I started molding 3.5 oz (100 g) half cacao pods of liquor and after speaking with a distributor wants us to add sugar. I did a test batch with 38% pure cane sugar and 62% liquor. The four pieces I molded all were 4 oz. with the exact same mold. Before I we run another label, is this standard that the same size piece with sugar would weigh .5 oz. more. Thanks
Great thanks!
I also use this to make small batches, but I haven'trequired the use of a hairdryer/additional heat. I use about 350g and add enough sugar to make 70% or so.
Thanks for the response! Yea that's what I was worried about. I guess I'll have to experiment.
I have used that machine for a 500g batch of chocolate (ie., combination of sugar and nibs). It is tricky and you need to keep on top of it - basically you need to make sure enough heat is kept on the nibs and rollers to keep everything moving. I use a heat gun (paint stripper) or hairdryer.
I'm just starting out and own a Premier Wonder Grinder like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Premier-Wonder-Table-Grinder-110v/dp/B004OPIBV2
Does anyone have any experience with micro-batches? I'm testing different roasting times and want to use the minimal amount of nibs possible. I don't want to have to use 1kg all at once if I don't have to. I've been experimenting with 2oz batches in my molcajete but obviously the grinding times are limited by what my arm can do (roughly 90 mins).
Hi Arainna,
I would definitely consider the class if it taught advanced decorating techniques. If it is basic moulding, I would not go.
Anjali
I'm planning a quick trip to Orlandoto visit friends. I see that Norman Love is offeringhis "molded candy" class while I'm there. Has anyone taken this class? Is it worth the 6 hour round trip drive to Fort Myers? I'm a TOTAL newbie but would hate to miss an amazing opportunity. I'd love any and all suggestions. Thanks!!
After FIKA, you can walk to Kee's and four others in the general vicinity.
59 th street Food Emporium has a great selection as does 2 Beans. NYC is loaded with great chocolate shops representing numerous styles and countries, but most of what they carry can be ordered on line, for chocolate experiences that you can not order on line, stop by;
FIKA on Washington street, but only if you get to see them make chocolate
CACAO PRIETO in Red Hook, make sure that you ask them for a tour. Their equipment and factory are super cool, as is the distillery.
The smell in Mast Brothers alone is enough to warrant recommending a visit. Not being a huge fan of Bean 2 Barianism myself and caring little for the home ground delicacies, I must admit that the smell of roasting cocoa beans is incredible, addictive and works really well with the vibe of the place.
Sugar and Plumm has a very cute shop on the Upper West side, and their creme brulee cookie ( although devoid of chocolate) is to die for.
Eataly NYC has a great Italian selection and some of the cutest local chocolate bunnies in the city as well as adorable chocolate surprise eggs.
Could be better but they don't always listen to me so have to work with what I got.
What about Food Emporium?
405 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022
Phone 212.752.5836
Location: 59thand 1st
How is there chocolate selection these days?
FIKA 450 Washington Street
Roni Sue's on Forsyth new shop
2 Beans-100 Park Ave-41 Street
The Meadow-523 Hudson Street
Bedford Cheese shop-18/19 Street-Irving Street
LA Burdick-5 East 20th Street
Mast Brothers Chocolate Factory-Williamsburg
Fair Way and Whole Foods has some good selections of bars
There are also confection/bonbon shops which you can google
I'm heading to Manhattan for a week in March. Any chocolate shops that are absolutely not to be missed? Thanks!
Where in SEA are you going to be? Note that in much of that part of the world, it's not a part of their agricultural culture to ferment beans, and knowledge about things such as cocoa pod borer and bean maturity are very low. If you give a sense of where you're traveling, i can help you better understand what to expect and what to look for. Moisture and fermentation level may be the least of your concerns, depending on region...
Thank you Sebastian for your useful answer.
I go to south east asia find and buy some beans, so I wanted to be able to control at least if the beans are dry enough and well fermented. I just check the Mini GAC 2100 and it looks like it is what i was looking for. I found this one to http://www.farmcomp.fi/en/wile/products/wile-coffee so now the price will help me do the final choice.
And I will forget the guillotine I know it cost a fortune like 1000$ so I will use a good old fashion knife, or i was thinking maybe i could use that http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000RLJED6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE . It has a wider and flat base as bottom blade so it might work and it is much lighter.
Do you think of anything else I could need?
Thanks you very much.
Delcour, what is it you're looking to accomplish? If you're looking to understand if potential vendors are sufficiently drying their beans, the items you note could work for that - but i've never used those ones personally. I have had great success in working with Dickey John Mini GAC units - and it should be noted that the units you've posted (and the mini gac) will likely require a calibration curve to be loaded for it to correctly interpret the 'atmosphere' around the grain or seeds that it specifically is being used for - so you'll want to look closely at those units to see if they've got cacao specific calibration curves available. Alternatively, i know folks have also used aqua boy moisture meters - and i've tried them myself, but find them far too bulky and less accurate, plus i had to answer a lot of silly security questions when airport police scanned my luggage.
I'd concur with Brad on the value of a good knife. a guillotine may be useful for you to do an assessment at home quickly, but you'll find it very expensive and a knife will give you the same results.
I never could figure out why a person would need to be traipsing around the world with a guillotine. A sharp knife is a much more versatile tool and works just as well.
...just sayin'
Hello everyone,
I will take off on may to go find some cacao beans to start my business, I will need an moisture meter to be able to control the beans. Can someone advise me about which one to get. I found those ones on ebay will they do the job?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Grain-moisture-tester-rice-corn-wheat-barley-oat-USA-/221264440374?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3384636c36
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/sinar-moisture-meter-/321344659865?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item4ad1a26199
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DRAMINSKI-TWIST-GRAIN-hygrometer-Portable-moisture-meter-for-seeds-grains-/170930553557?pt=UK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item27cc4142d5
And by the way if you also know where to get a guillotine at decent price, that will be wonderful.
Will I need something else?
Thank you very much by advance for your precious help.
Thomas
Thanks for the suggestions, Tom. Let me give that a try on my next test batch. Agreed on the powdered sugar not being a good choice -- the added starch alone is a show-stopper. Best wishes on your broken collar bone -- wishing you a speedy recover.
All the best,
David
Here is what I have found using the Spectra 10. Refine your cocoa liquor first down to desired size, this is quick as nibs are soft in comparison to sugar. Then add your other ingredients, I find this produces a better chocolate texture. Using this technique I find using large crystal raw sugar is best, using powdered sugar makes a thick paste and slows your grinder down and extends grind time. I would like to explain more but I shattered my dominant side collar bone and this typing one handed lark is irritating. Just do it, it works, test for yourself. Cheers
Hi Sebastian,
I'm afraid I've been guilty of measuring my chocolate with the same delicate touch I've used for years to measure steel pin gauges -- time to un-learn / re-learn. I wasn't aware that you could get a micrometer with a pressure gauge -- I'll dig into getting one of those for sure.
On the sugar, the finest I've been able to find here without starch is bakers sugar. I haven't been able to find powdered or icing sugar without starch. I've played with pre-grinding it in a blender or food processor, but it's not something I could easily scale. Is there anything finer than bakers sugar that is widely available?
Thanks for the education on the ICUMSA scale -- I wasn't aware of that -- and thank you, as well, for taking the time to share on this forum with those of us still on the steep part of the learning curve.
Regards,
David
Thanks, Brad -- I like simple solutions! Good point on the Santha. I've enjoyed the challenge of learning to make chocolate from what I could reasonably cobble together, but along with doing it that way comes learning the hard (and sometimes slow) way what compromises you have unwittingly signed up for.
We do have some room to tighten the wheels down more, and we've only been running around 30-36 hours on most batches, so we have still go longer, too.
Thanks again for the help -- I'll let you know on this thread how we make out.
Best,
David
Dave - a micrometer can be a very precise tool, but you have to know how to use it, and have to have one that is accurate enough. I can make any micrometer read 8um if i turn it hard enough (it'll crush whatever's in there) - adding a pressure gauge can help rectify that. Also, dispersing your chocolate in 3 parts mineral oil will also give you a much more accurate reading on it.
Regarding sugar, the biggest impact will be on the starting size of your sugar. Organic refined sugar is going to chemically be identically to non-organically refined sugar (almost always). The larger the starting granulation, the more problematic. The second most important element will be the color of the sugar -sugars are measured with what's called an ICUMSA scale. The higher that ICUMSA number, the more 'dirty' the sugar is, and the greater the impact on your product. White table sugar is somewhere between 20-50 ICUMSA, for reference. "Turbinado" and similar sugars may have ICUMSA ratings of over 400.
Simple solution: put more pressure on the wheels and conche longer.
Remember: The Santha was never designed to make chocolate. You may need to leave it in the machine a lot longer than you would expect. 48-72 hours is not unrealistic.
Cheers
Brad
Following is a recent post from our "Shared Journey" discussion in the Start-up Central Group:
Still struggling with the texture of our chocolate. It's better since we started using the micrometer to make sure the max particle size is sub-25 microns, but still "powdery" (not actually gritty, but definitely not smooth like it should be). Seeking the wisdom of the crowd and those who have gone before. We're doing our conching/refining in a Santha 11, if that helps. We're running some tests on (improvised) conching after refining, improving our tempering, adding cocoa butter (some of our chocolate is a lot more viscous than others). Any thoughts for which rocks to turn over first??
Since posting this I (think) I've figured out that our "sub-25 micron" chocolate really isn't. Using a micrometer to measure the maximum particle size is not incredibly precise -- and the biggest variable so far has been....me. If I stop at the first sign of resistance I'm measuring more like 30 microns. Up until now I've been using the micrometer the way I always have, but it appears that with chocolate you can very easily crush a 30+ micron particle and get a reading quite a bit below what you really have.
I'm also interested in hearing what you think about sugar as a factor (or not) in final texture. We've tried several different organic sugars, as well as highly refined table sugar, and I'm wondering if the organic sugars behave differently because of what isn't removed.
Would love to hear your thoughts, trials, and tribulations!
Cheers,
David
I will commence distributing bars to candy stores and my second line option are pastry/bakery shops that targets middle class.
The chocolate bars are 1 onz., 4 flavors all in a single stand with one dozen each. The chocolate is premium quality, they are really great and my focus are the marginal flavors not found at supermarket and already study market as top picks. Regarding package is really bland, just a cellophane with a top sticker. The pretend number are 50 bars per month in each store.
I will like to know how you appreciated this concept and if chocolate at this type of stores is a good idea? Has anyone try this and which has been your experience?
Hello Everyone,
This is my first time posting and I am very excited as I have just started my chocolate journey. I have recently made my first batch of chocolate and I am looking for some feedback on ways to improve everything about my process. So here is goes...
I am using a CocoaTown ECGC-12SL melanger. I have decided not to roast my beans (a discussion for later as I would like to hear people's thoughts on roasting vs non-roasting).
So from the un-roasted cocoa nib (I did 400g of them) I then ground them into a fine paste and put them in the melanger. After 12 hours of them being ground down they were at the liquid stage, and I then added 120g (30% by weight) of sugar that I had pre-whipped in a food processor to make it powdered sugar to the melanger. After another 3 hours I stopped the machine and decided the chocolate was at the stage I wanted it.
when I stuck my spoon into the still liquid chocolate I was surprised that it was not half bad for my first try but at the same time it stuck to my teeth in a DRY-like manner. I am not quite sure how to explain it, it was not gummy or unrefined (it was very smooth without any large sugar or nib pieces) but it had this dry like quality.
So I decided to temper it anyways and placed it in molds. The next day I came back to taste the chocolate again and it still had this dry texture that usually presented itself on the second bite of a piece. I am not sure if I may need to add more cocoa butter to smooth this out of what.
Like a I said before my chocolate only has the nibs (a crillio variety) and powdered sugar (I powered it myself). Could it possibly be that because I powdered the sugar myself that this dry quality came into effect?
Thank you very much in advance, this forum is a an incredible crucible of knwledge!
-Ian H.
Email me: louie@nohmadsnackco.com
I might be able to help you.
Louie
Nate, welcome to The Chocolate Life! There are quite a number of LA chocolatiers - your best bet may be to research them and reach out individually.
We made a Pinterest map of the chocolatiers and chocolate makers we know about. This mayhelp get you started!
http://www.pinterest.com/chocolatetour/los-angeles-chocolate/
Into the Wonka river I go.....
Hello everyone,
I just joined and I hope that I will be able to add to the forum in the near future.
Im very new to the whole Chocolate business and i'm here to learn.
I've been reading some posts and I've already found a lot of helpful information, So thank you guys for that. I can appreciate what a privlidge it is to be here.
I grew up in Chicago and for the last 15 years I call Los Angeles my home.
I'm looking for a Chocolatier that can make my boutique Chocloate bars.
I would like to use a california based (Hopefully LA) company.
Thank you in advance for any advice or help.
Nate
Thank you so much Ruth and Jim! I really, truly appreciate all the help. Jim, I couldn't agree more about some molds being TINY. When I was at Gygi I was astonished at how miniscule nearly ALL the molds were! They only had one that I would have considered usable. In my mind chocolates should be larger than one bite. I'll research your suggestions on weight. I have seen some molds that have specific dimension. The one mold (fat daddios) at Gygi thatI liked the size of was a little over an inch wide (it was a dome, with a "swirl" decoration).Ideally, I'd like to just buy a few molds that I'll go toover and over again, rather than investing TONS of money inmolds that once I know what I'm doing I regret havingpurchased.
I have been making chocolates/bon bons/pralines for a little over a year, but can offer a bit of advice-based on my positive and negative experiences--on molds. At first I didn't realize that the molds differed considerably in what size finished piece they turn out, and as a result, I initially purchased some quite small molds. A lot of people like smaller chocolates, but I found them difficult to fill and too small to provide a good taste of the filling (perhaps I am just making excuses for gluttony!). Then I learned that many manufacturers provide a guide to size by specifying the weight of the finished chocolate. I find this guide counterintuitive--it's the volume of the cavity one cares about, not the weight of the product, and nobody has explained what they weighed to determine the figure (is it the weight of a piece of solid dark chocolate or ...?)--but weight is all there is to go on and it does provide a useful aid. I have found that weights between 11 and 16 grams per piece work best for me. I have some dome-shaped molds that hold 18g, and they are particularly good for two-layer pralines or one that has a whole hazelnut submerged in a praline filling. So far no recipient has complained about the larger size, and these do not look out of proportion in a box with smaller pieces.
In the U.S. I have bought online from J.B. Prince in NYC, Tomric in Buffalo, NY, and Chef Rubber in Las Vegas. Bakedeco.com also has lots of molds, but their images are very small. J.B. Prince has good prices and quick service, but they do not provide weights to help (that's how I ended up with small molds in the beginning). Tomric has a very large selection, and they carry (or can obtain) anything from chocolateworld.be in Belgium. BUT--and it can be a big issue--most Chocolate World molds take at least the 3-4 weeks stated on the Tomric website to arrive, or longer. Just remember that when you shop online, don't go by how large or small the mold looks in the image.
As for purchasing chocolate, I use chocosphere.com. They have a huge selection and carry just about every mainstream chocolate. They also sell smaller amounts (such as 1 Kg bags) so it's possible to try various options without breaking the bank. They have good customer service and quick delivery. I have also bought from Gygi (but, as Ruth said, only Callebaut). Worldwidechocolate.com is very similar to Chocosphere in their offerings; they have free shipping on orders over $99, but the base prices are a bit higher than Chocosphere's. Their offerings are, in my opinion, somewhat more limited than Chocosphere's (for example, World Wide Chocolate does not carry 1-Kg blocks of Amedei and does not have Felchlin at all).
I think Callebaut would be a good chocolate to start. Look at their website to decide among all the choices, and note the drops system that tells you how viscous the chocolate will be when melted.
Jim
There are so many ways to answer your questions. I would order your molds on line after you figure out what you want. As to chocolate, again, depends on a lot of factors. The only chocolate that Gygi carries that I would consider is Callebaut. Bakers C&C carries a lot more options. We can talk in April.
Ok, my husband wants to take the class with me (FUN!) so, I'll be registering us both tomorrow. I also bought a copy of your book!!
If I wanted to buy a little bit of chocolate to fool around with what brand chocolate should I start with? I have a tempering machine (Rev1 by chocovision). Also any suggestions on polycarbonate molds? I was at Orson Gygi and saw Fat Daddios molds and LOTS of different kinds of chocolate. Thanks for all your help! I can't wait to meet you in April!
Thanks, yes, I have Chocolot:). To register call 801.393.2230. Be sure and let me know who you are.
Thanks for all the great suggestions!! Larry, thanks for the website suggestions! I think those are great places to start! Larry, are you ahobbyist or a professional? Ruth, I'd love to register for your class in April! I assume I contact Love to Cook to do that? I wish I could come to the Natural History Museum on the 22 or 23rd, but I'm attending Cookie Con (a convention for cookie nerds!!) and am already booked. As a side note, Ruth are you from Chocolat?!?! If you are, I am absolutely I love with your work. You are such an artist!
Hi Arianna, I teach classes in Salt Lake, Ogden and Logan. My next class is scheduled at Love to Cook in Ogden, April 12. Not sure what I will be teaching, but it will involve chocolate:). Other than that, I will be teaching at Bakers C&C, Gygi's and Love To Cook in Logan, in the Fall. Come to the Natural History Museum on March 22-23 and meet many of us local chocolatiers at the Chocolate Festival.
Araianna,
Gygi's will have two days of chocolate classes each November. Those are really helpful. They may have some through the other times of the year.
Ruth Kendrick taught some classes last year, I'm not sure if any classes are on her schedule right now though.
Beyond that Valhrona TV http://www.valrhonaprofessionals.com/valrhona-TV.html is pretty useful. So is Callebaut TV http://www.callebaut.com/usen/callebauttv is pretty good too.
Ecole Chocolat http://www.ecolechocolat.com/ is good.
The chocolate apprentice http://chocolateapprentice.com/ has a great blog about what she learned at the Ecole Chocolat.
Welcome to the Chocolate Life! 
I encourage you to visit cocoatown.com. You can receive online classes becoming available very soon . The classes will be taught by our own "Top Chef" Erika Davis as well as by the owner of cocoatown Dr. Balu, whom teaches the scientific process of creating great chocolate. We also sell every product that you may need in-order to create chocolate from the bean to the bar.
