Steam bottler vs water jacket bottler?

[cjf12]

So what's the pros and cons. $ seems to be saying the steam from Smokey lake. Thoughts?

[jetdoc]

We purchased a 15 gallon water jacket bottler from H&M in Burton Ohio. I comes ready for electric or propane. We got it with propane. You will have to purchase the electric heating element yourself.19490

[cjf12]

Just tried to look em up. Not much info. If you don't mind me asking, how much?
Why a water jacket though instead of just a steamer?

[jetdoc]

First off price. Second steam you always have to add water to it. We have a steam juicer and it's a pain in the butt. H&M is Amish so the only way to get a hold of them is by mail.

[jetdoc]

Cjf12 I just PM you

[sirsapsalot]

Very nice what's the price?

[wnybassman]

I have a Smokey Lake steam filter/bottler. Love it! Holds right at 192º. I was getting slightly discouraged on how long it takes to filter through the flat filters, especially near the end of the bottling session, but I started filtering my draw-offs and that solved that issue. Once I correct the density after drawing off, it goes right through the flat filter soooo much quicker. I generally bottle 6 to 12 gallons at a time. I've never had to add water to the steam tray.

[Eberzin]

What do you filter your drawoffs thru?

[cjf12]

Filter press. Just need something to help with bottling better. Right now were using a 20 gallon stock pot with a valve on it
Works well but you get hot spots and or cooling when you get near the end and have to turn burner off to prevent scorching.

[wnybassman]

What do you filter your drawoffs thru?

I layer 4 or 5 old flat prefilters from the steam bottler on top of a sieve that fits perfect on the stock pot that I draw off in to. I just keep pulling them off and cleaning them as necessary. They definitely catch a lot of junk and keeps it from clogging my final filtering

[S Wright]

For a small bottler like the Smoky Lake, there's nothing wrong with a steam pan, the biggest trade off would just be having to refill the tray. I have one of their earlier versions of the finish/filter/bottling pans with a steam pan. Thankfully it looks like they have since added a port to be able to add water without removing the pan. I warped my steam pan the first time I used it because I left it over the propane too long and unknowingly ran it dry. I still use that as my finishing pan without the steam pan under it. The thing that I always hated with it was that it was hard to keep my temperature steady with it on propane. At the time I bought it they didn't have the option of the electric element. 2-3 years ago I moved up to a 29 gallon water jacketed bottler with dual 230V heating elements, and I would never go back to bottling over propane. I have a mark on the knob that corresponds to my preferred bottling temp and I can have my wife go out and turn on the bottler a couple hours before I get home from work and when I get home my syrup is nearly up to temp but not a degree over without ever touching it again, and it doesn't usually fluctuate even 1/2 degree from start to finish even if it takes me a few hours bottling 29 gallons by myself. I add some permeate to the water jacket a couple times throughout the season and other than that there's nothing to it. So, I don't have any reason to steer you away from a steam pan style for a bottler that size, but I highly recommend going with electric.

[Ed R]

check out the honey bottlers/wax melters from honey supply stores like dadant, maxant, and Walter E Kelley. I have a used maxant 10 gallon and like it a lot. Last time I checked they were cheaper than maple suppliers.

[lyford]

wnybassman, Do you have the propane or electric version that holds well at 192. Also I'm not sure which size bottler to go for. Sometimes I filter only 2 gallons at a time, other times it may be 8-10, is the larger bottler overkill?

[thomashansen871]

I am not sure if you have purchased one yet, or not.

but there is a company, https://badgerlandmapleworks.com that is owned by smokylake, which is where i got mine from. I got the electric one, it is a 13 gallon and it was $700 bucks. looks amazing. i did order the tomlinson valve from smokeylakemaple.com because i do not like the idea of using a ball valve to fill bottles and jars.

[lyford]

Thanks Tom, I ended up getting the larger propane model last spring. Looking forward to using it for the first time in the next couple months.