Forum Activity for @Clay

The stated capacity of most of these wet-mill grinders is the volume of the bowl.

The batch capacity (in kg) is typically 50% of the bowl volume. 20L bowl is ~10kg of chocolate.

The manual for the scale does mention that there is auto-shutoff for the display, but not the scale. I would contact Ohaus directly to find out for sure. There may be a difference when it's on battery as opposed to being plugged in. BTW, the scale I linked to is well liked on Amazon. (You could also ask the question of the users who reviewed the scale on Amazon about the auto-shutoff.)

I did learn that it's possible to purchase a beam scale with a tare function but I cannot find one with a capacity of over 2kg.

Beth -

The real question here is what accuracy do you need at the low end?

A scale with a max range of 15kg might only have a resolution of 5gr. That would be okay for measuring 10kg of couverture, but might not be okay for measuring some other ingredients you might add. So you would need to consider a separate scale for measuring small amounts.

An inexpensive digital "pocket" scales can measure up to a kilo at .1gr resolution for under $20 (but don't forget to order a calibration weight if you buy one of these). It's going to be cheaper to buy two scales than to get a scale that can weigh out 15kg with a resolution of .1gr. A 15kg scale with a resolution of 2gr can have a discounted cost of about ~US$160 before shipping. A 15kg scale with a resolution of .1gr will cost at least US$100 more.

While you don't need a washdown scale, there are scales in the ~$160 price range that are NSF rated.

I routinely use the Affordable Scales web site to locate scales for specific uses ... you could do this and then find a supplier in Canada if they don't ship.

Tony:

I don't have a particular source in mind, I was just asking for clarification for others who might read and want to respond.

Still need to know quantities involved. A broker such as Meridian in Oregon or Atlantic/Ecom in NY could easily supply you with Ecuador that could meet your quality requirements (not knowing what they are).

Java/Bali is a bit harder, though I would inquire through the brokers to see if they have anything. I know Big Tree farms sells nib, not sure if they are also selling beans.

Andy -

There are some interesting fed gov't documents you can read:

Natural and Biological Pesticides

Take a look at the links near the bottom for more. Note that whatever gets used needs to be odor-free or the odor will be absorbed by the fat in the beans. 

About GrainPro bags:

"[ They are ] made from multilayer recyclable polyethylene plastic (PE) with a proprietary barrier layer with sufficiently low permeability to prevent the exchange of air and the absorption of moisture. [They are] designed to be used multiple times.

[They] effectively stop aflatoxin growth, eliminate infestation embedded with the commodities and prevents the penetration by [insects] in the commodity without the use of harmful chemicals."

When it comes to live insects and larvae, the bags increase the CO2 level within, effectively suffocating them. However, they are less effective against eggs so if you remove the beans from the bags the eggs can hatch.

Why not use GrainPro bags for long-term storage of cocoa? I know people who have used them for long-term (> 3 months) and they told me that some trained tasters can detect a plastic-y odor from the bags. Because the GrainPro bags are used inside the jute bags (to help preserve barrier integrity), they are comparatively expensive.

Plus, there is also the possibility (which some have noticed with Grainpro bags) of the beans picking up plastic-y odor if stored in the bags for extended periods of time.

Tony:

What kind of quantities are you looking for?

Do they have to be in the US or are you willing to import?

:: Clay

Beth -

Every machine in your workshop should have some sort of preventive maintenance schedule. What that schedule looks like, and what it entails, depends on what kinds of components the machine has. For example, in a machine with a compressor for cooling (refrigerator, some tempering machines), you will want to check the refrigerant level on at least an annual basis and vacuum the heat exchanger (radiator) on at least a quarterly basis if not more often. I recommend scheduling the maintenance 3-4 weeks before heading into a busy production period. August for Christmas, early-January for Valentine's Day, etc. This means you have time to address issues before downtime becomes critical. I have one customer who schedules preventive maintenance on a monthly basis, taking all of his machines out of production over a weekend. They produce over 10,000 bars/day and there has never been an interruption during a critical production period.

Motors something to look closely at and clean, as are critical wear parts such as bearings and seals.

DO NOT overfill the machine. The stated capacity is the entire bowl. The actual capacity is under the axles when working with chocolate. Overfilling will increase processing times, in part because mixing is less efficient.

There is no typical order for adding ingredients - except that the order and timing of adding and the length of processing has an effect on the flavor. Both sugar and cocoa butter absorb aroma and flavor, so adding them in early in the process makes it more difficult to get rid of undesirable aromas and flavors. It's worth experimenting to see what your results are and what you like. But, given the small machine, I would put work just the liquor until it was very fluid and then add the sugar in in one-third or one-fourth portions and give each portion time to grind before adding the next. If you add the chocolate in all at once you're likely to cool the chocolate down too much and the wheels will seize. And yes, I know this because it has happened to me.

Powdered sugar, when added to chocolate, will immediately suck up any moisture in the chocolate and make the chocolate very thick. In addition, it changes the taste of the chocolate, in part because of the way the sugar absorbs aroma and flavor, which are different than with large-crystal sugar. So, that's something to consider.

Jim:

You can get away with up-converting 120V to 220V for this application -- I did not know that this would be put to use in a home setting. The Clima is 220V 3-phase, so not something you'd put into a residential setting.

An electronic converter that is designed for use with appliances will be fine. I have a couple of options I could recommend in the ~$100 range.

Jim - no trouble as I am in fairly regular contact with the people at Angel Refrigeration (Everlasting does not sell retail so it is necessary to go through a dealer and there is no US dealer). I don't think these are available in 120V, but I can get in 220V single-phase.

Jim -

Angel Refrigeration in the UK represents Everlasting and other brands, and I am their agent in the US. Everlasting makes several temperature and humidity-controlled cabinets specifically for chocolate.

Here is a link to Everlasting chocolate refrigeration products on the Angel Refrigeration web site. The option I recommend most is not listed, but it's a two-door version of the Choc71 and Choc101 solid-door models. The two doors are arranged one over the other (not side by side), so you are only opening half the fridge at a time. The 71 holds Euro-sized sheet pans (which you can order through Angel). The 101 holds US-sized sheet pans through the inclusion of racks along the sides. If you are interested I can get you prices.

:: Clay

The Clima is good option when you need to balance throughput with available space. The Clima is not cheap when compared with some DIY solutions, but it requires very little space (comparatively) and it's easy to put molds onto the Clima input belt without having to move from the depositor so in that respect it's quite labor efficient. At roughly 3.5 molds/minute (timing can be adjusted to increase/decrease time in the tunnel based on cavity thickness) the cooling time is about 13 minutes. We have success cooling 100gr bars in molds with 3 cavities at this speed.

You can find a downloadable US/60Hz catalog page here . Pricing may change in January, so prices are guideline only (as it's December 30 and there's no time to place an order before Jan 1).

The major change I've seen is that the US$ is now stronger than the €uro. Otherwise, prices are fairly stable. Ocean shipping costs can vary depending on the cost of fuel and differences in cost structures between shipping companies.

Christopher:

Welcome to TheChocolateLife! While I hope that ChocolateLife members will share with you directly, I also encourage you to ask you to ask questions as they arise. The greater the volume of postings the greater the likelihood that people will respond.

You might also consider a regular series of blog posts to document and share your progress. I know we'd all like to hear more ... there are many, many members of TheChocolateLife in India.

:: Clay

Posted in the last 24 hours on Facebook. It's a start. I can only hope that Georg will personally visit everyone else in TRS that he labeled "unconfirmed." In the case of Pacari, I believe he relied in part on "unconfirmed" gossip from unreliable sources and did actually do the necessary work to determine whether the gossip was true.

Suzanne -

Are you here in the US? Some sources from Europe might not be good for you.

Martin - Thanks for sharing!

Calum - I am taking a look at the specs on the fridge and it's not clear to me what the capacity of the fans is. Air circulation is an important consideration when cooling molds. I've been a fan if Irinox cabinets for a long time but they are really expensive. A good alternative, I have found, is sold by Angel Refrigeration in the UK (ask for Julie Croker and mention my name) – Everlasting. They make temperature and humidity-controlled cabinets specifically for crystallization and holding chocolate.

It's not enough to get the right temperature, you need airflow and to remove the latent heat of crystallization that the bars give off and the airflow need to be top and bottom - under the molds is just as important as over the top.

One test is to use exactly the same chocolate in two different bars – one with and one without inclusions. You'll see pretty quickly whether or not the inclusions are the problem or contribute to it. This will either eliminate the inclusions as a source of the problem or give you a clue that there is something about the inclusions that you need to look at. Temperature could be a factor. I am not sure you have to get them up to 29 ...

10-12C is a little cold. I would start at 15 and then work down by degrees.

Mark:

Patience. You need to wait for the chocolate and the miracle of proper and sufficient crystallization. These look to be mold release marks. I would definitely wait before you try to demold and see what happens. Your molds may not be clean enough or they may not be the right temperature when you put the chocolate in them. And ... what's the temperature of the room you're working in the humidity, and the temp and humidity of whatever you're using to cool the chocolate?

Calum:

You should not have to wait when topping up the machine if you add chocolate that is melted to about the same temperature as the cooling cycle on your machine. So, if the cooling is set to 31C then add melted chocolate at between 31-35C in this way you won't interrupt the tempering cycle. If you add that amount of solid chocolate you may have to wait given the overall size of the bowl.

Although it might take a lot longer to cool - can you test some bars not in the fridge? Let them cool at room temp just as test? It looks like you have inclusions scattered on the top of the bar, can you try without inclusions?

Also - what are the temps on the bag from Belcolade? 45C is a good choice as a melting temp as a starting point and I recommend starting out with every new chocolate using the same set of temperatures and then work from there as it eliminates having too many variables to troubleshoot at the same time.

I forwarded off a link to this post to Carlo at FBM so I knew about the Compatta. Are you still having the same issue there or did you get that solved.

In a recent article in Confectionery News , Fairtrade has announced a partnership with Mondelēz that should mean more Fairtrade cocoa will find its way into Cadbury products in the UK & Ireland. This is to be done through expansion of the Cocoa Life program.

However, in a troubling (to me) comment from Barbara Crowther, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Fairtrade, [the cocoa for Cadbury] "isn't going to be certified either under the Fairtrade mark or through the sourcing program. It's going to be traded through loyalty payments embedded into Cocoa Life itself and we will work to hold that program accountable ."

We should take into account the fact that the International Institute for Sustainable Development, in its most recent report on cocoa, says that less than 40% of the cocoa that is certified is sold as certified. That means that the producers pay for the certification of 100% of what they grow but, on average, receive the premium on only 40% of what they sell that is certified.

This fact is not one that is advertised by Fairtrade, which is hardly surprising, as I think it's part of an overall lack of transparency with respect to how premiums do (or more importantly, do not) always make it to the producer. While there is an inordinate focus on paperwork and documentation up the supply chain, there is no corresponding documentation or commitment down the supply chain.

There are other aspect of Fairtrade's work that also need to be examined, one of the most heinous of which is the concept of mass balance, which guarantees a complete lack of traceability back to the producer in countries where this is practiced.

What immediately occurs to me, when Fairtrade says, "Trust us, we'll work to hold the Cocoa Life program accountable," is that they first must hold themselves accountable for the premiums that are collected and how those premiums are disbursed. My immediate suggestion is a report on the flow of money, down to the producer (co-op) level. If they can come up with total dollar amount for premiums collected globally, they should know the numbers that roll up into that number on a country-by-country basis as well as on a producer-by-producer basis. If they don't ... then their global numbers should probably be considered suspect.

What the industry needs is more transparency, not less transparency. Fairtrade has not earned my trust because they have never fully documented the flow of money back down to the producer. Fairtrade positioning itself as the monitor of Mondelēz's cocoa portfolio for the UK and Ireland is asking way too much and it is naive on our part (consumers' part) to assume that the job will be done properly.

The article talks about Mondelēz's $400 million, 10-year commitment to improving cacao farmers' lives and livelihoods. Last I looked there were something like 15 million people who rely on the income from cocoa in whole or in part. $400 million over 10 years is $40 million/ year, which is less than $3/year per person. And that's assuming that all $400 million actually gets spent in productive ways? How much of that $400 million is caught up in administrative overhead and other expenses?

Maybe this new initiative will produce positive results ... but I one thing I am fairly certain of is that the only news that will be published will be positive and glowing: the system is not designed to report its own shortfalls. We can only wait to see what sort of reports are produced, but I am not sanguine that the effects will be meaningful, especially absent any promotion or connection with Fairtrade. What will be the consumer messaging around this? How are they to know?

Calum -

How long has this been going on and have you been in touch with FBM yet (and where are you located)? Do you have the FBM Skype account for technical support?

Is this a chocolate you're making or a commercial couverture you're buying?

What are the temps you're using for the chocolate (bowl heater temp and cooling system temp).

How long are you waiting after the machine says it's "ready" before you start depositing? You should not start immediately as it takes some time to circulate all the crystals once the temperatures have equilibrated. I recommend 15 minutes at a minimum.

Basically, if you have the temper dialed in properly then this (the bending) should not occur. So, there's something about the way you are using the machine - or there's an issue with the machine itself - that's causing the issue.

My guess is that you've got a lot of lower-form crystal formation going on. That could be because you're not cooling the chocolate to a low-enough temperature. I need to know more about how you're using the Prima ... you can't use it the same way you use a batch tempering machine.

Is this a 7kg Prima or a newer 10kg Prima? If it's a 10kg machine, do you have a speed controller on the auger (and if do, what speed is it set for)?

Calum -

What machine are you using for tempering? If you never had problems hand-ladling then it may be that you think the bars are tempered but they are actually not.

Dan:

Welcome to TheChocolateLife!

Where are you located? Were you at The Chocolate Show in London? I was there.

All machines were sold!

The "market price" for cocoa at the close of trading was under US$2675 according to ICCO . And the trend is downward.

This price represents what a buyer should expect to pay for bulk-quality cocoa from West Africa with no certification premiums, and is either from the port (FOB), or delivered to the customer. The price does not represent what the farmer gets paid.

In Ghana, the price paid to farmers is set by COCOBOD - the Ghana Cocoa Board. This price is at a discount to the market price does not directly track changes in the market price. Instead, it's a price set several times per year, and is something like a 40% discount to the market price. So, if the market price averaged $3000, the farm gate price would be around $1800. Most cocoa gets traded on the public markets at prices that are directly influenced by the market price. Premiums for quality or certification are most often "marked" to the market and expressed in one of the following forms, "market plus ten percent" or "market plus $XXX dollars).

One major concept behind directly trading is that the buyer gets to work directly with the producer and they negotiate a "fair" price. Usually, this price is at a premium to the market price. So - if the money is paid directly to the producer that generally represents a good deal. However, not all companies report the farm gate price they paid. Notoriously, one NYC-based chocolate maker reported that they paid over 4x the market price for a batch of beans. Looking closely, the price also included all of the transportation and brokerage costs as well as extraordinary costs associated with the transaction.

"Fair" prices for certification are set by the certification bodies. Fairtrade has one, organic has one. Right now, FT is $200/MT and I organic is about the same. Because of the way the system is structured, very few producers ever sell all their cocoa for the premium price, so the average premium they receive can be a negative amount ... they end up losing money producing certified cocoa.

What is fair depends on many factors, and while those factors are pretty much the same from origin to origin, the cost of living from origin to origin is different. So what's fair in Bolivia is not fair in Peru is not fair in Mexico, or Hawaii. Unfortunately, schemes where the premium that is paid is the same around the world exert negative pricing pressure.

So - go do your homework at origin. Find out what's actually being paid and understand what the cost of living is, and more importantly, what the incentives to labor in the farm economy are. In Tabasco, Mexico we learned that even the cacao producers' union - which represents over 25 co-ops and more than 10,000 farmers - is selling cacao at a price that is not sustainable to its largest customers.

FBM - NW Chocolate Festival Show Specials

UNICA 40
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Craft Chocolate Upgrade w/ auger speed control
Enrober-ready w/ belt speed control
Pneumatic doser
SINGLE-PHASE 208~240V

KLEEGO 50
A true conche for the small-batch chocolate maker
50kg capacity as a melter
35kg capacity as a conche

RUMBO
60kg melanger/refiner
Real granite grinding stones and base
Direct drive (variable speed and reverse)
Integrated hot-air warming
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QUADRO 10
10kg batch temperer
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MINI-MONO
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DETAILS
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NW Chocolate Show Special: 20% discount off show machines .
Customer is responsible for removing the machines at the end of the show and shipping from the venue.
Price includes shipping from Italy and customs clearance.
Contact Clay Gordon for details about placing the order.

I have never had any problem contacting Blommer on the phone to purchase product in bulk (1MT of cocoa butter direct) or to find a local dealer in the NYC area (1 bucket of cocoa butter).

The local retailer in Brooklyn is a broadline pastry ingredient supply company.

I would call them, not email them: 1-800-825-8181.

Where are you located?

Wendy - I am sorry there are not. Where are you located? I may be able to do something.

As do the Belgians. The French would use bon bon (good good).

No - in general, raw cocoa materials are not sterilized. People have improved production processes, but subjecting the beans to temperatures above 100C (no matter the duration) is not something most raw companies are prepared to do - and still call the product raw.

One of the challenges with the raw diet is that you don't know if (or how much of) the benefits are coming from eating raw food - or not eating processed food. (I've been researching and covering this topic since some time in 2009.)

Yeah - the main point is "cold processed" but the word raw has a lot of baggage attached to it with respect to specific (but not universally agreed upon) maximum temperatures.

Helion -

Generally raw chocolate makers don't sterilize.

Part of the challenge is that they don't understand the physics of heat transfer - the just focus on a temperature and think it's an absolute limit. Subjecting the outside of a cocoa bean to 100C/100%RH for 1 minute does not cook/kill the bean - but it will do at least a 3-4log kill on salmonella and e-coli. In fact, it's barely enough time for the heat to penetrate the shell, and you do have to consider evaporative cooling. 

I am confident they've never thought about the instantaneous shear temperature under the grinding wheel. If the chocolate, on its own durning refining, warms up to 45C then the shear temperature has to be higher.

The most common sterilization process is high temperature "dry steam." This is often done in a pipe when the beans are being transported from the cleaner/destoner to the roaster.

Another method would be to inject water into the drum of a drum roaster.

When using a convection oven you want one that is plumbed and so you can inject moisture into the cavity of the oven. Some convection ovens are programmable with precise controls over humidity levels (e.g., Unox, Angelo Po) so you can program a specific humidity levels for a specific time during the same point in the roast cycle.

In addition to sterilizing the beans, the humidity will cause the shell to separate slightly from the bean inside, resulting in less cocoa butter transfer in roasting and a bean that is easier to crack and winnow - as long as it is not allowed to cool completely

The bars should be easy to remove from the mold, have no release marks, and have a nice crisp snap.

Hi @melisandegosselin - welcome to TheChocolateLife!

Raana -

This is the company you are thinking of: http://www.chocolateriedeprovence.fr/ ?

Ursula -

I would go to a local used restaurant equipment dealer and look to find a used bread proofing cabinet. You would not hook up the water because you don't need humidity control. New cabinets can cost as little as $1000, so used should be much cheaper.

The temperature control range is right in the middle of what you're looking for.

You can take the chocolate out of the tempering machine and put it into hotel pans that fit the racks in the cabinet.

San:

One of the challenges with "raw" is that there is single, accepted, maximum temperature. Some say 42C (Douglas Adams coincidence?), others say 45C, and the most common one I've heard here in the US is 48.7C (118F).

One of the challenges I have with a single temperature definition is that it assumes that all foods (and all enzymes) react the same way to heat. I know that Excalibur, a dehydrator manufacturer, cites research that says that enzymes are more durable in aqueous environments. They can "survive" for far longer times and far higher temperatures than the ones you cite.

From a process perspective, trying to express butter from liquor at low temperatures is inefficient - time consuming and expensive.

Furthermore, there is no proof that I am aware of that there are living enzymes in dried cocoa beans (drying is a stage missing in your process diagram, and I take issue with the order of other steps). If there are no living enzymes in raw beans then it should not matter what temperature the cocoa butter is processed at. Also, to the best of my knowledge, there has been no peer-reviewed study that tracks changes in nutrient levels from the bean in the pod to a finished bar that conclusively shows any benefits from consuming "raw" chocolate.

So - from my perspective - the distinction is meaningless.

But your customers obviously care.

Trent -

NCW is a commercial company whose business is selling products and services to confectioners and chocolate makers. 

You can promote your business on your profile, but if you want to promote product or services here in the Classifieds - you need to help cover the costs of keeping the servers running and the software up to date.

Please send me a PM or email to discuss.

Thanks,
:: Clay

Sebastian -

The /reddit thread is spectacularly unhelpful in explaining how/why this works.

There is a lot of bandying about the word hydrophobic but the question remains, how are the gold powder particles selectively removed from the (cocoa? coffee?) to stick to the surface of the chocolate?

What's the chemistry of this, do you know?

Ilya -

250kg week is 2500, 100gr bars or about 3500 70gr bars. If your mold has 3 cavities in it and you can process 3 molds per minute thats 3x3x60 or 540 bars/hour. So, molding 250kg would take 5-7 hours per week at those speeds. Tempered chocolate requirement is ~35-50kg/hr.

Cooling time is dependent on several things, with the thickness of the bar a key factor. A 7mm-thick bar is going to take a lot longer than a 3mm-thick bar (the time difference might not be a linear function).

If it takes 15 minutes to cool down a mold (a cooling tunnel will make this much faster, BTW), then you need to have a minimum of 45 molds at 3 molds/minute if everything went perfectly and there were no delays. To be safe you will want twice that number.

Throughput is going to be dependent on getting your molds into the mold loader, de-molding at the other end, and returning the mold to the mold loader.

One of the things people think is that going to a cooling tunnel eliminates labor. That's not strictly the case as you need people to operate the machine. A skilled operator and manual dosing can do a lot more than you think. It's about organizing production to be efficient.

A case in point is to consider that at .5 meters/minute you need at least a 7.5 meter cooling tunnel to keep up. And that's going to mean a lot of walking from one end of the tunnel to the other.

[ That's not the case with the Selmi bar tunnels because there is one fold. They go down to one end then move to another level, and return to the beginning. ]

A specialized crystallization fridge with 20 racks can probably hold 80-90 molds. It might cost you $6-7000 delivered. By the time you put the bottom tray into the fridge the bars on the top rack will be ready to take out. The operator can work at their own pace - it's not dictated by the machine.

When you need to double production, duplicate the line. It will be less expensive and require less space. When your production projections reach into the 1000 bar/hour range and you have to run at that pace for more than 5 hours/day, then go get a tunnel. And then consider a folded (vertical) tunnel not a linear tunnel.