Forum Activity for @Andrea3

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

It has been my experience that you can melt down tempered chocolate and keep the temper with most chocolate. The trick is to only bring the chocolate to the melt point, and different chocolate brands have different melt points. You should test the chocolate you are using; temper it, mold it, let it set and re-melt and see what happens, then you'll know for sure ahead of time instead of finding out the day you need to get it all done.Are you using a machine or doing this by hand?Good luck!Andrea

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I am still confused.If you are not going to be using the chocolate for several days, there is not any value in tempering it in advance and using it after a few days. Temper it when you need to use it.

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Yupp, I wanna temper it now & only use it after few days.

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I understood the question differently. Are you going to temper the chocolate, create your bar/bonbon/molded chocolate and save it to deliver it later?Or are you going to temper it, do not use it at the moment, then melt it again and create your bar/bonbon/molded chocolate?If the latter is what you want to do, then I think the answer is that you cannot do that. Every time you temper chocolate and the chocolate hardens, if you want to melt it again you need to go through the tempering process.

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If you're making solid chocolates (shape is no matter) then you can melt, temper, and mold the pieces months in advance as long as you store the chocolate properly.Having said that, chocolate never stops crystallizing so eventually the chocolate will get crunchy and sandy. Fresher is always better, but with solid chocolate the window is weeks and months, not days.

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Gonna make heart shaped chocolates. Whats your advice?

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

What are you planning to do with the chocolate? Is this solid bars? Confections?

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi there, thanks:)

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

yes.

Tempered Chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi I'm new here,hope to get more knowledge about chocolates. Have a question, I have a bulk order to complete,was wondering if can I temper the chocolate in advance & store it? Say a week advance...is that possible, pls help? Tks.
updated by @Keerran: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Growing Cacao Trees

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

There is already a discussion on a closely related topic - growing cacao trees from seed. Please refer all answers to this question there. This discussion is closed to further comments.

Growing Cacao Trees

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I just bought a few cacao tree plants and my plan is to build a hothouse and grow them into full trees...hopefully with fruit!Where can I find more professional information about how to grow them in hot houses ? Does anyone have any experience in growing these trees not in their natural surrounding? What are the most important points to take into consideration? I will appreciate any tips and help!
updated by @Limor Drucker: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Making a hard Chocolate topping for brownies

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If you do not temper the chocolate, it will crystalize in it's more unstable forms, and be soft, and have a poor appearance. Also do not cool chocolate in a freezer. Chocolate should be cooled more slowly so all crystals forming after temper will crystalize off the stable seed from the temper. Cool too quickly and you will develop unwanted crystals, even with a good temper. Compound coating do better if cooled quickly, not cocoa butter.

Making a hard Chocolate topping for brownies

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

You are heating the chocolate too hot and taking it out of temper. Slowly melt the chocolate chips up to around 92 degrees, making sure to stir very well while melting, and spread over the *cooled* brownies. Tempered chocolate is like the candy or chocolate bars you would buy in the store, they are nice and shiny, snap when you break them and don't melt the second you touch them. Untempered chocolate is like you describe, melts quickly and is not as hard at room temperature. Good Luck!Now I think I will have to make some brownies....

Making a hard Chocolate topping for brownies

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I make a chocolate topping for my brownies my melting chocolate chips and then spreading it over the brownies. I then stick the brownies in the freezer so it hardens. Once the brownies come to room temperature the topping is not as hard as I would like and is very susceptible to melting. Is there anything I can do to make it harder and more heat resistance. I want something more like a candy bar topping and not icing. When answering keep in mind I'm not a professional pastry chef or chocoaltier. I run a small business but have no professional knowledge.
updated by @Todd Kelly: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Haigh's Chocolate Video

Posted in: News & New Products Press

My local chocolate factory just released a promo video, full of the usual stuff.Go to www.haighschocolates.com.au and look for the link to the video in the bottom right corner of the page.
updated by @Tom: 03/11/26 06:20:34

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

this master peace printer is bad quality it`s made in tiland it`s print but the machine is not quatity to work but it`s cheap printer mabe around 2 or 3 thouthand USDthe best one is chocographi printer it`s amirican and very quality to hard work

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

how expensive is the printer from masterpiece systems. I don't see any pricing.

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

hi alli`m from syria but now my business and i live in Saudi Arabia and about the moulds and any thing i prifere if i foind from the near counte=ry what i need but even there is no suplaier i have no problem to get it from any where the i prefer to find profesional machine to fix it in my countery to make easy custom mould cose the normal custom mould i have small factory to do in syria it and it`s exelante price and quality and i`ll add picture for thatthanks

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

thanks you Mr duffyand sorry to ask about some mining cose my english langueg not goodand some meanings i cant understand it goodthanks for you and for Mr clay and for all

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Saeed,I should think Clay was saying that suppliers based in America might not be the best recommendations because of the distance you would need to ship everything. Do you want to make what you need yourself?Duffy

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

hi Mr claywhat you mean (keep in mind that Saeed is in Syria)pleasthanks

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Tomric will make the molds for you. If you want to print directly on the chocolate, try the equipment from Masterpiece Systems. although it is very expensive.Valrhona in France also has a custom mold program, but they are very, very expensive.

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

you mean thay timric thay will make the mould or they will fix machine for you to make this moldthen i saw company in france thay namele etudiant du chocola thay have exelant ebbosse and print on chocolate i want to know is this art or machins we can bye it

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

All:We should keep in mind that Saeed is in Syria.:: Clay

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Tomric has a custom mold program. They have a selection of molds that can be quickly customized for a fast turnaround, or they can make a fully customized mold for you with a longer lead time. Either way, they're great to work with.

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Chef Rubber is one place to go for mold-making supplies.

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Make your own silicon molds. I make the shape, design, etc, of what I want out of something like marzipan, spray the surface with confectioners glaze/laquer, then use it to make the mold. Works well.

custom made chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

hi alli want to know haw i can make custom made mould to emboss the name or logo on the chocolate same (totally chocolate) companyand wich coulor i can use to make good printing on the chocolate by use silk screen mouldSaeed
updated by @saeed@bostani.ch: 04/11/25 09:27:36

I thought I knew chocolate and cacao but after visiting your website...

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Criollo and Forastero are the two basic types. Trinatario is a hybrid of the two. Today they have been so cross bred and with the unique contributions from the environment you hear of over a dozen new types, many named by where they are grown. 3 good resources for information are from Minifie, Beckett, and for more on the farm information, Cook. There is also a book with nothing but pictures of beans.

I thought I knew chocolate and cacao but after visiting your website...

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Okay. First, it isn't a bean, and the cacao seeds don't really come from a pod either: http://patric-chocolate.blogspot.com/2008/07/cacao-fruit-mystery-continues_31.html Enjoy!

I thought I knew chocolate and cacao but after visiting your website...

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

... I have figured out that I don't know much at all. I read and heard their were three varieties namely Criollo, Forastero and Trinatario. Just today have read a paper on new classification that names 10 genetic varieties. I look forward to reading through the forum threads and growing my knowledge of this fascinating bean its history and its apparent nutritional benefits.The world has a view of chocolate (commercial sweet) which they directly relate to high % cacao chocolate and cacao products. I believe this is wrong and through this forum and research I want to find the truth and teach people this truth.So please help me find the truth about this fascinating bean
updated by @Grant Wills: 04/17/15 03:56:00

xylitol in chocolate?

Posted in: Recipes

I've made some chocolate with xylitol as the sweetener and found it to be quite strange and no one I gave it to liked it much, though I never gave it to any diabetics or others who can't eat sugar-sweetened chocolate. Normally everyone devours my chocolate, but the xylitol one they were not gonzo over.It has the weird cooling effect others have mentioned, and the supposed sweetness factor (something like 1.5x sweeter than sugar) the manufacturers claimed didn't seem to play out in the over-sweetness of the final bar.

xylitol in chocolate?

Posted in: Recipes

Xylitol will work but has a cooling effect when it dissolves in the mouth, due to negative heat of solution. There are other sugar replacers that do not have as strong a cooling, such as maltitol. I would not depend on fat eutectics as the cooling is only while eating, not storage, and adding another fat to soften, it will stay softened in storage, handling, etc, and you need to watch for bloom.

xylitol in chocolate?

Posted in: Recipes

There's a great thread on alternative sweeteners for chocolate at the following website: http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=diet&action=display&thread=391 It gets pretty scientific in some places, but is a culmination of deep knowledge from industry professionals.Best Regards.Brad.

xylitol in chocolate?

Posted in: Recipes

Does anyone here have experience with xylitol as a sweetener in chocolate? I'm wondering if your results were acceptable either with xylitol as the main sweetener or when it was added to make a confection to the base chocolate?Thanks
updated by @Frank Schmidt: 05/01/15 17:12:11

Fair Trade vs Direct Trade

Posted in: Opinion

Hello Tom, Ive just noticed you post about direct trade (DT). We are a cacao farm in Costa Rica and we have been direct trading with several bean to bar chocolate makers in the USA and Europe for some years now. For us, DT is not only about getting better prices, but also about building strong relationships, trust and certainly a way to improve our practices for better quality. We receive our clients at the farm and we enjoy their involvement and accept their comments, as friends do. As we want to be chocolate makers as well, we also receive important advice.

We were certified as an organic farm for six years, and during that time we were NEVER asked by the certification body about fair salaries, child labor force or about any other human rights. And those are the real questions to be placed to a cacao farm.

Best Regards

Fair Trade vs Direct Trade

Posted in: Opinion

I'll be interested to follow this discussion. I fully support the intent of fair trade but have heard that the certification process (much like the OG one) is often better served than the farmers. Is direct trade a better answer? Is FT certification doing what it intended or is the certifying board reaping all the benefits. I really want to be better educated about all of this, too.

Fair Trade vs Direct Trade

Posted in: Opinion

I run a FT/Org chocolate business ( Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates ) using a chocolate that incorporates Trinitario beans from Dominican Republic and Criollo beans from Peru. Not believing that FT is enough, I also take people on tours of cocoa villages in Ghana and Ivory Coast, the heart of the cocoa-growing for the lowest quality American chocolate, believing that somehow there must be a way to help cocoa farmers make more money.I am also interested in the concept of Direct Trade, where the buyer pays for quality directly to the farmer. I would love to learn from others in this business about their experiences. Apparently there's a cooperative in Grenada that is doing a world of good for the farmers AND producing the chocolate right on the island! I would like to talk to other professionals about how we producers can make cocoa-growing an honorable and remunerative profession.
updated by @Tom Neuhaus: 04/13/15 05:27:25

Growing trees from Cocoa Seeds.

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Greencow, thank you so much for that PDF. I hope to utilize this information in Puerto Rico this March.

updated by @Steven J: 06/16/15 17:20:58

Growing trees from Cocoa Seeds.

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

but you won't get pods because you need an insect to pollinate.

Growing trees from Cocoa Seeds.

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If you want to grow a cacao tree in a non-tropical environment, the simplest way to go about it is to keep the potted plant in the bathroom, preferably at the far end of the bathtub, so it absorbs humidity and dampness from a hot shower. The bathroom is also the ideal place (or a steam room, really) if you want to grow vanilla orchids as well. We have more than 20,000 cacao trees growing in the Yucatan, by the way. Louis