Thank you! The colors weren't muddy, the paint was not adhereing to the chocolate at all. I sprayed two shades of red very lightly and then a tiny bit of black and got bloomed chocolate from it, which I am guessing is because the butter was not in temper....
I try to be very subtle about layering the colors...but I love the idea of a color wheel so I think I will get one
Certain colors do not mix well. The underlying pigments clash with one another and when mixes will turn muddy brown or gray. You can have a red with purple under tones and a red with yellow/green undertone that when mixed together will give you ghastly results. Do not mix complimentary colors unless you are trying to dull a color down, but do use them side by side to made your colors pop, like yellow next to purple. Get a color wheel at the art store, it will be of great help. If you want to take it further, a small watercolor set will show you what different colors do when mixed or sit next to each other. It is quite a science and one we normally do not pay too much attention to. Over time color mixing just becomes second nature.
When a color is translucent and is laid over another translucent color, it is the same as mixing colors.
I don't know if this is at all part of your problem, but this information might help you in your use of color. It does not matter if it is an oil painting or a chocolate bonbon, all the same.
Weeeelllll..... No I was I guess not tempering the cocoa butter....I have it divided into the badger bottles so I can quick change the colors. When I heat it I put the jars I am going to use in a small pan of water on the stove. ( not up to the lid, no water contact there) and I bring the water to a boil...shake it well and then it cools down a bit while I set the compressor up. So today my hubby used the thing and turns out just fine for him, but he was using only 2 colors. When I spray the lips I use 3 reds and a black... Do I have to let each color dry/set before spraying the next? What else am I doing wrong with this stuff and how can I actually temper the paint?
SO glad you all took the time to reply! Thanks!!!!
Greetings...
Can anyone post some suggestions or information on airbrushing with cocoa butter? I have a bunch of colors from Tomric. I have the badger 250, and the iwata all ready to go. We have used it a couple of times
Our 4 trays of orange and yellow for pumpkin came out fine. I had 4 trays of lips sprayed and only 1 tray came out all shiny and pretty, the other 3.... all bloomish and ugly ugly ugly....
I have been trying to research this online and haven't really found very much information so I thought I would try here.
I looked under an old forum about questions for Norman Love and there were alot of questions regarding this that were not answered....so we are hoping to try this again tomorrow
Giving up is not an option. I will rule the cocoa butter!
Hi,
Anyone have recommendations for finding a printer for chocolate bar wrappers? Should I be looking for something specific for professional wrappers? I need someone who can provide me with options for the paper and cut the wrapper to size.
Any thoughts would be really really appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Geetha
Clay, This is something I didn't think of before now. Humidity is something I don't know much about or how to measure. What does it mean to 'keep humidity within a good range'? That link looks very interesting and I'll have to read it a few more times before I get my head around it!!!
Your combination sheller/winnower sounds great. Do you have an idea of the winnow capacity per hour? I just spent about 2 hours hairdrying 2kgs of beans and I have to say, while I am quiet proud of the amount of husk I managed to remove, there has to be an more efficient way to do this!
Thanks
Shana
Brad, I have read through the chocolate alchemy winnowing information. There is a lot of info there and it's very informative. Do you have a link to your solution? 120lbs an hour is fantastic!
Hi Brian, thanks so much for the advice. I currently leave the cupboard doors open and the window in the room too just to keep the air moving. I do use my grinder in the same room at the moment put the odors are not strong. I have noticed a few more fruit flies trying to enter the house but nothing else. I will screen the beans with a mosquito net anyway, that might keep any intruders out!
Thanks again for the information.
Shana
Shana:
Brian has given a very good description. Temperature is less of an issue than humidity. Although you don't need the remote Internet monitoring part of this, the following article describes plugging in a humidity sensor to a dehumidifier to keep the humidity within a good range:
http://www.iobridge.net/wiki/tutorials/remote-control-over-the-internet-with-local-automatic-control
Keeping the air circulating is also important; a dehumidifier can help with this.
The plans John Nanci is circulating are pretty good and you should be able to produce something for not too much work and not too much money that will be a huge improvement over the Crankandstein/hair dryer combination you're currently using.
I am working on a combination sheller/winnower that is very inexpensive (looking to bring it in for under $100 in parts) and that has a lot of advantages over the two step approach that is based on the Crankandstein. I intend to publish complete plans and BOM (bill of materials) before the end of the year.
:: Clay
Brad is pointing you to the right place. John Nanci is now making winnowers. I have seen an earlier prototype and it did a very good job of winnowing with a lot less work than your current method. Best of luck to you.
Erin
Shana;
Brian has provided some good advice below.
With regard to winnowing, John Nanci over at www.ChocolateAlchemy.com has designed a small scale winnower from plywood and PVC, and has put the plans (more or less) up for people to use.
I have also posted a description of my solution on that site, and someone has taken the time to draw a rough schematic of my description. My winnower does about 120lbs per hour and is very simply constructed from one sheet of plywood a stand, and some blower motors. I've been using mine now for 2 1/2 years without issue.
Cheers
Brad
Check out that site for a possible solution for you.
Hi shana, i know about warehousing large amounts of cacao beans, the basic principles should apply for small scale too.
humidity will cause mold if you don't keep the air moving, you need a well ventilated place. if the air is dry then ventilation is less important. so for instance if they're in a closed cupboard in a humid place, and particularly if they're very dry, like below 7%, they will uptake water and can get moldy. you could leave the cupboard door a little open and put a small 15cm fan in there and it should help the problem.
temp is not as important, generally speaking the cooler the better so 15-18 is no problem at all. when you get up into tropical temps you have to think more about it.
you want to keep the beans away from potential contaminants and odors as they can uptake those too. so if there's dust, if you're cooking strong odors nearby like garlic, if the cabinets themselves have any kind of food or chemical odor, or if they're exposed to smoke of any kind, you can have off flavors in the beans and hence the chocolate. also this is more for when you have a concrete floor/walls, but they should be off the floor on wood pallets and never touching the walls. I cover the floor and walls in heavy gauge plastic to avoid contact and/or contamination.
finally there are some bugs that will attack cacao beans in tropical climates. i can't imagine its a problem in ireland but if you have ventilation holes or leave the cupboard door open, you may want to screen the beans off with a simple flexible mosquito mesh to stop small moths or flying baddies from getting in there and laying eggs in your beans.
hope this helps,
brian
Hi all,
Could anyone advise me how to store my cocoa beans before I roast them? They arrived in jute bags. I am only starting out and still experimenting with roast times, winnowing, grinding, refining. I have read that beans can go moldy. At the moment I am re-bagging into smaller jute bags and storing in a cupboard. The average daily temperature in there varies about 15-18degrees. Is this cool enough to store the cocoa bean?
Any help or advise is greatly appreciated.
On separate note, I am finding the winnowing very slow, (crankandstein and hairdryer method) however I am confident that with the growing interest in making chocolate that soon someone out there will develop an affordable small scale winnower. Thanks to everyone for all the posts they are extremely helpful and informative.
Shana
Ireland
The JustLuxe web site recently posted a list of ten chocolate factories to explore around the world.
Problem is - the list is a mix of actual places where chocolate gets made, confectionery factories, plus a museum and at least one retail store where no chocolate of any kind (neither chocolate nor confectionery). Surprisingly, the US takes three of the top ten spots - Mast Bros, Theo, and Tcho.
The slide show is here . Please post your thoughts/reactions to the selection.
The JustLuxe list begs the question ... what chocolate factories (actual places where chocolate is made, not candy/confectionery factories and places where chocolate is only sold or venerated) would make it to your top ten list? Especially if you got the insider guided tour. And let us know which ones you've already checked off on your your bucket list - if any.
Also - what's your favorite chocolate factory tour story?
Mine just might be taking brilliantly fresh macarons off a speed rack and passing them through the chocolate (called Melissa) used to make Pralus' Barre Infernale Lait and eating them messily ... at 6:30 in the morning. Chased with a double espresso we are talking the true breakfast of champions.
Ah, what a good idea. They must be in temper as my associate just brought some mold back that she used for marketing. I made them in August and they are still fine. Thanks.
In don't thinks you did anything wrong.
Just the same as you handdip pralines, they won't be a shiny as a moulded praline.
If you want the bottoms more shiny, you can put a plastic foil on the chocolate when it is still fluid.
Ok, so I have been trying to take photos of my molds with the problems. The photos are not very good, but never the less you will be able to see the kind of "streaks" and even something that looks like chocolate bloom. The top is beautifully shiny, falls out of the molds if I do not turn them around carefully with a good snap. Also it is not all the molds from the one batch, some are perfect than some has these marks and chocolate bloom. The ones that are so very white shows how the white "spots" is more visible at certain angles and at others you cannot see it. Could it be the way I work with them. I spoon the chocolate into the molds. Should I rather try the method with the plastic bottle? I just find that the nozzle clogs after a while, so help please!
I do not have a decent camera, do not know how to get the photos from my cell that does take decent photos as I have to do it with blue tooth and I do not know how to do it and even with the best equipment I will not be able to take decent photos, so I hope these will give you an idea of my problem.
I'm sorry I still don't have photos to show you (I have no clue how to get them in focus!), hopefully my son will pitch up here some time, he is never around on weekends! These last few days I ran into even more problems with my molds. Now I get full out chocolate bloom, I can understand that is a tempering problem, what I do not understand is that I have no problem with my dipped truffles?
I am using a long stem teaspoon to put the chocolate into the molds. Previously they came out OK as I have said above, but I am now wondering it that is the problem. Should I try the method of the plastic bottle with the chocolate in it? Will that make any difference. I it was only a tempering problem I should have problems with my dipped truffles as well?
Margarietha -
Can you please upload some clear pictures that show the problem you are describing?
Sorry, but I have another question, AGAIN! My molds I made last night comes out of the mold with only a very light tap and, of course, the part that was on the mold is beautiful and shiny, but the bottoms are dull, no chocolate bloom though.
I get it with all my molds, all the molds I have made a long time ago is still beautifully shiny on the top, dull at the bottom, but even after months no chocolate bloom. I am keeping them to see what is going to happen! Any idea why that is the case? Does it mean my chocolate is not quite in temper yet?
Here's a line from the DC city code. Can anyone tell me what the last clause means:
[Confectionery is considered adulterated if it]:
"...bears or contains more than 0.5% of alcohol by volume, which is derived solely from flavoring extracts, except that the confectionery shall not be adulterated for purposes of this chapter if the confectionery is introduced, delivered for introduction, received, or held for sale..."
What do they mean by "introduced, delivered for introduction, received, or held for sale...?"
Does it mean if the product is created outside DC and then sold to either a consumer or retailer in DC?
I have been going on happily tempering my Valrhona and getting my truffles and molds all very beautiful, now suddenly it is not working. The chocolates unmold perfectly, but even before they set the backs have chocolate bloom.
I thought maybe I am taking it too high for the working temperature as I am taking it to the 32C as on the back of the package. Initially I take it to very high, about 58C and then temper with the seed method to 29C and up to about 32C.
I am wondering if it could be the temperature as it is summer here in South Africa (well not really, but cannot tell the difference!) The room I am working in at the moment is about 26C, but in the morning it was probably round 24C. Previously I worked at 22C without problems.
So I do not know what I am doing here. Maybe it is the heat, I do not know how humid it is, but we have to bake and cook in the same room, so maybe it is a little too humid but it has never been a problem before.
I think I let it get too cold working with it this morning, it went down to about 29.4C at a stage, I pressed on because I was nearly finished, but all but the first two molds have chocolate mold even before they set.
I have had my husband wash and dry all the molds and I am going to try again. I am baking now and as soon as I am finished I am going to try again. I have it on the stove melting now so that it is at about 58C for a few hours. So I'll let you know what happens.
Any ideas will really help. I do not know enough to figure out why I am suddenly having problems.
Thanks.
I now have another problem when I hook up the enrober to the flow of chocolate and push the pedal down to stop the flow I get a red light on the flow and then I have to start the tempering process all over again why am I getting a red light behind the flow when I try to hook up the enrober?
On Mine part of the grill hooks over to the outside and this has a small magnetic switch on it. As I said, without it it won't work. My model also has a seperate "U" section with the switch on so that you can have the stirres turning and put your hands in. So they have a safety switch and supply the means to instantly circumvent it.
I checked today and mine displays the same thing without the switch in place. As you look at the temperer from the front it is on the outside right hand side. Nothing plugs in - it must be magnetic.
Duffy
My Selmi displays that message if the grill that stops you waving your hands in amongst the moving stirrers isn't in place. There's a micro-switch on the grill that allows the stirrer and everything else to work when it is in place. If it isn't that I have no idea, sorry.
Duffy
