LMP Maple 2022

[LMP Maple]

Thank you for the help on this. I used the ratio of one cup of DE per gallon of syrup. I should have been more clear. I brought the syrup up to 180 then added the DE then sent it through the filter, or attempted to. After I filtered all the syrup, about 6 gallons or so, back into the caner the filtered syrup went where I brought it up to 190 before canning it. I can at 190 and if it falls below 185 I stop and add more heat until it gets back to the 190 level. I liked the idea of drawing off the evaporator into my 5 gallon stainless draw off cylinder without dealing with filtering and filtering later when I had down time. What I forgot about was the time it takes to reheat the syrup without doing it too fast etc. I really thought that the new vacuum filter would save me a lot of time but that was not the case on this first go. I will say one of the likely many mistakes I made was not whisking in the DE as I did find that I built up some on the filter but at the end of the canning there was a fair amount on the bottom of the canner. I suspect i should have mixed it more. Also sounds like I may want to be higher in temp if I do it this way again. For this next run I am going to try to filter it right off the evaporator. It will come off at 220 or so or whatever temp we are making syrup at that day and we shall see how that goes. My draws are about a quart or so at a time so I suppose I could draw into a small container add a little DE and run it through at that time but I do want to try it with straight syrup just to see how it filters if at all. I will let you all know how that works out for me. It looks so efficient in the video and I never see them add DE. Thank you for the advice on the DE it certainly makes for a very polished finished product no doubt about that. I always pause as I throw in the DE, it seems so foreign to me to be adding anything to the syrup after we work so hard to keep things out of our syrup but that is a mental thing in my mind.

Was running a little today but still a lot of ice in the tanks. It looks like a real good run coming Sunday and all of next week here is S. NH. Thank you for all the advice and please keep it coming. I certainly appreciate the advice and wisdom of the sugar makers on the trader.

[BAP]

I suspect that your problem filtering is not getting your DE mixed in well and possibly you need to add a little more. I have to experiment each year to find the sweet spot for amount of DE to add to get it to filter good.

[red maples]

yeah the DE will settle out so I assume filtering in smaller batches will work better. Like Russ said the amount DE depends on how dirty the Syrup is. if its clogging the filters quickly you need to add more. but keeping it suspended in syrup can be an issue. they actually make agitaters for bigger producers finishing tanks
eh don't know how to spell it... that keep the syrup moving so the DE doesn't settle. I have a round draw off tank and it get swirling arounf in it pretty good to keep the DE suspended. I also use a really big whisk as well. filtering anything under 190* can be tough to get through the press.

[LMP Maple]

Thank you. I bought a whisk today and may try that in my small drawoffs to filter into the vacuum press. I will take the suggestions and see how it goes and report back. Much appreciated. Looks like we could be in for a good week starting tomorrow and back to running. Cleaned my syrup pans today. Also got the cell monitoring up and working. Excited about the remote monitoring. Surprisingly it was running fairly good yesterday on the sureflow but enough ice to let it sit. I will be collecting on Saturday, getting the R/O out of the storage state and hitting to ground running, I hope. 60 on Sunday so that should be a fun one. Hopefully just one day of boiling in a tee shirt!

[LMP Maple]

Been busy here. I would say I have made another 5 gallons or so. I will know better when I get a chance to can it up. Getting the hang of the R/o and really like the time savings. I can get the concentrate to about 6%. It's nice to set it up and do other things knowing I am saving a lot of time. I have started to get comfortable with boiling while RO ing, however, it can get a little busy in the sugar house and I prefer to get it to the number I want then start boiling. On the work nights, I go for it and do it all at the same time.

On to the vacuum press. Been through a few iterations on this trying to get it dialed in. Switched to a battery-powered vacuum unit as I have one brand that I have four batteries for and I thought this would be the ticket, no cords. It did ok but when I tried to push it a bit the motor would overheat and shut off. I think it was just too small. I bit the bullet and bought a bigger new shop vac that seemed to work well last night. I have found that even with the DE, and I think I add a fair amount I have to change the filters a lot. I guess I should not be surprised by this as with any filter press the filters have their limits. I did not try straight syrup but I might. I am filtering right off the evaporator which will make the canning faster down the road. The 9inch filter seems slow to me. It's also noisy with the shop vac. It beats gravity for sure and the syrup with the DE is crystal clear. I'm not sure I would buy it if I could go back in time but I need a season or two with it to dial it in. My project now is to put the shop vac in another room off the back of the sugar house and pipe it in. I will turn it on via a remote switch this will cut down on the noise. My sugar house is tiny so every square inch has to be carefully laid out. Sap still looking really good at this point. About 4 inches of snow or so falling now.

[red maples]

sounds like its going good over there... temps might kill it going into next week though going like gang busters then boom stop like last year. but get it while you can!!!

[tapdat]

I've really enjoyed hearing about your upgrades and experiences with them this season. You really stepped it up! I'm a few years off from many of them, but it's all great information shared. I'm just a town over getting the same weather, drowning in sap right now haha, first upgrade will likely be an RO even though we're still on a block arch with steam pans. Hope you keep getting good runs and have a good finish to the season

[MapleLady]

I am boiling on a block arch with 3 steam pans and added RO (ROBucket) to my set up this spring. It was worth every penny! It has cut my boil time immensely and I am glad for it. I only put out 17 buckets this year, as it tends to get away from me and also to reduce my wood use.

Sap has been running like crazy here in southern NH. I collected 25 gallons yesterday from my 17 taps. Not bad for a backyard micro-maple operation!

[tapdat]

I am boiling on a block arch with 3 steam pans and added RO (ROBucket) to my set up this spring. It was worth every penny! It has cut my boil time immensely and I am glad for it. I only put out 17 buckets this year, as it tends to get away from me and also to reduce my wood use.

Sap has been running like crazy here in southern NH. I collected 25 gallons yesterday from my 17 taps. Not bad for a backyard micro-maple operation!

I know what you mean. We batch boil on the weekend (a few neighbors together) on the one evap we built. Last week we added a 7th pan and I still had 25 gal I couldn't get through, steady 4 pans minimum boiling at all times and a 6am start. We made 2 1/2 gallons that day, but that's about it max throughout. RO's are the logical first step from a time/cost perspective. I know 7 pans is ridiculous...

[LMP Maple]

Took Friday off to can syrup etc. I am at 13 gallons canned up for this year. I would say I have another 3 or so in the draw-off tank. My goal is 20 I think I will get there. I made a stand for the vacuum press today and put the shop vac in the rafters. It was easier than drilling a hole to put it next door and works well. The press is ok. I can get about a gallon through it before changing the pre-filters. I am starting to get the hang of it and with the DE it makes some nice stuff. Good sap runs the last two days. Boiled today finished just as the winds started to howl and have about 40 gallons that I collected today that I will send through tomorrow. Great to hear from some of my southern NH brethren. I am likely going to call it next weekend. I think I will have a few good days this week but next weekend looks like it will be it for me. Some of that is due to my work ramping up but I also fear the spring peepers may make an appearance and that will do it. I have my list of improvements ready for next year. Really trying to focus on bottlenecks to time like pump size when transferring sap etc. The RO by far is the best purchase I have made thus far........thus far is a scary thought. Keep pushing.!!!!