Tell me YOUR filtering process

[Trapper2]

You weren't kidding when you said you roll your pan off! That's a clever way of doing it.

Conveyor from a neighboring farmer cost me a quart of syrup. It looks like we have plenty of guys there but with the conveyor I can do by myself when need be.

[prairietapper]

Nope! I will not tell you my filtering method. No one needs another example of how not to do it. I am sure looking forward to a press though!

[SSS2017]

I’m similar to most here doing 2-3 gallons at a time. I draw off from my flat pan into a 10 gallon bayou classic pot with two prefilters held on by 12gauge copper wire threaded through evenly spaced holes cut into the prefilters. From there I finish to syrup on propane. Then I dump into an 8 gallon bayou classic pot with 2-3 prefilters held on the same way with copper wire. This pot has a shutoff on the bottom with a 1/2” barb to hold my tube that connects to my Maple Guys hand filter press. From there I press into my steam finisher from Smoky Lake Maple and bottle at 190.

I dropped some money on the press and steam finisher this year but I’m glad I did. I’ve bottled over 10 gallons so far this year of crystal clear syrup. No more evil thoughts of sugar sand in the bottles the next morning.

[prairietapper]

I’m similar to most here doing 2-3 gallons at a time. I draw off from my flat pan into a 10 gallon bayou classic pot with two prefilters held on by 12gauge copper wire threaded through evenly spaced holes cut into the prefilters. From there I finish to syrup on propane. Then I dump into an 8 gallon bayou classic pot with 2-3 prefilters held on the same way with copper wire. This pot has a shutoff on the bottom with a 1/2” barb to hold my tube that connects to my Maple Guys hand filter press. From there I press into my steam finisher from Smoky Lake Maple and bottle at 190.

I dropped some money on the press and steam finisher this year but I’m glad I did. I’ve bottled over 10 gallons so far this year of crystal clear syrup. No more evil thoughts of sugar sand in the bottles the next morning.

nice set up ! I am nearly envious

[BSD]

last night, had to correct density and re-filter... it looks ridiculous, but it works grea. ran 7 gallons through my inverted filter and pre-filters. no issue. made some great medium amber,

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[poulin]

Prairietrapper,

What exactly have you bought as a steam canner ? I don’t see any heat source below, is it propane, electric ?

Thanks

[Boxelderburn]

So we batch boil in one shot and end up with about 6 gallons of syrup. I've always strucggled with filtering and getting clean syrup. Last year we when we were done on the evaporator we finished on a turkey fryer, then attempted to run the syrup through 2 prefilters and and orlon, but had a tough time keeping the syrup flowing constantly. As the filters would start to slow down, we would lose are temp, and as it began to run slower through the filter, we had to turn the heat off to keep the syrup correct, which in turn made the filtering even slower. I have run some about using DE, but it seems like theres still quite a few guys on here that don't and don't seem to have any problems, do anyone have any suggestions to make the filtering process a little more efficient?

[Daveg]

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I personally roll off my flat pan, my Sap is close to 218 degrees and I filter thru 4 layers of flour sack cloth. I usually do about 4 gallons at a time. Then I take it inside to a turkey fryer and bring it up to density, checked with Hydrometer and a thermometer, usually about 219. I then filter into a 7 gallon bucket that is on top of a coffee maker. The bucket has a orlon bag and 4 prefilters in it. I put a strainer in the bucket just to hold the bags open for me. The coffee maker is plugged in and holds the syrup at about 190. I bottle into pints and quarts for family.

When I plugged in my coffee urn (Westbend 200 cup) the syrup in contact with the heating element immediately scorched, contaminating the entire sample with carbon flecks. Instead, I insulated the urn with 3/4" foam insulation.

[thomashansen871]

I read a post a while back that said to fill the urn with water and let the cycle run, leave the water in it and powered on until you need it, then dump the water and filter syrup into it. That is what I have been doing and I have not had any issues with it, I do the exact same process that Trapper2 does.

[Daveg]

Do you turn the urn off after dumping the water? My Westbend 200 cup coffee makers' heating element immediately scorches any syrup in contact with it, creating black flecks of carbon in the syrup and giving the batch a burned taste.