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I have a friend who uses eggs to clarify. He takes a small container of egg whites and dumps it in to his finished syrup when it's still boiling. It goes into clumps and all the dirt and crap stick to the egg. He then skims it all off and filters the syrup. It works well but I find it changes the flavour of the syrup. Definatly not something I would do but lots of the old timers used this method.
Yes I am obsessed with filtering or any cooking for that matter, if it is not 100% perfect then it is not acceptable to me,and yes it does come from being a chef, having spent 20 plus years in the industry makes you that way I do believe. I fully understand niter and what I am dealing with.I know there is allot of variables involved with the maple syrup process,and I can't change them,but I can work with what I have and find a solution to a problem I may be having,it may take days or even years,but with idea's and suggestions from others I will put them all together in a way that works for me.I have tried the coffee filter process of letting it sit over night on the counter only to wake up and find it all still sitting in the coffee filter with very little in the container,then my next batch I do the exact same thing and it will run through in a decent time and come out nice and clear.
On another note... I collected around 6 gallons yesterday and boiled it down, used some of my chef jacket I spoke about in a previous post, only used 1 square to see how it worked out... worked out perfectly, sap went through it at a good rate at first then slowly went to a drip as it cooled,I left it over night with a spoon in the dripping syrup to create a pressure point for it to drip and when I got up it was all in the pot.Transferred it to a mason jar and it is crystal clear.
Not to happy to wake up and see snow this morning,had high hopes this weekend was going to be a good weekend,not so much.Hopefully the sun comes out today and it warms up :)
Thanks for all the tips and advice on filtering, appreciate all the comments and I will get it figured out.
PS Eddy... I didnt waste the sap in my Orlon bag, when i brought my sap to my house to boil, I dipped the bag in the boiling sap to get the syrup out.I couldnt waste it,and just wash it down the drain, again it comes from being in the cooking industry, food cost's are a huge thing in the food industry and if I can find a way to not waste something and cut cost's I will lol
Hehe, I can fully relate to your chef thinking Al! After all, if the boiling and filtering is all we have control of in this somewhat crazy hobby, well then it's no wonder us foodies want it just perfect and no less! I see the same level of obsession with photographers, and especially the PhotoChop crew...anyone interested can check out www.worth1000.com for examples of mindblowing examples.
FWIW I find the coffee filters can be frustrating too. What I do is make a stack of coffee filters clothespegged to canning funnels. I take one filter/funnel, put it in a jar and pour through the syrup. As the nitre starts to build and clog, I lift the first filter and stick a fresh one underneath. Then I set the first filter atop the fresh one, and use a sharp paring knife to slice open the bottom. With luck the nitre stays stuck to the bottom and sides of the first one and the good stuff goes down into the fresh one. Then I remove the old one, unpeg and replace the filter so it's to go again. And I usually squeeze out the bottom of the used filter to taste the sap.
For the finishing run, though, I do use the plain white cotton squares, and they work a charm. One seems to be fine. And I was tickled pink to find my filters from last year stashed in a baggie in the filter, still all damp from last year's work, so will add them to the sap to leach out the numminess still trapped there.
re the egg whites/milk way of clarifying...my mentors use milk for the clarifying. I've also heard of butter and in older times, pork fat used in the same way. Personally I don't want to add anything to clarify, so generally I just filter it til it's clear.
In terms of production, haven't checked my trees yet today. Not expecting much but #7 was patiently dripping away on all 3 spiles last night, there may be some there.
It's interesting that egg whites was brought up. I was talking with my father in-law who was a chef that tought at the culinary institute out east. He asked me if anyone used egg shells to clarify syrup and remove impurities. Then the shell is easily filtered out. May be worth a try. Ive seen it used in camp coffee to remove impurities. I keep chickens and save shells to feed back to them so maybe I'll toss some in the next batch to see if they absorb some niter.
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Just back from the forest and the sap is running really good right now,hope to collect it mid afternoon and start the boiling process.
Al, *sniff*, I can see drips going into my buckets. *wipes a tear*. Is Christmas finally here?
So glad someone's getting something! Nothing here but heavy wet snow!!!
Kyle, the eggshell idea sounds brilliant, and I have also heard of using it for camp coffee. Should work, maybe just rinse out shells really well first so no albumen sticking? Would certainly mean basically no risk of taste contamination.
Dug out my syrup-sodden filters from last year, from the depths of the freezer...and guess what...they aren't frozen solid at all! Very pliable in fact. So waiting for a big ol sap run of a few gallons so I can chuck em in.
Meanwhile my first near-batch of syrup (just a little over 3 g reduced to about 3/4 l) is its usual pale gold colour, which is standard for my trees. Also has that same light marshmallow/vanilla taste to it, almost flowery. Strange but there ya have it.
+1.. Drip Drip Drip !Quote:
Originally Posted by BrutemanAl
For my filter last time, I boiled a bit of water and passed it through/soaked it in. Wife used that water as stock for a maple potato leak soup:) Yummy!
LOL , no christmas , but for some of us the sap fairy's have done their job today :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Run Forest Run!
Just went and collected sap, 27.7 ltrs from 10 buckets,and 2 water cooler bottle's ,it is just boiling now and there is still more that I didnt bring back, i will go collect it after dinner.
Just got back from the bush, sap is trickling in the tanks, nothing special but a little bit could add up. Walked the mainline and found another major split leaking sap. Guess someone is trying to tell me to change all the mainlines for new that have yet to be changed over the last few years