Cone-Style Prefilters Questions

[Andy VT]

I'm using cone-style filter for the first time this year. I just picked up two pre-filters, thinking I could clean them and get through the season. But when I watched a video on Roth Sugarbush on using cone style filters, it said to throw away the pre-filter and not re-use. This seems as though it would get fairly expensive. Is this what you all do? What do you do?

Also, I know the cloth cone filter should be wet, but should the pre-filter be wet too before use? The producer's manual says yes... I think I understand the roth website to be saying no, but maybe they just assumed I'd know to wet the prefilter since they did say to wet the main filter.

Hopefully these questions make some sense.

Thanks!

Andy

[Buffalo Plaid]

Funny, I just watched that same video..I’ve been reusing my pre-filters for about 3 years and they still work. I make sure bothe pre and cone filters are wet before use.

[ecolbeck]

I've been using the same prefilters for years now. I don't see any reason to throw them away. Is it possible that there are different types?

[DRoseum]

Sanitation is key. If you want to reuse them, you need to liberally rinse from the back side (preferably with boiling hot water) and then boil them in a pot. That all comes at a cost as well. For many, that time isn't worth it and that's why they just throw them away and use new ones.

[eustis22]

I use new ones for my finishing, I use used ones to filter the draw off the evaporator

[ecolbeck]

Sanitation is key. If you want to reuse them, you need to liberally rinse from the back side (preferably with boiling hot water) and then boil them in a pot. That all comes at a cost as well. For many, that time isn't worth it and that's why they just throw them away and use new ones.

Interesting. I've just rinsed them in cold water and dried them, never boiled them in a pot. Seems arduous. Is that what the producer's manual suggests? Truth be told, I'm one of those who runs them through the short cycle in the clothes washer. No soap, sometimes a little vinegar. Super easy, super clean.

[DRoseum]

Not juding anyone here, but this is a food product.... just a recommendation of a principal to follow... if you plan to sell or give away syrup, would you want to tell the food inspector or the consumer about all your sanitation practices for everything that come directly in contact with what they are eating?

If not, it's probably not the best practice.

I think you might be surprised at what you see if you boil them. Even after tons of rinsing, an amber hue can still show up in the pot when boiling the filters. Even if that isn't a sanitation issue, or required, there is clearly something being left behind which will potentially reduce the effectiveness of the filters, especially pre filters. Just my observation based on experience, and a recommendation if you want to reuse and keep them as effective and clean as possible. Maybe after every use is overkill, but on some intermittent basis throughout season might be beneficial.

Manual states new filters should be boiled to remove mfg residues and rinsing should only be done with hot water.

[tcross]

turn them inside out and rinse them out good with hot water and re use them. i get new ones each year, but use the same ones for a full year.

[Bucket Head]

We've been doing what Tcross has been doing for years, with great success. We filter over 100 gallons of syrup a year the "old fashioned" way!

Steve

[berkshires]

I rinse them and hang them to dry, and use them until they get pretty stained. Maybe four times? Also, I put my wool filter in the washing machine once, and I'll never do that again. It came out with lint on it that got in the bottles for weeks. No matter how much I rinsed it, some little bit of fiber would sneak past. Remember, that wool (or synthetic) filter is the last defense before the syrup goes in the bottle, so at least the outside surface of it had better be squeaky clean.

While we're on the subject of the wool filter, make sure you know which is the inside and outside of your wool filter. I don't know if it matters that much which is which, but it is important to be consistent, because the niter is getting trapped in and on one surface (whichever is the inside). If you turn it inside out, rinse it, and use it again, and there's any niter left in the filter, that niter is now on the *outside* and will wind up in the finished syrup. On my first filter I didn't keep track, and after a while I started getting hazy syrup. Learn from my mistakes!

GO

[CTguy923]

i put mine in the dishwasher and run a cycle with no soap

[johnallin]

$16.95 for dozen pre filters is pretty cheap when you can rinse and reuse a couple of times and likely less than you’re spending on liquid refreshments. Hang them over your syrup pan and let the steam rinse and sanitize, but Don’t put them in the clothes dryer or dish washer, you’re just asking for bad tasting syrup.

[maple flats]

Back before I got my filter press I washed the pre-filters and reused them. I had pre-filters that were used for 4-5 years, after that I got a filter press. I also washed the thick filter after use, squeezed it dry, then hung it to final dry. The pre-filters drid in a few hours, I had 2 heavy filters because they took over a day to dry, do not ever wring them or they will be useless, wringing them breaks fibers.

[johnallin]

There you go.
Decide for yourself, but I maintain that disposable means just that.

[Andy VT]

Thank you all for your responses! Sorry it took so long to say so. The disparate responses tell me that it wasn't as dumb a question as I might have thought, but all were helpful in some way. I'm having a great time with the filter and the syrup is sailing right through. I have been sailor-hatting both the orlon and prefilters for more surface area after seeing this done in a youtube video. I've since become aware that Bascom's has a rack to do this but I'm not using a rack. Probably would need to for larger batches. So far I've been using the same prefilter because I've had no time to get to a store to buy another. I think I could get more clear with at least one more pre-filter at a time (I'm reading of people using up to 5... not sure if I'm up for that many). I did wet the orlon and the pre-filter. And the stand I whipped together with 1x3's is nifty.