Filtering 101 for a newbie

[Jambx]

Hi guys,

My head is spinning - I search and read / read and search the forum. I guess I just don’t totally get why I am having a hard time filtering so I am going to ask here.

I tapped for the first time this year - my GF and I had a blast making a couple of gallons (yes I am small time but there’s room to grow!). We made two batches and have only bottled one gallon into small bottles.

I did everything by the book however when it came to filtering that is where my enthusiasm stopped. I was instructed to use a pre-filter on top of a Orlon Filter (while the syrup was warm). Sounds easy -so the poured some of the hot finished syrup into the filters (which were suspended over a large pot) and watched as a FEW drops drop into the pan and then the un-filtered product just sat there not passing through (and cooling off) . I thought maybe the syrup was dirty so I switched out the pre-filers but I determined that that wasn’t the real issue and only was producing a few more drops. Now of course during all of this the syrup is cooling to where there is nothing passing through.

I am at a loss on how to filter the finished product without dumping my few cup full’s back into a pan – heating it back up and then pouring it back into the filters to get a few more drops and then a few more drops etc…

I did do this for the first gallon (took most of the morning) and I have to say the clarity was amazing however I still have a gallon of product I need to bottle and to be honest I am not looking forward to this process again.

Can anyone give me a idea of what I am doing wrong or what I am doing to continue my enjoyment of this hobby? I realize the filtering process takes a very long time but I can not believe I need to go back and forth so much.

Any ANY help is greatly appreciated.

Best,

~jim
Milford, CT

[maplehound]

Filtering through cone filters can be very flustrating. but to make it some easier make sure that the filters ( both prefilter and orlon filter) are damp before you add the hot syrup. Also the hotter the syrup the better. you will still probably get some that won't go through but most should even if it takes some time. if that doesn't work or you don't want to go through all that and you are jus tmaking it for your own use you can just run it through some cheese cloth or coffe filters to get most of the impurities out. Also many small producers just let it settle out over time and pour the clear stuff off the top and pitch the junkie stuff that settles out.

[KenWP]

My first batch was pretty slow also. I found that if you just dampen the orlon and prefilters and then put it in the microwave and get it hot and then pour the 218 degree syrup through the filter it almost all goes thru and you just get a cup full or so that hangs up and takes a while to run through. I am going to find a deeper container that is tall and narrow so that it drops down inside and keeps warmer and I know that it will filter even better then it does now. They make containers like that from the dealers but they cost a fortune to buy.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

I try to run 5 or 6 gals thru at a time. it seems to push it thru better with the extra weight. also do as all have said before wet your filters.

RICH

[Haynes Forest Products]

So what you need to do is go buy 3 more gallons and mix with what you have and filter it all at once and then when it get down to 2 gallons of the syrup that you made then go out and get 3 more gallons to push the first 3 thru the filter but because it clogs your screwd so I would give up and use the old tried and true method of letting it settle and use a turkey baster to suck up all the clear and let resettle and put the last into a filter and slowly squish the last drops out of the filter wash up everything sell all the extra syrup you got to filter the first 2 gallons and start saving for a filter press................GOOD NIGHT:lol:

[3rdgen.maple]

Jambx just pre wet your filters with nice hot water. I know everybody says dont wring them out, but wring them out add a bunch off prefilters, heat your syrup back up to like 190 degrees and dump it back in the filter. My Family has been doing it like this for three generation and have not once had a problem getting the syrup through the filters.. Next year when you are boiling just lay your filters hanging above your pans for awhile to get them damp and do the same with the prefilters. Put like 6 prefilters in your orlon filter and everytime you pour a new batch in just take a prefilter out. When you get through the last prefilter clean everything and start over. I bottle alot in glass and my syrup has no sediment in the bottom. I can walk over in the kitchen and pull a glass bottle off the shelf and right now and tell you it is crystal clear. It does help to have some sort of setup that retains the heat of the syrup. If you have something like a 5 gallon finishing pan with a draw off you can fab a metal cover with a hole in it where you can cut the bottom off a sap bucket bend some tabs and rivet it to the cover, drop the filters into the bucket and start filtering. I think the trick is to retain the heat to get it all through.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

looks like haynes is the only person that knows anything about making syrup. go for it numb nuts

[KenWP]

Hows this for a filter container. At a garage sale today I bought a pressurized gas tank and I am going to cut the top off of it and use that to slip the cone filter down inside. It's pretty heavy metal but should work well to keep the filter warm and beable to filter a gallon or so of syrup at a time with out the filter gelling up on me.

[Haynes Forest Products]

NO just read that he made 2 gallons and I to have wasted 1/4 of what I made in the begining trying to get good clear syrup. Mistaking sedement for mold. Did you not see the happy face at the end of the post that means its supose to be funny. Dont take life so serious.

[brookledge]

Ken
What is the container made out of? Is it food grade etc.?
If you are looking for some type of container to hold your cone filter try what many on this site have done. Buy a large coffee pot like a 100 cup size and many have said that the heating element will keep the syrup at 185 or so for canning. I personally have not tried one but others have. Another suggestion would be a turkey fryer.
Good luck
Keith

[Jambx]

I appreciate all the comments and recommendations however I want to tell you that I did run the Orlon Filter under hot water for sometime - then I squeezed to get the excess water out and poured my hot syrup in once more the majority of the final still just sat there in the bottom of the filters. Some did eventually migrate through however not at any lightening speed - in fact the stuff that did filter through carry some water that was still in the fibers of the filter as What do folks do about this water in the final product - boil it off again?

Although we did not make a lot this year we would love to expand just a tad and run off a few more gallons next year so I really would like to get this right. I have to ask - if I have ~1 gallon of final product at 219 degrees when one goes and filters it - "typically" - how long should take to pour through a Orlon Filter?...


~jim

[dschultz]

Jim
The syrup should go through fairly fast if it doesn't have to much sugarsand in it.
Is this syrup from the beginning or the end of the season? If it's from towards the end it could be getting stringy and that doesn't like to filter very well if at all

[twobears1224]

KENWP WROTE:Hows this for a filter container. At a garage sale today I bought a pressurized gas tank and I am going to cut the top off of it and use that to slip the cone filter down inside. It's pretty heavy metal but should work well to keep the filter warm and beable to filter a gallon or so of syrup at a time with out the filter gelling up on me.

i hope your not talking about a propane tank?? if so you,ll end up with some very nasty tasting maple syrup.i also hope if it,s not propane it never had any type of gas in it.you could make somebody very sick or dead.
i think we as maple syrup producers need to really think about what we do and use to make maple.
we all like to save money and alot of us like to make our own equipment..but,is that garage sale tank really safe to use?? or is that ebay pump safe to use??

now on to filtering syrup and the problem.i really don,t know whats going on..if you wet the filters the syrup should go thur the fliters..we,ve been doing it that way for 50 plus years without a problem.is your syrup heavy?? that will make it not filter.

delbert

[KenWP]

One thing Jambx you havent said is do you use a hydrometer to test the syrup for brix. If it's over brix by too much it dosn't go through worth a darn either. My last batch that I did was made up of the dregs of all the other 17 batchs I hade made and it took a while to get it through as it was a bit over and I didn't bother thinning it out with water .

[Flatfoot95]

I make around 120 gallons this year and filtered it all with cone filters. This is what I have found to work for me.

1. I assemble a orlon filter with about 5 pre filters and set them over my pans while boiling to heat them and dampen them. I would not want to dampen them with water you may change your syrup density. When bottling at home I do not dampen the filters as long as the temp is hot and the density is right I have no problems using dry filters.

2. I filter right off the evaporator at 219 deg and again when I bottle at 190 deg. Like was mentioned before the hotter the better. When one pre filter clogs up pull it out dump what remains in the clean ones and continue.

3. Make sure your density is not too thick. If it is too thick it will NOT filter worth a ****. A hydrometer is a small investment. I started like you and had the same problems just trying to use the thermometer. It will be like watching paint dry.

4. I leave my filter canister right next to the fire box to retain heat from draw to draw.

I am no expert by any means and learning as I go. I will say that this hobby is enjoyable and addicting. It is a great outlet and it has been good for me. Keep at it.

[Gary R]

I've only been doing this for 2 years but I haven't had filtering problems. Everything off the evaporator gets filtered through a prefilter. Then I finish it to density on a turkey fryer. The picture shows my canning setup. I usually wet the filter, lightly squeeze out the water, and let drip while I'm finishing. The filter is only damp when I'm ready to pour the syrup in. I have only been filtering 1-2 gal. at a time. The syrup goes through the filter in 1 or 2 minutes. I pull out prefilters as they clog and dump that syrup into the filter below. I monitor the syrup temperature in the pot below. I rarely have to turn on the hot plate as all of it is canned before the temp falls below 180. The copper tubing is what I use to hold the filters. It would look better if the holder was supported on top of the pot. But when you have 2 gal. of hot syrup teatering over the pot in the dining room, I'll be safe and keep my ugly setup for now.