Forum Activity for @Clay

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Brad:

We're not in competition with each other - yet it often seems like you think you're competing not only with me (here on TheChocolateLife and in other fora where we interact), but with anyone and everyone who has an opinion that differs from one of yours.

As I said earlier in this thread, what works for you works for you. Your way is not the only way, it'saway; your way isnotnecessarily the best way for everyone, it'sthe way that works for you. There are many options - and which one is right for a particular situation depends on many factors, including the market the business is located in and the temperament, priorities, and goals of the owner(s).

I choose not make chocolate for commercial sale for a number of reasons, both professional and personal, none of which I feel compelled to share with you because it's none of your business.

I also don't rate and review chocolate professionally anymore, which is one reason I have never commented on your chocolate here on TheChocolateLife.

And, yes, I have actually tasted several of them thanks to another ChocolateLife member and shared the bars and my opinions of them with others whose judgment in such matters I respect.

...

We've had this discussion in private but now it's time I made it public.

Your calling me a hypocrite is uncalled for and is an example of an entitlement you cannot lay claim to.

TheChocolateLife is my place of business. It's a bit like the public retail space of your business. If a customer came in to your shop and was being loud and rude to the other customers - and to you, the business owner - it would be within your right to ask them to behave respectfully because such behavior makes the other customers uncomfortable and intimidates them.

I am asking you to behave respectfully in my place of business. And not just to me, but to everyone.

:: Clay

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Holly -

I was in a restaurant here in NYC last week that plans to be making chocolate from the bean in their kitchen. They have two larger pieces of CocoaTown equipment and were sent two small (maybe 2 pound max) CocoaTown roasters.

The CocoaTown roasters I saw were based on what appeared to be unmodified Ronco "Set it and forget it" rotisserie ovens. The spit was upgraded with a drum made from perforated stainless; this was the only change I could see.

While these (and the Behmors, and one or two others based on the Ronco chassis) might be suitable for home hobbyist production, IMO they are not suitable for commercial production (I know because I bought a modified Ronco and worked in a facility that used a Behmor).

:: Clay

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Sorry - I forgot the URL for the site selling the roasters.

It's http://www.cafecoffees.com/

If you do end up wanting one, I can offer a ChocolateLife member discount.

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Ben:

Your experience with convection ovens is similar to mine.I would counsel someone purchasing a convection oven for roasting cocoa not to expect a perfectly even roast.I have yet to find one (even new) that delivers perfectly even temperature distribution front to back, left to right, top to bottom. One way to test this is to cook thin layers of yellow sheet cake in sheet pans. If they don't come out evenly cooked and browned, then you have to "resort" to some method of turning the pans.

The small roasters I am talking about are not inexpensive. An 8lb machine costs about $2000 and a 20lb machine costs about $8000 (including the roast profile hardware) and this price includes a cool-down pan.

I see the smaller machine as an alternative to a Behmor or any roaster based on a Ronco oven (CocoaTown is offering some of those). The Behmor will handle only up to 1lb at a time, has 5 roast profiles, and you need to run at least 3-4 batches to fill up a small CocoaTown or Santha grinder. For about 5x the price you get 8x the roast capacity, significantly lowered operating costs, significantly increased throughput, and with the digital profiling, more control and more consistency over roasts.

The drum roaster I posted the video of from Ecuador is an interesting alternative to a ball roaster. It can be made with either gas (propane or LNG) or electric burners and, if you can find a used 30, 40, or 60-quart bowl from a Hobart or other mixer, it could be made astonishingly inexpensively. I would add some vanes or fins to the bowl and some way to contain and increase airflow within the bowl in order to improve efficiency.

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Hello,

I'd love to get more information on these roasters. I'm currently using a convection oven, but have found that I get a fair amount of variance on in different parts of the oven. I've spoken with another small maker who recently switched to a drum roaster from a convection oven for this same reason.

I'm actually very interested in the digital controls and logging. One of my retail outlets is a small batch coffee shop who has modified their roaster to include several temperature probes that are hooked up to a laptop that graphs them real-time during the roast. He uses this to fine-tune throughout the roast.

Is this absolutely necessary? I guess that's up to the individual makers to determine for themselves. Sure, some/most makers aren't using this sort of technology, but that doesn't mean it is useless. For some, this level of detail and control may be exactly what they're looking for.

I've been thinking of building my own drum roaster using a large stock pot. It's basically like the image Clay has posted in this forum a few times with a few modifications. I'd wager that the roasters in question will be out of my price range, so I'll probably build it at some point.

Thanks,

Ben

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Clay;

You're right about the ACMC tempering machines. I own 6, and 6 is ALL I'll ever own. They suck and are all currently in storage. Choklat now uses the Pavoni Mini-Tempers, which are markedly more expensive, but also have semi-automatic tempering cycles, which are awesome, and assist staff with limited tempering skills. There have been some challenges with the motors in those, but I think the challenges are all ironed out now.

In light of opening discussion, maybe it would have been prudent to ask more questions BEFORE recommending equipment. You can see clearly by her post, that you were persuasive enough to get her to take the next step and ask for a quote.

Having said that, are you going to ask more questions and gather more information before making a recommendation (like you claim), or be a hypocrite and just quietly provide her a price quote behind the scenes?

By the way..... in all our exchanges, and all the posts you have provided here and elsewhere, I don't recall ever seeing anything relating to you actually "making" chocolate, and/or how much chocolate you make AND/OR whether it's saleable commercially. Maybe you can share that with all of us too.

Quid Pro Quo Clay.

Brad.

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Brad:

I just don't know what it is about you that feels the need to belittle other people. I am NOT appreciative of the humor you displayed in the Chocolate Alchemy forum when I asked you to share a picture or sketch of your winnower.

I debated a long time about how, or even if, to respond to you again on this post. In a couple of days it would just age off the bottom of the discussions and that would probably be that. Iam also unhappy that you choose to be so dismissive of me in this forum; you just don't get where I am coming from.What I do have to say in response to your reply:

What works for you works for you; what is useless-seeming to you may be invaluable to others. The reasons your approach works for you are your temperament, your skill set, and your market. I gather, from reading your posts here and elsewhere, that you own a number of small ACMC temperers and that you've had to take every one of them apart and rebuild them at least once since you bought them. Some people don't have either the skill or the inclination to do this. They'd rather spend a bit more up front to get a machine they know won't need repairing right way.

I want to open up the discussion to learn more about what their intentions are so that whatever recommendations get made fit Holly's needs. I certainly don't feel I have enough information to advise Holly about the direction that is best for her based on one question.

There are many different ways to start out and scale up, not just Brad's way. Without knowing a lot more about the the person's proclivities and plans I would be loathe to suggest that there is a single way to build and grow a business.

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Holly;

Honestly.... Spending money on a single usecooking implementto do 10-20lbs of beans is a waste. I can't stress more that, cooking anything is about heat and airflow.A good usedelectric4 tray convection oven will set you back only $1,000 and lets you do SO many more things with it.

Here's an example: http://cgi.ebay.com/Blodget-combi-electric-oven-/250852876906?pt=BI...

We roast about 40lbs of beans at a time in ours, on perforated sheet pans , so there's absolutely no need to stir them, and Choklat's sales this year will be almost $1 Million (our third year of operation). My staff put the beans in the oven, set the timer, and then go about doing other things until the buzzer goes. It's really that simple.

To have sales like that in our third year, simply on local word of mouth, I guess we're doing something right...

In my humble opinion, people get WAAAAY too caught up in gadgets and useless features.

"Digitally Logging the Temperature curve"???? For 10lbs of beans??? Really???? Come on Clay! Art Pollard makes some of the best chocolate in the world, and does so with a cast iron ball roaster that I swear came from the Middle ages. Do Amedei's roasters do this? No. Does "Mr. Chocolate" Jacques Torres digitally log his temperature curves? No. He doesn't either. Nor does anyone else I know.

A pragmatic word of advice for someone on a limited budget such as you've indicated Holly: A good convection oven is a fabulous, versatile, and invaluable tool which does everything you need to get your chocolate business off the ground. Then when you have money to burn and want to buy gadgets, THEN buy them.

...but then again, that's just my advice.

Cheers.

Brad.

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Thanks for that, Clay. I would be interested in those price quotes, when you have them available. I'm on a limited budget, but agree that it's worth it to spend the money for a quality end-product.

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Holly:

What size roaster are you looking for? I've been researching electric roaster options in the 10-15lb range that should appeal to people looking to use actual roasters, not convection ovens. The ones I am looking into have been designed for coffee but have been used for roasting cocoa beans for many years so the design is proven.

IMO, a roaster that tumbles beans should be able to do a superior job of evenly distributing heat consistently from batch to batch. It requires more time and attention (in my experience) to get consistently even roasts across multiple batches in a convection oven, even when using perforated pans. (Obviously Brad has a different opinion. YMMV.) While a commercial convection oven may be less expensive (and I would be happy to sell you one of the best and most cost effective 5-pan ovens from ABS at a ChocolateLife member discount if that's the route you decide to go) it's not just the initial price, it's total cost of ownership, including labor.

On the plus side, the roasters I am looking into have digital controls that precisely control temperature and offer a digital logging option so you can record the actual temperature curve during each roast. This should help you understand how time and temp affect flavor.

And when not being used for roasting cocoa, a roaster can be used to roast coffee beans. I can get you pricing on an oven right away and will have pricing on the roasters within the next day or so.

Clay

PS. What makes the ABS ovens so good? Extremely fast recovery time. They get back to temp very fast after the doors have been opened and pans put into the oven. This is one key aspect of getting consistent results that people overlook when opting for less expensive - or used - convection ovens.

After the choice of bean, the next critical part of the flavor development process in chocolate is roasting. If you're starting a chocolate business, while I can see how it makes sense to save money building a DIY winnower, it makes absolutely no sense to me to shortchange yourself on such a crucial tool in developing flavor.

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Holly;

I have no experience with a CocoaTown roaster. However I CAN tell you that a convection oven does a FABULOUS job, and serves a dual purpose allowing you to make baked goods as well.

Remember: cooking ANYTHING is simply about heat and airflow. A convection oven offers both.

Brad Churchill

Choklat

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Does anyone have experience with the CocoaTown roasters? If so, would you recommend them?
updated by @Holly Hukill: 04/12/15 15:21:48

world map of cocoa producing countries

Posted in: Chocolate Education

nothing like looking in your own backyard! It needs to be about 2x3 feet

world map of cocoa producing countries

Posted in: Chocolate Education

HI Melanie,

I've made one that might be high resolution enough, depending on how bigyou want it.

-Nat

world map of cocoa producing countries

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Anyone know where I can buy a good map of cocoa producing countries around the world?
updated by @Melanie Boudar: 04/10/15 13:41:08

Chocolate Food Service Industry

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Chocolate desserts attract customers to the restaurants. When I was studying in the University I worked in the food service industry. One particular restaurant was noted for it's desserts. Most of which were different chocolate products. I heard the same thing over and over again from customers. "We come back for the desserts " . If your restaurant is in a competitive area like Florida or the Caribbean something like this can make the difference in getting return business. Let COINEX and it's U.S. affiliate North American Supply LLC provide you with the exact Colombian chocolate product you need. We supply a wide variety of products to the bakery and food service industries. Contact us at info@coinex.com.co or northamericansupplyllca@coinex.com.co. Visit our website at www.coinex.com.co

updated by @Eddie Hernandez: 04/13/15 00:48:20

New competition in August

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

Lionel Clement was the winner of the competition, David Ramirez won the people's choice award.

New competition in August

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

So while in the midst of coding (my day job) i came a cross a chocolate competition that'shappeningin august. It's at http://www.pastrylive.com/chocolatier-of-the-year/ It's being held in Atlanta, GA, but I think you just send in chocolates to be judged.

It's only for professional Chocolatiers though, and I'm only an enthusiasticamateur. There's also some classes that look interesting. The main site is PastryLive.com

Just I'd thought I'd pass it along to all you lovely chocolate folk.

updated by @Richard Gricius: 12/13/24 12:16:07

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Stu:

In the long run, the best bet may be - depending on how much you want to make - to buy a chocolate "lentil" machine (think M&Ms) and get a new set of molds made for that. This will form full 3D grains, not half-grains as would be the case with a conventional mold.

:: Clay

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Nat,

Sounds like you are having a good time in Thailand!

Hadn't thought of pushing through a large sieve, that could work if we hang the sieve up high & leave the strands hanging until they have solidified. Then take off and cut to size.

As you say, the other option is to get a mold made from actual rice, which is probably the best option long term.

Stu

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Stu,

What about pushing tempered chocolate through a ricer or sieve, and cutting it with knife when the drippings are about rice sized.

I'd say you could drop it into cold water to solidify it instantly into the proper sized pieces, but that would of course mess up the temper.

If you could figure out how the pasta Orzo are made, if there's a mold for that, could be adaptable to making white chocolate rice. If none of these work, might be worth getting a vacuform setup for a few hundred $ and just using rice grains as the positive for the mold.

I'm in Thailand now and just met the King's palace manager in Isan whose daughters are in Auckland studying right next to you! I should send them over to see you. We're going to try to help them grow good cacao varieties up here, so look for some tasty Thai chocolate (with lemongrass) in the next few years!

-Nat

____________________

Nat Bletter, PhD

Chocolate R&D

Madre Chocolate

http://madrechocolate.com

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello!

Strange query here - does anyone know a good way to make white chocolate that looks like rice? I cannot find a 'rice mold' anywhere so wondered if anyone had made this before and if so - how?

Thanks!

Stu

updated by @Stu Jordan: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Packaging

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Yes, Glerup and Mod-pac are good, for smaller runs sugarcraft will be your go-between at Mod-Pac.

There's also Nashville Wraps and Chocolat-chocolat.

Now that we do more volume we found a local printer to do our boxes.

Packaging

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

For a good stock packaging selection I'd recommend Glerup.com

Mod-Pac has a good selection also.

Packaging

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi everyone,

do you all know of any good resources for packaging? Who do you use for your chocolate boxes? Thanks much

updated by @Krista2: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Colombia Is Known For High Quality Chocolate

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Chocolate in Colombia is equal to any country in the world and much cheaper. If you need specific chocolate products contract manufactured contact COINEX. COINEX soecializes in contract manufacturing fo chocolate as well as many other products.
updated by @Eddie Hernandez: 04/13/15 08:54:32

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thank you Melanie.

Your feedback is very helpful. I will check the website for more details. Would you mind to telling me the cost since you have to pay loyalty?

Thanks.

Emay

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

sorry its www.christianjames.net PAYGO SAAS (software as a service) We've been using it in our retail for 2 years. It has the loyalty program, gift cards, customer management wholesale and retail with photos and gobs of reports like what hrs of the day sold the most and which salesperson etc.

Our only challenge was inventory because things arrive as bulk chocolates but leave as boxed. We have our stock #'s as the boxes. So while we can't track the specific route of an individual flavor or chocolate ( we have around 40) we have a clear grasp on the box configurations that sell. All other items like bars can be tracked easily.

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Andy

I agree that 'registers' are outdated and don't really deliver on functionality. We use a customised software solution and run it on a good looking touch screen PC (with mini keyboard of course), and have integrated Eftpos/Credit card + printers (barcode label printer & receipt printer), which is transitioning to the cloud as we now run multiple sites. The most important factors for me in my system are:

* business intelligence - ability to see as much data as possible to track and analyze products (individual, category, or by attribute, over any period I want)

* simple, intuitive Point of Sale interface for FAST and simple processing of sales (we have put through over 700 sales in a day before). Our barcode system allows fast sanning of retail shelf products and our short number codes for our loose assorted cabinet chocolates are fast and easy to type in (we have over 120 individual flavors etc). All up we have over 600 SKUS on our system, although only 400 or so are active.

* CRM (Customer Relationship Management) we have included a bar coded loyalty card system which gives points on all purchases to customers and allows us to market to customers who buy particular items etc

There are plenty of other nice to have functionality, but if I could only have three, they would be it.

There are most certainly great opportunities in the cloud now, and I am very excited about our upcoming transition as our software moves off our PCs and into the cloud, giving me more control from our head office while still allowing stores a decent level of autonomy for daily things.

I also spent a long time looking, and there were so many bad systems, I feel lucky to have found the one I did. Thanks for your comments, made me realize I had not really elaborated on my system.

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks Andy for sharing your experience.

I will have over hundred of items in store. Good inventorymanagement software & POS system definitely will make things lot of easier for me. I willcheck vendhq & shopkeep's website for more information.

Emay

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I use a system called Paygo. Its a cloud solution and inexpensive.

www.christanjames.net

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

We decided to go the non-traditional route and disliked all registers--too expensive for too little. We went with Vend ( http://www.vendhq.com/ ). All you need is a laptop and you can hook it up to a receipt printer and cash drawer.

You can also look into asimilarsolution ShopKeep.( http://shopkeep.com/ )

There are a lot of web oriented solutions coming. They excel in my opinion, I can check in on all things anywhere. A lot nicer than being tied to something archaic and from a decade or more ago--or a PC solution that locks you into some high fees.

Experiment and go with what feels good to you and your business. I spent 3 months evaluating with greatdisappointmentuntil we came to web solutions.

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi, Stu,

Thank you for your reply, and your encouragement.

I want to arrange things effectively, in order to make management easier. Thinking about how many items I will have, and how to decorate the store in a way it would be more fun and inviting, it is exciting, but can be frustrating as well.

I will do whateverit takes to get my shop ready.

Emay

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Emay,

I started down that path just over two years ago here in New Zealand and it has been a lot of fun! We use a POS system that was customized for us, and is made for New Zealand, so would not work over there. Just make sure you get a good, reliable system that makes it easy to track which flavors you are selling - if you just lump all your loose chocolates into one 'code' you will make forecasting and planning that much harder.

Good luck!!

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi, Everyone,

Finally I am ready to open a candy & chocolate shop in San Mateo County, California. This is my first retail business, I would really appreciate any of your suggestions about choosing an inventory software and POS system.If you have suppliers that you like to recommend, that would be great.

Some of you might be a very experienced shop owner. I am wondering if you would be willing to share your experiences about how you do things, so I could use some expert advice.

Thank you very much for your feedbacks.

Emay

updated by @Emay Wang: 04/11/25 09:27:36

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi, thanks everyone. No the truffles will be smaller, it is the other centers that will be thank big. What I am talking about is something we call "Fudge Balls" and they will be either 15g or 30g with a target market as children at school tuck shops, they want something huge and sickening sweet! For them we are also using a cheaper kind of coating and we do not attach our name to it to prevent harming our brand. Our truffles are smaller and I am glad to see that about 12g is right, they will be dipped in Valrhona. Thanks again for all your help. This forum is proving to be a life saver.

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

HaHa! So true, Brad! And Magrietha, the amount I quoted you was without any special decorating like adding contrasting colored stripes, etc. It's just the basic with basic decorations like cocoa powder, sea salt, a sprinkle of nuts, etc.

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If I may comment too....

15g is pretty big for a truffle, and 30g is HUGE - especially if you dip them in chocolate and roll them in a coating of some type. Our truffle centers start as 12g, and by the time we've dipped and rolled them, the average size is around 22g. We've been accused of selling truffles of "gluttonous" proportions, so I can imagine that your 30g center will likely end up like a small baseball....

Brad

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks, Susan. I needed to know that in order to work out the cost of labour. I am very slow by nature and I know I cannot take my speed as a norm and that is why I needed to know what I can reasonable expect from someone. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer me.

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Right now, I can roll about 200+ an hour. That includes coating them twice in a light coat of chocolate. I'm working on speed and have been told that you can do 2-3 in your hand at the same time so, that's next on my agenda to attempt. Let me know how it goes! Good luck!

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Sorry to be impatient, but does anyone have an answer for me here?