Forum Activity for @Mark Heim

Look for a lower % cocoa butter chocolate, ask for it from your supplier, or if looking for higher quality, a similar % cocoa butter in whatyou're using now but withoutthe emulsifier such as lecithin. Look at the viscosity given for your paste andrequest a higher one.

Water brings on problems with howthe chocolate melts downin the mouth and texturewhen eaten.Water can absorb up to twice its weight in the sugars, making a syrup, and the sugars can crystalize to larger and larger sizes over time making it gritty.

I have been in a class where a small amount of water was added to the chocolate, it was stirred vigerously (immediately from when the chcolate was added) and it did not seize. It does thicken the chocolate but I think if you did that the chocolate would be too thick to work with for dipping. I asked for a scientific explanation of why the chocolate did not seize but didn't really get an adequate explanation.

The chcolate is not useless after it has seized. It can be used for ganaches. It just cannot be used for tempering even if remelted.

You might try double dipping the chocolates for a thicker coating or as Robyn suggested look for a chocolate with a thicker viscosity when tempered that would give a thicker coating. www.chocosphere.com hasproduct information, at least on some brands, about differing viscosities of the various chocolates.

Adding water to chocolate is going to make it seize, and then it is useless.

You may just have to try different chocolates to test viscosity, they are all different. I personally don't want my chocolate thick for dipping. I prefer a more fluid chocolate so the dipped items look better.

How do you get the chocolate thick when dipping chocolates. Someone told me to add a little bit of water when you are working the chocolate on the marble slab. Is this true or can you achieve this just by the way you dip?

sent you an email, Brian.

thanks

Mike.

If you contact me at brian@thecriollogroup.com or bdonaghy@tomric.com I may be able to help arrange a visit somewhere.

brian

Hi Todd, I actually come through the SF area every few months. Next trip, if I haven't found one, I will email you. Thanks for the offer!

-Mike

Hi all, posting to ask if there are any of you in the Southern California area that use a Selmi tempering machine who would be willing to let me see it in action in person. I'm very interested in buying one, but I would rather not fly to NY to see the showroom demo. Also, if anyone knows of a shop in Southern California using one, please let me know, and I can try to contact them directly.

Edit: I wanted to clarify that I don't need to touch the machine, just see how it works.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Mike

Hi Clay, i will post soon my tests, no need to be so "secrecy" about the work of chocolate between us...

let me explain: i have a good (Bosch, electric) kitchen oven at home. There i have been doing my tests and also baked about 80kg of beans at 175*C for about 30 min.

Temperature has been measured with 3 different thermometers, so consistency has been checked.

As well there is also the Humidity to take in consideration, i usually opened the oven after 20 min for 10 sec to release extra humidity.

Now i'm running test on a 15kg/hour brand new coffee-roaster and i already noticed that time and temp. must be changed.

i did run tests on Peruvian beans,

On the Peruvian beans i noticed a perfect roast all the way (170*C for 20min) but the shell is really burned.

Today on Dominic Rep. (the one i usually roast at home) then will be easier to compare results.

I'll keep posted.

Ciao from South Africa!

Dave:

PM to compare notes? I'd bet that there are a lot of people here on TheChocolateLife who would like to know about making the transition from a convection oven to a drum roaster (gas or electric). Also, curious, interested in knowing some more about the oven ... full/half size pans, number of racks, rough price? Don't need the brand.

Antonino - It's all time versus temperature. Are you saying that when the gas roaster is set for the same temperature as the convection oven (was set to) that the results are very different? How? Lighter roast, darker roast?

Also, Antonino - when was the last time you checked the temperature of your (home) convection oven with a good thermometer? Are you sure the temp is what the oven thinks and says it is?

:: Clay

Hi Dave, i need to roast quite few tons...

went from small testing (in a good convection oven -home style) to i need to roast at least 80 kg a day... but to speed up learning curve it would be great if any one has been there and have few tips..

Hi Chocolate friends!

we just got a new roaster (for coffee) to be able to roast more beans. I'm starting my testings as it is much different than roasting in a convection oven. Any ideas, suggestion or tricks? The roaster is a 15kg/hour roaster, gas operating with variable drum speed.

any help or comment is great!

Thanks Nino

Beth,

We are thinking about jumping into retail chocolate sales in Kingwood, TX. Any suggestions about how to get staerted and what events did you frequent.

Thanks, Mike

Hello!

I've been a member for some time, but asmore of an observer than participant. As I'm considering jumping into the deep end of chocolate pool, I think it's time to introduce myself andstart participating.

I am the owner of Whimzy Chocolates, which I operated for several yearsout ofkitchen incubator inthe suburbs of Houston, TX. I sold primarily atweekend arts and craft markets and through special orders. My productslineis largely made up of what I call "familu favorites", caramel pecan clusters,caramel apples, various barks, lots of chocolatecovered tasties,andhand rolled truffles. I managedto develop somewhat of afollowing andfrequent sold out of productsbeforethe end of an event.

Unfortunately, justaftermy husband and I made the decision to relocate out of state, I recieved three different requests to wholesale, one of which was from a major national department store.

It's a yearlater, I'mhappily settledjustoutside ofNashville, TN and the chocolates arecalling me. I am strongly considering resurrecting the business, but on a larger scale, withthe goal ofrenting a location and building outmy owncommercial kitchen.My initial targeted market would bea few coveted wholesale accounts, special event orders, andthe weekend markets, with aneventual growth to a retail chocolateboutique.

I welcome any words of wisdom or caution, and would love the input of those who have gone down this road before me. I'm in the processing ofidentifying the costs involved andmy questionof the moment is"what do I need, that I don't know I need?"

My primary big piece of specialized equipment has always been the tempering machines. Is there another, chocolate specific piece of equipment that has improved your production time and makes life easier?

Thanks,

Beth

I started Carter's Chocolatesabout three years ago in a small town in Washington State.

I had gone to a pastry school back in the 90's, then worked as a pastry chef, managed a bakery, then was a restaurant server for a few years before doing Sales for 4 years. Then I decided to stop working so hard, and set out to create my own chocolate shop, where I could work for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, and make just enough money to be happy...

Three years of 12 hour days later... I know better ! I was getting part of a day off maybe once a month, although I am trying hard to take one full day off every week now. Hopefully that will keep me from being too hard on the staff.

I started out just making truffles.Customers insisted that I make Caramels, so I started doing them, and then my own pecan caramel turtles, then Crunchy Frogs, and a few more fun things like that. Peanut butter cups, Smores bars... chocolate dipped Candied Ginger flies off the shelf.

Going to Farmer's Markets in the summer and having to packthe chocolatesback into the coolers about noon when things were starting to get melty, was when I started making Ice Cream as well. That first summer was when I learned that Ice Cream and Chocolate are a great compliment to each other. My Chocolate sales are strong all winter, with one Chocolate Holiday after another. Then in the summer, all you need is a good location and a sign for Homemade Ice Cream to fill up your store with customers. And in the new location, Ice Cream customers coming in are increasing the chocolate sales as well.

I have a small staff, and very little machinery. From the little time that I have spent so far on this wonderful forum, it seems that everyone else is using tempering machines.

I don't have a budget for expensive equipment, so I can't afford a Hilliard or Selmi, and the Chocovision that I bought, well, I just don't like the results, and the attempts I have made to use it took up lots of my time. We manage to get several hundred truffles dipped in a day just going in and out of the microwave inpyrex bowls.

I have done little Tasting Nights at my old shop,using a conference room in the Mall. We would sample several single origin chocolates, (chocovic's three single bean, maybe a Pralus and always a couple of Amano) drink a glass of red wine, then pair some of my truffles with some dessert wines ~all while talking about history, growing and production of chocolate, etc. I even did that presentation in front of 200 people at a Chef's Association meeting one night. I always feel out of my depth, as I have never been to visit a cacao plantation, I have only seen maybe three pods, and the closest thing I have done to production of actual chocoalte is take the tour of Theo in fremont.

All my education other than actually making truffles, has come from books. I have as many books as I can find, but the best ones that I like are Maricel Presilla's New Taste of Chocolate and the Cohen's True History of Chocolate. Fortunately for me, 99% of the people have a very limited knowledge of chocolate, so for them it is still educational.

One day I will be able to afford a trip to some chocolate producing islands in the Caribbean. I would love to visit the genebank in Trinidad, for instance.

I will be in awe of the knowledge contained in this group of people, and plan to get lots of ideas and technical assistance here.

Now that I know this group exists, I am sure that I'll be here asking stupid questions all the time!

Like they've mentioned every county, every state, every department, is different. Count your blessings.

We have an above ground one, probably 36x36x36 or so--I'm not sure we'll have to drain it but for every few years. It does have some rancor associated with it after a day off. Rancid butters and creams I'm sure. Nothing else I know that could create real stink. It's not like we're frying in here.

We use a bio-solution that helps digest fats and keep everything running smoothly. It is recommended for those with drains that are needing to be kept clean.

http://www.newtechbio.com/greasetraptreatmentproductinfo.htm

It makes the place smell rather nice after cleaning but since we didn't have a problem I don't know of its efficiency I'm just taking steps before I might have a problem. The longer I don't have to open the hatch of doom the better. I can only imagine having to clean this unit out and the thought is rather unpleasant.

Different locals have different rules about grease traps. The size of the grease trap is an equation based on the size of your three bay sink. I have a monster three bay sink because all three bays will fit a full size sheet pan. When the inspectorfigured the size of the grease trap, it was ridiculous big. The formula is based on restaurants that process meat and other fats on a regular basis. Luckily, the plumber installing my sinknegotiated with the city inspector to downsize my grease trap to a more manageable size than what was required, because we were only doing confections. I don't know how many gallons it is, but it fits under the drain board for my sink. I would guess it is 2' X 2' X 3'.

What kind of grease trap were you required to install? I was surprised when the city inspector said I didn't need one and that if i were to get one, the minimum size would be 110 gallons. Needless to say, I didn't argue with him further.

We were required by code to have a grease trap at our shop and I tried to fight it, but I gave in. Anyway, we do have to clean our grease trap from time to time, so as much as I hate to admit it, having a grease trap in general is a good idea. Chocolate and cocoa butter are gooey, clingy food stuffs and tend to accumulate over time. The boiling water is a good idea IF you follow through with it.

We just opened our shop in March of 2010 and one of the reasons why was because we needed to find a facility with a grease trap (County Code).

We have been told by another chef to run a pan of boiling hot water down the drain once every few days. Hope it helps.

Pierre

I would have thought that with all the experienced people on this forum, if this is an actual problem someone would have spoken up!
I will continue to degrease occasionally, just in case.

Great question. I am trying to figure out the best solution to this as well. I would imagine a degreaser of some sort would definitely help.

Question about potential for drainage problems:

I have been in business for three years this coming October.

I moved my location recently, and when I went back to the old Mall, someone told me that the drains had backed up, and they blamed me.

The City inspectors did not require agrease trap, and so of course I didn't spend the money on one.

Should I have?

Or should I be putting some sort of drain-degreasing liquid down the drains monthly or quartlerly to keep the pipes clean?

I certainly don't want any big expenses down the road!

Most people I have ever seen make a ganache avoid the problem by not starting out with melted tempered chocolate.There's no technical requirement to use melted tempered chocolate to make a ganache.

Of course, Cathy's answer is a very good one if, for some reason, you feel it's important (or easier) to use melted tempered chocolate. A cold bowl can precipitate crystal formation on the surface of the bowl before the bowl warms up. Slightly warming the surface of the bowl (with a hairdryer, as Cathy says - there are other ways) will keep that from happening.

Technically, there's also no requirement to even use melted chocolate. The heat from the cream or whatever liquid you're using to make the ganache should be enough to melt the (solid tempered) chocolate and cool the liquid down at the same time. If you do want to use melted chocolate then you can use melted chocolate, not tempered melted chocolate.

Another way: pour the warm liquid into the bowl and allow it a few seconds to warm the bowl. Then pour the melted tempered chocolate into the liquid. No separate warming step required.

Another thing you might want to consider is the fact that the heat of the mass of the warm chocolate with the warm liquid should be enough to remelt any chocolate crystals that have formed on the cool bowl. Thoroughly scraping the bowl with a spatula to dislodge any crystals and work them into the warm mass should melt them. Just let the mass sit for a minute before starting to mix, starting in straightaway with a spoon or balloon whisk won't do it.

You might also consider using an immersion blender. I use one for all my ganaches as it significantly reduces the risk of the ganache breaking. The blender does a much better job of creating a stable emulsion than mixing by hand in my experience. The immersion blender should be able to incorporate any small seeds evenly in the ganache.

We use a hair dyer to warm the bowl slightly before adding the chocolate.

The issue I'm running into occurs when I add pre-crystallized chocolate from the melter to a mixing bowl to make the ganache. If I use a glass or metal bowl that's just been sitting around, I do get some crystallization on the sides of the bowl. This then causes a problem as I end up with little bits of solid chocolate in the ganache.

I've considered warming the bowl slightly with a heating pad, but I'm wondering if there's some very slick method that other folks use to avoid this problem.

Craig:

Why are you concerned? Your ganache is going to set in part because of the crystallization of the chocolate - but you're not worrying about it being "in temper" because it never will because of the other fats added.

Now, if your bowls came out of the freezer it might be a problem but at normal working temps it should not be an issue.

:: Clay