Forum Activity for @Holly Hukill

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Holly;

I have no experience with a CocoaTown roaster. However I CAN tell you that a convection oven does a FABULOUS job, and serves a dual purpose allowing you to make baked goods as well.

Remember: cooking ANYTHING is simply about heat and airflow. A convection oven offers both.

Brad Churchill

Choklat

CocoaT roaster?

Posted in: Opinion

Does anyone have experience with the CocoaTown roasters? If so, would you recommend them?
updated by @Holly Hukill: 04/12/15 15:21:48

world map of cocoa producing countries

Posted in: Chocolate Education

nothing like looking in your own backyard! It needs to be about 2x3 feet

world map of cocoa producing countries

Posted in: Chocolate Education

HI Melanie,

I've made one that might be high resolution enough, depending on how bigyou want it.

-Nat

world map of cocoa producing countries

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Anyone know where I can buy a good map of cocoa producing countries around the world?
updated by @Melanie Boudar: 04/10/15 13:41:08

Chocolate Food Service Industry

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Chocolate desserts attract customers to the restaurants. When I was studying in the University I worked in the food service industry. One particular restaurant was noted for it's desserts. Most of which were different chocolate products. I heard the same thing over and over again from customers. "We come back for the desserts " . If your restaurant is in a competitive area like Florida or the Caribbean something like this can make the difference in getting return business. Let COINEX and it's U.S. affiliate North American Supply LLC provide you with the exact Colombian chocolate product you need. We supply a wide variety of products to the bakery and food service industries. Contact us at info@coinex.com.co or northamericansupplyllca@coinex.com.co. Visit our website at www.coinex.com.co

updated by @Eddie Hernandez: 04/13/15 00:48:20

New competition in August

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Lionel Clement was the winner of the competition, David Ramirez won the people's choice award.

New competition in August

Posted in: News & New Products Press

So while in the midst of coding (my day job) i came a cross a chocolate competition that'shappeningin august. It's at http://www.pastrylive.com/chocolatier-of-the-year/ It's being held in Atlanta, GA, but I think you just send in chocolates to be judged.

It's only for professional Chocolatiers though, and I'm only an enthusiasticamateur. There's also some classes that look interesting. The main site is PastryLive.com

Just I'd thought I'd pass it along to all you lovely chocolate folk.

updated by @Richard Gricius: 03/11/26 06:20:34

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Stu:

In the long run, the best bet may be - depending on how much you want to make - to buy a chocolate "lentil" machine (think M&Ms) and get a new set of molds made for that. This will form full 3D grains, not half-grains as would be the case with a conventional mold.

:: Clay

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Nat,

Sounds like you are having a good time in Thailand!

Hadn't thought of pushing through a large sieve, that could work if we hang the sieve up high & leave the strands hanging until they have solidified. Then take off and cut to size.

As you say, the other option is to get a mold made from actual rice, which is probably the best option long term.

Stu

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Stu,

What about pushing tempered chocolate through a ricer or sieve, and cutting it with knife when the drippings are about rice sized.

I'd say you could drop it into cold water to solidify it instantly into the proper sized pieces, but that would of course mess up the temper.

If you could figure out how the pasta Orzo are made, if there's a mold for that, could be adaptable to making white chocolate rice. If none of these work, might be worth getting a vacuform setup for a few hundred $ and just using rice grains as the positive for the mold.

I'm in Thailand now and just met the King's palace manager in Isan whose daughters are in Auckland studying right next to you! I should send them over to see you. We're going to try to help them grow good cacao varieties up here, so look for some tasty Thai chocolate (with lemongrass) in the next few years!

-Nat

____________________

Nat Bletter, PhD

Chocolate R&D

Madre Chocolate

http://madrechocolate.com

Chocolate Rice

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello!

Strange query here - does anyone know a good way to make white chocolate that looks like rice? I cannot find a 'rice mold' anywhere so wondered if anyone had made this before and if so - how?

Thanks!

Stu

updated by @Stu Jordan: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Packaging

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Yes, Glerup and Mod-pac are good, for smaller runs sugarcraft will be your go-between at Mod-Pac.

There's also Nashville Wraps and Chocolat-chocolat.

Now that we do more volume we found a local printer to do our boxes.

Packaging

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

For a good stock packaging selection I'd recommend Glerup.com

Mod-Pac has a good selection also.

Packaging

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi everyone,

do you all know of any good resources for packaging? Who do you use for your chocolate boxes? Thanks much

updated by @Krista2: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Colombia Is Known For High Quality Chocolate

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Chocolate in Colombia is equal to any country in the world and much cheaper. If you need specific chocolate products contract manufactured contact COINEX. COINEX soecializes in contract manufacturing fo chocolate as well as many other products.
updated by @Eddie Hernandez: 04/13/15 08:54:32

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thank you Melanie.

Your feedback is very helpful. I will check the website for more details. Would you mind to telling me the cost since you have to pay loyalty?

Thanks.

Emay

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

sorry its www.christianjames.net PAYGO SAAS (software as a service) We've been using it in our retail for 2 years. It has the loyalty program, gift cards, customer management wholesale and retail with photos and gobs of reports like what hrs of the day sold the most and which salesperson etc.

Our only challenge was inventory because things arrive as bulk chocolates but leave as boxed. We have our stock #'s as the boxes. So while we can't track the specific route of an individual flavor or chocolate ( we have around 40) we have a clear grasp on the box configurations that sell. All other items like bars can be tracked easily.

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Andy

I agree that 'registers' are outdated and don't really deliver on functionality. We use a customised software solution and run it on a good looking touch screen PC (with mini keyboard of course), and have integrated Eftpos/Credit card + printers (barcode label printer & receipt printer), which is transitioning to the cloud as we now run multiple sites. The most important factors for me in my system are:

* business intelligence - ability to see as much data as possible to track and analyze products (individual, category, or by attribute, over any period I want)

* simple, intuitive Point of Sale interface for FAST and simple processing of sales (we have put through over 700 sales in a day before). Our barcode system allows fast sanning of retail shelf products and our short number codes for our loose assorted cabinet chocolates are fast and easy to type in (we have over 120 individual flavors etc). All up we have over 600 SKUS on our system, although only 400 or so are active.

* CRM (Customer Relationship Management) we have included a bar coded loyalty card system which gives points on all purchases to customers and allows us to market to customers who buy particular items etc

There are plenty of other nice to have functionality, but if I could only have three, they would be it.

There are most certainly great opportunities in the cloud now, and I am very excited about our upcoming transition as our software moves off our PCs and into the cloud, giving me more control from our head office while still allowing stores a decent level of autonomy for daily things.

I also spent a long time looking, and there were so many bad systems, I feel lucky to have found the one I did. Thanks for your comments, made me realize I had not really elaborated on my system.

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks Andy for sharing your experience.

I will have over hundred of items in store. Good inventorymanagement software & POS system definitely will make things lot of easier for me. I willcheck vendhq & shopkeep's website for more information.

Emay

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I use a system called Paygo. Its a cloud solution and inexpensive.

www.christanjames.net

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

We decided to go the non-traditional route and disliked all registers--too expensive for too little. We went with Vend ( http://www.vendhq.com/ ). All you need is a laptop and you can hook it up to a receipt printer and cash drawer.

You can also look into asimilarsolution ShopKeep.( http://shopkeep.com/ )

There are a lot of web oriented solutions coming. They excel in my opinion, I can check in on all things anywhere. A lot nicer than being tied to something archaic and from a decade or more ago--or a PC solution that locks you into some high fees.

Experiment and go with what feels good to you and your business. I spent 3 months evaluating with greatdisappointmentuntil we came to web solutions.

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi, Stu,

Thank you for your reply, and your encouragement.

I want to arrange things effectively, in order to make management easier. Thinking about how many items I will have, and how to decorate the store in a way it would be more fun and inviting, it is exciting, but can be frustrating as well.

I will do whateverit takes to get my shop ready.

Emay

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Emay,

I started down that path just over two years ago here in New Zealand and it has been a lot of fun! We use a POS system that was customized for us, and is made for New Zealand, so would not work over there. Just make sure you get a good, reliable system that makes it easy to track which flavors you are selling - if you just lump all your loose chocolates into one 'code' you will make forecasting and planning that much harder.

Good luck!!

Which Inventory Software & POS System to Use

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi, Everyone,

Finally I am ready to open a candy & chocolate shop in San Mateo County, California. This is my first retail business, I would really appreciate any of your suggestions about choosing an inventory software and POS system.If you have suppliers that you like to recommend, that would be great.

Some of you might be a very experienced shop owner. I am wondering if you would be willing to share your experiences about how you do things, so I could use some expert advice.

Thank you very much for your feedbacks.

Emay

updated by @Emay Wang: 04/11/25 09:27:36

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi, thanks everyone. No the truffles will be smaller, it is the other centers that will be thank big. What I am talking about is something we call "Fudge Balls" and they will be either 15g or 30g with a target market as children at school tuck shops, they want something huge and sickening sweet! For them we are also using a cheaper kind of coating and we do not attach our name to it to prevent harming our brand. Our truffles are smaller and I am glad to see that about 12g is right, they will be dipped in Valrhona. Thanks again for all your help. This forum is proving to be a life saver.

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

HaHa! So true, Brad! And Magrietha, the amount I quoted you was without any special decorating like adding contrasting colored stripes, etc. It's just the basic with basic decorations like cocoa powder, sea salt, a sprinkle of nuts, etc.

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If I may comment too....

15g is pretty big for a truffle, and 30g is HUGE - especially if you dip them in chocolate and roll them in a coating of some type. Our truffle centers start as 12g, and by the time we've dipped and rolled them, the average size is around 22g. We've been accused of selling truffles of "gluttonous" proportions, so I can imagine that your 30g center will likely end up like a small baseball....

Brad

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks, Susan. I needed to know that in order to work out the cost of labour. I am very slow by nature and I know I cannot take my speed as a norm and that is why I needed to know what I can reasonable expect from someone. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer me.

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Right now, I can roll about 200+ an hour. That includes coating them twice in a light coat of chocolate. I'm working on speed and have been told that you can do 2-3 in your hand at the same time so, that's next on my agenda to attempt. Let me know how it goes! Good luck!

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Sorry to be impatient, but does anyone have an answer for me here?

How many per hour

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I think I have too many questions, but will you please help me AGAIN. I need to know how many "balls," whether it is truffles or fudge balls, can reasonable expected from one person to roll and dip in 1 hour? I'm finding that it does not take me any longer to roll a bigger ball than a smaller so I think on average a 30g ball should not really take longer than a 15g ball. Is my argument correct here or not?

Thanks

Magriet

updated by @Magrietha Hendrika du Plessis: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Industry standard wholesale discount percentage for chocolate confections?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks, Ruth, for confirming my hunch. It seems to be the standard across industries, but I wanted to check and make sure it applied in the chocolate world.

Industry standard wholesale discount percentage for chocolate confections?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

It is up to the retailer, but my experience has been that most double it.

Industry standard wholesale discount percentage for chocolate confections?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I'm a new chocolatier and have an opportunity to sell my chocolate confections wholesale. Is there an industry standard wholesale discount for chocolate confections?
updated by @Nicole Gnutzman: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Cocoa Town Melanger - Sugar sticking to granite grinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

hi there, I am just finding your post and would love to talk with you about your current experience using coconut sugar. I am also using it and have learned the hard way to either dehydrate the sugar first or use dessicant to get the humidity under control. I have experienced exactly what you are talking about with my cocoatown melanger, and wondered if you have upgraded to a better machine? I am looking to buy something in a larger capacity that won't break!

It has been hard to find anyone else using coconut sugar to discuss this with. thanks, Beth

Cocoa Town Melanger - Sugar sticking to granite grinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi There,

have you checked the Humidity and the temperature?

sometimes a bit of rain or too low temp may give you problem with sugar. Have you tried to grind the sugar first to turn it into powder?

Ciao

nino

Cocoa Town Melanger - Sugar sticking to granite grinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello!

I Have been using a Cocoa Town Melanger for a few months now, to produce cacao paste and grind coconut sugar with chocolate. I am having issues with the sugar sicking to the stone grinders. Does anyone have any experience & suggestions as to why this is occurring?

The strange fact is that my machine was producing perfect chocolate for about 2 weeks and then the sugar started sticking to the granite grinders. I have not changed any aspect of the way I am processing the chocolate. I have also experimented using different brands of sugar - the same problem occurs.

Here is a set by step as to what my process is like - 1. I add melted cacao paste to grinder 2. Add melted cacao butter 3. Add vanilla bean & salt ( I let this mix together for about an hour before I start to add the sugar) 4. Slowly add the sugar, 1 tablespoon every hour.

I would really appreciate any advice you can give me! Thank you!

~ Jade

updated by @Crucial Jade: 04/11/25 09:27:36

chocolate fountain

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Sorry I just want to ad to this question. If I use a blend of two Valrhona chocolates, the Equatoriale Noire as well as the Equatoriale Lactee that both have 37% fat, will it work in a Sephra fountian? Another possibility is another 50/50 mix of Guanaja and Guanaja lactee. Will it work, they have 42% and 41& fat in them.

chocolate fountain

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I have just asked a question, but forgot about this one. When I read another post (Sephra chocolate) it reminded me. Can I use any chocolate for a chocolate fountain? We want to have the taste of all our other chocolates which are going to be Valrhona. Will it work? The idea is to draw people to our stall with the fountain where they can dip something of their choice in the chocolate. Using it in the fountain it will obviously not be tempered. I hope we have not wasted a lot of effort on this one needlessly!
updated by @Magrietha Hendrika du Plessis: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Tempering for dipping

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Clay, I have a very primitive setup here. I heat the chocolate in an improvised bain marie and temper it by hand with the seed method.

The market is outdoors in the morning and in the evening. No way to control the temperature. If the weather forecast can be trusted the morning temperature should be around 20C and it also looks as if humidity at about 37%. The evening is going to present a problem as the temperature is sure to drop to about 12C.

So, my chocolate is sure to go a little out of temper as the day goes. Hopefully the truffles will be consumed quickly, but I am scared it will not set soon enough.

The other night I tried to temper Valrohna for the first time, previously I have used Callebaut, and I had a serious problem. The chocolate was ice cold yet it would not set, it would have been ideal to serve as it is as a colc chocolate drink, serious! So, advice please.