in need of serious filtering help

[scottdevine]

yes, i know, and agree, and will probably say that. i will look for used ones, as you suggest i will get the $ back.

[scottdevine]

Resolved! after buying a new cloth filter and many pre filters, i unbottled everything, and re warmed to 190 and filtered through the new filters (5 pre filters stacked in the new cloth filter). This time, like last year, i warmed the rinsed bottles to 200 in the oven. I'm back in business with crystal clear syrup. The photo isn't that good, and there are vanilla beans floating in the bottle on the left, but you can see the difference. In person it is outstanding. Thank you Maple Trader once again, you folks make a great hobby, even better.
IMG_3164.jpg

[buckeye gold]

scott, now that you have new filters clean them after ever days use and no more rolling squeezing or whatever. I take a 16 qt stock pot and heat the water to at least 140-160 and then I push my filters down into it and let them soak a few minutes. I push them down with the side you poured syrup into up, so that your pushing nitre out the way it went in. I then pull them out and flip them over and rinse under hot running tap water. again pushing nitre out the way it went in. I have a bunch of those clothes hangers with clips, like you get from dept store clothes. I clip the filters on them and hang them on a clothes line to drip dry. I keep my filter setting in the steam column over the evaporator when I'm using them and they stay moist and hot.

[Haynes Forest Products]

If your coffee maker is making a squeaking sound during your reheating process you are getting micro boiling on the bottom of the unit. You wont see boiling on the surface but its doing it on the surface of the heating element.

[to100]

Glad you got it in control.
I made a cone filter tank using galvanized 90 degree stockwith pre-drilled holes. Also a base large enough for a gallon or 2 pot on. I got threaded “I” bolts which I opened to be hooks. I used 12 to make hangers for filters. Fabric filter has straps to put on hooks. I cut holes in pre-filters.
I have a 2nd pot of sap to preheat filters just before it’s syrup.
At the end I dip into sap and use for next boil.
I turn my fabric filter inside out and use kitchen sink sprayer to spray out remaining niter with hot water.
I fold it in half and place in dish drying rack, by morning it is dry.

I had same problem until I did this. I am using fabric filter for several years. I get 5 to 10 gallons syrup a year.
I just got a “The RO Bucket” with shut off. Now a lot less wood and time.

[whity]

I will go to a local CDL distributor in my area and get new filters today. Regarding keeping them wet/moist before filtering, how are you doing that? currently i am getting the lower third of the cloth filter wet w hot water, and using a rolling pin the squeeze the water out (not wringing the cone). Hanging the cone over the coffee urn while steam coming off never got it moist enough for use. Thanks for the comments, i hope new filters fixes the issue.

We clean and rinse them. Then hang the wet filters over the syrup pan. The steam will keep them warm and moist. As for the small amount of water your trying to roll out! I don't think it's necessary. It shouldn't change the density.

[maple flats]

The main filter should last a long time as long as it is kept clean and never packed away damp. Even the prefilters should last 2-3 seasons.

[scottdevine]

Guys, its back! I am now way beside myself. Tonight was a nightmare and I'm very confused. I boiled down a 70 gallon batch last night, and finished off on propane tonight, took about an hour to get it to syrup. Went through the typical routine, heating bottles, stacking 5 pre filters into the BRAND NEW cloth filter (used twice), and filtered into the coffee urn...just like always, tonight, the filtering was awful...after filling 2 jars, and a bottle, my wife stopped, and we dumped the batch back into the propane pot. I cleaned up everything, and reset. Now the filter had a fairly decent amount of water in it, so i reheated the syrup and went to approx 67.5 BRIX and figured the water would compensate, filtered again, and it was still awful. Pre filters not catching much of anything the first or second time. The cloth filter both times had *some* niter in it. I was livid at this point...oh, i forgot during heating it the second time, it overflowed on me and i lost maybe a pint on my deck. Third times a charm right? This time i stacked 10 pre filters (not kidding), and used last years cloth filter, the one that gave me a problem when i started this thread. Still terrible. I have no idea how to proceed this season. I have 1.25 gallons of syrup sitting in a pot on my counter, and i'm going to bed. I picked up some plastic jugs when i got my new filters, and will use those for this batch, and quite possibly the rest of the season? I really am at a loss, it's only my 3rd year, but the filtering thing i had down last year, and after getting the new filter this year, thought i'd be fine.

[to100]

Did coffee urn ever have coffee in it? I had Sophmore problems with cloudy syrup for2 season.
Do you have space between each prefilter. Also the cloth from prefilters. Are they above pot syrup level?
I use black spring paper clips and or roll up prefilter for space at bottoms?
Soak urn in vinegar then baking soda?

You are not going to upper red line on hydrometer 58 brix or 32 Baumé scale
Lower red line is for cold test 60 degrees

[Haynes Forest Products]

I believe your trying to filter and bottle at the same time and keep the syrup up to bottling temp. That seems like an impossible task I will admit that I never was very successful using gravity filters for this very reason. To me stacking 5 prefilters makes no sense. If the prefilter is of a small enough micron how does niter get thru the first one past the second and so forth.
Would a course filter be better and let it dip all night and then reheating and use the small micron single filter and see if it filters faster. I understand your frustration with all the sticky wast ending in a pile of filter mud and syrup