Cloudy Syrup

[tgormley358]

I’m a hobbiest in my 5th year with 145 taps now. I started with 20 taps or so in a loaner flat pan evaporator, finishing my syrup on a stove in the kitchen. Is I finish in my shack with flat filters, much easier ( cost me $400). I’ll try to explain what others here have said in my own words, and hope it helps.

You’re boiling on your evaporator but bring it in to finish in order to better control the temp. When you finish inside, you need to boil til it’s 7 deg above water boiling, and you need to check density as well, before it’s “technically” syrup. The combo of temp and density is what tells you you have syrups. The water boiling point can change a lot day to day. Last week it was low, around 210, so syrup was around 217. Yesterday it was a full 212 and syrup 219. The hydrometer tells you this. If you don’t sell any and dont care to be overly fastidious about technical syrup, then you can fudge a little, but the syrup may either crystallize or be thin if your syrup is heavy or light density wise.

Once you have syrup, you filter to remove niter, and with paper and orlon it filters best very hot, much slower when it cools. This is not where you let the syrup cool to 190. You can filter at 217 right off the heat. If your syrup comes out of the filter cloudy then your filtering setup is not working. May need to updated to finer material, standard stuff at maple shops. When you’re ready to bottle, the syrup may have cooled, and needs to be at least 180 to kill any germs in the container. But do not go above 190-200, because you’d be nearing another boil which would create more niter and you’d have to re-filter before bottling if you want real clear syrup.

Tom

[tgormley358]

By the way, sometimes you take your eye off the syrup heating up for bottling and pay the price. Yesterday I had 4
Gallons ready to bottle and was out stacking some wood. When I can back it was at 215. I shut it down and then argued with myself whether to re-filter, which I eventually did. If I hadn’t I lost Certainly would have had Cloudy syrup.

[30AcreWoods]

Have you used the same orlon filter for all three years? about how many gallons of syrup have you put through it? all filters have a lifespan, perhaps you have reached the limit. Also, I assume you know not to try and force the last of the syrup through the filter by squeezing...I learned that lesson the hard way!