bulk packed to consumer bottles rookie ?'s

[ctjim]

this is the 1st season i bulk packed my syrup from the finisher. i packed it into the blue 5gal plastic containers right off my filter/finsher. i need to now bottle up some for my customers and my wedding favors. i'm assuming i would now re heat to syrup temp and check density then lower it down to bottling temp and start packing it in consumer size containers. is this the correct procedure? i normally would just pack all finished syrup into consumer containers right off the finisher but that was very time consuming and hectic when you are trying to run the evap at the same time.thanks for any help, jim

[wdchuck]

DO NOT re-heat to syrup temp! Take it up to 180 to 190 and no further or more niter will precipitate out of the syrup and make it all cloudy again....

[Dan W]

This is the first year I have bottled this way and it worked great. In the Maple Handbook there is are charts showing how much to dilute heavy syrup with water, sap, or lighter syrup to get the right density and a temperature conversion for cold testing with the hydrometer. So here is how I did it.

Draw off just a tad heavy and store until bottling time. At bottling time check syrup temperature, read density, calculate true density based on temperature, and dilute per the chart. Then re-heat to almost boiling and run through the filter and into the finisher. I use a filterpress so I don't need to get it boiling, but with gravity filters, the hotter the better. My biggest concern is keeping the syrup in the finisher at the correct temperature on a gas burner. Next year I will have a water jacket tank and that should take care of that issue.

[PerryW]

I reheat 5-10 gallons at a time in a 12"x20" stainless steel canner over 2 burners of a kitchen range. As DanW said, check the density using the TEMP vs. DENSITY chart and adjust to exactly syrup by adding water (3/5 oz. of water per gallon for every tenth of a point BAUME you are too thick)

After heating to 198 degrees, I run it through another 12" x 20" canner with a regular felt filter and start filling jugs. I wrap the whole filter canner in a double-layer beach towel to hold in the heat. My filter/canner has a 32-212 deg dial thermometer I was told it should be at least 180 deg when you put the cap on (to prevent mold) so I stop filling when the temp drops below 185 degrees. I put any remaining syrup in a jug and store in the fridge until the next time I can syrup.

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK guys here is a problem with throwing finished cool syrup in a elec, gas or wood fired finisher and pouring the coals to it until it hits 185 or 190. What happens is you get a boiling effect near the element on elec and a very small area on the metal pan. You can get a small amount of niter. When reheating go slow and start out slow so you dont get sedement. If you reheat with a water jacketed unit this wont happen.

[PerryW]

What happens is you get a boiling effect near the element on elec and a very small area on the metal pan. You can get a small amount of niter.

This definitely happens on an electric stove. I always refilter my reheated syrup though a regular flat filter just in case any nitre has developed.

[ctjim]

thanks for the replys guys. yesterday was cool and raining so i bottled up my bulk into consumer size products. everything went well i had my n. american manual out just in case i needed to thin it down. i just heated it back up real slow to about 185-190 range and started bottling from there. looked at my glass bottles this afternoon and they look great nice med amber and almost no niter. which i think is excellent since i don't have a filter press and just use the flat filter and pre filters.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Now the real test will be in a week. Im not saying it will happen but it seems that it takes a week for my mistakes to show up as a haze in the bottom:mad: