Syrup wouldn't go through filter felt?

[CitySlicker]

Hey folks - first post here. My wife and I boiled down 35 gallons of sap yesterday, ending up with one sweet gallon of syrup - I didn't grade it, but it's light to medium.

I am a tiny hobby operator doing this for the first time - the previous homeowners left us a bunch of supplies when we bought our house.

Here's the question: I filtered the sap through cheese cloth when I collected it from the buckets. I filtered the partially boiled sap again through filter paper when I transferred it from the evaporator to a big lobster pot to finish on my stove (I wanted to try to finish it on the wood fired evaporator, but my wife's exact quote was "don't be a hero!" we transferred about 3 gallons of semi-syrup to the pot to finish inside (Eventually ending up with 1 gallon of syrup)

anyway, things worked well, and i got to the proper level on the hydrometer, but we tried to filter the syrup through (new) filter paper again (placed over a funnel) as we bottled the syrup, and it just wouldn't go through. We switched to a final multi-layer cheese cloth filter instead. Everything looks good - i'm just wondering if this is normal the the finished syrup doesn't go through the filter.???

ps - final ratio was 35 gallons of sap to 1.1 gallons of syrup - which i guess is not bad, right?

[Gravel]

Did you use a pre-filter? If the syrup cools down too much it wont go threw either. Sometimes if you just let it sit there overnight it will finish going threw the filter!

[Fred Henderson]

The felt and paper pre filters work best if they are soaked in water and they rung out before use.

[MapleME]

City, I think what you need to do is pick up a few Orlon pre-filters and a felt finish filter. Get the cone type, they are not much money. Filtering through cheese cloth is good but wont get the tiny sugar sand you want to get out. If you dont want to spring for a felt filter just getting it through those cone Orlon pre filters is helpful.

They have to be wet to help the syrup get through them- I either dunk them and let them sit in water just before I filter or you can run some water through em. Shake em dry. The hot syrup will go through real easy. Like Gravel said the syrup has to be piping hot or it wont move through any filter.

there are tons of good threads on filtering here- its something that us backyarders wrestle with, its a PITA and we all agree on it. BUT, it is what it is...

Josh MapleME

[jhermann]

I used cheese cloth last year and ended up with too much sand in the final product. Is there a good online source for the cloth and paper cone filters?

Thanks for your help!

[whalems]

Goggle maple syrup supplies and you will have many to choose from.

[CitySlicker]

thanks for the advice.

i actually mis-spoke in my initial question here - i used filter FELT, not filter paper... perhaps the problem is that i didn't wet it first? my syrup was hot, right off the stove, and at first it went through the filter felt, but i couldn't even fill a 3/4 pint bottle before it stopped flowing. I can't imagine the filter felt got clogged that quickly?!?!?! (it didn't look dirty or anything) can i rinse it off and re-use it right away? is it the sugar sand that is clogging the filter?

[Gravel]

A pre-filter will definately help and put your filter and funnel over the steam just before you need it, that heats it up and moistens it!

[PerryW]

They do get clogged really quickly, expecially the first few batches (for me at least). Is the filter touching the funnel? It should hang free so the syrup can drip. If there's any way to enclose the setup with even cardboard to keep the heat in it will work better.

If you use the prefilters, you can carefully lift the clogged one out (with the syrup still in it) and stick a clean one in and dump the syrup in again.

[hholt]

I rinse my cone filter with hot water then pour boiling water over it to preheat it. Then dump my hot finished syrup in all at once. I'm small time so its usually only a couple of gallons. Even then ater letting it drip all night I usually have a cup or two that wouldn't go through, but the rest is crystal clear. I pour the cup into a container heat it up then let it settle, I save that for the table

[Jeff E]

I liked using the 3' felt, with 3' prefilter over it. That way as the prefilter plugs, I could slide it around to expose clean filter and prefilter to the syrup.

Agreed with pre-wet filters comment. But dont ring them out. That breaks down the fibers and the effectiveness of the filter. I would soak them and let them drain out for a few hours.

I also had 2 prefilters ready for every orlon filter in use. I would pour a half gallon of hot syrup on, shift around the pre filter until the syrup went through. Then if I had used most of the prefilter, I would grab the other one before adding more syrup. Clean the first prefilter, and keep going. Shifting the orlon as needed as well.

Make sense?

[Haynes Forest Products]

*******************************filter Press************

[PARKER MAPLE]

glade that this was broudh up, i was wondering a few things also on this subject.
1. before you filter the syrup can you hang your filters/pre filters in the steam of the flu pan to dampen and warm it up until use.
2. would you do the same thing after the syrup has gone through the filter/pre filter to help clean it out. or would the left over residue be bad to readmit into your pans/ filters again.

3. looking for some ideas for my filter tank on some kinda rack for under the filter so the filter dosnt sag and the syrup dosnt go to the middle..any ideas.

thanks maple rookie

[umpwood1]

The way I filter. I have 24" piece of clean 8" s/s stove pipe that I put into a pot. I put that into a larger pot of boiling water. The cone filter goes into the top of the pipe and is tied down to the pot handles. I put 4 prefilters in to the cone filter. Add hot syrup, put on a lid and sit back and watch T.V.. It is quick and makes perfect syrup. I do use a 10 x 8 reducer on top of the pipe just to make it more cone shaped. The pipe and the syrup stay very hot.
Regards, Umpwood

[maple flats]

If you are putting the filter in a funnel you are effectively blocking most of the potential flow area. When I was using cone filters i made a couple of plant stands into filter hangers. The cone must be suspended and not supported from underneath. Then put 4 or 5 paper pre filters inside. As the top one stops flowing, gently remove it by dumping it carefully into the next. Layer by layer you remove one as i plugs up. Do not throw out the ones you remove, just rinse in hot water and re use. Syrup MUST be hot to filter, try setting up something to help hold the heat. I put mine inside a 10 gal insulated drink cooler (or is it now a hotter?) (Igloo) This kept it hot. Some also use filter aid which helps even with felt and paper pre filters. Just stir some into the hot syrup and then pour it into the suspended cone filter with pre filters. Cheesecloth will not get much of the sugarsand, it lets way too much thru.

[umpwood1]

I'm not filtering through a funnel. The cone filter actually hangs in the pipe. Everything stays hot and it workks super. I do use the filter removing method and it works great.
Regards,
Umpwood

[CitySlicker]

does anyone use any sort of coffee filters to filter their syrup? can you use standard paper coffee filters as pre-filters? or is the syrup too thick for them?

has anyone tried to use one of those "3 year" coffee filters to filter syrup? it's got a plastic frame....

[umpwood1]

I have tried everything. Save yourself the time and aggravation. Buy a cone filter and cone prefilters, pour the syrup in hot. Come up with a way to keep the syrup hot. The way I do it works great.
Regards,
Umpwood

[Haynes Forest Products]

Tomato basket cut the legs off and set upside down........Home Depot has them look for the ones with the blue tags there food grade:lol:

[Dennis H.]

Coffee filters seem to only work well before you have syrup. I use them on the semi syrup that I take off the evap pan, it usually around 45 percent sugar. Then once it is syrup I will use a flat felt filter and prefilters.

I also found that I MUST pre-wet my filters before running the syrup thru them. Otherwise the syrup will just bead up on it.

I take them and dunk them in a sink full of hot water once they are all wet I will take them out and let them hang on a rack so almost all the water drips out. Then they are ready to go. I do all this while I am heating the syrup up to also help get it thru the filter faster.

I use steam pans and a perferated steam pan to hold the fiters. I also will put a lid over the pans once all the syrup is on the filter. That helps keep it warm and helps keep too much water evap'in off while it is going thur the fiter.

[CitySlicker]

hey guys - i boiled down another gallon today, and got some beautiful syrup. it's slightly darker than the batch i made last week, but i'd say it is in the realm of medium.

anyway - i was much more patient in the filtering process this time, and took all of your advice. Basically, last time, what i THOUGHT was happening was that the syrup was solidifying and drying up as it went through the filter. in reality, it was the sludgy sugar sand that was being trapped behind.

So this time, we washed the filter after every few pints of syrup, which would refresh the filter and let the syrup flow again.

my advice to anyone even newer than me (2 gallons life to date so far!) is: PATIENCE in the filtering process.. it takes a little while.