2x6 evaporator draws, filtering & bottling?

[Gallinipper]

I am running a 2x6 leader drop flu evaporator and finishing on it. With a 2x6 you get small draws. Do I put all of the draws in one stainless pan until I have enough to bottle and then reheat 180-190 degrees, filter and bottle? Do I go ahead and filter small amounts as I get them off of the evaporator and then bring it up to 180-190 degrees later and bottle. For those that filter first and bring it back up to 180-190 are they re-filtering? I will be using a cone filter with pre-filters this year.

How do individuals that have large evaporators and large draws do it? Do they have enough to run it through a filter press to the bottler right away and bottle? Do they hold it, bring a large batch back up to temp., run it through the filter press and then bottle?

[Tweegs]

We draw right into the filter.
When the pail beneath the filter gets full we transfer to 5 gallon totes provided the grade hasn’t changed. A tote for each grade.
Back at the house we heat to 190, filter again, and pack in 1 gallon glass containers for a more permanent storage.

Packaging for retail size containers we reheat, filter, and bottle.

We use the cone filters at the shack, basket type filters at the house.

We filter every time we heat the syrup, which is every time it is moved.
Half of our product gets sold in glass, want to see as little niter as possible.
I’m paranoid when it comes to bottling plastic…no floaties, no bugs, and be absolutely sure of it.

Should add that we always check, and adjust if necessary, the density before packing in the 1 gal or retail containers.

[Sugarmaker]

Either way will work.
We always filtered when syrup was hot from the evaporator.
Then reheat to 180 F later to can.
Regards,
Chris

[Gallinipper]

Either way will work.
We always filtered when syrup was hot from the evaporator.
Then reheat to 180 F later to can.
Regards,
Chris

Chris, Are you re-filtering when you can?

[CampHamp]

I draw-off through a prefilter clamped right onto the spigot. When it clogs, I lift the bottom point of the filter and clothespin it up to the top to get the last syrup through.

I find that filtering at 190 is harder than at 219. I like to get my sugar content right (add some sap, usually) and get it up to a good boil (careful it doesn't boil over - a thermometer with alarm is helpful for multi-tankers) before final filter and bottle at 180-190.

Late in the season there's more niter, so I forego the draw-off filtering and decant after a day or two of settling off and save the sludge off to the side to get the bulk through filters easily. I'll eventually filter the sludge, but might combine it with another batch or two before the battle.

Finally, I dip the bottoms of those used filters back into the hot sap pan to recycle all that sugar.

[maple marc]

With a 2x4, now a 2x6, I found that trying to filter during the small draws was just too much trouble. You can't keep the filter warm, and are you sure of the density when you draw those small amounts? Eventually I learned to just draw into a pot. At the end of the day the pot with maybe 5 gallons goes to the house and sits overnight to settle. Next day the syrup is poured off the dregs (which settle again), the density is balanced, then reheated to 200 and filtered in a press and bottled from a canner into glass. Find what works for you. I got the press because I couldn't face pouring 5 gallons of hot syrup through a cone on the kitchen floor. Life is much better now.

[VT_K9]

We use a Leader WSE 2X6. We used to batch boil...hit syrup (or near syrup) and draw off through a cone filter. Then we would finish it on propane on the side using a thermometer and hydrometer. Then we filtered again through cone filters.

A few years back we picked up a filter press. We did the same as above and then filter pressed at the end of the season when bottling.

Now we draw off consistently. The first year we used cone filters. Last year it went straight into a 5 gallon drum without a filter. Then everything was run through a filter press at the end of the year. I think this year we will likely use a smaller quantity of cone filters, just to get the majority of the stuff filtered.

With the constant draw we usually can maintain a pencil sized flow of sap with a very few temperature swings. We reduce the draw off when re-fueling and sometimes have to open it a little more to catch up. We also have a RO and concentrate to about 7-8%.

Mike

[Sugarmaker]

Chris, Are you re-filtering when you can?

I put a double layer of cheese cloth over the end of the nozzle where we can the finished syrup. This can catch something that may have entered the syrup prior to bottling.
This cheese cloth also makes the syrup come out in a nice stream/flow into the jugs!
Regards,
Chris

[Hunt4sap]

What is minimum sap depth that you can have on a 20" by 6" deep by 4' long Evaporator pan?( wood fired 55 gallon drum with 6" flue) it has 2" ceramic blanket on bottom and sides and fire bricks in lower portion. I also added an old fire place wood grate ontop of lower firebricks to give better air flow for burning.i insulated it to not burn my whole woodpile up!!!i hope!thanks for insite in advance guys.

[psparr]

As low as you feel comfortable going.