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Maple syrup filtering

N
Nov 12, 2008
1,103
56
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West Branch, Mi
So, me and my family have been making maple syrup for many years now, and everything is going great. My question to everyone is if anybody has an idea on how to filter the syrup better. Right now we have synthetic material that we pour the syrup through into a kettle. It works fine a filter, but takes FOREVER!! They make pump/press filters, but they run around $900 and we're not payin that for this BIG hobby of ours. Any ideas on how we could get syrup through a filter faster than gravity? Switching filters out about ever quart works alot faster, but alot of the syrup get caught in the filter and cant be saved (the filters are about 3'x3'). Any idea's are welcome. Also keep in mind that we want to do without wasting the syrup or making a mess.

Thanks,
Nolan
 

PJ-Hunter

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Lifetime Membership
Jan 31, 2006
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Kremmling, Colorado
Can you send me some? You can't get real maple syrup here. Just that fake chit! I'd appreciate it.:beer;:beer;:beer;

PO Box 883
Kremmling, CO
80459
 
N
Nov 12, 2008
1,103
56
48
33
West Branch, Mi
Yea, the syrup is boiling when we filter it so that helps a little. As far as the centrifuge, seems messy and complicated to make! lol. Pancakes are awesome, we are almost though with our first 1000 gal of sap and Im about tired of waffles! My uncle is actually running a bigger process than we are; hes the 3rd largest in the state, and has won WORLDS GREATEST 2 years in a row now (he has a filter press!) and their setup is just amazing! Last year he made over 5000 gal. of SYRUP! As far as the filtering goes, I would like to some how force it through the filter paper without spending the cash, nothing fancy, just practical!!
 

Jeff C

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Jul 4, 2001
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Mahtomedi, MN
Make yourself a holding tank of some sort.

At the top of the tank where you are going to do your filtering make yourself up a cone shaped filter made out of a few layers of window screen. The cone will face down. Now on that cone place a finer filter material like cheesecloth.

You want to make that cone up so that it sits near the top of the tank and goes all the way to the edges of the tank.

Install a fitting just below the cone but above the area where the syrup will be held. That fitting will go to a vacuum device that will pull the air out of the holding tank and pull the syrup through the filter and down into the tank.

You will want to make sure that you keep the syrup over the top of the cone at all times, so you dont break the suction with an air leak.

If I were building this, I would make the tank out of stainless steel, cut the top off, and cut the tank about 3/4, 1/4. The 3/4 part would be the actual holding tank, the 1/4 part would be the sides that you place on top of the edges of the cone filter. the edges of the cone will be rubber so it sits on top of the tank, then put the 1/4 section on top of the cone and clamp all three together.

Pour in the syrup, turn on the vacuum device, and the syrup gets pulled through the filter and into the tank. Put a gate valve on the bottom of the tank so you can drain it. You might want to put a sighting device on the tank s you can see when your approaching that fitting for the vacuum.

That design would allow you to easily take the sections apart and clean the filter.

You just have to make sure that you dont fill the tank part up with syrup so high that it reaches the vacuum fitting just below the cone filter........


Why not try something like that?
 
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