When you microwave, just do it in 20-30 second bursts with plenty of stirring inbetween.

I would not have thought to use the microwave...Thanks for that tip. I don't believe that moisture was the problem so I will go ahead with your suggestion and I'll let you know how it goes. I now must wait for the new motor to arrive.

Thanks Gap!

I don't know Jack. I think all you can do is experiment a little. If it were me, I'd chop up the block you have into little pieces and then try to melt in the microwave. If it doesn't go liquid then maybe something else is amiss (could it have siezed due to moisture?).

If it does melt OK, then add the cocoa butter and incorporate by stirring and try to add it to a warm wet grinder while the mixture is still relatively warm (say 45C).

Thanks Gap!

I really appreciate your responding to my question. I will add the additional cocoa butter. I would like to not add the soy lecithin so I will see how the butter works without the soy. Do you think that warming up the now hardened mass will liquefy it enough to get it going in the melanger and if so, how much heat?

I'm not Tom, but I might be able to help.

I think your total fat content is too low. Assuming the cocoa beans have 53% cocoa butter, your total fat in the recipe would be 50% x 53% + 25% x 26% = 33%. If you are using a standard wet grinder, you should probably aim for 36-40% fat and maybe add some lecithin (liquid lecithin up to 0.4%) to improve the "flow" of the chocolate.

Just looking at the math, if you add 10% cocoa butter and 0.4% liquid lecithin to your current recipe by total original weight, the new recipe ratios (by total new weight) would be

Liquor: ~45.3%

Sugar: ~22.6%

Whole Milk powder: ~22.6%

Cocoa butter: ~9.1%

Lecithin: ~0.4%

That would have a fat content of ~39% based on the assumptions above and should spin in the wet grinder. I have no idea if it's what you're aiming for (it would be a 54% milk chocolate) or if it would be to your tastes, but I think it would work in the wet grinder.

Hi Tom,

I recently tried to make milk chocolate using 50% liquor, 25% whole milk powder and 25% sugar. I had the liquor in the melanger for 48 hrs. added the sugar and all was well. Then I added the milk powder and things literally ground to a halt. I used a blow drier to heat it up enough to get things moving again but by that time the motor in the melanger was fried. I removed the chocolate from the machine, placed it in a stainless steel bowl and put it in the refrigerator. I have two questions: First, what is wrong with my formula and secondly, is there anything I can do to turn the chilled, thick mass into something that I can return to the melanger without burning up another motor. I really don't want to waste what I have made so far, if that's possible.

Appreciate your advise.

My darker milk is:

32% cocoa nibs

13% cocoa butter

27% sugar (sucrose)

9% skim milk powder

19% full fat milk powder (26% fat) - spray dried milk powder

0.4% lecithin

To me, this one tasted like a chocolate milkshake

It gives a result pretty close to what most people associate milk chocolate with. For me, I prefer a darker milk but this keeps a lot of friends and family happy.

Wow that is almost a white chocolate!

Thank you.

My last batch of milk chocolate (which we were pretty happy with) was:

11% cocoa nibs

26% cocoa butter

28% sugar (I split it 19% sucrose and 9% lactose)

4% skim milk powder

28% full fat milk powder (26% fat) - spray dried milk powder

0.4% vanilla

1.75% dark malt extract

0.4% lecithin

This recipe gave total milk fat of 7.5% which means the tempering can be tricky. Also, the milk powder I was using was spray dried - if it was some different sort, there may be more free fat available meaning 7.5% total milk fat is too much. I added malt because I like the taste, but 1.75% was probably too much - would try 1% next time.

When I think about the next batch it is still unclear to me. Assuming all milk chocolate is not as think as the last batch, the only way it would be less viscous, is to increase the percentage of butter. The liquor is around 53% fat and with the added butter being an 20% - 25% butter getting to the 35% + total cocao fats. I used 26% liquor on the last batch and it still is a little dark.

I still have another 55-60% left of sugar and milk powder. I tend to stay above the 35% (total bar) sugar content. That still gets me over 20% and probably closer to 30%. Do I need to add more sugar, keep the milk powder content to 20 and lower the liquor and raise the butter a little to get a good milk bar.

Thanks

As a general rule you want to have your cocoa fats (calculated from liquor and added cocoa butter) between 35 and 45%. My milk chocolates are down around the 35% and dark chocolates can be up to 45% but generally about 40%. You are going way too heavy on the milk powder in my opinion, the most I have ever had in a formulation has been 20%. Good luck, formulating milk chocolate is tricky to get just how you would like it, with the desired rheology.

After making dark chocolate for a couple of years, I have ventured off into the world of making milk chocolate. The first batch ended up being a dark milk and came out fairly nice. I used 42% liquor, 7% butter, 27% sugar and 24% milk powder. Using the small CocoaTown Melanger, I let the liquor work by itself for 6-12 hours, then add the sugar and butter so it can grind down, takes 4-6 hours. Then I add the milk powder and was working with a thicker mix than usual. Now I am trying a milk around 40%. I dropped the liquor to 30% and raised the butter to 10%. Did a sweet 33% sugar and 25% milk powder. As I put the milk powder in the machine, it is way to thick and needed to double the butter content and it is still too thick to get all the milk powder in. This is really messing with my percentages. We will see how it turns out.

Vahid:

What is wrong with the machines? Are they not functioning in the same way? There is no way anyone can help if we don't know what's wrong.

Have you contacted Chocovision.

Hi Friends,

I have toSpoiledrevolution 2 and I can't fix them.

I live in Turkey and I want to fix them by my self .

Please guide me in this way.

email: vahid@proses-tek.com

Hello,

My name is Rus. I have interests in chocolate as I love chocolate. Currently I am intrigued to make chocolate from bean to bar and have questions about tempering. Please be patient as this is my first post.

My question is a proper tempering technique. After you finish conching and refining your chocolate, it's time to temper them. Most of the beginner tempering machines are non continuous machine, means you need to seed the liquorwith a solid chocolate to bring the temperature (49 C / 120 F) to the temper temperature (30 C / 86 F).

So lets say I have just finish conching, and I need to make them into bars. Since this is the first batch, there is no solid chocolate available to seed, so you need to make one first. I read that for the first solid chocolate for the purpose to seed, you need to temper this seed chocolatefirst. My question is why do you need to temper the seed when after that, you are going to use it to temper the chocolate liquor? Can you just take some of the liquor (25-30% of the batch), then let it cool in a chocolate bar mold and then usethis cooled block seed chocolateto temper the rest of the liquor? What difference would it make in term of finish product for chocolate that used a tempered seed vs a non tempered seed (a cooled down liquor)? Isn't the purpose of seeding to bring the temperature down from 49 C (120 F) to 30C (86F) or slightly lower temp for milk and white chocolate? I read that chocolate can be tempered numerous time, so if you are having sugar bloom, you can melt them again and re seed.

Thank you.

Thanks, Clay,I was in a hurry, forgot that it was protected. Just thought it was an interesting project that other craft chocolate makers might like to know about.

This site is for a project initiated by Ketel One Vodka.

It is sitting behind an authentication screen (you say you are over 21 to visit the site). In order to see this entry you MUST pick Australia as the country you are coming from OR you can authenticate for your home country, close the browser window or tab, and then click on the link to load the page. [Instructions added by Clay.]

Joshua Bahen @ The Modern Craft Project (Australia)

Hello to anyone reading this,

I have been looking online trying to find a milk chocolate recipe starting from an unsweetened chocolate and then augment it by using stevia instead of sugar. I am a diabetic and I love milk chocolate (more of a Belgian style but Swiss and French are perfectly fine as well).

I know that you can buy sugar free milk chocolate with any other non sugar sweetner but I want to see if I can do it with stevia and right now i have not found anyone who sells that.

I was intending on using Callebaut 100% Cocoa Chocolate Liquor as my base. Does anyone have a recipe that I can start from. I fully intend on making bars and doing it right (This means attempting to temper and not refrigerating) but I need a place to start.

If anyone has any ideas or recipes please let me know. I would greatly appreciate any help with this.

Martin:

Here is a link to the machine in question , for everyone.

The 3RT 12C is not a continuous tempering machine (neither is the 6T series), it is a batch tempering machine. From the page:

12 kg. of chocolate is melted to 45 degree C in 60-90 minutes. It is then cooled and tempered to 31 degree C in app. 20 minutes.

Once the 12kg of chocolate is used, it will take a minimum of 20 minutes to get a new batch of 12kg of tempered chocolate (assuming chocolate at 45C is poured into the tempering machine) otherwise you are looking at 80-90 minutes between batches working from solid chocolate. From everything I have heard, the Chocomas are dependable machines that do what they do. However, note that the these machines do not include depositors or vibrating tables so if those features are important to you you need to factor those into the total cost.

Both the Selmi One and FBM Aura are continuous tempering machines. They are roughly comparable in terms of basic capabilities. Major differences are in working bowl capacity and form factor (the One is floor-standing and the Aura is bench-top).

With the Aura's 4kg working bowl you can be ready to work in about 30 minutes from a cold start and take up to about 10kg per hour out of the working bowl without having to interrupt production for more than a few minutes at a time. This is one of the major advantages of continuous tempering - greater throughput. I would also say that more consistent crystallization is also possible.

In my opinion, based on everything I know about the internal workings of the two machines FBM machines are better engineered and built than Selmi machines. The Aura is about 2000 Euros cheaper than the One (before the ChocolateLife member discount on FBM). From a throughput perspective, the closer comparison is the FBM Prima which is slightly less expensive (after ChocolateLife member discount) than the One. The Prima does have the advantage of accepting an enrober attachment, which neither the One nor the Color can.

Hi,i am wanting some feedback on the chocoma 3rt 12c temperer and the 6t range. Are they considered continuous temperers?

How do they compare with a selmi 1 or a fbm aura?

Martin

Hey everyone. If you want to put together buying groups for products from companies that are NOT supporters of TheChocolateLife please contact me first. If you are not sure if a company is a supporter of TheChocolateLife - please contact me first.

There may be a conflict with an existing supporter of TheChocolateLife.
I may be able to help get a better discount and/or a better product.

Please keep in mind that the commissions I make selling products to the ChocolateLife community make it possible for me to run the community free of charge.

Thanks for your understanding,
:: Clay

Hello, I have read few days ago about a group of people getting a discount from perfect equipment for enrobeuse , could any of these person contact me , for me to purchase my enrobeuse at the same discount

is anyone interested in purchasing a mini enrobeuse from PE . we could get 10% off

Thanks to all

leia

Steve,

Thanks for your comment.

I'm in the learning phase of bean-bar with hopes of getting my hands chocolaty in the near future. Fermentation seems to be one of the most uncontrolled process and so am trying to get first hand knowledge of at least one producers process. La Iguana seems to be the closest possibility so I'll schedule a visit sometime in the first half of April.

hello , I live in perez zeledon , I just bought a panning machine ,can I be of any help ,I am interested in fermemtation , as well , steve

Thank you Juan Pablo,

Sorry to see you are so far from our location, however, I'll save the location for our next visit to Costa Rica. It appears that La Iguana is the closest to our location.

Thank you for your response.

Hello Frank, this is Juan, I work with Daniela at Nahua Cacao & Chocolate. Our farm is not located near the areas that you are going to visit. The farm is in "Bijagua de Upala", between the Tenorio and Miravalles Volcanoes. More or less 4 hours drive from San Jos or Dominical. Google Maps:10.74503,-85.000105

Thank you Daniela.

We fly into San Jose then drive to Dominical for a two week stay. On the way back we plan to see the volcanos atBajos de Toro Amarillo,Sarchi for a day or two. During the trip I would very much like to spend a day seeing some of the processing I have read so much about. If Nahua's cocoa fermentation/drying is anywhere near our route, I would appreciate your introduction.

Thanks again.

Hmm in the western Costa Rica I'm not sure. I suggest you look at the northern plains. We have our cacao farm there. ( http://www.chocolate-nahua.com or FB: Chocolate Nahua ) Let me know if I can help you with anything

Frank, consider visiting La Iguana Chocolate in Mastatal, Costa Rica. It is a 4 hour bus ride from Quepos. Also, if possible, you should try and get to Puerto Viejo on the East Coast to visit Carribeans. The owner, Paul, will be more than happy to show you his process. Just make sure you contact him before hand, as he mostly only does tours once or twice a week. Of course, Puerto Viejo is only a couple of hours away if you drive. By bus it took me 8-10 hours to get from Quepos to San Jose to Puerto Viejo.

Other than that, there is a not too much in the Quepos region for the chocolate interested. I was there in December and searched all over. Eventually I decided I had to travel to the Caribbean coast. You may get more information on where to view fermentation hands-on from Sibu Chocolate, or Samaritan Chocolate (very small operation; they don't ferment their beans themselves, but the owner is super friendly).

Contact Jorge Salazar for La Iguana Chocolate: http://www.laiguanachocolate.com

You can contact Paul at Carribeans through his company's website http://caribeanscr.com/chocolate.html

http://www.sibuchocolate.com & www.samaritanxocolata.com

Hope that helps! Good luck!

CATIE's the costa rican cocoa research institute. a web search will tell you everything you need to know

Thanks Sebastian. Any URL, email or company name info would be great.

CATIE in cartago should be able to help you out. You'll likely have to do some level of driving to find it (it's unlikely they'll bring the fermentation to you).

I am very new and have some questions about what chocolate I should buy to mold Easter chocolates in vintage tin molds which I purchased on ebay. Should I be looking at couverture chocolate? Do I still need to temper it? I would like to purchase tempering machine, but see that the popular ones only do 1.5 pounds at a time, and they are a little out of my price range for an item that I would use not very often. Any information will be appreciated. If someone can recommend the best brand of semi sweet bulk chocolate, and also the vendor which has the best price, I would be very grateful.

I could certainly walk through my degrees and where they came from, but i suspect that's not really where your question lies. I understand you *want* to believe that something's that effectively almost pure NaCl with a few minor minerals in it will be a healthful panacea - however it's very well understood that in order to get that little bit of minerals, you end up getting a lot of salt - which is also similarly understood to be a direct driver of hypertension. See The Lancet, Harvard medical student review, or any one of the 10,000 other reputable sources that have published as much. I could also review a list of the peer reviewed journals i've published in, and the clinical trials that have been conducted. My work has, over the years, helped shape current FDA (for the US) policy and similar agencies in other countries all over the world. You are correct that i'm not employed by 'the big boys club' of the FDA. Lecithin does absolutely nothing to 'balance the acid and alkali' in chocolate. It's function is purely as an ampiphillic emulsifier.

If you are marketing a food product as a medicinal food, or as appropriate for a demographic that has serious health issues - it comes with a responsibility to do so in a fashion that is consistent with current medical understanding. Marketing salt (and lets be honest here - Himalayan salt IS salt) as heart healthy because it has a few minor minerals (and again - lets be honest - they are VERY minor - the average NaCl composition of this salt is 95%..). It's irresponsible. Likely illegal (you ARE familiar with the US labeling requirements related to sodium content and heart health, correct?)

I've been at this a very long time. It's been my observation that there's a group of folks who desperately want to believe in non-traditional approaches (raw food, high salt, low carb, whatever), and often outright discredit mainstream science, while quoting the non-traditional sources or personal experiences that have not been peer reviewed, published, or even replicated. There almost always is no reputable science that has been replicated backing any of it up. What i find interesting is when those folks comes to an established board asking for information, and when they do not receive the answer they like, proceed to disparage and attempt to discredit the one who attempted to help them, because the answer did not lie within the constraints of their pre-existing personal belief system.

I will not engage in an extended discussion on this past this post.

Adding salt isn't a good way to make something heart healthy? Himalayan salt or Pink salt is known and proven to have the same 84 minerals that are contained in the human body. It has also been proven to clear arteries and increase circulation while lowering blood pressure. I'm over the age of 50 and my blood pressure is low for a 20 year old much less a 50 year old and I ingest a major amount of salt including pink salt. This is not heart healthy you don't think? Where did you receive your education Doctor?

Pink salt also is known to balance the acid and alkali in the body. Einstein once said it takes a genius to see the obvious so let's look at something obvious. The ingredients list no lecithin which is used to balance acid and alkali in chocolate; could it be that the pink salt is being used instead since it's known to have the same balancing affects? Possibly.

As for the Gov. agency, latter 1990's an explosion occurred in a chicken packing facility in NC. OSHA (a gov. agency) found fault at the factory and levied fines. Soon after they went out into the workplace and began to levy fines around the state. Did they go to the the big corp's? no. They went out to the little housing sites where the little mom and pop contractors and subcontractors were working not Dupont or Sampsonite where a worker might not have worn a protective glove in a factory. According to your statement they would have no time to go to the little guys. The same holds true for the FDA (a gov. agency) Little Johns Back Yard Chocolate Shack is exactly where their going. The FDA is a Big Boys Club and you aint in it.