Forum Activity for @Tom

I age it once it has been totally finished and moulded into bars. Most dramatic changes in the chocolate taste occur in a period of three weeks after that, from then it seems reasonably stable (I mould pretty much straight after I finish grinding it). This is just my experience from making and eating a serious amount of chocolate in the last 4-5 years. As for conching, you just have to use your taste, I don't ever conch overly long, I like a bright chocolate. Over conching is a sin, it flattens and mutes the chocolate. Only with a very acidic chocolate like madagascar would I conch in the true sense. It takes about 12 h for a 1 kg batch to grind down to sufficient particle size in my Spectra 10, usually I wouldn't do anything more to the chocolate after that. But with a madagascar I would take the lid off and 'conch' (grind further) for about another 6 h, this also depends on ambient temperature also.

The best way to learn is just to make heaps of chocolate and try different things all the time, try lots of different origins too. Importantly taste it all the time at all stages and keep notes.

Looking for a little advice on how to better work with the chocolate as I go through the process of learning. I purchased a Cocoa Town melanger and have made about 10 - 2 lb. batches in the last month. I am using the balls of paste we made in the Dominican Republic last summer.

I break up the balls using a meat grinder and soften the pieces on a double boiler before I put in in the melanger. I have been adding about 2 cups of pure cane sugar and am testing 2 1/2 cups on my current batch. The conch time has ranged from 4 - 8 hours and one 20 hours conch. Clay warned me about over conching and the gleam appears after about 4 hours.

When I take it about I generally let it harden at room temperature and store in the refrigerator until I temper it. When I visited Mast Brothers they told me they age their chocolate for a month and I read in Maricel Presilla about chocolate being aged for more than three months. AT WHAT POINT DO YOU AGE IT? After the conch and what are the ideal temperatures to store it?

When I took samples of the 7 hr conch to the chocolate show in NYC, it is obvious it is missing something, especially at the end. Are the flavor notes primarily determined at the bean selection, fermentation and roasting processes? How much influence do I have with the conch machine? Or am I mostly working on texture and appearance at this point.

I also lose probably 10 -15% (a guess) transferring it between the machine to a bowl and then during tempering to the molds.

I take it to school (I am a teacher) and share it with the students and get a lot of good feedback. I talk about making chocolate with kids at every opportunity. And they love it.

I also made my first batch of ganche and made some truffle balls rolled in a variety of nuts and roasted quinoa works well. Tried a little batch with reduced orange juice. Not the same as those I purchase around NYC but it is a start.

We just bought a temper and we need to know where to buy bilk block milk chocolate for tempering. Please let us know.

Thanks

Gary

I'm not sure what causes it, but I get it on one of my cocoatown ultras, too.

While running the last two batches in the Spectra 11 there is a good amount of static electricity building on the bowl. This is new. I can't pin down the cause for this. I've run through every variable I can think of with temp, weather, humidity, etc. I'm wondering if this is an early warning sign that something is happening with the Spectra. There is enough static electricity building that it's getting my attention like never before. I'm starting to know what a mosquito feels like at the bug zapper. Was curious if anyone else experienced this and could offer up the shocking truth.

Cheers! Scott

I guess I could see it used as a base or used in a truffle, or other concoction. I did finish the bar and I have to admit I enjoyed it. It wasn't my favorite chocolate bar, but it was worth a try.

How do you guys feel about the Taza 80% bar?

I bought a bar over the weekend and have made a pretty nice dent into it. But I don't know yet how I feel about it. I love all the flavors that this bar has, but not sure about the texture. Over all, I want to say I love it.... but not sure that I can.

Anyone else have thoughts on this bar?

Hi Tom

Thanks for the advice- I have them on my list. Do you know anyone that has dealt with this company before? If so, any feedback?

I am looking into Heritage chocolates- are you familiar with them?

Cheers

Natan

Corvina is the Melbourne company I assume? Apparently there is one in the Gold Coast but I forget the name, perhaps you can use this geographic area to locate it?

Hi all,

I am currently looking for a reliable chocolate manufacturer to produce a quality 50g chocolate bar (to my own specific design). There seem to be very few manufacturers in Sydney who have the capacity to do so.

I know there is a larger chocolate making community in Melbourne- I will work with these if I have to.

Does anyone know a manufacturer in Sydney (does not have to be bean to bar)??

Thanks

Natan

No, not on these.

Are you using colored cocoa butter?

Did some more experimentation today and actually pre heated my molds, the marks went away so I guess these are water spots. That opens another issue for me-If i can't decorate it I won't make it. How do I decorate it and pre-heat it at the same time?

Did you let your molds air dry the last time you washed them? If so there could be minerals from the water left behind that polishing the molds might not remove. Stains like this can be difficult to remove. I've never done it with chocolate molds but you typically have to use a white vinegar and water mixture. In this case, I'd probably just soak the molds in this mixture for a while and then rinse welland hand dry.

I have recently ran into a problem with some of my molds.After de-molding I am getting weird spots that don't really qualify as water marks. (see attached) I have tried polishing molds, moved the temperature of the work environment to as high as 72 F and as low as 60 F, preheated the molds, washed and did all of the above. The problem first occured after the molds were washed before switching from milk chocolate to dark chocolate. This is not the first time that such a switch too place but a first time that I have encountered such a problem. My molds are all hand painted so I cannot pre-heat them too much anyway just to about 75-77 F. The image attached shows a cloudy area in the middle of an otherwise shiny object. Any suggestions?

Hi christine. That sounds good. My email is sinclairpinto@hotmail.com

It would be nice if I could visit you for a few minutes at your kitchen and discussing further and it will also give me an estimate as to how much time it would take to commute.

Thank you,

Sinclair

Hi Sinclair

Take a look at my site and let me know if you'd be interested in interning with me. My kitchen is in Belmont.

Christine

Neo Cocoa

www.neococoa.com

Thanks everybody for all your suggestions. But knowing my eagerness to get my hands down into chocolate, have ordered a few moulds online and an airbrush to keep me excited until I get my internship.

Thanks Nat for clarifying which San Jose, I was wondering too! Great news that it is the local one (for me). There are many makers in the Bay Area, let's talk to figure out what kind of match would make for a good fit. You can email me directly (through my business website email) or via The Chocolate Life. I have a small chocolate tasting business that works with mostly bean to bar makers, but also some confectioners.

Best wishes,

Sunita

The Chocolate Garage

Palo Alto, CA

www.thechocolategarage.com

Check craigslist for the SF Bay Area. I saw a couple of jobs in SF and Emeryville for chocolate assistants.

Which San Jose?

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose, California

San Jose,Peru

San Jose, Guatemala?

Near San Jose, CA there's Recchiuti, Dandelion Chocolate, Bittersweet Cafe, Sokola ( http://www.socolachocolates.com/contact.html ), and several more.

Hi,

I am currently residing in the San Jose area. I have moved here from London and will be here until Feb. I am looking for an opportunity to intern with a chocolatier. Would really appreciate suggestions or help.

Sinclair

Not always but we are having a heat wave 36C yesterday.

A portable a/c fpr a chocolatier is like a great card hidden while playing poker...you never know when you need it but it is certainly better to have it where are you located that is that hot?

Thanks Ricardo, I think this is the best idea to get a portable one, it will not be as expensive. For interest's sake, it is so hot here that chocolate we poured out of the chocolate fountain in the market 24 hours ago is still not set. OK, I know because it is not tempered it takes longer, but certainly not 24 hours!

Magrieta, if your room is small enough try to get some portable a/c unit (doesnt have to be a huge one) but it will help to cool down the temperature a little bit and as for the ganache make sure it's well emulsified to prevent a broken batch.

I had the same problems with my room temperature and feel your pain but I managed to fix it as explained.

always try to run a couple of tempering test before molding, enrobing etc to make sure chocolate sets timely and everything is perfect before your big production.

hope this helps

Cao

Thanks Omar, yes I think it is in temper but not cooling down fast enough because I notice that the little leftover chocolate actually sets just fine and has no chocolate bloom at all. Must be the heat. Money or not, I will have to get an aircon as I have never had to temper at such high temperatures and it simply does not work. I think I just needed some confirmation that it is not me.

The ganache problem must be related as I have tried again, leaving out the butter and it came out fine. I think I cannot get the chocolate cold enough before I add the butter. So I am going with a very basic ganache for now.

Hello Magrietha,

Your room temperature is too high. I have never tempered chocolate at this room temperature. It shouldn't be higher than 22C.

Have you tempered chocolate without problem before with such high room temperature?

Maybe the chocolate is in temper, but your confections are not cooling down fast enough because of the room temperature.

For your ganache problem, did you try using a different batch or bagof chocolate or cream? Maybe you had a bad batch.

Regards,

Omar

I am having problems again and I do not know if it is me or not. Is it at all possible to temper chocolate with room temperatures between 28C and 30C? This is what I have, I do not have aircon and I am not succeeding in tempering any chocolate at all. I am desperate as I have nothing to sell on Saturday.

What else I need to know is whether the heat can also give me trouble with making my ganache. I am having problems with it refusing to work. I end up with a blob of chocolate floating in fat! I am new to lots of work with chocolate but I have been making ganache for years and this is the first time I have this happening all the time.

I hope you have some advice for me. Is it impossible in this heat or is it me that can suddenly not do anything right at all!

Thank you Gap & Rochelle for your valuable feedback. I'm excited to get started with the transfer sheets

I've also found the print sticks better if you let your chocolate set at room temperature before placing at a lower temp.

As Rochelle says, the colour in the transfer sheets is cocoa butter, so treat the transfer sheets as if they were chocolate in terms of storage and in terms of letting them "set" before removing them.

The transfer sheets are cocoa butter. Just keep them in a zip lock bag between 6c - 19c. I would let them set for a good 20 minutes but it all depends of how thick your chocolate is.

The Patric interview is from 2008, so I'm not sure how accurate it still is:

http://www.foodinterviews.com/2008/10/patric-chocolate-virtual-chocolate.html

And here's the photo that Rogue posted:

https://twitter.com/# !/RogueChocolate/status/148800706311229441/photo/1

Can you post a link to those articles, I would live to read them.

Thanks Solis! Glad you enjoy it.

Clay: I don't really count anymore, since I added the drum to the oven. From what I've read online, it seems as if Colin and Alan may take steps to counter the limitations of convection ovens. Based on an interview with Alan I read, I believe that he monitors the roast for each pan of beans in the oven. Colin recently posted some photos to his twitter feed recently of a new oven/roaster he bought. It appears to only hold 3 pans at a time. My guess is that this is to reduce the variation throughout the oven.

I won't try to recreate my lost reply since you have stated that you would revise you opinion about roasting cacao in a convection oven or at least I hope, see if it might be a viable alternative.

In regards to your November 21 reply, "why would I want to know what brand of convection oven used by the Mast Bros". It is sometimes not necessary to reinvent the wheel again and again. From what I know about the Mast Bros, they have put a lot of thought into the operation and manufacturing of their chocolate. They are the current darlings of the artisan chocolate world in the US. Thomas Keller, chef extraordinaire of the French Laundry, confers with them and only carries Mast Bros chocolate. I highly respect Keller's taste in anything having to do with food. Not to mention, the accolades the Mast bros have received in the last year. So yes, I am interested in the equipment they use. In addition, I too, have heard that Patric uses a convection oven to roast. In my book and in the world of chocolate, Patric is up there in international high regard.

Some of the professional convection ovens I have seen recently are phenomenal. The technology is there. They might be more of a hassle to clean than a conventional roasters, but have you cleaned a tempering machine. On the human level, we are masters of innovation and appropriation.

On another note, my current drug of choice happens to be Potomac's Upala 70%. Thanks Ben