Filtering small quantities

[DaveB]

I'm wondering what most of you do when you only have a small quantity of syrup to filter. I'm talking about a gallon or two of finished syrup. Since I am not that big, I use a double steamer pot setup that I got at a kitchen supply store. I have a synthetic filter and prefilter that cut to fit along the bottom of the top pot which has holes in it so the filtered syrup falls into the lower pot which has a spigot on it for canning.

The part that 'concerns' me is that there is always a little bit of unfiltered syrup left in the top part. It's not really a problem when I have several gallons, but if I only have a gallon or two, there might be a half pint or so of syrup that is wasted. It just seems wasteful to me. Is there a better way to handle small quantities?

Thanks,

Dave

[VtSugarhouse]

If I had only a small amount to filter I would use a cone shaped felt filter and pre filter. This way you shouldnt have too much syrup which is wasted.

[Sugardaddy]

We will produce 20-30 gallons this year, but are only getting a gallon or tow at a time right now due to frequent drops in temp. Here's out process:

Cook down and pour into 1/2 gall. mason jars.

Let sit a few days to settle, then pour off slowly. Bottom 1/5th of each jar has sediment and is left in jar.

Combine sediment leavings into one jar and allow to sit again.

Pour off sed. jar as much as possible. Heat all syrup and pass thorugh coffee filters (have a felt cone for when the amounts are a bit larger). Keep changing filters as they clog. Last to filter is the sed. leavings. I pout tht through cheesecloth, as it won't go through the coffee filters easily. That stuff is what we use to cook with at home or for flavoring. 95% of the syrup is saved this way for bottling and sale and it looks great!

[markct]

i know what ya mean i had the same situation. usualy would only make a half gallon at a time, altho i been saving it up and filtering and bottling every few days now which is less cleaning and stuff. i use a strainer in the top of my coffee pot canner and line it with a filter paper, it works pretty well. the best help i have found is this: i boil my syrup till its about 5 degrees above boiling in my evaporator, then i drawoff thru my filter into the pot that i finish it in on my turkeyfrier, then filter the finished syrup into my coffee pot. the first filtering takes out 80 percent of the stuff, and flows thru a bit better i think since its very hot and a bit thinner, and just a trickle off the evaporator. then when i do the final filtering into the coffee pot it just catches a small amount of crap and flows thru pretty well, i let it dribble the last little bit thru as i bottle up the other stuff in the pot and usualy end up with very little left in the filter, and what is there looks real dark and nasty so nothing to cry about realy

[danno]

Place 3 or 4 (or only two if that's all you need) prefilters on top of your filter. As your first prefilter clogs, pull it out of your pan, dumping the sap into your next prefilter. When we filter 5 or 10 gallons on our flat finishing pan, I will layer 4 prefilters, and remove the top one as it clogs.

[VA maple guy]

Dave, If I end up with a small amount of syrup after filtering I just pour it over my pancakes on the morning.
Gerry

[Jim Powell]

Dave,
I do pretty much the same technique that Sugardaddy outlined. I made 16 gallons last year, and let it sit in one gallon jugs for a week or so before I filtered. The only twist I’ll add to this, is that after the gunk has settled over a week, I’ll take 2-3 jugs and put them in a half inch deep cookie sheet. Then I will place a lot of ice in the sheet and salt it down. I let that sit for several hours, sucking off the water occasionally and replacing it with ice. The point is to really chill the sludge layer so when you pour off the syrup, the bottom is much more viscous and doesn’t bleed into clear syrup. If we made hundreds of gallons we wouldn’t be so protective of each drop! You warm up the bottom layer again and combine it all, but it is hard to filter. Last year I built a pressure filtration system using a 5 gallon pressure cooker, fitted with a tube through the lid and down to the bottom. When you have the syrup at bottling temp, you apply air pressure to the sealed pot, which forces the syrup up the tube. I used a beer/wine filter last year, which filtered to about 7-10 microns. It was messy and was really not designed to be used at that temperature. This year, I’ve gone to a stainless steel filter setup. It looks similar to the filters that the beekeepers use. Once it is finished, I’ll post with photos and parts list for those who have interest and a desire to sink even more $$ into this socially acceptable addiction!

[hholt]

If I had only a small amount to filter I would use a cone shaped felt filter and pre filter. This way you shouldnt have too much syrup which is wasted.

Last year I had to decant my finished syrup and rebottle it, but this year filtering worked great and my syrup is perfectly clear packed in quart mason jars. I used a premoistened a cone felt filter and a prefilter, and followed the advice not to touch it, just be patient and let it run through hot.

[TDVT]

....This year, I’ve gone to a stainless steel filter setup. It looks similar to the filters that the beekeepers use. Once it is finished, I’ll post with photos and parts list for those who have interest and a desire to sink even more $$ into this socially acceptable addiction!


Hey Jim, how did the new filter set-up work out? We are finally boiling & are remembering what a pain the filtering is.

Love to see what you came up with!

Ted

[Big_Eddy]

I do about 2 gals a batch using cone filters - I do most of the things mentioned above - a couple of pre-filters, then dump it into the next and so forth. When the canner is empty - I'll just leave it for an hour to see what else will flow through - that ends up cold so it goes into the fridge for pancakes, and whatever is left on top of the filter goes into a gallon jar that I pour back into the finishing pot during the next batch. Then I take the cone filter and toss it in the boiling sap for a few minutes to extract the sweet, and hang it up to dry. When they are all dirty - I run them through my (pre-rinsed) washing machine on delicate - no soap, no softner, extra rinse.

One of the secrets I've found is that a damp filter works a LOT better than a dry one. I'll either mist it or hang it in the steam for a while before I use it. Not wet - just damp.