MapleME
03-25-2009, 07:05 PM
I am in my second year and things are going well. The Mason 2x6 has been treating me real well. Even though its a flat pan last week I tried the drawing off technique vs what I have been doing which is just massive batch's all at once. Seemed to work well as I was putting 150 gallons through her. The draft has been working well too. This weekend I have added 2 new items which I hope will help. first is a 20 foot run of coiled copper tubing attached to the preheater. I just made some flat coils, maybe this will help a bit. Second will be a cheap little blower unit.
What I have been really happy with though is the investment of the filter canner/finisher. huge help to have it inside, in a controlled environment while I get it to that last degree or 2 using the hydrometer. A bonus is the flat filter rack is just SOOO much better than those cone filters which took so much time and I lost product.
I also have learned that filtering,just using the orlon filters in a few different spots along the way really helps too.
Hope you guys are having a good season in Maine too. Its really fun.
MapleME
What I have been really happy with though is the investment of the filter canner/finisher. huge help to have it inside, in a controlled environment while I get it to that last degree or 2 using the hydrometer. A bonus is the flat filter rack is just SOOO much better than those cone filters which took so much time and I lost product.
I also have learned that filtering,just using the orlon filters in a few different spots along the way really helps too.
Hope you guys are having a good season in Maine too. Its really fun.
MapleME