Over-dense off of evaporator

[Jim Schumacher]

Has anyone had good luck making their syrup over-dense then bringing it back with water during finishing? Here is my tentative plan:

Run syrup up to 70 Brix in evaporator.
Filter syrup during draw-off
Put the syrup in bulk containers.
Before bottling, cold test syrup and mix sap or water to bring it back to 66.5 brix.
Heat it to 185 degrees, as not to cause nitre development.
Bottle

Is it unreasonable to think I can get away with only bottling once?
Sorry, I know there have been threads about this a long time ago, but I can't find them.

Jim

[3rdgen.maple]

I do it all the time. Only exception is I use sap out of the evaporator and add it at the finisher, then I filter and bottle instead of packing it then going back and bottling later. If you use sap I would refilter it but if you use distilled water you would be fine.

[Buckshot]

I know a big operation that does just that. He does all his boiling for the year past the 66% brixs. Then he does all his finishing and adds water as calculated by the sugar differents .

[ennismaple]

I did that with a batch that came off too thick yesterday. A litre of distilled water from the pre-heater drip tray brought it right back to correct density and we bottled it immediately.

[mapleman3]

I do that sometimes... after drawing off too heavy I just draw some light and mix in to density before I filter... no big deal

[Dan W]

That is the way I do it. There is a chart in the handbook that tells you how much dilute to use per gallon whether it is water, sap, or syrup that is on the light side. I pre filter off the evaporator heavy then later adjust the density, heat and run through the filter press and bottle. My big addition for next year is going to be a water jacket bottling tank. I hate having to pay attintion to temperature when bottling.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Its the average thing in play as you go thru the day drawing off some is slightly over or under. Even in the same drawoff its going to start out at density and then taper off. So after you retest it will be high, low or just right. BUT I dont know why you would want to constantly draw off over?

[ennismaple]

It's easier to make 20 gallons or more gallons of syrup thinner by 1 or 2 Brix by adding distilled water than to try to thicken it after it's been filtered!

[Haynes Forest Products]

Fair nuff but why not get it to the right density during the finish stage and then filter and bottle ASAP

[ennismaple]

It's always the first runoffs of the day that are a challenge. When the entire finishing pan comes off at the same time you often have to adjust the automatic runoff after the first few runoffs. I see you oil fire with a gas finisher so you likely don't have the same challenges as wood-burning. We draw straight off our 3.5x14 Force 5 so we have a little less control of finishing.

[TF Maple]

I would think syrup that is thicker would be even tougher to filter? I also like to can right away rather than loose the heat and have to use energy to reheat. Just my opinion.

[Brent]

This is the way I've been doing it for 3 years.

But watch it. If you leave it stored for long at 70 it will start to grow sugar crystals. They are very hard to disolve and you'll lose some good content.

[Russell Lampron]

I adjust my density before I filter. I have a hand pump filter press and I need every advantage that I can get. Trying to pump over density syrup through it makes it go through that much harder.

[tapper]

As ennismaple said the 1st few runoffs for the day are the most challenging. Simply continue to draw till it is the proper density. No finishing necessary. My syrup pan is the best and only finisher I have ever owned. Been doing it that way for 15 seasons.

[802maple]

Ditto..........



As ennismaple said the 1st few runoffs for the day are the most challenging. Simply continue to draw till it is the proper density. No finishing necessary. My syrup pan is the best and only finisher I have ever owned. Been doing it that way for 15 seasons.

[PerryW]

I also take off my syrup slightly heavy (less than 0.5 point Baume high) because it is difficult to get the density exact in the sugarhouse. I draw-off right directly into a 12" x 24" flat filter canner so it hits the filter at 219 degrees and filtering is almost never a problem. If I fooled around blending the syrup in a pail before filtering, it would cool down too much and I would probably need a filter press.

Since I must reheat & refilter the syrup anyway, I can adjust the density to be exactly at syrup in the consumer jugs.

the formula:
For every 1/10 of a point (Baume) your syrup is high...

add 3/5 ounce water per gallon.

example:
if you have 10 gallons of syrup and it tests out 0.5 points (or 5 tenths of a point) too high...

3/5 x 5 x 10 = 30 ounces of water

[Gravel]

I also keep drawing until I get the correct density, I then filter and can rite then and have no problem with it filtering!