Forum Activity for @Jonathan Harrison

Cameroon and Turkey.

Origins?

Grada A Raw Cocoa Beans for sale.We have a supply ability of 1000mt per year and we have good references.

i am a cocoa farmer from east africa, and i am able to supply any quantity of cocoa bean requested Contact me soonest if interested lopezmariam3@gmail.com

While looking for equipments,We kindly wish to be your regular suppliers of COCOA. We want you to come to our factory and place your demands. We are genuine and honest dealers in the Cocoa market. Our prices are affordable and negotiable.

I recently joined this family, as i am planning to start small chocolate business, before going commercial, and i found a company called cocoatown, a manufacturer of small scale equipment, as a new entrant into the industry, i want to know if any body has been using their equipment, and how effective and efficiency

I bought some quality beans from a local farmer, in Honduras. These same beans are used to make a 70% dark chocolate in the USA, which sells for $45/lb from a company I probably should not mention for fear of copyright issues.

Anyway, this is how the chocolate is described on the web site I am referring to:

"Intriguing bursts of citrus, molasses, sharp stonefruit, and woodiness. Slightly tannic with vibrant pops of flavor and a drying finish."

What we are tasting is both fruity and sour. This is for a batch of beans roasted to 130 Celsius (266F). If we roast higher than that, we get more bitter. I do not have the benefit of tasting the chocolate sold by the other shop. I am wondering if 130C is too high? What might the sour taste come from, unless it is supposed to be that way?

We ran a taste test with 12 people last week. One of them preferred the 130C over the higher roasts, while the others preferred the higher roasts. However, as a control group, we also put some milk chocolate into the sample. Everyone preferred the milk chocolate except for the one who preferred the 130C dark. Makes me think that those who prefer dark, would like a lighter roast.

Howdy, chocophiles!

Meadowlands Chocolate's Kickstarter Project has exceeded its goal and we have six days to go! We'll be able to buy our first order of beans in bulk in four origins, plus four new machines, a 10-lb capacity temperer, and more. We'd love to go beyond the goal so we can purchase more equipment and supplies, like more stainless steel tables and storage shelves for our tiny kitchen. The chocolate rewards include all four of our original origins, and Madagascar origin if we go over $10,000.

I found a great quote about craft chocolate and wanted to share it here:

"There is a growing movement, led by chocolate makers (typically small companies at this point), that forges direct relationships with cacao farmers and cooperatives in order to secure fine cacao for their flavorful chocolate. Direct trade supports farmers--to the tune of many TIMES the commodity price--so that farmers may support the beautiful chocolate made from their beans. This is the way to go.

Support craft chocolate--it's helping to preserve cacao, farmers' livelihoods, the rainforest, and your health. I promise it's the tastiest ethical choice you'll ever make." - Bar Cacao

Link to article by Kelsey Timmerman (source for Bar Cacao comment)

Link to our Kickstarter Project

Thank you!

Beryl and Clyo, craft chocolate makers

Meadowlands Chocolate

Note that when i mention consistency, i'm referring to wildly different each and every time; not so much exactly the same each time (which is almost impossible). It has less to do with size (remember that even the largest chocolate companies in the world rely on, by and large, individual farmers fermenting, which by definition is small scale). Small fermentations will vary considerably in moisture, fat, flavor, etc profiles i'm afraid.

look forward to hearing how it goes.

Thank you Sebastian,

I can't believe you take so much time and effort to help we the ignorant. I think you nailed it when you said: "i've seen instances where repeatability and consistently simply don't matter for local usage".

I think we'll try to make an excellent product but probably will not try for ultra consistency. In my years in the Specialty Coffee business, I shunned "consistency" speaking that it retarded perfection. If you CAN make a better coffee, don't beat it up by trying to be "consistent".

I'm way too old to bethinking about being "Big". Just want to make a nice product and have fun.

I, ever so greatly appreciate your; "over the top" help in trying to make some nice chocolate in a small way. I hope not to get big!!

I'll try to let you know how the fermentation goes.

Kindly, Jim

Hi Jim - i've actually written many of the manuals on cocoa fermentation, and while i may or may not be familiar with the specific one you're referencing, i will say that - generally speaking - the ministry of agriculture and rural development in Vietnam simply doesn't possess the technical acumen or depth of expertise when it comes to cocoa processing. They're improving, and i've worked there for many years to help them along. but they're not there yet.

generally speaking, small fermentations are not consistent or repeatable. They are difficult to scale. yes, i know people do it - but that does not mean they do so repeatably nor consistently. in almost every instance where someone swears they have a small repeatable and consistent fermentation, they have no frame of reference against which to compare a truly consistent and repeatable fermentation against (i.e. they *think* it works because it's the only thing they know). and heck, perhaps it actually does work for whatever local use they're pursuing - i've seen instances where repeatability and consistently simply don't matter for local usage.

In Hawaii, Dole has a plantation (mike conway manages it), where smaller fermentations were developed under the assistance of Guittard. they ferment in wood containers a few hundred lbs at a time, with drainage, just under a week.

Recently there has been a bit of patent activity (and will be more to come) on micro fermentations (very small mass fermentations) that are consistent and repeatable, as there's huge scale advantage should that be successful. we're quickly closing those technical hurdles, but to date they require some laboratory equipment to facilitate them, and certainly aren't viable in the field.

With small amounts, I remove about half of the 'mass' by pouring into an empty bucket. The 'mass' left in the box is placed in another.

The 1st portion is now replaced and the second placed on top.

Similar to cascading into another box.

I have used this many times with very small amounts, especially for experimenting with single varieties.

Hello Sebastian,

Sorry, I meant 12x12x12 which has a volume of 7.5 gallons. My current box is approx 16x20x8 which is about 11 gallons and was only about three inches filled (4 gallons). I wonder if anyone has a copy of the Vietnam manual for cacao preparation, they had all the measurements but it is off line now???

Hello Melonie,

Do you have any specifics on how you go about the fermenting process in small batches?? Do you use boxes or another method? Thank you for your help.

Here in Hawaii we often have small ferments

12" cubed? that'll only give you 2-3kg (ish) of beans. You're going the wrong direction i'm afraid.

Thank you both for your help. I'll try a 12 inch cube and see how it works next time. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Kindly

I do not believe that at that box size and fill level, you will achieve steady state. your surface area to internal mass ratio is just too high, and it won't be able to retain the heat it's generating. it can be very difficult to extrapolate very small bean fermentations (which are tough to do) to larger sizes - it doesn't scale linearly (i.e. if you get results your happy with at a 15kg bean mass in a little box - fermenting 300kg in a big box isn't likely to give you similar results)

Hello Cameron. In Trinidad and Tobago we ferment in 3' cubed boxes 3' High x3' wide x 3' high. We stack boxes 3 high in a 'cascade' system.

Although you may have a 'critical mass', [just the minimum to begin fermentation], the 'mass' needs to be stacked a little higher. At about 24'' [twenty four inches]. Maybe you can build a smaller box for smaller amounts.

A box with 'holes' may not suffice the 'runoff' of water etc. Try for 1 inch slats at a 1/4 inch spacing.

Fermenting for us takes place over 7 days, 1 day in box one, three in box two and three.

Take a look at Tobago Cocoa Farmers Association on facebook, I think there are pictures of us building boxes on the wall.

Good luck.

Thank you Sebastian: I am at sea level 8.5 degrees off the equator. I am trying to do a six day fermentation of freshly removed from the pod beans getting their temp to the 45 - 60 degrees C at about the forth day. I remember the boxes in the missing article were smaller and deeper than the one I made. I am also only doing smaller batches (15 Kilos or so) at least while I experiment and get started. I am looking to produce a dark chocolate and make it into 1 oz bars. This is the plan but I am light on my feet with all of it. My current box is about 16 X 20 X 8 there is about 3 - 4 inches of the beans in the bottom. Again, thank you for your help.

Again, thank you

There is no 'right' answer. it all depends on what it is you're trying to accomplish, what profile you're after. personally, i do no advocate field fermentations < 150kg if you're looking for consistency. Mine were often 300-600kg. Where are you fermenting, dak lak? if you're up at that elevation, your challenges will be compounded by how cool it gets at night..

OK, I am a newby FNG you might say. I am almost done fermenting my first approximately 15 kilos of beans. They did not reach the 45 degrees C suggested (Highest temp so far 34.6 degrees C). I just whipped up a fermentation box with holes in the bottom, banana leaves perf on bottom and on all sides. I had a web sight with the correct size to make the fermentation boxes (a manual from Viet Nam on cocoa processing) but it is off the internet now. Does anyone know the correct size to make boxes for fermentation? I think for 25 kilos would be what I need....or less.

I'm having a problem with the cutting blade on my Champion, and I am wondering if anyone else who uses a Champion has seen this. After my last batch of nibs, I noticed that the base of the cutter was dark and frayed (see attached image). I only put about 4-5 batches of nibs through before this happened. I was going to just cut the frayed ends off, but I'm concerned that new ones would form and maybe even get into the chocolate. So to be on the safe side I just ordered a new cutter. But at $35 a pop, I obviously don't want to do this very often.

Any ideas as to why this happened? Improper usage? Bad cutter?

I have tried to be very careful about not pushing the tamper too hard, because I've noticed that the feed tube (and in fact the entire unit) gets really hot after only a few pounds of nibs. But it's also been my experience that you have to push the tamper down at least a little or the nibs will sometimes just sit at the bottom of the tube and not feed through. Any feedback would be appreciated!

Not a whole lot of info to go on, but assuming you're using real chocolate and not adding any funky fats/oil, i'd suspect whatever cooling setup you used was too cold, resulting in the ends cooling quickly and before the middle did. when things cool, they contract, thus if your ends begin contracting before your middle - you get curvature. simply a guess.

Hello,

I recently finished a batch of white chocolate which I finished and hand tempered, then molded in combination with cocoa nibs and a couple other flavors. Some of the bars came out warped lengthways. These are small 40g bars. Any thoughts on why this occurred and how to avoid it?

Hello There,

I am Aditi from India. I've recently been interested in the art of chocolate making , with absolutely no hands on experience, and wanted to start off with building my skills before I convert it into a career option. I came across this online Professional chocolatier program offered by Ecole Chocolat and though I am almost convinced this could be the program I was looking for I still have certain doubts with respect to the course. Can anybody with experience and knowledge of this course kindly give me some insights about this course like whether lectures are purely video based or if live lectures are given. Also, what kind of challenges can one face while doing this course in terms of storage and quality maintenance with India being a hot country? I would much appreciate if any small information could be provided. Thanx a ton!!

Not so much polyphenols in the shell, there's a ton of fiber, and a good bit of theobromine. I know BC's process quite well. While it's better in principle than chewing up broken mercury thermometers, it was never commercially viable and - while i'm not as close to that as i used to be- i'm pretty sure it's no longer being pursued by them. Natra tried a whole bean powder - but again for the same safety reasons, it never became commercially viable. And while you're trying to forget about the heavy metals, try to forget about the aflatoxins as well (there's only 4 of them, so it's not so bad...). For giggles sometime, go into a dark room and shine a blacklight onto your cocoa shells to see how much fluorescence you get..

Yeah, we have a funny aversion to kidney failure and heavy metal poisoning. Odd collection of birds we have here.

By shell, I think you mean the husk of the cacao nib, and not the outside of the pod.

My understanding is that cocoa husk concentrates a bunch of the stuff you don't want in chocolate, including lead from the environment.

Apparently the husk also have high concentrations of the various polyphenols that are proposed to provide the health benefits of chocolate. The shell also quite high in fiber.

Barry-Callebaut has a process where they extensively wash and sterilize the husk to provide cacao based fiber.

Several 'brewing cocoa' products are out there; they are essentially ground nib with the husk left in; I've tried this brewed like coffee and rather like it. I try not to think too much about heavy metals content

-Jon

Thanks Sebastian. I guess people on The Chocolate Life aren't into cocoa shell infusions either.

It's probably the last thing you want to do. Shells are where most of the mycotoxins, aflatoxins, lead, salmonella, and bad things (tm) collect on the bean. highly discouraged.

I recently read a bit about cocoa shell infusions and I was wondering if anyone on this forum had any experience or comments about this? I've heard about local breweries and chocolate makers teaming up to make beer with the cocoa shells and now I have read about drinks made from infusing the cocoa shells in milk, etc. After picking through bags of cocoa beans and finding all sorts of stuff (hair, etc.) I can't imagine wanting to drink an infusion made of the shells. Will someone enlighten me?

There is a link circulating to a video that purports to show cacao farmers in Ivory Coast eating chocolate for the first time. A sad comment on the cacao and chocolate industry as who would ever think a wheat farmer could not afford bread?

Here is a insightful article written by someone whose boots are on the ground:

http://qz.com/244185

Hello Samson, i am also new in this platform, planning to start small scale chocolate making business in my country due to abundance of cocoa beans and the forth world largest producer and I guest, you needed a sources of supply that is cheap and will enhance your profitability, if you needs cocoa beans from Nigeria, you can message me. thanks

Hi Samson, I think you have been directed to the best suppliers out there. I also want to use this opportunity to alert you of our company. Cocoa Beans Ltd was created in 2009 and we have been the leading supplier of Cocoa in our local community and battling to the best exporters in Cameroon. Contact me at larryheight189@gmail.com for more information regarding our products and affordable prices.

Ok, message me, please.

Thanks!

I guess we won't know until we try, I can look into it, and get back to you.

Thanks Piper.