Sap Filtering - What is that sludge anyway

[bryankloos]

Hi all,

First year on a bigger setup and boiled 4 gallons yesterday.

I’m currently using a Liberty 1qt synthetic filter from amazon and standard cone rack.
Seems 4 gallons in I have a good layer of funk building up on the filter wall and drastically slowing the filtering to the point where it is slower than I’m drawing off.

What should I do to help this?

I’m not wanting To break the bank but would also like to have syrup that doesn’t have a layer of sediment in the bottom of the bottle after sitting for a long while.

I don’t imagine boiling much more than 6 gallons in a day for reference of needs.

Also, what is that brown layer of sludge anyway?

Tell me what is working for you all.

Thanks

Bryan

[ecolbeck]

Just to clarify, the title of your post is about sap but the content sounds like you are filtering finished syrup off of your evaporator? If the latter is true, then the sludge you encountering is calcium malate, the salt of an organic acid produced by maple trees, more commonly known as niter or sugar sand. It is a normal byproduct of syrup production. Once syrup reaches a certain density or thickness, the niter precipitates out of solution. Using a prefilter could help manage some of the issue, but regular filters do tend to plug fairly quickly. Keeping several of them on hand could help. A one quart filter is quite small for the volume you are processing. A larger 8 quart filter would be much better.

[Cjadamec]

Prefilters will extend the time you get before your cone filter clogs up and needs to be cleaned. They are cheap enough and worth the price to make filtering the sap a little bit easier.
I've found these cooking oil filters work well. I stack 3-4 inside of each other then put the stack inside the fabric filter. Once on of the pre-filters clogs up and slows down I pull it out and keep on going.

I also agree you should also step up to the 8 quart cone filter size and use the "sailor hat" method when filtering. By pulling the center of the cone up and into the cone to make it look like a sailor hat you greatly increase the effective surface area of the filter being used during filtering.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YVMXFV9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[maple flats]

The syrup prefilters as well as the cone filter are washable, just wash in clean water and never wring to remove water, just squeeze them. If you wring them, you break the filter fibers and render it useless.
To aid in filtering you can also mix some Filter Aid (food grade DE) into the syrup just before adding it to the filter, if doing a 1 gal batch (make sure it's hot, add about 1/2 cup DE, stir, then pour it into the cone filter. The DE will not pass thru the filter, and it becomes the best filter available. The DE catches the niter and builds up on the filter, creating an ever thickening filter cake. Wash when done. To buy the small amount of DE you will need, either buy some from another bigger producer or order it from The Maple Guys, they sell a small bag. Do not use swimming pool DE, it is not the same and is not food grade.

[Cjadamec]

Does the DE pass through the pre-filter? Or are you using the DE instead of using the prefilter.

[Sugarmaker]

You may want to change the title. You can do that I believe by going back and editing the first post. Sure sounds like syrup being filtered. The brown residue is sugarsand or niter. Thats the stuff your filtering out. I dont know of the filter your using? It may be ok?
You need to have a extra set of filters and then swap them out when the first ones get clogged.
Regards,
Chris

[bryankloos]

Thanks all.
You are all correct, I meant to type syrup, not sap.
I’ll get a larger synthetic cone, prefilters and the optimizer.
I appreciate all the feedback!

[therealtreehugger]

The syrup prefilters as well as the cone filter are washable, just wash in clean water and never wring to remove water, just squeeze them. If you wring them, you break the filter fibers and render it useless.

I have heard (I forgot where, most likely on another thread here) that you should boil your cone filter to get the left over residue out, even after rinsing it a lot. I have also been told that you should boil it until it turns white white again. Well, mine is not turning white again. It still has a faint “ring around the collar” look. Anyone have any thoughts on the best way to clean the cone filter out? Mine is synthetic, not actual wool. Thanks!