sugar sand?

[Gord]

Seems like no matter what I do to filter my syrup, I end up with cloudy syrup. I only make syrup for my family and friends and I always use bottles. I've tried different materials I have, as well as sheet and cone filters from vendors.
After a day or two or three, whatever is in there floats to the bottom and is crystal clear from there up.
This year I built a vacuum press, but the same thing happened.
I'm using wood on a flat undivided pan, and propane to finish. I'm using a Murphy Cup and matching hydrometer to tell me when it's syrup.
I usually bottle and cap it as it's coming out of the filters. I have had times when it was crystal clear, but the cloudiness is more often the case.
What am I doing wrong?

[DrTimPerkins]

It is possible that you're doing nothing wrong, but the sugar sand is just too small to filter out with your method(s).

I suggest for the syrup you're putting in glass to allow it to settle (sedimentation method) for a few days, decant it carefully, and reheat to 180-185 deg F, followed by bottling it.

Alternatively...switch to plastic. :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZP4fDl-nB98B3TQ4YofaQQkRi-tC0ut9

[Gord]

Alternatively...switch to plastic. :lol:

HAHAHA My buddy who got me started in this hobby said, Jeez, mine comes out crystal clear. I said ... How would you know! You're putting it in plastic!!

[maple flats]

In your filtering, with either the cones or your vacuum filter try mixing in more DE (must be food grade, get it from a maple dealer). I've found that most who have cloudy syrup didn't use enough DE.

[DrTimPerkins]

HAHAHA My buddy who got me started in this hobby said, Jeez, mine comes out crystal clear. I said ... How would you know! You're putting it in plastic!!

Yes...always amusing when people call when they start packing in glass and say "I never have this problem when I pack syrup in plastic." :rolleyes:

[Woodsrover]

I bottle between 5 and 10 gallons at a time. I let my syrup sit for 24-48 hours in 6-gallon kettles with a spigot in the bottom. The spigot sits maybe an inch off the bottom allowing me to draw off clear syrup into a double-boiler where I re-heat to 195 and filter through a Smokey Lake flat canner. I pack in glass and its 99.9% sediment free.

[Sugar Bear]

I filter syrup through paper at 95% of the way to syrup.

When 100% of the way to syrup I pack my syrup in glass and let it settle. For this approach the taller and narrower the bottle the better. This way the sand settles into the narrow bottom and it is easier to poor off clear for repacking.

I use 1/2 gallon glass mason jars. They are relatively tall and narrow. When I poor off I put a light underneath it to watch for any sand leaving the settlement. When it starts I poor that little bit off ... re boil that and re filter that through a paper filter .... its only a small amount so it does not take to long.

I try to settle my 1/2 gallon jars for 4 weeks at least.

[Gord]

Thanks for the replies.
I've never used DE, other than in the swimming pool. But I have read a lot about it, here and elsewhere. And it's an option.
Letting it settle and pouring it off to re-boil is probably what I'll end up doing. I wish I could blame my vacuum press, but the same thing happens when I use gravity.
I'm going to pick up another thermometer to make sure I'm at 190 when I bottle it.

[NhShaun]

I have also found letting it settle for a few weeks then decanting the good stuff to rebottle works wonders. I always save the leftover of each and combine them at the end to rebottle for my own personal use. That was with gravity cone and flat filters, but this year i upgraded to a Wes fab filter press which should really help me out as i only bottle in glass.

[CTguy923]

so a question about the DE, can it be used to filter with gravity and cone filter/pre filter combo also ?? or is it mostly for filter presses ??, and if its possible with cone filters, how much would you mix in with your syrup ??...is there a formula somewhere

[Sugar Bear]

so a question about the DE, can it be used to filter with gravity and cone filter/pre filter combo also ?? or is it mostly for filter presses ??, and if its possible with cone filters, how much would you mix in with your syrup ??...is there a formula somewhere

If you add the proper amount of DE to bond up to the SS in your syrup you won't gravity filter it until about the year 2047, unless of course your gravity filter has holes in it the size of a silver dollar.

Settle filtering sugar sand is incredibly effective so long as it is given a bit of time.

Sometimes most of it settles out within two days, sometimes not, but you should give all of it about 4 weeks if you can.

I store it the first week at 65/70 degrees then cooler after that.

[Super Sapper]

Though I have not gravity filtered with DE, I would disagree on not filtering well. DE creates a 3D filtering zone instead of just a single plane to filter. I believe others have used it with pretty good results.

[Sugarmaker]

Seems like no matter what I do to filter my syrup, I end up with cloudy syrup. I only make syrup for my family and friends and I always use bottles. I've tried different materials I have, as well as sheet and cone filters from vendors.
After a day or two or three, whatever is in there floats to the bottom and is crystal clear from there up.
This year I built a vacuum press, but the same thing happened.
I'm using wood on a flat undivided pan, and propane to finish. I'm using a Murphy Cup and matching hydrometer to tell me when it's syrup.
I usually bottle and cap it as it's coming out of the filters. I have had times when it was crystal clear, but the cloudiness is more often the case.
What am I doing wrong?

Gord,
I would ask a couple questions.
1, The thermometer that your using seemed to be in question. Reheating the syrup to elevated temps could be causing the sugar sand to occur.
2. do you filter, let cool and then re heat? If you do check the syrup clairity at the cooled stage. is it clear?
3. check the bottom of your canner does it have sugarsand on it? Probably too high of heat?
4. maybe bring your canning temp down to 180F
5. Do you manipulate the filters to try to get the syrup through? This could cause sugarsand to pass through the filters.
These this may not help but I made good quality clear syrup for many years using gravity filters. You should be able to also.
Regards,
Chris

[buckeye gold]

sometimes you have sugar sand that is very small. A little De will help with that, but mix it in very well. Use less than a press, maybe 1/3 -1/2 cup per gallon. I filter all my syrup twice off the finisher. Here is my regimen:

Draw off at 215-216
run through two prefilters and one orlon final filter
put on propane to finish
When finished filter immediately through another set of filters as above.
This usually gets me good clear syrup if not I reheat and repeat

at the end of season when syrup start to get that slick look in the filters I will add the DE if needed

[Gord]

Thanks again to all.

Chris, Here is my process.

1) Boil down to near syrup on my wood evaporator.
2) Filter with a cone filter from the evaporator pan in to a SS pot.
3) Boil in the SS pot with propane to 100% syrup, using a Murphy Cup and gold Series hydrometer.
4) At this point I instantly run it through the vacuum press (this last time) or pour it through the gravity filters in to a pan.
5) Once it's completely drained, I fill my bottles.

To put in to perspective, this last boil was 25 gallons of concentrate. It made 92 ounces of syrup. Time laps from turning off propane at 100% syrup, to filter press, to bottling was around 5 to 10 minutes.
Also, the completely filtered syrup in the pot ready to be bottled, was crystal clear all the way to the bottom of the pan. And with only 92 ounces, it was easy to see to the bottom. What I'm looking at in the bottom of my bottles, I definitely didn't see in the pan. Also, what is in the bottom is very light in color, not dark.

Not sure if it means anything, but I will also add that all my trees are reds, or swamps, or woods. Not sure what to call them other than, none of them are sugar maples according to their leaves.
I will also add that the taste and color of the syrup is perfect, if I do say so myself.

Thanks, and fire away with opinions.

[Ed R]

I found this helps when I am having problems with very fine sugar sand. I filter directly off of the evaporator through a single pre filter in a "ring stand" I cobbled together. This is near syrup. I then add a small amount of de in as I batch finish and put it through 2 pre's and an Orlon. or I add more de as usual and put it though my hand press. My sand is more slimy than most which is more gritty so it helps to get rid of 90-95% of the bulk precipitate before dealing with the final filtering.

[Sugarmaker]

I found this helps when I am having problems with very fine sugar sand. I filter directly off of the evaporator through a single pre filter in a "ring stand" I cobbled together. This is near syrup. I then add a small amount of de in as I batch finish and put it through 2 pre's and an Orlon. or I add more de as usual and put it though my hand press. My sand is more slimy than most which is more gritty so it helps to get rid of 90-95% of the bulk precipitate before dealing with the final filtering.
Ed,
If this is near syrup? When do you bring it to finished syrup?
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks again to all.

Chris, Here is my process.

1) Boil down to near syrup on my wood evaporator.
2) Filter with a cone filter from the evaporator pan in to a SS pot.
3) Boil in the SS pot with propane to 100% syrup, using a Murphy Cup and gold Series hydrometer.
4) At this point I instantly run it through the vacuum press (this last time) or pour it through the gravity filters in to a pan.
5) Once it's completely drained, I fill my bottles.

To put in to perspective, this last boil was 25 gallons of concentrate. It made 92 ounces of syrup. Time laps from turning off propane at 100% syrup, to filter press, to bottling was around 5 to 10 minutes.
Also, the completely filtered syrup in the pot ready to be bottled, was crystal clear all the way to the bottom of the pan. And with only 92 ounces, it was easy to see to the bottom. What I'm looking at in the bottom of my bottles, I definitely didn't see in the pan. Also, what is in the bottom is very light in color, not dark.

Not sure if it means anything, but I will also add that all my trees are reds, or swamps, or woods. Not sure what to call them other than, none of them are sugar maples according to their leaves.
I will also add that the taste and color of the syrup is perfect, if I do say so myself.

Thanks, and fire away with opinions.

Gord,
I don't think you can see sugar sand in the syrup, as its heated, at least I have never. But maybe I missed something?
Chris

[Ed R]

Chris, I never finish directly on the evaporator. At the family farm we batch finished about 7 gallons at a time on a finishing evaporator. On my hobby operation I finish about 2 to 3 gallons at a time in a pot on an induction heating unit next to my 2x6. Usually I don't let the nearup cool off which is when I pre filter. When I do let it cool I decant off the top. If filtering is a pain doing it as a two step process helps. Last year my syrup filtered better so I just filtered prior to canning. I have found that filtering issues are more prevalent at the beginning an end of the season.

[Gord]

Boiled this past weekend and had much better results. I have one of the thick felt like cone gravity filters I purchased last year with the four loops on it to hang it. I only boil between 30 and 50 gallons at a time. When the filter came in I thought it would soak up a lot of syrup, so it never got used.
For this weekends batch I decided to go back to gravity filtering and try the filter. Couldn't be happier!
I did my usual of filtering the near syrup out of my pan, using my new Murphy Cup and Gold Series hydrometer, and put a pre filter inside the thick filter. What a difference! Crystal clear and absolutely nothing in the bottles but syrup. See photo below.
I still think my vacuum filter will work. Maybe I just need to experiment with filter material.
Thanks again for all your replies!


22073

[Ed R]

Nice looking syrup.