Small hand pump filter press or a vacuum pot

[bill m]

What is the most you make in one day? 10 gallons? That will only take a few minutes to filter using a press. You do want to filter your syrup hot.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

I was asking about the time it takes to filter through a press after a night of boiling, but backwoods, you sound like you filter on different days than boiling days. Can the syrup be run through the press cold or do you heat it up?

The syrup has to be hot to run through a press. Problem is, if too long between drawoffs it will plug up or be so slow that you will want to break the press down and start over. And ours holds about 3/4 gallon of syrup so it doesn't make sense for us to try and filter off the evaporator. So essentially, we batch filter and bottle when we have a minimum 10 gallons of syrup. We heat it back up to 211 to check density, add DE and run it through the press. You lose heat running it through the press but typically if we get it to 211 it is perfect for bottling at 185 after the press heats up. You know it's hot when all the plates are hot. And we check the temperature of what's coming out of the hose before it goes to the bottler. The bottler also has a temp gauge on it and sits on propane burners so we can run a low heat if needed to keep the syrup at bottling temperature. That's the nice part about water jacketed bottlers - they will hold the temperature for you......maybe some day. Anyway, once the syrup is up to temperature, our 7" gear pump press will run 1.5-2 GPM so it does not take long at all to run 10 gallons of syrup. It takes longer to break the press down, clean the plates and put in new papers for the next run than it does to filter 10 gallons of syrup.

[Ghs57]

I have to agree with the comments about filtering at a different time from boiling. I'm a one man show, and there is no way I want to juggle bottling and boiling in the same session. I understand the desire to process syrup hot off the evaporator as I have that desire too. You can try to do this with gravity filtering, but I found that the syrup cooled too fast before it was bottled. Now I do do a preliminary gravity filter at the draw-off, which removes some of the gunk. But I have conceded to reheating bulk stored syrup (on propane burners), filtering, adjusting the density, then bottling in a separate session where I can devote my undivided attention to the task. I can also maximize the amount of syrup run through the press on one set of filters/filter aid and minimize the clean-up.

[Wolfcreek Maple]

We filter at the end of every boiling session. We draw off into a large stainless steel round container, to keep syrup warm we use a cast iron burner under the pot.We keep flame low as it requires very little to keep it hot.Once we are done boiling and evaporator is cooling we set the filter press up,we keep press pieces warm on top of hood.We adjust density then filter syrup into stainless pails.After done filtering we filter the syrup pan then we filter the flue pan I feel we lose almost no syrup this way.We then clean press with hot water.We typically filter 15-20 gallons per session.This works good for us as all of this is done in the shack,and we then put syrup into our water jacketed canner.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

It really depends on how much syrup you make in a boil as well. I suppose if we were wood fired I might try and do something after we were done firing and waiting for cool down. But being on oil we have no cool down so when we’re done it’s just some cleanup, plug the pans, maybe drain and soak the syrup pan and go home.

[VTnewguy]

My hesitation with jumping to a filter press is not understanding how it works into the process of a nightly boil. Right now I gravity filter right off the rig and my filtering is pretty much done when my boil is.

If I understand it, with a press, I would collect all my draws into a bigger tank and reheat that (or not?) at the end of the night. Then I cycle the syrup until it is clear, pack it, then break down and clean the press. That seems like a lot on the end of a night.

I kind of feel the same way about this as I do with bottling during or after a boil. When I'm done boiling there's all the cleanup and it's time to hit the sack. How much extra time does using a press add to a night? Is it really fast?

What we did was purchase a second canner that we use as a big drawoff tank. When it's time to filter, kick on the burner to warm it up, double check density with the murphy cup, add DE and send it through the press. We make on average 8-15 gallons per boil. Once it's shiny clear we move the hose over to the canner and we are ready to bottle. It doesn't take long maybe 10-15 minutes. Before the press we use to do cone filters and then flat filters, never again! All time and headache saved in not dealing with messy orlon and prefilters makes it woth it.

[claystroup]

We make 30-40 gallons of syrup a year which I know isn't a lot. I bought a used D & G 7 bank 7" filter press 2 years ago used for $900 and would never go back to Orlon filters. This year we filtered and bottled twice during the season saving up syrup bulk in SS milk cans. Syrup comes out crystal clear as we bottle only in glass. Worst part is cleaning the press when your done. I sit it on a stand I built outside the shack to clean it because "juice" goes everywhere when you break the plates down.

[motowbrowne]

We make 30-40 gallons of syrup a year which I know isn't a lot. I bought a used D & G 7 bank 7" filter press 2 years ago used for $900 and would never go back to Orlon filters. This year we filtered and bottled twice during the season saving up syrup bulk in SS milk cans. Syrup comes out crystal clear as we bottle only in glass. Worst part is cleaning the press when your done. I sit it on a stand I built outside the shack to clean it because "juice" goes everywhere when you break the plates down.

Do you have a gear pump? I ask because I also have a d&g 7". Mine has an electric diaphragm pump. After I finish filtering syrup and then suck some sap through, I leave the pump run for a couple minutes. I'm always amazed when I break it down, there's hardly any liquid in it at all, sometimes none. Is there lots of space between your DE cakes? If so, you could try using fewer plates when you filter. Just thinking out loud.