cone filter

[parsissn]

Ok so I'm fed up with my cone filter - it's just sooooooo slow! I've got a new filter, filter papers / liners, and make sure they are wet with hot water just before filtering. My syrup is about 195 when it hits the filter. Even with all that, it takes about 45 minutes or more to get just 1 gallon through the filter. Am I just impatient or is something wrong here? At that speed I have to re-heat the syrup after I filter it so it's hot enough to bottle. Besides buying a filter press ( I only make 20-30 gallons per year) anyone have thoughts on how to speed this up? It's really annoying!

Mark

[Uncle Tucker]

I don’t think there is any such thing as a fast gravity syrup filter…. Patience!!!



Last year I used cone filters and loved them. What I found is let the syrup set over night. The next morning all the syrup would be gone and in the canner. Just heat the syrup to 190* and bottle.

[ackerman75]

Parsissn,
Are you using filter aid, I have not in the past but I started using it this year and it sure does help alot in my filtering. I use a orlon filter with 3 or 4 prefilters and remove one at a time as they start to slow down and plug up.
Give it a try I think you will like it.

[swierczt]

Try stacking 4-6 prefilters together. As they get plugged up, pull one out as the flow will start again. I had the same problem for years and learned the mulit-prefilter trick here last year. Works great!

[parsissn]

For those using multi filters, how much are you able to get through a pre-filter before you have to change it? For me it seems like 1 or maybe 2 quarts is all I can get through before the pre-filter (or even filter) plug up nearly solid.

I'm not using filter aid - how is it used? I see it's sold in 50lb bags, sounds like a lot!

Mark

[swierczt]

I can usually get a few gallons thru 6 prefilters before I have to clean the felt or orlon filter (I've used both, can't tell any difference). I also filter with a prefilter from my sap warming pan into my evap. pan and again with a cheesecloth coming out of my main pan to keep the 'floaties' (that always seem to get into the pan) out of the near syrup. I finish on a propane burner then into the bonnet filters. The extra filtering seem to help for less clogs in the final bonnet filtering. I've never used filter aid, but I've heard people rave about it. I also always wash the prefilters and bonnet filters in hot water, then roll them up in a bathtowel to get the excess water out before I put syrup thru them.

[MapleME]

Another thing you may consider is a flat filer pan. This uses the same orlon pre filters and felt filters but they are flat and come in different sizes. I have a 24"x24" one. So, the filters lay flat- just gives you more surface area to filter.

If you pull your syrup off the evap and filter in a first time, then use another round of filtering once you have reached exact density to bottle, you will bung up less. Ultimately, the cone filter uses gravity but a very small part of the filter (i.e.surface area) is used to ACTUALLY filter. Flat filters work better for that reason.

Another way to keep the cone filter moving is to enclose the cone filter in something like a coffee urn- or something enclosed you van put a top on to keep the heat in. as the syrup gets cold, as you know, it moves slower and slower through that cone.

Just my thoughts
MapleME

[KenWP]

What happens if when you filter it the first time by useing a quicker kind of filter to get the large stuff out and then finish it and filter it with the slower filters. Would cut down some of the particlies in the sap would it not.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Why not put the syrup into the filter boiling hot instead of 195 degrees. I used to put heat on the underside of the canner enough to keep the syrup close to 190 and this puts steam up to the underside of the filter to help keep the syrup in it hot. The hotter the syrup, the faster it filters.

[MapleME]

What happens if when you filter it the first time buy useing a quicker kind of filter to get the large stuff off anf then finish it and filter it with the slower filters. Would cut down some of the particlies in the sap would it not.

Ken, I would just filter off the evap with 2 or 3 pre filters in a stack- no felt. Helped get the big things out.

[tyrod2]

I found that if you use a two gallon aluminum sap bucket that is tapered and put your first cone prefilter in it will not make a big mess when you poor it into the next prefilter. This workes real good. It is the same size as the filter.

[gmarvin]

Can somebody tell me how to, or what to use to filter out the sand we tryed cheese cloth x4 we tryed wool felt it left an after taste from the fabric We guess. We cant afford a huge filtering system yet it is just a fun project to show the kids it taste better if you don't buy it. So now we need to get it to be clear of sand. Paper coffee cone filters are to slow so what can we use??
Please help
We have about 60 taps all in jugs. We have made about 4 gallons so far and counting and having a blast :D
Thanks G marvin

[Big maple]

The ole boy down the road says his grandma would heat the syrup back up in the kitchen and break two eggs into it. Evidently the eggs catch the junk and solidifies around it and then through the cheese cloth. That is the story anyway.

[Father & Son]

G Marvin,
If there is a dealer of maple equipment in your area buy a synthetic filter and some prefilters. If you know of no dealers in your area go to www.mapleguys.com and you can get these filters off them. They are the ones that originated this site.
New filters must be cleaned as to not leave any off flavors in the syrup. I rinse with plain water, boil them for a few minutes, and rinse again with plain water. Don't use any soaps or cleaning agents, they won't rinse out. Don't twist ring them out either, this will break down the fibers and they won't filter as well.
If you don't want to filter at all, just let the syrup stand in a container you can see into and gravity with a little time will settle out the sand.

Jim

[Jim Brown]

Big Maple; The Old Fella was right.we used to beat up 2-3 eggs like you were going to make scrambled eggs and dump in to the hot syurp on the stove. Eggs would sink and then float as they cooked. Skim off the big stuff that was collected to the eggs and then filer the rest through a cheese cloth. syrup was then clean. we did it for years when I was a kid. that was 62 years ago!

Jim

[Gravel]

When my pre-filters start to plug up I squeeze the very top of the filter together, put a zip tie around it and flip it upside down, then you get all the use out of the filter by using both sides and it speeds it up a bunch!

[Mike Czok]

I filter right off the evaporator into my filter tank then I set it on the sections of my finish pan and the heat from the steam keeps it moving better.

[VA maple guy]

Gmarvin' welcome aboard, glad to see another Virginia sugarmaker
on board.
Jim (father and son) make a good point. If you have the storage space. I
use five gallon soda kegs, let your syrup sit for a period of time. I
let mine sit for a few weeks. I then heat it back to 211 check density
cool it down to below 190 filter it and bottle it. my syrup just about falls
through the filter this way. I use two pre filters, one before the wool filter
and one after. The reason i put a prefilter after is I've had problems
with wool filters shedding fibers into the syrup. I can easely filter five
gallons or more changing just the first prefilter one time.

Gerry

[gmarvin]

Thanks to all for the advise,

We thought we would experiment this year and see what happens!
Well now I can see there is alot of building going on this summer. Shack, Arch ETC...
My wife is thrilled and loves it we have not even touched a quater of the maples on our land yet we are having fun. All but the 3 year old he does'nt want to walk in the woods that much.
Since we are experimenting we made our own taps from 3/8 tubing, milk jugs hanging from fence wire around the trees. We are cooking it down in our kitchen / dinning room on our early 1900's home comfort cook stove since the fire is going any way.
I can see 400 taps in our future next year
Fabricating our own pans and arch and shack is on the top of the list.
The egg idea is one my father in law used in what he called cowboy coffee, keeps the grinds down and out of the cup in a campfire coffee pot.
We got some musty after taste on our last batch, is that from the fire going out and restarting in the morning reheating it or somthing else???
will the sap go bad if it takes a couple of days to run it all thru???
Maple sugar for dummies, but learning lots this year

Thanks George Marvin