Hi Christian, I am actually looking into taking a course with them; I will follow up with you. But on a side note, you want to perfect your abilities? The only way to do this is to practice a lot. What exactly do you want to learn?
Sadly tried all the electricals with no strange results, baffles still uncalibrated. Seems like I will just have to pay for the new ones.
Great thanks for the answer.
I received the following Tweet this morning:
Marcus: I am afraid the answer to that question is no, I don't.
One reason I don't keep lists of "good" pairings and make pairing recommendations is that I have learned, from doing pairing events over the past 20 years, that in settings as small as five people that at least one won't like the pairing. Some people just won't like the style of wine or the particular chocolate. Others will have come from a meal or brushed their teeth. If there is a cultural mix, I know that there are cultural differences in flavor preferences. Chances are one of them has had an argument that day with a family member or colleague or boss. Some are wearing heavy perfumes or colognes. All of these things affect the senses of smell and taste, and therefore affect the perception of the pairing. In other word, it doesn't really matter what I like.
When I do my pairing classes, I start from the presumption that at least one of the pairings (I tend to offer about five) is going to completely fail for at least one person in the room. Knowing that, I don't focus on matching a wine and a chocolate and saying that the two of them "go together." Rather, I guide participants through some basics of sensory evaluation, and specifically how combinations of aroma and flavor affect our perception of what is being smelled and tasted.
So, I know that if I make any pairing recommendations to Marcus there is a very good chance that he won't like one of them. And, if Marcus is turning around and sharing these recommendations with anyone then I am virtually guaranteed that someone will not only not like one of them - but they will hate one of them.
On a more practical level, it's also the case that Marcus may not be able to buy either the Port or the chocolate I recommend making any suggestions moot.
On a more generic level, the question is so vague that it is impossible to answer.
Let's start out with porto . By this I am assuming Port wines taken as a category. I know that Port is the oldest protected name in wine and it refers to a type of wine made in Portugal. I know that Ports can be made from a wide variety of grapes (though five varietals predominate), that there are several classes of Port wines, incluing Tawny Ports, Ruby Ports, Late Bottled Vintage, and many others from several distinct regions, and although people think of Ports as being sweet, dessert wines, they were often consumed by the British as aperitfis, not digestifs, and, in fact there are White Ports that are classified as dry and semi-dry (demi-sec). Even so, I headed on over to Wikipedia to refresh my memory .
So the first question we need to hone in on is, “Which Port are we trying to pair with?” And we haven't even thought about vintages yet.
The second question is even more vague. 70% chocolate? That doesn't tell me anything.
Origin? Blend? Made in France? The US? Italy? And why 70%? Seems kind of arbitrary. It rules out the Felchlin Cru Sauvage at 68% and the Elvesia at 74% and everything Bonnat makes and hundreds of other really quite wonderful options.
If I was forced to make recommenations I would say, "Go and purchase things that are easy for everyone to find and are not that expensive and taste everything against everything." Maybe focus on one brand - Taylor? - and get a selection. Then go to a local gourmet store and get a range of bars. Everyone knows Lindt Excellence, so get that - or something like it - at a minimum. And then taste each Port with each chocolate. What you will be surprised to find is how the aromas and flavors change. You will find that one Port tastes great with one chocolate and awful with another. The chocolate you love the most tastes best with the Port you like the least.
And that, my friends, is the fun of pairings. Not doing what you know "works" over and over again, but exploring new tastes, new combinations, on your own mission to taste where no-one has gone before.
I currently also use Calico and would love to not use them and make my own from scratch. I have a savage Brother's Firemixer 14 and make toffee and caramel but can not locate a good recipe for fudge. I pour the fudge into 8 oz containers and loaf pans. Any recipes to try would be greatly appreciated.
It is referring to invert sugar. That is sucrose that has been split into its two components-glucose and fructose. It helps control crystallization.
I have one pound packages of dry fondant and on the label it also says 3% invert.
What is the 3% invert?
Thanks,
Joe C.
Thanks a lot to both of you. Going to try both things.
First I will try to check if voltage is Ok and if that is fine check for interference.
Now that Kerry mentions motors there are times that I use a paintbrush in the room next to it. Going to have to try unplugging everything and pluggin one by one I suppose.
There's another thing to consider besides interference and that is the voltage change that having other equipment on the same leg or circuit can cause. I know of one company that was having problems with a machine and just could not figure it out. When the tech showed up he put a voltage meter on the outlet and it was not running at 220~240V it was running at about 200V. They turned the machine off, plugged it into an outlet that measured just fine and the problem was solved.
Well - I've been chatting with a bean to bar maker who is having trouble with the tempering machine when the melanger is running - but not when it isn't. The solution being tried right now is a EMI/RFI filter/surge supressor to see if that solves the problem.
Hubby say's unshielded motors can produce RF that will affect other equipment.
Hmmm never thought about it. Microwave is next to it (connected but not in use at the same time). Refrigerator is about a meter away, Air conditioning machine is about 1.5 mts away. Same distance induction hob and electric oven (convection). Also machine is over a marble countertop, and below it there is a voltage converter 220->110 where the machine is connected.
I am not normally using any other electric equipment (except for air conditioning wich I use at low power when using the machine) when working with chocolate but they are indeed connected.
Do you think any of this equipment can mess with the baffle thermometer? Didn't know rev system was affected by RF.
I've often found I get white marks the first time I use a mold - they disappear in subsequent batches.
Victor - what sort of other electrical equipment have you got going around this temperer? Anything with a large motor that might be producing RF.
The legal limit in most (not all) countries is 1.75% shell. Less is better, as the more shell you have the grittier it will taste, the lower your fat will be, the faster your equipment will fail, and the higher your unwanteds (lead, mycotoxins, etc) will be.
Hey David,
I've tried Rapadura once before. From my recollection, it was much drier than brown sugar and I don't recall having tempering issues because of it. I do recall that it added a noticeable molasses flavor to the batch of chocolate I used it in, so I haven't used it in chocolate since as I'm not looking to try to add flavors from the sugar...yet. Anyway, my wife slowly used up the remainder in baked goods. Tasty!
Another lesser-refined sugar that I have tried and really enjoyed was called Muscabado from the Philippines. Alter Eco (I think) sells it here in the US. It had a noticeable "unrefined" odor to it, not quite molassesy. The package said vanilla and caramel notes. The chocolate that I made with it didn't seem to have an altered tasted because of it though. Note that at that time, I only had one refiner so I made two back-to-back batches of the same cocoa bean origin: one with bulk organic cane sugar and one with Muscabado. Didn't notice any major flavor differences and actually I liked the Muscabado more for that particular origin.
Are you buying the organic C&H from say Costco? I had a negative experience with it in my Santha Spectra 11 refiner. Relative to other organic cane sugars that I had tried before testing the C&H sugar, it had a seemingly much larger particle size. When I put it in my refiner, it was like hearing Pop Rocks going off in my Santha and it definitely dogged the melanger down. Enough so that I was worried it was going to fry my Santha's motor. A heat gun helped though.
Other organic cane sugars that I have tried that had much smaller particle size were from United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI) and Florida Crystals. Both I've ordered 25 lb bags from in bulk from our local natural foods COOP. On sale they were about $30. I know other chocolate makers have mentioned Wholesome Sweetners, but I haven't tried them. Last week, I purchased two 1 lb bags of Muscabado and Wholesome Sweetners sugars to test out and compare to the Florida Crystals I'm currently using. Each 1 lb bag was $3.99 at our COOP, which is pretty pricey but not going to break my bank to test with. I'm sure there's a much larger price break for 25 or 50 lb bags of each, if they sell that large.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Dave
I bought a Rev Delta from amazon last year. First uses went fine, but this year I needed to move to a new place with air conditioner (here in Peru is summer). First use I noticed the chocolate was not in temper and with a thermometer I checked the temperature of the chocolate, machine said 31.4 ºC "In Temper", all my other thermometers said 34 ºC "Your batch is ruined". I noticed the sensor was strangely not calibrated and it was detecting like 3-4 less degrees all the time. It was really strange. I thought maybe I got a faulty one. anyway I contacted customer service and they told me warranty doesn't cover external parts (what?) and that they will send me two new baffles as a courtesy but I would have to pay for the shipping (shipping cost they gave me was almost the same as buying the new baffles without shipping).
I then remembered I also had a new holey baffle stored, so I decided to work with that one while I decided if I was going to pay for the shipping of the "courtesy" baffles. First time use, fine, second one, fine, third and fourth ones fine. Fifth one, the nightmare ocurred again the baffle started detecting an 3-4 less degrees. I really don't know what to do now, maybe this has already happened to anybody here and can give some advice. Thanks in advance.
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Norm is the residue of 1.5% by weight.
Thank you all for your kind answers. I also have another question that I'm trying to remove the shell of the cocoa bean from the meat ( winnowing ), but I can't remove all the chaff from it. Can anyone tell me what is the maximum percentage of chaff allowed in the final tage of winnowing before making the final chocolate?
Thank you
Lecithin should be added at the end of the process, before draining the masses, but that he would mix well. For grinding and conching cycle on melangeur in 48 hours lecithin can be added for 1.5 hours to drain. Amount of lecithin is not more than 0.4-0.5% by weight.
And its also summer have atthe mo and really hot. I have been having problems tempering my chocolate so wondered if that had aything to do withit
It was really strange but I had washed and dried it and then I redid it and filled them again and they came out perfect. There must have been something on the mold. Thanks for replying
That does seem odd comming from the same batch and conditions. Normally we see this with tempering, humidity, mold temperature etc.. You mentioned washing the molds - It is critical the mold is 100% dry
- It is possible that the mold may have some residue you cannot see left in that area - from hard water, crystalized sugar, or other prior molding problems, an extreme case would be the mold surface itself is degraded, although unusual.
I normally don't like people to polish molds but in this case, first wash with warm water and very SMALL amount of non abrasive dish detergent, lightly rub the area with your finger and the water to loosen. Dry with air a pure cotton cloth, then lighly buff with another dry cotton cloth. Make sure the mold is not cold, min of room temp or mid 70's or higher 70's if possible.
Another obvious quesion - do you only have one of the bunny molds?
As a chocolate enthusiast I recently began to wonder why Indian grown Cocoa is not as widely used to make fine chocolate .I am currently working to promote the use of Indian cocoa beans in the international Artisanal Chocolate industry. I am working directly with the Farmers to procure good quality Cocoa Beans by paying them a higher price than what they are currently receiving. I would like to ask all of you fantastic Chocolate Makers out there if you would be willing to try using Indian Cocoa and thus help me (in my small way ) to improve the lives of cocoa farmers in India .
Regards
Nabil Chunawala
To build on Marks post - since sugar is a bunch of large crystals, you need to 'refine' it down to smaller crystals - hence the reason all of your solids should be in your refining stage - to crush them into smaller pieces. Now, as you do that, the surface area of your chocolate will become very high, and the cocoa butter that you ahve present will have to coat all that extra surface area. As it does this, your chocolate becomes much thicker - it's called higher viscosity. In order to 'thin' it back out so you can do things like pour it into a mould, you have to reduce that viscosity. That's what lecithin does. You'll want to add it almost at the last stage because if your chocolate is too thin (low viscosity) during conching, conching isn't as effective. Now, most stone grinders are terrible conches, so it doesn't really matter all that much - but it does to some degree.
Remember, just a little bit of lecithin (0.5%) is almost always enough - adding more of it will usually result in the chocolate thickening back up again.
Sugar before, lecithin after.
Are you looking for couverture chocolate for chefs to use at the restaurants? Or just provide private label chocolate bars that customers can buy? or both?
I can provide both types of bars (and even the labels), including organic. The chocolate comes from a chocolate maker Ecuador where they sell (exclusively) to the top hotels & restaurants in Guayaquil and now some in Quito.
Let me know if you're still looking. I can send samples, too.
Hello everyone,
Could anyone tell me at what stage or conching/refining should I add sugar and lecithin to my chocolate? ( at the beginning of the conching/refining phase or near the end of the conching/refining?
Thank you!
For just sugars, i like palm sugar or jaggery mixed with local things. I'd not likely use either of those for chocolate however because in chocolate, i'd want to emphasize the chocolate, not the sugar. Personal preference.
I am hoping that someone can help me. I have got some molds that I have been using. When I pop the chocolate out of the new molds there is white specks on the chocolate. I know that this is a sign of chocolate not been tempered correctly. But this isn't the case as I have used the same batch of chocolate on other molds and it has been perfect. Why is it happening on only 1 mold. I have washed the mold and dried it. What am I doing wrong?
@jack-meyer Thanks, I ordered a sample to evaulate.
@sebastian - very interesting! Where in your experience have you found the most interesting sugar, both in taste and in processing?
You will want to use a high DE pectin. The pectin will set by solids, temperature, and pH. Typical solids is 78-80%, this will dehydrate the pectin enough for it to set. The temperature needs to be kept hot until deposited or sheeted, otherwise you will get pre-gelling. The acid, lowering the pH will set the pectin, pH should be 3.1-3.5. As soon as the acid is added, deposit or sheet as it will start to pre-gel quickly. Lower solids and higher pH will give a slower set, high solids and low pH will give a fast set. There is also a lot you can do with the pectin type, not only deciding on apple or citrus, but the DE (also called DM) as well.
Citrus pectin is typically a cleaner, clearer gel.
You also want to look at how much protopectin you're adding with the fruit, if any, and compensate with the level of pectin you're adding.
One final note, be sure the pectin is fully hydrated before you cook.
Does the site no longer have a classifieds page for equipment, etc?
Thank you for the response. Now I just need to "digest" this. 
Hi joseph,
Sent you a email, please check.
Pate de fruit pectin sold by Chef Rubber is the apple pectin if I'm not mistaken. If you have a cheaper source of apple pectin just make sure it is the stuff for PDF not for jam as the jam version will not set up as you hope.
The ganache does tend to stick to the blades as Tim has suggested above. Might work better to mark the ganache with it lightly and use it as a guide to cutting with a knife.
hello, what is your contact? I am based in Turkey and am looking for raw beans.
