Forum Activity for @Tom

Dark milk chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Well i would say you have too many solid particles for the amount of naturally occuring cocoa butter in the beans you used. I would add cocoa butter but since that is not an option you could go for a vegetable oil with a high bp and little flavour so as not to change the taste of the chocolate too much. I am not sure how much you would be able to get away with before you will have trouble tempering the resulting chocolate but i would guess not more than 5%. Also if you do this it won't strictly be chocolate anymore because you have other non cocoa fats in there. I do this when i make a choc-hazelnutspread but then i adding more than 5% and the result is spreadable.

Dark milk chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hello,

I am trying to make my first dark milk chocolate from the beans, and I have some problems about grinding and conching. I do not add soy lecithin or cocoa butter, only cocoa beans ( 45%), whole milk and sugar. I use the CocoaTown grinder and after 72 hours of grinding - conching, the texture is not perfectly smooth. But the taste is very delicious ! I wonder if I have to wait another 24 hours ?

What do you think ? I don't want to add other ingredients, do you think that I can make a smooth dark milk chocolate without additional soy lecithin or cocoa butter.

Thank you in advance for your advices !

Maria

updated by @Maria6: 04/14/15 17:20:06

Nothing Like Chocolate

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Trailers of the movie "Nothing Like Chocolate" with The Grenada Chocolate Company:

http://www.nothinglikechocolate.com/trailers.php

updated by @Vera Hofman: 12/13/24 12:16:07

Too Dry for Tempering?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

A couple of things suggest themselves as this sounds like it might be inconsistent distribution of crystals in the chocolate.

1) Keep the chocolate at the melted point for a while longer, 10 minutes? before starting the cool-down part of the cycle (when you add the seed chocolate). This will help to ensure that the chocolate is completely melted. Remember, the temperature is only being measure where the little sensor probe is located. Waiting a while will make sure that the chocolate is a more even temperature and that the crystals are all melted out.

2) When the temper cycle is over, do two things: a) stir the chocolate a bit to mix it, evening out the temperature and spreading the crystals around; and thenb) wait a while before starting to use the chocolate - remember, the temperature sensor measures the temperature in only one place.

Too Dry for Tempering?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Oops, sorry about that.

I'm using ChocoVision Revolation X3210, and Noel and Callebaut chocolates. After going though the tempering process, the chocolate has shiny streaks as well as whiteish streaks and spots.

Too Dry for Tempering?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Jasmine -

Not sure if you mentioned this before, but what kinds of machines are you using for tempering and what exactly are the symptoms (visual and otherwise) of the temper being off.

I have to agree with Jeff about low humidity, as chocolate is not supposed to have any water in it anyway. The only issues I have ever seen with humidity is when it's too high, and the chocolate, being hygroscopic, absorbs moisture and thickens making it difficult to work with.

Another issue - I suppose theoretically - is that you're not melting out all the crystals before starting to cool the chocolate down. This would result in "bad" (unwanted) crystals still being in the chocolate, forcing improper crystal structure. When you warm the chocolate up, to what temperature and how long do you keep it there before starting to cool it down?

Too Dry for Tempering?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Humidity shouldn't really affect your tempering process. I work at 10,000 feet here in Quito with probably 40% or lower humidity much of the time and never had an issue.

Too Dry for Tempering?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello,

I am trying to pinpoint my recent tempering difficulties in my store's kitchen. I've ruled out machine malfunction and the chocolate itself, since the same poor temper is happening with both machines and different % and brands of chocolate. (Plus, I have also gotten beautiful tempers from these machines and chocolate brands.) The only other variable is the atmosphere of the kitchen.

My kitchen is currently at 66 degrees Fahrenheit and 31% humidity. I know the ideal atmosphere is 68 degrees Fahrenheit and below 50% humidity.

My question is: is 31% humidity too dry to get an excellent temper?

Looking forward to hearing from everyone, as I am stumped about this problem.

updated by @Jasmine Mead: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Tempering problem

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello !

I have just started making chocolate from the bean. I make 70% chocolate, two different origins. They taste good, I think I have found the best temperatures for the tempering process, but I have some problems... I use Selmi tempering machine. My molds are warm, but not too much.After tempering, the structure and the color of the chocolate are ok, but there are always 2-3 very bright, glossy, spots, not white, and not always on the same molds.

Do you know why ? I don't know if there is a problem with the molds or with the temperature ?

Thank you in advance !

updated by @Maria6: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Bean-to-cocoa butter and cocoa powder

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Antonio,

I was researching the same topic a while ago.The people from Grenada Chocolate seem to have been able to build one themselves:

http://grenadachocolate.com/tour/press.html

And I also found a thread discussing how you would go about building it yourself. In short, it is not very easy or reliable to do this.

I look forward to reading other, more up-to-date opinions.

Bean-to-cocoa butter and cocoa powder

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Kat, not really... we have received some info and quote for a LOT of money and huge scale... otherwise smallest scale and very "home style" nothing in the range of 100 to 300 kg...

Anyone can Help??

Bean-to-cocoa butter and cocoa powder

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi! Did you find any solutions to this-I am in the same process.

Bean-to-cocoa butter and cocoa powder

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Everyone!

anyone any idea how and what needed to go from bean to cocoa butter in a medium scale?

updated by @antonino allegra: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

It's important to have the right tool for the right job. Each tool has it's limitations, and once you ID the right tool, it's just as important to understand how to use the tool. For the vast majority of folks on this site, a micrometer will likely be the right tool - as long as it's used right. For this group of people, actually, the mouth itself is probably the right tool. Given sufficient experience, I've found that I've been able to 'resolve' down to 15-16 um particle size (largest particle), w/in a +/- 4/5 um range. Most of you making chocolate here aren't going to need a deep, deep understanding of particle size, shape, or distribution, and spending lots and lots of money to get a number that your tongue could probably tell you may not be money well spent.

It's important to ask yourself "why do i need this piece of information, and what will i do with it". If the # itself isn't important to you , and really the information you're looking for is 'do i have a chocolate with a good mouthfeel or not' then just put it in your mouth 8-)

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Sebastian:

Is there a reasonably priced option that addresses these limitations of micrometers?

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Muchas gracias Sebastian.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Remember there are caveats with any tool. Caliper type micrometers with spinner adjustments:

1) only measure the largest piece in the sample, and the sample presented to the tool is very, very small

2) can actually crush the largest piece by using the spinner to close the gap, thereby resulting in a smaller reading than it should be (can compensate for this at some level by having a pressure guage affixed to it)

3) only measure in one axis. ie, if you put a pencil in it and measure the width of it, you'll get a small reading. however, it's unlikely the pencil would be presented in such a fashion as to have the tool 'see' it from eraser to lead - which would be a much, much larger reading. those types of shapes exist in chocolate.

Still a very useful tool, just need to be aware of what it's actually telling you and what it's limitations are 8-)

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=mitutoyo+micrometer&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=11394996720134678078&sa=X&ei=SZ48T8SXK4eYiALcl83MAQ&ved=0CE8Q8gIwAQ Yes Mitotoyo Micrometer that's what I have..maybe it was 100 bucks. Works perfect.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

50 bucks and you will find a digitl one at a good tool store. I find them very accurate as long as they are good ones that allow you to tighten with that second spinner

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Well, we just buy a Mitutoyo 293340. We are going to try with it.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

chocolate is a suspension of mostly solids in a bit of fat, the more fat you add, the more disperse your solids are, and the less likely that they'll be 'stacked' or agglomerated together on your measuring device. strictly speaking, you don't need to add a dispersant to your chocolate to measure it, but it sure does help with the precision.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I read that we need a 50-50 oil-chocolate mix to make a measurement. It is true?. (it was an old book)

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Definately suggest you run some tests batches before you buy it. Make sure you run enough of it to get it to steady state, and think about cooling, because it's going to get very, very hot.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

We are going to buy cacao liquor, cacao butter, milk and sugar, and we are going to have a machine, intended to be used before the refining process as blender (mixer) and after for the conching process.

Im afraid to but I think its a "need to have". At this point Im just want to make the best choice.

Thanks.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

A grind gage will do ok for rough and dirty process control. will do a terrible job at PSD.

Lots of different types of colloid mills. Be sure you run your product, at your formulation, through the mill before you spend a lot of money to buy it. You'll want to understand if it makes what you think it will before you own it. Regardless, after coilloid or ball milling, you're going to have another grinding step, i assume? Or are you planning on running your milk, sugars, and nibs through the colloid mill? Probably not what you want to hear, but i don't think i'd treat a colloid mill as a 'one stop grinding shop'.

Edit - i'm afraid omar, that you'll find that any tool, used to measure micron precision, that's worth using at all, will likely cost more than you think it will, and take longer than you'd like it to for it to arrive. You'll have to decide if it's a need to have or a nice to have.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I didnt knew about this kind of tools (I do know). Have you test it?.

I think this will be more difficult to find in Venezuela but I am going to look for. I couldn't find in Amazon either.

We order a balls mill to refine chocolate but our "machine maker" (a temperamental one) tell us that he was going to do a colloid mill. He said that the colloid mill will do the same work. If it didnt he will build the balls mill. We need the micrometer to see if the colloid mill realy works.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

What do you think of the grind gage ? also measures PSD.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

The most appropriate ones are those with built in pressure guages to avoid overtightening. Mitotoyo (spelling?) can make them but i believe they're special order.

Quest for micrometer

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I need to buy a micrometer to measure the chocolate thickness.

Which one do you use?

Which one shouldwe use?

Best,

Omar Montilla

updated by @Omar Montilla: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

chirag,

No need to swich of your wet grinder in intervals just remove its plastic cover and put one table fan facing electric motor , now you can run your grinder non stop.

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Ricardo:

though I'm fiarly new to making chocolate,,I have to agree with Brad and Sebastian and Clay.. a stone grinder can definately give you the smoothness your looking for.

i dont even use a factory modified grinder. i use a locally available brand(well not really brand, company) thats easily available to me here in India.. as far as the heat goes, all i do is give the machine a 10 minute break every 3 hours..

now to some that may not seem practical, but keep in mind that the machine cost me less than 100 US$, for me (who is working on a tight budget )it works very well..

i cangenerallyget 48 hours of refining/conching done in 2.5 to 3 days.

-Just the opinion of a newbie who recently discovered a great passion for good chocolate

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

I recently bought an Ultra Grinder. I must say after 15 or so batches most folks have no idea which chocolate was made by me in the Ultra and that bought top shelf at a retail shop. Granted we are not experts, except we know what tastes good and what doesn't , what's gritty and what isn't. This machine does a mighty fine job, and for home use.. this is economical and small in size and 10lbs is a great batch size! best wishes.

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

I wanted to share how to modify the stock Ultra Grinder machine. Here are the resulting pics showing the stand, bottom ventilation and the ventilation/heating mini-tower ( 1 , 2 , 3 ). This video shows a way to drill the top ventilation holes and a reference to the Santha Air Flow Modification . Even though it was fun and educational to do it myself I feel that buying the chocolate machines from an authorized dealer provides warranty is good value.

So these machines are perfectly capable of producing fine chocolate, but with a limited yield per week depending on the conching time. I assume about 10 kgs per machine.

Brad brings up a great point in time (over 36 hours) decreasing acidity and developing flavor. I have been wondering if ventilation and temperature play an important role when conching with the Santha/Ultra machines. I recently processed a Colombian Santander (fron ChocolateAlchemy) for over 36 hours at 120-130F with a closed lid in my Ultra. The result was still acidic, which I didn't find in previous test with Ecuador cacao.

Do you think it is a good practice to open the lid and have a small fan blowing air on the chocolate?

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Your particle size is just fine. I admit i've not had a bar in a while, so i'm going from memory (and i eat far more chocolate than your average bear...) - but from recollection, i'd put the max particle size somewhere in the 20um range, which is a nice place to be. I do think you've got too much much cocoa butter in the last bars i tasted (which you already know 8-))

of course, always willing to give a sensory/phsyical analysis update on fresh samples 8-)

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Hey Sebastian, FYI: my conche/refiners go right from nibs and granulated sugar to chocolate with no pre-refining. You've tasted it. From a texture perspective what do you think? (I already know you think my 70%'s are too high in fat! haha!).

Oh by the way, I had Jean-Jacques Berjot and a few other Barry Callebautexecs in my shop the other day doing a tasting. He thought the Cuyagua 80% you tasted was amazing too. In fact I had to laugh.He crossed his eyes, did a couple of arm pumps, and ended up leaving with a couple of the Cuyagua 80 bars.

Cheers.

Brad

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

He does have a stone grinder, read the '$4000 pregrinder, really, really' thread from a year back.I have made beautifully refined chocolate on my Spectra 10 every weekend for almost 5 years, same machine, no mods, changed the belt once and had the motor serviced once. A damn good investment!!!

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

I've got a laser particle size distribution of chocolates made with the melanges somewhere. If i can find it, i'll post it. To be honest, when these first began to be used, i was inordinately skeptical. i didn't think it could be done either. What i've observed is that they're able to make chocolates that, from a particle size reduction standpoint, exceed almost everything that's commercially available via conventional processing. Now, that's not to say conventional processes can't do it - they can - but in order to get that fine, it takes a long time - same as with these machines. If time is not an issue for you, you can make exceptional product with them.

From reading your material, you appear to be at the same level of skepticism i was 10 years ago. Do this for me - there's any number of artisinal chocolate products available today that are made via this fashion. Select a few to purchase, and taste them. If you have the knowledge and resources, analyze them. Then make your assessment. If you've never used the equipment, and you've never assessed product made on the equipment, it may not be fair to judge it.

Disclaimer - I have no vested interest in the home chocolate maker, the equipment used to do it, or the ingredients that go into it. Quite the opposite actually.

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Enjoy your "site". Ciao.

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Ricardo -

I have to agree with Brad and Sebastian on this issue.

Despite your skepticism, I have personally tasted many, many chocolates made with the modified stone grinders and most (though not all) of those chocolates had no detectable grittiness in them. I have also had chocolates made in expensive "universal" machines that did exhibit grittiness.

It's not the "fault" of the machines, they are both capable of producing good results. More can be attributed to the way the machines are used - the experience of the chocolate maker - and maintained (or not).

I also don't see 30 microns as an absolute number. I believe that part of the mechanical effect of conching is to coat all of the particles with fat. So - you could have a paste where the particle size was below 30 microns with extremely uneven fat distribution and it could taste gritty.

Brad also correctly points out that particle size is just one characteristic to consider.

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Hi Adamandia:

I am a little skeptical that the Santha grinder ( or any little stone grinder ) will produce completely smooth, under 30 micronchocolate. These cute machines look like an old phonograph. Material ismilled between a spinning disk and one or two fist-sized "wheels" that revolve around it. Chocolate is odd ( a non-newtonian fluid ). That means, like cornstarch, the more you compress it, the more dense it becomes. This generates resistance and heat, lots of heat. Little machines are hard pressed to deal with this. Nothing wrong with the technology, just the scale. Also, if you grind too long, your chocolate may turn into a ropey, tar-like consistency.

Maybe Brad and Sebastian have some techniques that overcome these problems. Bottom line - I wouldn't buy any machine that did not come with a guarantee that it could grind chocolate to 30 microns or less. If you hear: " Well our machine wasn't made for chocolate per se, but it should..." don't walk, run away.

A note on micrometers: one reliable and economic way to get an objective measurement of particle size is to use a microscope. Retailers can provide a fliter with a line grid that fits into the eye tube. You make a thin smear of your chocolate onto a glass slide and the lines in your field of view will indicate the size of particles. You can preserve your slides by adding one drop of marine varnish. By preserving slides, you cansee how various chocolate brands vary not only in particle size and percentage of sizes but also particle shape.

Bottom line on a grinder-- get a guarantee that is enforceable.

Best, Ricardo

Looking to learn how to make chocolate - bean to bar process

Posted in: Chocolate Education

The Science of Chocolate is a good book for sure. So is Cocoa Chocolate & Confectionary by Minifie. My personal favourite is Chocolate & Confections by Peter Greweling. Peter's book is a great foundation for actually doing stuff with the chocolate you make.

Now, when it comes to particle size, I agree with Sebastian, and would also like to add that your claim about the modified home grinders on Chocolate Alchemy producing gritty chocolate is unfounded. I used a modified version of one of the Chocolate Alchemy machines for almost 3 years in my home kitchen until I purchased true commercial grade chocolate refiners, and with those little machines produced some of the smoothest milk and dark chocolate I've ever had. Following Sebastian's advice I actually kept chocolate I'd made in my little Santha, and occasionally go back to it for comparison. It's just as smooth as my commercial machines' product.

There is one thing to point out here, which I'm surprised nobody has touched on - and that's acidity and taste. Who cares if the chocolate is gritty when it hasn't been conched enough and is acidic and vinegary? Most machines I have used can grind cocoa beans down to the point where my pallate can't detect any grittiness at all in less than 12 hours. However I've found that to produce truly "great" chocolate, it can take at least another 36-48 hours of conching to round out the flavour.

I would have to say that if your chocolate is gritty to the point where you need a micrometer to test for size, you haven't refined and conched it NEAR long enough. When you get to the point where texture isn't an issue, and your focus turns to amazing, rich, deepflavour,THEN you're getting closer.

...but that's just my experience.

Cheers

Brad