Forum Activity for @Carlos Eichenberger

I've been toying with the idea of cannibalizing a small wine cooler for the TE guts. Something like a Vinotemp or Cuisinart in the 20-30 bottle range. Why? Because of the thermostatic control. Most come with a very nice digital temperature controller with a probe. I've often seen damaged units on sale cheap at the local warehouse store.

From personal experience I know the Cuisinart can hold 50F even when filled with bottles -- or chocolate LOL, as that was my very first chocolate cooler.

This would make the display's temperature adjustable. In my case the TE cooler just runs full-tilt all the time and sometimes can get a little too cold, especially if the display is left filled overnight with the lights turned off.

Roy -

Cheebs talks about cannibalizing a used portable thermoelectric cooler he found.

Here's a new one on Amazon that could be sacrificed.

Brands to look for include Coleman, Engel, Koolatron - you can probably cannibalize any of those for the cooling electronics needed. Not all units are thermoelectric, however, and I can't vouch for any specific model or manufacturer. Just that there are ways to get the TE electronics pretty inexpensively.

andy - howdy neighbor! this is a timely discussion. i'll be selling at the davidson farmers market starting in april and wondered if you could elaborate on your 'series of coolers' process. i'm debating a portable electric cooler vs. small glass-front wine cooler (humidity being my fear) vs. your process. however, not sure if you are starting at a very cold (electric?) cooler to a gel pack cooler to ambient atmospheric temp? could you explain further? i'd assume you have a step-up process so temp changes occur gradually.

i'd email you directly, but i think everyone on this discussion would benefit from your reply. look forward to your reply. especially since you 'enjoy' the same hot/humid climate conditions as i!

thanks.

True. Funny how there are so many HEATING small display cases but none of what we need out there. Did you get the TE AC unit from a company or from ebay searches? Any advice on what to search on or where to go?

Thanks again for all the advice so far

Oh don't bother with EIC their products are way too expensive. And, they're wrong, the TE AC does work, I actually have a 1000 btu unit in a larger display case (4 tier, 4 foot wide) but that one was $1700 -- ouch! Still cheaper than the $4k plus display cases available.

Yeah...I just got a quote for the thermoelectric cooler unit from the link... Ouch. AAC-120-4XT thermoelectric air conditioner is $850.00 They flat out say it won't work...they swear up and down a refrigerant based solution is required. I'm starting to hash out just what they suggest to use. I'll post what they say when I get it.

Roy, the trays are also custom-made. Any decent plexiglas shop should be able to duplicate those no problem. I also found these online, but boy are they pricey!

Andy -

An interesting repurposing of equipment. One of the key points to consider is the cooling capacity, which can be expressed as the maximum difference between ambient temperature and the lowest the fridge can go.

If the temperature outside is 88F can the humidor take it down 20F? Especially when the door is going to keep on being opened and closed.

I think it's a great idea, just a technical parameter to ask about before purchasing.

Thanks a lot for the info ,Clay!

i'm already doing a design and i have pulled out my swiss knife to build one!!!

Love the trays too! What company did you use for them- or was that part of your package?

Wow Cheebs! That is Sweet! um...no pun intended here... I'll take a look and see if we can MacGyver something. Being able to customize is an advantage...

Thanks!

Haha thanks Clay took the words right out of my... fingers?

As far as costs the cabinet, LED lighting, power supply and trays, custom made here in Guatemala, came out to ~$800. The cooler I got for like $39 on a liquidation sale online.

Antonino -

I think the point is that Cheebs had this built custom. The general approach, which is to use thermolectric coolers, is a very viable approach for adapting something that could be simpler in construction (e.g., does not have a curved glass front).

I think what he did was to buy - and then cannibalize - a unit like this one , taking the cooling elements and electronics and building them into the case. The Mobicool unit linked to specifies cooling to 20 degrees (C!) below ambient on a DC power supply.

There are also companies that just sell the thermoelectric cooler units . One thing about units like these is that they are designed to work with active loads, e.g., machinery that is generating heat. That might make them more suitable for use in places where there is a direct or indirect solar load.

The nice thing about using the TE coolers is that they also dehumidify.

And, finally, it is left as an exercise for the reader to see how they might be used to create really quite inexpensive cooling tunnels.

great, how much it cost? where can you buy something like that in EU? i live in South Africa and is gonna be hard to get one!

Hi, as most people here have stated, you will probably not find a commercial product that does what you need. In my case I've been using, with great success, a thermoelectric cooler to keep my custom-made display case cool. The beauty of this is it operates on 12 VDC. I use a power supply to convert from 120VAC. It easily cools 15 degrees below ambient. Vinotemp makes the TE units, as well as many other manufacturers. In my case I used a unit from a Mobicool portable active cooler. You can see it on the case's left hand side. Lighting is LED, also powered by the 12V power supply.

Here it is filled with bonbons:

I have sturggled with the same challenge. The weather gets warm and I can't do my chocolates at Farmer's Markets and Fairs---I think a table top cigar Humidor would be a good thing. They are small, portable,and will control temperature AND humitity. There are several online--- also the "kits" for doing it your self are cheaper

Hi, Wine cooler has a very "soft" fridge, remember that the higher the outside temp. the stronger your fridge needs to work to keep the product cool.

Thanks Guys- Yeah I was wondering how I could keep things between 60-70F. I have noticed some Wine chiller chests have a top setting of 66F. I was thinking about testing one of those out (for under $200) but thinking humidity might be an issue. Didn't even think about Sushi Cases though. I'll keep digging and let ya know.

a sushi case i think is the best option. i was thinking about it when in the beginning there was plans of doing markets.

The temp is probably set-able up to +9C but with a good fridge technician you should be able to re-gas so that +14C are achievable.

you wont be able to stock a lot in it, so you need to replenish continuously.

also, you need to keep it away from the sun, as you know the sun light will damage your chocolate anyway..

Still is not cheap but is you do markets every day you could work the expense in short time.

It's going to be custom, heavy, and expensive.

We knew a toffee vendor who made his own holding cabinet and would add dry ice to a top compartment and the cool would fall down over his products. I didn't have the carpentry skills to handle a buildout like that or want the weight to transport to and fro. The best we ever came up with was a wine cooler with glass front. Even that though if the heat differential was >30' would struggle keeping up and eventually freeze up. If you find a real solution definitely post it up. At the end of the day all we ever found that worked wonders was keeping the products in a series of coolers (to prevent humidity from eventually contaminating) and to create some fake products, and some sacrificial products for the display tables.

Oh last thought I had one day was watching a fish monger sell at a market and using a sushi case. I don't know what temps they are rated at but might be worth looking into. Low profile and if its made to keep fish cold, I'm sure it can keep chocolate cold.

Hi everyone-

I hope someone can point me in the right direction here. We have a few opportunities to sell at local Craft markets and fairs. We need a small table top/display case. Portable is the key. 120V AC None of the big dealers know what I'm asking for. I know I have seen them before- does anyone know where we could get something like this?

Thanks-

Roy

Thank you all for your feedback. Impatiently awaiting the arrival of the moulds so I can get started

Should have added: when you make your shells (and fill if desired), don't back them off. Just turn them out as is.

If it is a 3D mould, you can use it like a book mould to fill. If the filling is runny, you back off one half like its own finished piece, then turn over to adhere to the second half. If you don't need the support of the chocolate backing, make your shells but when you invert to empty, let stay inverted until it starts to set, then clean. Some will set inverted on parchment paper for cooling to insure a flat, wider edge. This will give you a thicker edge to adhere to the other half. Warm where you want the chocolate to fuse when you combine.

To do a hollow figure, as you said, put the chocolate you need in one half, seal the halves, but don't shake or you'll have nothing but bubbles. Just turn the mould in all directions so it flows everywhere. Keep turning until it sets enough to stop flowing, then cool and demould. If seasonal, you can reverse paint the inside of the mould with colored cocoa butter. Doing a hollow figure make sure the mould is no more than a few degrees cooler than your tempered chocolate, you'll need the time to get a nice even coating.

I think I have seen this mould before and it is a standard type mould that just happens to have a front and back for the bunny (ie., it's not a3D mould where you clip the back/front together while moulding).

That said, you can do either filling or no filling. Make your shells (and fill if desired). Unmould. Heat a tray in the oven to approx 40C and quickly touch the edges of your shells to the tray and then press/hold them together. It only needs a small amount of melted chocolate to make the two halves stick together.

Hope that I've explained myself clearly

Cheers

I was thinking about trying out this double polycarbonate mould from Chocolate world: http://goo.gl/UaJo6

I'm familiar with regular (single) moulds but I've never used double moulds before. I was hoping someone could give me some pointers on how to use them?

Do I simply make hollow shells in both moulds (just like with regular moulds), then fill both halfs with a filling and then put them both together? However, in this scenario it appears that you're relying on the filling to keep both halves together? So I would assume that this also requires a filling that crystalizes sufficiently? Or is there a way to make the actual chocolate shells adhere to eachother?

Also, I was wondering if it is possible to also make hollow figures with this double mould? Now there's no filling to keep both halves together, so I was thinking about partially filling the first mould, then putting the 2nd mould on top and covering the entire inner surface of both moulds with chocolate by vigorously shaking the entire mold?

Any info on this is much appreciated.

Kris

From experience it doesn't seem to do anything of the sort. It allows sculptures to look natural again for up to 3 months. For a production issue it's not going to be a way to solve a real problem, however if you've got 1 out of 10 showing something of the sort then it may help let that piece slide while you hunt down your problem. As always the mantra should be 'always be testing.' Conditions will always sway what's going to happen the most I think but testing/trials and lots of documentation help figure that out.

thanks RW.. i conched it for 24 hours .. wen i tested it i set a little inmoldand tasted it after about two hours and it was fine..

Thanks for the advice Nat, yes i am in Mumbai and we have high humidity, the problem is I have faced this problem only with this particular batch.

i re-melted and tempered it.. ill wait a few days now and see what happens

That's not going to do anything to mitigate sugar bloom, and will likely only induce fat bloom i'm afraid...

One last thought. Are you sure than you conched it enough in your melangeur? I have found that I have a hard time telling if the texture is smooth enough or not straight from the melangeur. There have been times when I thought the chocolate was done, but then after I tempered it, I found out that it was a little grainy.

This doesn't always work so results may vary but take a small pen torch / flame and brush it with heat. We have a number of chocolate sculptures we keep out in public and when they get dull I flame them a bit and they come back to life.

A heat gun may also work, just start from a good distance and slowly work your way towards the object. It will not need a lot.

Whenyou sayyou don't have air conditioning, and ifyou're in Mumbai, that makes me suspicious thatyouprobably have humidity mroe than 50% which makes tempering properly nearly impossible. I noticed this even in New York in the summers where I'd been tempering finethrough the winter, but when June hit with it's humidity everything I'd been doing the same all along stopped working. I put a little air conditioner in my kitchen and everything went back to normal as before.

If there's anywayyou can AC a small area whereyou temper this will help immensely, and still use the fridge for the final cooling after molding.

Humidity seems to be the biggest thing thatpeople ignore when tempering since it's not somethingyou think about with other kinds of cooking so much.

-Nat

____________________________

Nat Bletter, PhD

Chocolate Flavormeister

Madre Chocolate

http://madrechocolate.com

If it really is sugar bloom, you'll be able to brush/wipe most of it off. Will it ever look as if it didn't sugar bloom in the first place? Possibly, depends on a lot of factors. If the product still has good snap, and you can brush most of it off the top w/o the chocolate melting when you touch it, it's probably sugar bloom.

Yesterday i made a batch of chocolates that had an absolutely smooth texture when i removed it from themelangeur, i then tempered it ( i think i did it correctly because the batch i made before this was fine) andmoldedit and kept it in the fridge to set ( i'm based in India and dont have air-conditioning, so i have no choice). Today i tasted it and the surface had a gritty texture.

I read online that this is caused by sugar bloom and want to ask all of you who are much moreknowledgeableand experienced than me if this can be solved by re melting and then tempering the chocolate again.

I have made a couple of batches before this that i also set in the fridge anddidn'thave this problem.

Hey Guys

I need to make chocolates shaped like droplets of water (3d).. to get themoldsmade here will work out too expensive. Any innovative ideas?

There was a demo day at Humber College in Toronto a month or so back - Philippe Vancayseele was the chef! Wonderful presentation, excellent teacher - I'd highly recommend any course with him.

Sorry for the late reply Margaret.

I have asked you question at callebaut, and nothing has changed for the Mycryo.

You can still use it for tempering your chocolate.

I also didn't find the topic on the USA site of callebaut, but it still is in the UK part to have it in englisch.

Here's the link http://www.callebaut.com/uken/2056

About the academy, I also think it's worth the money! We learned some new techniques.. Seen some new ways to come to a new recipe. These peoples are working every day to discover new ways and products to be the best chocolate in the world. Our group had a 2 days course from Philippe Vancayseele, he's a really great guy to listen to and to work with. If you read this Philippe, thanks again!!

Davy

n

Wednesday I am at the belgian callebautchocolate academy and I will ask the question!

Send me a pmin case I forgot the reply to this..