This is fantastic! I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate your advice on this. I'm going to go for the proofing cabinet for the ability to pre-melt several batches and have the built in temperature control... also being able to prep several batches one on top of the other will be helpful to conserve space in a small kitchen 
Thanks again Michael and Clay!
Ghee, is very similiar to anhydrous milk fat. It's often heat treated much more significantly than AMF, so it's color and flavor may differ. Since Ghee is much more regional than a more standardized AMF, there's going to be a much wider range of what any given Ghee actually is. Conceptually, very similiar to AMF - but there's a wide variation. Closest things to watch are how much moisture is present in the Ghee (keep it as low as possible), and how much oxygen it's been exposed to (more = faster rancidity. Most ghee producers will have no idea what you're tlaking about when to start to have this conversation, fyi).
On a similar theme: is ghee an allowable ingredient in milk chocolate?
Or asking a different way, is there a difference between ghee and anhydrous milkfat or butterfat? Is it essentially the same thing, just a different name? Or are they made fundamentally differently and considered different ingredients?
I use a groen steam kettle for both my caramel and fudge. It get's up to about 295f which is hot enough to caramelize sugar, but not hot enough to scorch it. I just add the ingredients, stir until dissolved, add a temp probe attached to a thermometer with an alarm set to the desired temp, then walk away to do something else. The syrup will stir its self through convection. I should mention I'm making American style caramel as opposed to European style. I don't caramelize the suger first, just let it happen during the cook. The other advantage is the kettle tilts, so pouring out the syrup is easy. The down side is they can be pricey, though I bought my 40 qt used for less then $1000USD.
You are right about the math. Theoretical throughput is much higher. It was late and I was tired and dropped a zero. Anyway, most people I know who ask me for advice about belt width say they need 300mm or 400mm belts when they haven't thought through other issues that will determine the actual rate of production -- theoretical max throughput assumes absolutely no breaks in production which is only possible with fully automated lines.
Excellent post with some very good information and advice.
I will just comment on the below from my point of view.
1. Possibly some calculations went wrong but 4 pieces x 20 rows per meter x 2 meters per minute gives 160 pieces per minute.
This gives significantly more than 1000 pieces per hour.
2. We enrobe our products twice, hand decorate on second coat. As correctly stated the feeding speed, the take off speed and the difficulty of decoration dictate the speed. With 1 person feeding, 2 decorating and 1 on take off we reach 4 pieces by 18 rows per minute. On a good day.
Hi Paul,
Clay brings up excellent questions and points. My advice is to find a way to see as many machines in production situations as you can to get a sense of each's strengths and weaknesses.
I own two used Selmi Plus machines (one with dark and one with milk) and have one enrobing belt that goes on either machine. I'm pretty much a one-person show, and the Selmis are the heart of the operation for me.
Here are some things I love about them: The footprint is small, which is good because my shop is small. I can run them by myself, change the paper roll by myself, and pretty much do everything by myself. They are easy and intuitive to operate and adjust. I can teach an intern how to use it very quickly and I can fine-tune things easily. It's dependable, both in operation and in chocolate temper. It cleans up easily. And, frankly, Selmi's are pretty to look at. Which probably doesn't matter to a lot of people, but I spend a ton of time in my shop environment, and I really don't want to spend it with ugly stuff.
Some things I'm not as wild about: Paper tracking works perfectly sometimes, but toward the end of the roll, it sometimes is not as smooth. I wish there was better operational documentation. I suspect I could be doing more with my Selmi, but I don't know how to access those advanced operations easily. Also, I have to use a converter because I don't have three-phase power to my shop. Not a big deal, but still a consideration.
I'd be happy to answer specific questions if you have any. Hope this helps, and good luck in your search. --Robyn, St. Croix Chocolate Co.
Since there are so many unknowns for me - what i'd suggest you do is start by adding tenths of a percent to your mass during conching, and evaluate it every 2 hours. If there's insufficient change, add a few tenths of a percent more, and assess after 2 hours of conching. Continue until you're satisified that it's either working or not 8-)
Since pH is a measure of the -log of H+ ions in a solution of water - which chocolate has very little of - i'd not bother with a pH reading of your chocolate mass.
Do let us know how it goes!
I've found a reasonable way to stir caramel for most of the cook time. It's the Ardente Gourmet Stirrer. It is a battery powered stirrer that has two blade sizes. One is 9" and the other is around 14". Another chocolate site suggested that a deep fryer makes a good caramel cooker. I bought a Presto Multi Cooker (6 quart). It works pretty well.
I can let the caramel stir in the device until it reaches 218 or so. Then I have to stir it by hand to prevent scorching. It's not a perfect solution as the batch size is really small, I still have to stir it by hand for a little while, and it is easy to overshoot the target temperature, but it sure is wonderful to be able to put a batch of caramel on, then continue prepping the pans and such to recieve the caramel. It takes the hands on time for a single batch of about 4 pounds from 40 minutes down to about 10 minutes.
I haven't tried it with my regular large pot because frankly my stove is crappy (glass top) and the presto cooker gets the heat into the caramel so much faster and more consitently.
dear sebastian,
thank you for your kind answers
May I put potassium carbonate directly into the chocolate solution? If so, how much? Should I measure the PH level of the solution while adding it in?
You can buy neodymium magnets fairly cheaply and create your own finger or grate trap by using a bunch of them. The least expensive Eriez grate magnet I could find is over $600.
If you're using any sort of metal/metal grinder you probably also want to pump the chocolate through a magnetic trap to remove any metal particles. These are even more expensive than the grate magnets.
Prochoc is available for about 110 Euro from Libaire Gourmand - it's in french.
Thanks Sebastian - I'll definitely look into these!
I like the grates/finger type personally, as it's more surface area:product contact (higher liklihood of foreign ferrous object removal). The effectiveness of them is directly related to the strength of the magents in them (rated by gauss). I almost exclusivly used these all around the world.
Sebastian - Do you mean the tube-shaped magnets that are used in grates and in liquid traps? The ones I've seen for grates don't appear to be any less expensive than the plates, although I could be wrong. Also, I was under the impression that the grates were better for larger ferous objects, whereas the plates were better for smaller objects. I may be misunderstanding what you mean however.
Why not use finger magnets?
grinder SRILAKSHMI is arrived in Cr oatia
Thank you mr Luvin on information about low-coast Indian grinder.
Clay - Have you seen a good magnet solution for small producers? Most of the solutions I've seen are clearly for larger facilities. I've been thinking about getting a plate magnet and somehow attaching that to a small grain chute used by home brewers, but even that could cost up to $1,000.
About ten years ago I was involved in a project to develop a software tool to help manage FDA 10k compliance for a Type 1 medical device (a device that comes in physical contact with a patient). It makes HACCP look like child's play. You have to have a written process in place that talks about how you document meetings where any product design decision even gets discussed incidentally. If you decide to change the company you source grub screws from you have to document that so that, if somehow the grub screw gets implicated in a patient safety report, you can figure out the who, why, where, how, and when the decision got made. FOR EVERYTHING.
While it's not necessary to go to these lengths, it makes a good deal of sense to have such a manual and to keep it up to date. It's exactly the sort of thing that inspectors - and insurance companies - love. A good plan could help you reduce insurance premiums.
First step: There is a manual. The first chapter (chapter zero, traditionally) in the manual talks about why there is a manual in the first palce, how to use it, who it covers, how training is done, how the efficacy of training is measured, and more.
In each chapter there is a revision history for the contents of the chapter. Everyone whose work is covered by that chapter has to sign off they they read the chapter, that they received the proper training, and that they understand what it means and how it has an impact on their work. Do not throw away pages that are outdated! There's a section in each chapter for deprecated pages, if there's an issue the inspector will want to see what changed.
One of the chapters covers cleaning procedures. Another avoiding cross-contamination. Another about the process of accepting beans and testing them when they come in. There's a separate chapter that is a compendium of test results (e.g., aW, cut tests on acceptance). Have everyone sign off on the fact that they received the proper training and know what to do. Of course, you need to actually do the training.
Keep the manuals in a prominent place and make sure the inspectors know where they are when they show up - and that they can see how serious you are about these issues.
Keep in mind also that if you are manufacturing chocolate from cocoa beans in the US that the FDA has some specific guidance for inspectors . Whatever you do (at least here in the US) this is basic stuff that you need to make sure you're paying attention to. One particular requirement is the use of magnets to remove metal in the pre-cleaning step, something that is often overlooked.
-- edited for typos and grammar --
Contact Lev at Recipal.com. He will develop 2 free nutritional labels for your products. If you have questions he can usually answer them. I was referred to him by another member of The Chocolate Life and was very pleased with the service. Let me know if it works well for you. Good Luck!
Another thing to know is that there is small business exemption to the nutrition labeling requirements. You have to be under $50 million in sales, under 500 employees, and sell fewer than 100,000 units per product annually to qualify. All you need to do is apply, I don't think there is a fee.
Hello Chocolate Lifers,
If anyone has a 10" Hilliard Enrober with Pre-bottomer and Cooling Tunnel (total length 22 ft) for sale, please contact me through here or directly at info@festivalofchocolate.com
Much appreciated!
Easiest thing to do is to use the nutritional information provided by your suppliers, and do the math for your formulation. If, however, you don't have that, you can use the generic categories contained in the USDA food composition database.
Hope that helps!
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/food-composition/usda-nutrient-data-laboratory
Hi there,
A grocery store is interested in carrying our chocolate bars. They require nutrional labels for our bars. How do I develop that? Is there a service that develops that? Thanks very much!
Daniel
Michael - we have to do a HACCP, accident and incident report diary, temperature charts etc. We get graded from 0-5 stars for health and hygiene and to get full 5 stars all paperwork need to be in order, such as this HACCP.
Thanks for the really helpful responses, i will now try finish my HACCP
Hi Michael,
I dont have the tilting one i have the other 2ltr tabletop one, i will try add a picture.
I did also think about getting the tilting one for the same reason as you but i had a horrible thought that it may wobble a lot (as it looks quite top heavy), shift something loose that holds it upright, and suddenly tilt in the middle of the night whilst conching and pour my chocolate everywhere, i am sure that this wouldnt happen, but even so i thought best to stick with the machine that i have used and tested and know that it is capable of running for days without overheating.
James
I don't know if this is too generic for you: http://www.candyusa.com/files/ChocolateSafetyHACCP.pdf
I have issues with any group that promotes itself thusly:
As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies .
Here's more info on their web site and read the full release:
 | AsYouSowRelease |
| AsYouSow-release.pdf, 410KB ∞ |
-- edited to add link to web site --
I'm going to call BS. They tested 3 batches (no details on the statistical rigor or methodology), and picked a small company that's owned by Warren Buffet. I'm not sure i trust that their motives are pure as the winter snow.
And there's not that technology. What will happen, if they persist with this line of consideration, is that major manufacturers will simply not ship to the state of California. It's happened before.
Your roast step will be your micro kill step. Validate it. At the last step prior to depositing into moulds/enrobing, that will be your final opportunity to place a magnet / screen out foreign objects. After packaging, you could metal detect. Depends on how thorough you want/need to be.
Remember to pay close attention to the potential for re-contamination of micro clean areas via physically transport of microbes from dirty areas, or via air handling systems. Also if your equipment is water jacketed or gets a water wash down, you'll want to consider the potential for leaks to emerge and/or incomplete drying leading to microbial growth areas.
You have to create a HACCP plan for a small chocolate business? Is that typical in the UK? Ouch.
Anyway…I was actually looking into this myself for another reason, and I found this info. It's from the Canadian government's food safety site. It might be overkill, but at least it's for chocolate: Generic Choc HACCP Model
Thought i would check back into see if any conversation had started... however nothing!
There must be some Kinder Surprise Collectors out there?!
I got the Pawkit on Craigs list. Kerry Beal found it for me. Decagon also sells refurbished units. You want a State university for cheap testing. The .02 isn't much of an issue. I want my ganaches well below the .85. I like them in the low 70's. I get 2-3 months, no mold, but flavor fades.
The other day, I was opening a peer's chocolate bar to sample it, and as I unwrapped the foil I found myself looking at the back of the bar (which was full of bubbles and swirls). I had an "AH HA!" moment and went over to my secret chocolate stash of other bars, and pulled all of them out.
Every single bar (including my own) were wrapped wrong! EVERY SINGLE BAR of the 75 I EXAMINEDWAS OPENED TO EXPOSE THE BACK OF THE BAR FIRST!
HOW SILLY!!!
As chocolatiers, we go through all kinds of trouble molding our bars into pretty shapes and designs, only to have our customers inevitably open them up and look at the back - the one place where there is NO pretty shape or design!
EVERYBODY HAS BEEN WRAPPING THEIR BARS WRONG!!!
The only time I've ever seen someone open the entire bar (people usually only tear open the very end to break off a piece), is when the bar is being evaluated or photographed, and in those cases it doesn't matter which way they're wrapped because the whole wrapper is coming off anyway.
As of now, I've directed my team to start wrapping our bars so that when that little corner is torn open,they see the design first!
Opinions?
James - Do you have the 2ltr grinder that tilts? I've been wondering about this unit for a while now; for obvious reasons I really like the tilt feature, but I have been concerned that it might not hold up to long use like the 1.5ltr unit does. In the photos of it I've seen, I don't see any vent-holes for the motor like the 1.5ltr unit has. As I said above, I'm going to be gettin several more of these soon, so if you're using the 2ltr with tilt and they're working well for you I'd love to know. Thanks!
Weird, I just checked my link to the book preview and the recipe pages weren't available. When I found the preview, I'd done a specific google search on this subject, including his name and possibly invert sugar. I don't remember. It gave me a different preview. Blocked in different places. I got perhaps a dozen recipes from it. I don't know how Google preview works, but that link I gave is unlikely to be of use to others for finding recipes with aW. If you try my approach I just mentioned here, it might work.
Please note, I am in no way trying to help people get copyrighted material they shouldn't have. Previews are given to entice people to buy the book. I certainly hope Mr. Wybauw sells more books through this strategy. He'll probably end up selling book 2 to me because of it.
Sorry Clay, of course. I am involved in a fishing forum that prohibits linking to outside sites, and I guess it has become habit to avoid it. I'm also glad you asked because I made a mistake in the holding temperature I mentioned. It is around 70f not 72f.
I found it on Wikipedia. I then managed to track it elsewhere but can't remember the link. I think it was from a google books preview.
You will find the formula in section 1 right after the introduction. Abbreviated as MFSL =
I will also share that I found the Wybauw recipes here:
Wybauw Fine Chocolates Preview
Although many pages are left out, there were enough samples to be helpful.
There is no preview for his second book in the series that focuses on Ganache. We'd buy it if it were similar to this. We haven't bought book 3 on shelf life because it is so sorbitol dependent. We received book 4 as a gift, and while it is interesting, it is also heavily reliant on ingredients we don't think we want on our labels.
If anybody has a copy of Wybauw 2 Ganache and wants to share how helpful the recipes are likely to be for us (water activity given, limited use of sugar alcohols) we'd love to hear your feedback. We'd purchase it if it fit.
Thanks,
M
Care to share the link so that others can work with it as well?
Non-profit As You Sow notified the three firms after testing showed that traces of lead and cadmium in some of the companies' products, including ones from the Scharffen Berger (Hershey), Dove (Mars) and See's (Extra Dark Chocolate).
Allegedly, the products identified contain lead or cadmium above the single-serving safe harbor level for reproductive harm (or maximum daily allowable dose, MADL) and must be labeled as according to guidelines set forth in California's Prop 65. The article goes on to state specifically that the lead and cadmium are naturally-occuring and are not added during manufacturing processes.
As You Sow also notified more than a dozen other companies for allegedly failing to label heavy metal content properly, including Godiva, Ghirardelli, Lindt, Lake Champlain, Moonstruck, Theo, Trader Joe's Whole Foods, and Vosges.
What the suit fails to recognize is that many of the companies they are do not actually manufacture chocolate.
As You Sow asks that "manufacturers remove the heavy metals from their chocolate products altogether." Is there even technology that can do that?
Read the full article in ConfectioneryNews.com.
Hershey follows suit with a "simple ingredients pledge" and raises the bar (pun intended) just days after Nestlé's announcement.
Pledges to stop using artificial vanilla flavoring (vanillin), emulsifier PGPR, and HFCS; go non-GMO, gluten-free, and source milk freem from rBST in their milk chocolate and Kisses - in the US - by the end of 2015.
Source: ConfectioneryNews.com
Thanks Ruth and Clay! The software looks interesting. My fiancee used similar software at a wholesale gelato place she worked, and it was very helpful in recipe development. Probably more than we need right now, but worth knowing about. We've been looking at invert sugar (she is very familiar with it from her work) and I found some Wybauw recipes online that use it without sorbitol. Those have aW values, and give us a starting point.
We'd snap up a Pawkit at $500 in a second. You got quite the deal Ruth! Other than one seller in Indonesia we've not seen anything in that range. A bit over $2k new and the few sales on the auction site have sold closer to $1000. The .02 accuracy is also a bit of an issue. I found the mold free shelf life estimator calculation online and a few percent in water activity can nearly double shelf life. Even if there is variation batch to batch in that range, it adds to the uncertainty.
I spoke with someone at Rotronic before posting this thread and was under the impression that the .008% meter is around $1500 for the sensor chamber (required) and then you need either the hand held reader (also around that price) or the software as you mention Clay. I didn't think to ask for the software price, but reading about it made it sound quite sophisticated (that's fine) but presumeably expensive. Sensible for a large operation but not for the two of us just starting out. If that meter is $1500 outright, plus the few additional expenses for cups and what have you, it seems like a great deal. At $3000 it seems very fair, but not an easy purchase for us.
Our understanding is that U Mass doesn't do the cheap testing, so we need a commercial lab. We'll need that anyhow with final recipes for the health dept. Perhaps we will just start with one of the Wybauw ganache recipes we found and also one of my fiancee's favorites, pay for the tests, and develop from there.
The biggest discovery in this process so far is the very short estimated shelf life of ganache right at that .85 threshold. Eleven days at 72 degrees. Not that we'd store that high. And I know sanitation, technique, packagaing and storage play huge roles in shelf life. When your business model is primarily wholesale, even if only local, a few points in aW really matter. The "three weeks" you usually hear for cream based ganaches seems optimistic, unless the enrobing greatly slows mold growth.
Anyhow, thanks for all the help.
M
Hi,
So from initially experimenting, to it being a hobby and now amazingly to hopefully starting a small bean to bar chocolate business, i now need to be food hygiene certified in able to sell to the public. The last thing i need to do is a HACCP for it. The standard template ones are not really relevant to making chocolate from the bean, so am going to have to create my own. Does anyone have an example of a HACCP that they have used for their food safety paperwork, that i could perhaps see to help me create my own one? as i have not had to do a HACCP since food tech at school!
thanks,
James
