180 or you'll run into problems. Unless you refrigerate and use it within a few months.

[wnybassman]

For bottling 1 to 3 gallons at a time, a 30 cup coffee urn is hard to beat. I filtered finished syrup right into it and started bottling. As said, search here and you'll find everyone's procedures.

[maple flats]

Either a steam bottler or a water jacket bottler will solve that. You can not bottle below 180 F. I ran my old propane fired bottler up to 190 and bottled til it dropped to 182, then I fired it up again. Doing this there is a slight amount of new niter formed where the flame heats the bottom and that immediate area gets hotter than the 190 you filtered at, but just don't bottle the very end, but rather put it in your next batch when filtering. I filter off my finisher at 200-205 and it's still over 190 when I finish or I heat it some more.
I now have a water jacket bottler with an electric element to heat and maintain the water temperature surrounding the syrup. That is kept at 185 and keeps the syrup at the ideal temperature.
Regardless of your size and budget, you need to filter hot (hotter than bottling temp) and then you need to keep it hot for bottling (over 180 but not over 190 F).

[BAP]

What are using now for a container to filter the syrup into? When I used a cone filter in a cone filter tank, I sat it on an electric hot plate to keep the syrup at 180-185 degrees for canning.