Syrup lost in filter aid

[blissville maples]

As I stand and look at a pile of filter aid I can't help but to wonder how many gallons of syrup stay absorbed In the aid.....I'm thinking trying to press it out???

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

You have the same press as us. We batch boil on a flat pan and what we do is leave the syrup in the press then next time we boil run hot sap through it, push the syrup out and back into the pan. Then when we take the press apart, we just lose some sap and no syrup. If we do have to break it down with syrup in it, we put it all in a separate pot then heat it all up one time at the and of the season. Either way, we only really lose 1 filter change or 2-3 quarts of syrup per season. Not exactly an answer to your question, but a way to reduce wasted syrup.

[blissville maples]

Hmm that's interesting never thought of that but would certainly regain the sugar....I tried rinsing papers off one year in water and adding to pan...Hard to say what is recouped in that process. I guess I'm imagining a quart of syrup being squeeze out of the filter aid every batch!! Maybe try it one day though

[DrTimPerkins]

We use hot permeate or condensate to do the same thing. Leave no sugar behind at all.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

We use hot permeate or condensate to do the same thing. Leave no sugar behind at all.
Same here. 15 gallons of condensate water off the preheater takes it down to about 1 percent sugar. We have a 10" extended press. You could use less water for a smaller press.
Neil

[jmayerl]

On my 10 frame 7" smoky lake, when done with the syrup, I take about .5 gallons of hot water and push out most of the near syrup into a pot. I then take permeate and run a few more gallons in. The DE come out nearly dry and not sticky if the press was near full.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Good call with the hot water if you have it hot enough. Maybe we'll do that for our last batch. Our gear pump press doesn't like to pump anything through it under 160 degrees it seems.

[Jeff E]

Do you do this water rinse if you have plugged the press?
If sure makes sense at the end of a boil when there is a lot of syrup there.

When I plug the filter press with DE and dirt, I always assumed there was not much syrup in there.
But I know about assuming...

[wiam]

Good call with the hot water if you have it hot enough. Maybe we'll do that for our last batch. Our gear pump press doesn't like to pump anything through it under 160 degrees it seems.

When I had a 7" press with a gear pump I would run about 4 gallons of cold permeate through at the end each night right into the back pan. Usually went right through. I have tested sugar at the end of the permeate and it was around 5%.

[ennismaple]

We take 5 gallons of the condensate from the preheater and dump it into the "empty" syrup tank. Using the bypass hose I clean all the sugar off the sides of the tank then run the water through the press and back into the flue pan. We repeat with another 5 gallons before breaking down the press and cleaning out the DE.

[Russell Lampron]

When I'm done filtering I pump about a gallon of hot condensate through my press and back into my draw off tank and leave it there until the next boil. When I boil again I draw off heavy to compensate for the water from the press. The only sweet I lose is from the last filtering at the end of the season. The filter aide comes out of the press as a dry cake.

[markcasper]

I have a question/concern. I bought a 10" press for this year and what I have been noticing when I go to pump permeate through at the end of the batch is that as soon as the water hits the first frame it automatically gets thinner, like its not going through all the frames and getting the sweet out. When I had my old 7" you knew exactly how long it took to push the syrup out of the press and when to "pull" the hose from your bottling tank.

Any ideas on what might be going on here? It seems like the water is finding a way not to go through all the frames, or very minimumally go through them. And no.....there is not papers being blown at the first one when doing this. I also have noticed that with the air pump your able to get the press alot drier than with the old gear pump, meaning when you break it open for changing, there is very little to no liquid that drops in the catch pan.

[mellondome]

Are your frames as full of de with the 10" as they were with the 7"?

[markcasper]

Are your frames as full of de with the 10" as they were with the 7"?

If I charge the press properly and with enough DE at first, then the answer is yes.