Coffee Urn for bottling

[Jerome]

I have a 100 cup coffee urn coming for bottling. What do I need to watch out for when using one. I have seen the trick of the pantie hose. and it seems that there may be a problem in keeping it hot enough. Is there some war of adjusting the temperature on the thermostat? if I wanted to ad a thermometer through the side like on a pan what is that fitting called?
thanks for the help

[KenWP]

Most coffe urns don't keep coffee at boiling point anyways they just keep the water hot after it perks. With out the stem in the middle the little cup will just keep a hot spot in the bottom that will keep the sap warm untill you can bottle it.

[Dennis H.]

What is the pantyhose trick?

[maplekid]

the pantyhose are put over the filling spout to keep the syrup from foaming in the bottle. gives it a smooth flow

[Dennis H.]

Very cool hint, thanks.

[DanE.]

Sorry to hijack the post, but I have a question. I just got my urn in the mail to day a nice 42 cup west bend. I was cleaning it inside and out and noticed that the spicket is on the side near the bottom, but it still leave a little more than a cup of liquid in there. Are all of the urns like that? Thanks Dan...

[KenWP]

Some of the bigger ones hold even more on the bottom. Its common practise to tip a coffee urn over to get that extra cup of coffee or two.

[tuckermtn]

nh maplemaker is the coffee urn guru...hopefully Jim will chime in...

[NH Maplemaker]

Yes, mine is a big commercial one that holds 12 gals and drain completely out the bottom!! Take a look at my pictures!! I think a digital thermometer with the prob inside the pot would help a lot on the small coffee urns !!The only thing I can think of that could be a problem with the small units is, If you left it set with small amount of syrup on the bottom of pot it may increase density as it gets to hot! A Lot of trader use them. JimL.

[Haynes Forest Products]

elmcreekmaple: NH mapleMake and I have the big commercial units and I know I think it was the best junkyard find I made lately. Mine is a grindmaster 20 gallon that will hold 10 gallons in each tank and keep it at 200 degrees and it drains from the bottom of the tank so you leave very little when done. NH mentioned a temp probe in the tanks but that would be a problem with the water jacketed type that we have.
Ebay has alot of nice big units the problem with them is the have elec coils that can burn syrup as yo get to the bottom. I recommend that you dont drain completely because if you watch what happens when you do is little bubbles start to form over the coils and that will lead to sugar sand so keep it about 2" high and keep an eye on it.
I also when I fill mine I drain some out as I fill so I get any thick or possible sedement out of the valve.

[woodbit]

I live in Mechanicsburg, PA we have located in town a large warehouse store full of used resturant equipment. To be sure tomorrow I will be browsing thru the place lookin for a coffee urn similar to the large ones. any other equipement i need to be lookin for? I could use some idea of a filtration system as it gets difficult to pour, hold, dip, funnel, and shake burnt hand all at the same time.

[Al]

I have two coffee pots. One 40 cup and one around 20. The only problem I had in the beginning was I left it on to long and burnt some syrup in the hole in the bottom. I like the small pot best now because if someone shows up I can heat up a sample quick. Nothing like warm syrup to keep people happy. Loved mine but I now have a finisher and canning unit. The bigger unit is finding a new home at a buddies place and I used a cone filter with that one. The small unit I would cut a piece of syntheic filter up and put it in the basket. Worked great for small batchs.
Take care