I find the most painstaking step of the whole process is the final filtering. I filter the raw sap before I start boiling. As I am getting close to syrup yet still sap I filter the hot sap to remove niter and sugar sand. Those two tasks go pretty easy. The final syrup filtering is what kills me. I do not know if it is my ADD or just tired from a long day but it not my favorite step. My last batch I got lazy. After reaching syrup, I poured the hot syrup directly into bottles. The final product was fairly cloudy. I decided to wait for another day to reheat the syrup and filter it. Well, the next day I check the syrup in the fridge and it was very clear. It definitely had some sediment on the bottom of each jar. By using tall thin jars, I carefully poured off the very clear syrup and left a fairly small amount of syrup with the sediment in the jars.
My question is, is this an acceptable practice? I found that I am only filtering a fraction of the finished product compared to before. Why have I not read about other people doing this? It seems to be such an easier way to finish the syrup by letting time and gravity do its thing. I have a very small operation with only 10 trees tapped.