Ghs57
04-07-2017, 11:41 AM
Yesterday I was finishing the syrup drained from the pan on a small high intensity propane burner, and I noticed that the boiling syrup in the stock pot looked like rusty water, very rusty water. There appeared to be an abundance of tiny dark particles suspended in the syrup which formed in the heat of the propane burner. This near up was quite clear when I started, but was only about at 50% density. The particulate formed while boiling in the pan had settled out or been filtered out already. So the question that came to mind is when does it end? Is there no end to niter formation when boiling syrup? Is there a point when there are no longer any substances left in the syrup to form niter? What does repeated boiling do to the flavor? This syrup is already very dark, so it really can't go any lower on the scale.
Once to the proper density, this syrup was run through a cone filter w/4 pre-filters, and looks perfectly fine, and tastes very good. I now have about 15 gals to bottle today, but none of it will be steam heated above 185, and all of it will run through the filter again. I have not been able to eliminate the cloudiness with these filters, so next year we go to a filter press.
Once to the proper density, this syrup was run through a cone filter w/4 pre-filters, and looks perfectly fine, and tastes very good. I now have about 15 gals to bottle today, but none of it will be steam heated above 185, and all of it will run through the filter again. I have not been able to eliminate the cloudiness with these filters, so next year we go to a filter press.