may I know your blog site please?

Let me know when you make them, i'll be a customer 8-)

the standard nozzle from most printers will print PETG. The temps are lower than that of ABS, and the only restriction to printing ABS based on printer is a lack of heated bed. 

Polycarbonate, in contrast, requires an upgraded hotend to allow for 300C+ temps. The e3d v6 all metal hotends are capable of this, and ship with a proper thermistor that will accurately read higher than 300C.

Most other non-upgraded hotends are limited to the thermistor's capabilities. A cheap i3 clone kit can easly do 260-270C.

Some kits to look at to get started with tinkering; Anet A8 and Prussa i3 Mk2.  The A8 is a clone kit built in China, can usually find it around $170-$200 USD Sometimes cheaper.  Prusa i3 is the original designer and uses higher quality parts and provides a warranty as well as support but sells for $699. The A8 can be upgraded bit by bit to be better, such as having an e3d v6 hotend.

If you're more adventurous, you can try and build a clone yourself. A video guide of doing just that is located here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVWLpvekby0&t=42s

There's 6 parts to the series, and the build videos avg about 2-3 hours each.

Hi there,

We are in the process of selling a number of different items that could prove quite useful in the production of bean to bar chocolate. All items are in great shape about 1-2 years old and have been used very lightly if at all. Please email us at info@starchildchocolate.com with interest. Thanks kindly.

1- $18k Antique J.M. Lehman stone grinder

1- $12k Kent three roll mill with 9"x24" rolls

1- $16k - FBM Unica Continuous Tempering Machine with full craft chocolate upgrade and depositing head 

1- $10k - FBM Kleego Conch and Melting machine. Set up to run on 110 power.

1- $3k - Santha 40kg grinder

1- $1200 Old tyme peanut butter grinder - pre grinder 

1- $500 Moldart Melter 6 kg used once

1- $600 Vibe - vibrating table

1- $3k - Moffat Turbo Fan convection oven 

1- $2800 - True three door worktop fridge with modified thermostat for cooling chocolate 

Pastry racks and trays -

1- $80 tall rack

1- $50 small Rack

20- $5 each = $100 sheet pans

12- $10 each = $120 perforated sheet pan

4- $8 Full size hotel pans 4” deep $32

4- $5 Half size hotel pans 4” deep $20

2- $50 new boxes of pan liners

Cambro buckets - 

4- $10 Big   $40

4- $8 Small $32

2- $15 Plastic dish racks

1- $100 Dehumidifier

1- $200 Neon purple open sign 

1- $500 Pos hardware. Cash box, Printer, iPod stand, Credit card swiper.  We ran shop keep

1- $140 Micrometer

9- $500 1.5” thick comfort foam mats- 4- 3’x5’ perforated 3- 3’x5’ solid / 1solid 1 perforated 2’x3’

1- $50 Freezer paper dispenser/cutter with a roll of paper

1- $500 Custom Stainless bean cleaning table

1- $800 Champion juicer with custom bean cracker attachment to go on winnowing machine similar to chocolate alchemy’s

1- $40 Escali hanging scale

1- $70 Escali counter top scale

Good reporting @plainstopeakschocolate.  

What kind of printers are currently being tinkered with? We were gonna build a kit but then I wasn't sure if we needed a specific kind when it came to PETG since the nozzle temps need to be higher..

Hello! I do all my cocoa butter painting and such by hand (waiting for sales to allow me to purchase a beginning airbrushing set up). I know the rules about what types of brushes to use for food safety, but I'm having issues with getting brushes that won't have the paint peel off the handles after a couple washings. (I hand wash everything in my kitchen.) 

Does anyone have recommendations for decent quality brushes that have plastic or better quality wooden handles, that can handle being washed well, without shedding and peeling? 

***********

Second question: Is anyone working with TruColor products? Particularly the new liquid "effects" paints for chocolate? I need to brainstorm some issues I'm having with it.

Thanks in advance!

Isn't that amazing! I had no less than 4 of my customers send me the link to this video and ask when I was going to make one. Lol! It will be my project recipe for next Easter - creating smaller versions of this to sell. Can you imagine how much fun it would be for kids to open up?!?

Thanks for sharing this recipe, and for posting the link. I'm currently looking for some great chocolate recipe ideas lately... :D

Wow! wanna try this one soon, sounds sweet!!!! thanks.. <3

I want some recipes of fruity panama beans please. Anyone has?

Wow! thank you so much for sharing your recipe, this sounds delicious. <3 Might try this soon

Its okay,  I love caramel recipes anyways..

This article is so good, never heard of these things bout chocolates. Please post more about this!!! :D

I've not had any trouble with spices like ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg etc seeping into the granite and transferring flavour. I've never tried chillies though.

http://www.thisisinsider.com/baking-students-create-spectacular-chocolate-geodes-2017-3

I don't often post things of this nature, but this is just too cool to pass up.  Fantastic imagination and technical work!

I'd make your chocolate base, then transfer it to a mixer (even a kitchenaid), and do your oil based flavor additions there. Stainless steel is much easier to clean.

Thanks for the responses and thoughts. 

Chae, I have heard about infusing cocoa butter and adding. As this is specifically for drinking chocolate I'd rather not add any more cb. I'm making (at least) 72% chocolate so I'm happy with the amount of cb in there.

Lyndon, there are so many possibilities for additions!... I'm also tempted to just throw some unique and delicious things in the grinder.

Alas, I fear Sebastian is probably right that the stones will absorb some of these flavors/oils. Especially, the stronger ones (i.e., chiles and florals). I wonder if I can't get the result I want by first grinding (in a dry grinder) any additions and then adding to my chocolate at the end of its grind and let the two combine for a while in a separate mixer just with paddles... thereby furthering the conching process, as well.

Please send me information, photos and prices asked.  Thank you

Flavor contamination of your equipment is definitely going to be a challenge.  I'd consider dedicating equipment for that to avoid flavor transfer to your chocolates that you don't want to be flavored.

I grind all sorts of spices into my chocolate, tea leaves/ coffee beans too! I usually add them first with just a little cocoa beans or other oil to efficiently grind them, then some time later I'll add the rest of the cocoa beans or other ingredients

Hi there,

 We are selling our Three roll mill. It is a kent with 9" x 24" rolls. It is a great deal on a big three roll. Asking 13k

Please email us at info@starchildchocolate.com with interest, thanks.

Most herbs and spices contain essential oils, which are soluble in fat. An option you might want to look into is infusing cocoa butter with the ingredients, then adding them into the melanger as its grinding. I remember in Elements of Desserts, Miyago made saffron-infused couverture this way.

It looks as though we are selling our Antique Lehman. This is a very unique grinder. Because of the change in production process it looks as though we will no longer be able to use it. Its such a beautiful machine though that we feel someone should!

$18,000

If interested please email us at info@starchildchocolate.com Thanks.

 IMG_6760.jpg - 1.8MB

Are these available? Please feel free to send an email to katie@soulroasters.com

I am interested in learning more about your selmi equipment too, if available. Feel free to send info / photos / pricing to katie@soulroasters.com

Kindly send me details at sehgalbalpreet@gmail.com

We created a similar process. We designed our bars using Adobe Illustrator and created 3D models using Sketchup . We printed the bar "positives" using a budget 3D printer set to its finest resolution settings.

We bought some plans online to build a vacuum form machine. The plans were great and offered many options for customization.

Once we got the machine up and running we had to source some plastic. We purchased some PETG and Polycarbonate. The polycarbonate would be great but have found that it requires much too high of temps (like @timwilde mentioned) and melts our 3D printed molds after a single pull.

PETG is working great for now. It creates very detailed molds that have stood up well.

I've attached some pics of the process as well as an image of the final bars. Note that these pics were from pretty early on in the process. Since then we added a frame for rigidity and reprinted the "positives" a few times as we tweaked the design.

Would love to hear any feedback or answer any questions as we have learned so much from this great community.

 17620204_278975365886278_6814438186447202844_o.jpg - 210KB

First there are a few forms that caramel will come in.  The most common is the individual blocks wrapped in cellophane.  Whereas these are the most economical ($1.98 for 14 ounces) they are also the most time consuming to use.  It takes time to unwrap each block and then of course, you can’t help but eat a few of them as you unwrap them – that’s just a given in my kitchen and should be in yours too.   Since they are larger blocks of caramel, they also take a little longer to melt.  So if you are more cost conscious than time conscious , these are the ideal caramels for you.  You can find these in the candy aisle.

Then there are the caramel bits – little balls of caramel.  These have been around for about 5 years but up until about a year or two ago, they could only be found in the stores during the holidays.  Now they are a constant on the shelf.   The bits are easy to measure out and use just what you need.   Of course, when I use them, I still sneak a few – just another given.  The caramel bits cost more ($2.98 for 9 ounces) but will save you lots of time by not having to unwrap them as well as less melting time.  So if you are more time conscious than cost conscious , these are for you.  The caramel bits can be found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.  flagen.se

I apologize if this has been specifically addressed... I looked for posts.

I'm wondering what issues I might deal with if I add some dried herbs or spices or chiles to the melanger while grinding my liquor? My final product will be drinking chocolate so texture is not really an issue since I will not be tempering. My goal is to create, on a larger scale, infused chocolate without having to infuse the milk every time I want to make a flavored drinking chocolate. (e.g., a lavender infused drinking chocolate without the step of milk infusion or adding crushed lavender). 

Any reason to think such spices would become infused in the stones in my grinder? (That wouldn't be so nice.)

Many thanks,

David

Manufactured in 2016

Sold because we have upgraded our equipment

Should you be interested, please get in touch

 IMG_5417.JPG.jpg - 2KB

Hi Clay

Thanks for the response. I have placed my order already. Sorry for the ignorance but what is the Jean-Marie Auboine school and where is it situated? Im based in South Africa but would consider travelling if its worth it. Thanka again

Yeah - those huge honking pieces they sell at various places are not my idea of a 'proper' truffle. Lazy man's truffle - got tired of scooping and rolling so made them bigger!

Ahh, so they are a sub-category of Bon Bons. That's a helpful way to think of it. Tho, the ones they are selling can be cut into quarters easily! They're cake pop sized. 

Thanks for the input.

I've never completely convinced myself that I clearly know what a truffle is vs a bonbon. I tend to think of the little (and I do mean little) one bite ganaches shaped like the thing that pigs dig up in France - to be a truffle. A cut piece made from ganache might also qualify. And when I pipe a ganache into a shell - I might call it a truffle filling. 

To me various chocolate items count as bonbons - truffles, molded chocolates, enrobed chocolates...

Hi! I have a tiny chocolate company in S.E. Wisconsin - something of a social venture project. Sweet Impact Chocolates is in it's 4th year, but I only started doing full-fledged chocolates in the summer of last year. I'm focused on all-natural products, using ethically-sourced chocolate and then 10% of my sales goes to NGO's that help trafficked kids and education for girls/young women. I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that to spare you all 

Among many other things I'll be running to this forum for, I have a fundamental question for you all. Honestly, I hadn't needed to address it until a florist approached me about carrying my chocolates in her shop. 

What differentiates a "truffle" from a "bon bon?"  My understanding was that a shell, with truffle filling, no matter the shape, could be called a truffle. But, based on what lines they already carry, a truffle needs to be enormous and a ball, and dipped. They carry a product that, honestly, after taking the class I did from Ecole Chocolat, offends my food snob sensibilities. It's 1.5 ounces and has so much artificial junk in it, including the coating not actually being chocolate, that I was stunned. She wanted to know if I could do anything like it. Which I can, but if I'm going to put my name on it, it won't be that sort of product. Trouble is, she only pays 1.42 for each one, and has a 3-6 month shelf life. Color me gob-smacked!

So, are there any technical rules about what makes a truffle?

Thanks in advance and I'm so happy to have found this forum!

-Kristi

Clay, Thanks very much for the link to Compatible Technologies International. We live in northern Minnesota, and they are in Saint Paul, so we drove to their headquarters last Wednesday to test their Ewing Grinder with Don Jacobsen, one of the founders. We ground about a pound of Venezuela roasted nibs (had to go to Target to get a hair dryer to heat the burr grinders and shaft first, and heated the nibs in the microwave, and after that, the grinder turned the nibs into a powder (probably because it was not completely heated, but a very fine powder) that we later added to our Premier Grinder. It worked great! We will purchase the machine and adapt it with a motor, but we are confident it's going to do a great job and save us a lot of time and energy. Will post more, with photos, when we get the machine. You can find out more on their web site. CTI is a wonderful company! 

HAHA,

        Brad, I am with you on the eating chocolate for the health benefits a one part joke and one part a marketing ploy by the industry to sell more of it. Lol. I get people walking into my store and asking me for healthy chocolate all the time, I used waste my breath and try to explain the " fat and sugar" issue, but now I just tell them to go to their local supermarket and buy cocoa powder. I suppose that if the choice is between eating a supermarket pumpkin, pecan of apple pie, or a chocolate bar, the  chocolate bar is in theory a healthier alternative.

Haha!  Gretahass that was funny.  General statements about flavanols and UV protection...  Maybe I should just spread dark chocolate on my skin instead of SPF15.

How about we look at FACTS - such as the one that says dark chocolate (say 70%) is approximately 65% fat and sugar.  I challenge ANYONE to name one health food that is 65% fat and sugar and call it a health food with a straight face.

Chocolate is CANDY whether it's dark candy, milk candy, or white candy.

You want healthy food?  Eat a salad.

That is true. I'm not sure what I was talking about.    Maybe I just saw 50%, not 40-50%...