does RO have affect on filtering?

[canaanmaple]

I have always had great success with gravity filtering the finished syrup and had crystal clear syrup. Just got an RO and did a test run and noticed that the finished syrup has yet to settle out much. I'll give it a few more days, but wondering if using an RO could somehow result in niter being more suspended in the finished syrup and having a harder time settling?

thanks!

[Potters3]

Yes, once we added a R/O was having to double filter to get clear. And couldn't keep up with bag filters. Added the filter press after 2 boils with the R/O

[canaanmaple]

Yes, once we added a R/O was having to double filter to get clear. And couldn't keep up with bag filters. Added the filter press after 2 boils with the R/O

well that's disappointing to hear. Save boil time with an RO and increase filtering time/effort/money?! hmmm

[Cjadamec]

Nitter forms when the sap/syrup is boiling. Its a crystalline precipitate so the longer it has time to form the larger the crystals will get to a certain point.

By using RO you cut your boiling time at least in half so the nitter has less time to form larger crystals. Its much easier for the smaller crystals to stay in suspension. It's also much harder to remove smaller particles from a solution because they clog up filters faster.

There is always a price to pay when using magic.

[canaanmaple]

Nitter forms when the sap/syrup is boiling. Its a crystalline precipitate so the longer it has time to form the larger the crystals will get to a certain point.

By using RO you cut your boiling time at least in half so the nitter has less time to form larger crystals. Its much easier for the smaller crystals to stay in suspension. It's also much harder to remove smaller particles from a solution because they clog up filters faster.

There is always a price to pay when using magic.

thats a great explanation thanks! Hoping it settles out eventually, and just takes a little longer than normal. I'll be happy with that!

[DrTimPerkins]

You are also generating niter at a much faster rate when you boil concentrate compared to sap. The precursors to niter (minerals and organic acids) are concentrated along with the sugar, so for example if you go to 8 Brix with an RO, you'll generate niter at a 4X rate compared to if you'd boiled the sap. Of course you're also making syrup at that much faster rate as well, so you'll use 4X the filter material.

[tgormley358]

Canaan, I can relate to your reaction, having been pretty happy last year with my flat filtering setup, and just bought a small RO. I hadn’t heard of this issue before so I’m kinda glad to find out ahead of time. One question — how high have you been concentrating? I’ve been planning to only go to 4-5% and hope that will keep the issue to a minimum. Dr Tim’s response made me think about this.

Have you decided whether to filter a second time to get clearer syrup?

Tom

[tgormley358]

Have you considered adding DE to the syrup before filtering? I was just reading another post in the filtering section which mentioned this. I wonder if the DE would help remove more of the smaller crystals. Something to try maybe.
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