help filtering small volumes

[MapleDog]

I've read through several threads about filtering, but I haven't quite figured out how to adapt the ideas to my situation. I'm up to seven taps this year, and expect to get a grand total of less than a gallon of syrup. (It's all for personal use - not for sale.) I boil over a propane camp stove, in two 14" x 14" x 8" steel pans a friend welded for me. I boil a few hours a day throughout the season, adding the sap to one pan after moving some liquid from that pan to the other.

I have a wool cone filter and paper pre-filters, but I've always had trouble keeping the sap hot enough during filtering, and I've always ended up with a big mess, and I've always had some sand in the bottles.

This year, based on some other posts here, I'm tempted to let the syrup sit for a few days before bottling in hope that most of the sand will settle out in the pan. (I think I can make room in the fridge for the whole pan.) Are there any other suggestions for finishing this small a total volume?

Jack

[KenWP]

Why you have to put it in the fridge. Keep it at room temp for it to settle or out in the garage. It takes a long time for it to spoil as its so high in sugar. After a week pour it off and heat it up and bottle. You running into what I ran into the syrup cools in the filter and gels. I had to finally make something that the cone filter fit inside of well filtering and it all goes through now with it being kept warm.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Let it settle for a few weeks and then siphon off the top and lower the dip tube as the level lowers. Dont try and pour the syrup out and leave the bottom. I just busted open the last gallon of last years production and I fill a small container that we open during the week and I cap and store in the pantry the gallon jug and it doesnt spoil . As Ken said let it sit at room temp amd then siphon.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If the prefilters and filters are a little wet before filtering, the syrup will go thru them a ton easier.

[Greg Morin]

this year I let it sit in clear jugs for a week or so and pour off the clear syrup and scrap the stuff on the bottom. in the past Ive tried cheesecloth and coffee filters but the setteling methot works the best nice clear syrup.

[Maplesedge]

I have this problem too! This is my first year with real filters, a wool cone and prefilter, and a big flat (orlon?) filter and flat prefilters.

I filtered it boiling into a big coffe urn and then bottled in mason jars, and it looked fine until about a week or two later when now I can see just a small fine mist of sediment in each jar.

Guess I'll try this settling trick next year, thanks.

What if I let it settle in the urn? Will the flow out the spigot draw sediment up? Or should I just siphon from the top?

[BarrelBoiler]

maple dog,
your probably done for the season so you can try this next year
first the most i have ever made is 7gals and the year i did that the finishing off batches were quite deep in the dutch oven bottom i use to finish in. when i ladeled the syrup into jars i got some nice clear ones the rest had some "grunge" on the bottom
i usually make less and hate to feed any to the filter so this is what i do

filter the almost syrup into the finishing pot or a bucket to tranfer later, thiis gets rid of alot of stuff including the soot and other chunks that have fallen intothe pan, if you put it in a different container thana finishing pot and let it sit stuff will settle out

while finishing i use a slottd spoon and try to capture the "niter blooms" that show up
when its ready i ladel it into jars with luck i can get some clear ones but otherwise i just let the gunge settle to the bottom and use the top
i use wide mouth mason jars and the gravey ladel we have fits in very nicely

if you wanted to let it sit for awhile before the jars i'd do like greg and put the syurp into something clear so i could see what i was doing small amounts(1-2gal) i wouldn't worry about the stuff on the bottom but if i was doing more i would put it aside until the end of the season to see how much more would settle out

[wnybassman]

The past few years I have done the "settling" method with very good results. This year I have been taking the syrup to completion, filtering, then bringing up to 185-187 then bottling. Years past I brought it back up to boiling then bottled, which after reading this site this year, is a no-no.

I have never had such clear syrup as I have this year. Spotless!

For filtering, I use a jelly strainer (see picture) with an old style cloth baby diaper filter in it. I have been using the same 5 pack of diapers for the last 10 years. Every year I say I'm going to upgrade to a cone filter, but then I figure why bother?

http://www.worthpoint.com/pmimages/images1/1/0707/26/1_ec783819b500fbfaa8e792aab834e293.jpg

[Steve G]

I have good luck using the cone filters for turkey deep fryer oil. I typically make about 1/2 to a gallon of syrup at a time. I filter the big stuff out using cheese cloth when I remove the syrup from the wood fired boiler. When I hit the final concentration in the house, I filter through the cone filter into another pan. I usually have to rinse the filter several times because it will plug up. Be sure the syrup is at about 180 before canning it, but do not boil it. It you re-boil the syrup you will get more sand and have to re-filter.