asterix2k10:
If you are looking to source from South America (Ecuador particularly) you should be at least as interested in the level of cadmium as lead. Cadmium is often found in volcanic soils.
I had that feeling too. Any ideas for a better source?
Anyone know anything about where the chocolate comes from that is used in these products? These two are the only chocolates I eat right now.
http://www.righteouslyrawchocolate.com
http://shop.organicnectars.com/14-oz-85-Raw-Cacao-Chocolate-Bar-851706001316.htm
I have tried to contact them to inquire about their sources but have not heard back.
It's just marketing mumbo-jumbo; nothing of any substance there.
Whether dark chocolate bars or chocolate butter and powder, I'm looking for a good source for high quality organic chocolate from South America that is lead-free.
Maybe "raw" chocolate as well.
I have been looking at this site. Anyone know anything about it?
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/chocolate/
Any tips? Thanks!
Thank you Jeff!
I've followed the chocolate apprentice and have looked into Ecole Chocolat, but it has been awhile.
I hadn't heard about that class, but it is right up my alley. Especially how they reference "Science" several times in their course description.
I'll be in that one.
This brings up the thought of taking a food manufacturing course at a local college/university. I hadn't ever considered that. Thank you!
Larry
Larry,
Do you know about this class offered by Ecole Chocolat?
http://www.ecolechocolat.com/chocolate-quality.php
I'm planning to take it!
Hope this helps,
Jeff
I've been researching how to extend shelf life and have found lots of information on water activity and spoilage inhibition. However I have not been able to find anything on how muchShrink Wrapping a box of chocolates will increase shelf life. I bought Wybauw's third book,Fine Chocolates 3, Great Experience: Extending Shelf Life,and have learned about ingredients, water activity, and so forth butlittle mention is made of shrink wrapping.We make cream fondantcenters and drying out is my primary problem.
We don't have a storefront yet and are preparing for a big Christmas gift show to be held on Nov. 15-17. The ideal scenario would be for customers to buy them within a few days of consumption, but I'm working with what I have and reality is that many people who buy chocolates at the November show will do so with the intent of using the chocolates as Christmas gifts.
That said, we've been able to get a general 30 days out of boxed chocolates at cool/normal room temperatures before the centers have dried and become less desirable.
I know storage conditions will have a lot to do on the shelf life & evaporation and I am trying to find a waytoconfidentlyget a few more weeks of shelf life while maintaining the creaminess of the chocolate.
Does anyone have some information on how much shelf life can be increased by shrink wrapping or flow wrapping chocolates?
Thanks!
Larry
Photos would be a big help. I would also like to see the "separated" chocolate too if you can.
Cheers
Brad
Hi Sebastion,
the milk powder is whole milk powder from medallion - here is the link:
http://www.medallionmilk.com/foodWholeMilk.php
I've started another batch today and I'm going to use the same ratios and if the same thing happens I will take a photo and post it so you can see what we mean.
thanks for your help:)
Milk fat is a fat, so it requires no emulsification with cocoa butter. Emulsification means getting water and oil to mix, essentially. if you melt cocoa butter and add in melted milk at, and stir, you'll not be able to see any separation. Is your milk fat that you're adding ANHYDROUS milk fat, or butter from the store? Butter from the store has up to 20% water emulsified into it. You need to be certain, if you're adding milk fat as a stand alone ingredient, that it's anhydrous milk fat (ghee is another name for it in some ethnic circles). Butter from the store will not work.
Thanks Brad - our dark has turned out beautifully every time and the only thing we did differently in the process was to add the whole milk powder (dry) once the nibs were at the paste stage. So we thought it must be the fat in the milk not emulsifying with the cacao butter and we started researching how to emulsify milk fat and cacao butter and only found lecithin as a likely candidate.
But - correct me if I'm wrong - what you are saying is that the milk fat will never liquify - so possibly we did not process it long enough - in your experience how long does it take once you add the milk powder?
NOTE: you'll need to ensure you're paste is warm enough to be fluid - ot
Agree with brad. There should be no separation. Your milk powder - if it is whole milk powder - will have a fat content between 26-28.5%. DO NOT RECONSTITUTE IT to make chocolate. Use it dry.
Assuming 54% fat nibs and 28.5% fat milk powder, your recipe = ~35% total fat -which should be fluid enough to pour. If it's not fluid enough for your liking, fluid lecithin at 0.3-0.5% can be added at the end of your grinding - use more and it will get more viscous. If it's still too thick, it's almost always because you've added water somewhere (either intentionally or via ingredients), you've gotten it way, way, way too hot somewhere along the line, or your grinder is a super grinder and you've managed to grind your particles to sub-micron sizes (i guarantee you this is not the problem).
Exactly what nibs, sugar, milk, and lecithin are you using (ie brand names, which country they originated from, or where/who did you purchase them from)?
Hello Shelley! i read your query and want to discus on it. In my opinion you must usecocoa and butter in processor and mix until they form a paste if you don't want to use soya lecithin. this mixture will make your milk chocolate delicious. Best of luck
Something sounds very wrong here. I make about 100lbs of milk chocolate every week and it doesn't "separate" like you say.
At the risk of asking a really stupid sounding question, do you rehydrate the milk (add water to it), or do you use it dry?
There is one thing to remember, and I have said this over and over: Chocolate is NOT an emulsion. It is a SUSPENSION of solid particles in fat. In this particular case, the fat in your powdered milk doesn't count as soluable fat, because it's suspended within the crystals of the milk powder as a solid as well. It will never dissolve. All you can do is grind it smaller and smaller just as you are doing with the nibs and sugar.
If you can feel particles on your tongue, then your chocolate is not refined enough, and that could cause you problems.
Hope that helps.
Brad
I tried 2 different ways - both unsuccessful:
1: 45% nibs, 30% sugar, 20% milk powder, 5% cacao butter (Total fat 32.5%)
2: 39%nibs, 30% sugar, 20%milk powder, 11%cacao butter (Total fat 35.5%)
Our milk powder is whole milk powder - 3.25% butterfat - ( when reconstituted it is 8g of fat per 30g serving =25% fat) we think
We thought it would eventually emulsify if we let it run in the grinder and after 72 hours it seemed almost there but after taking it off it continued to separate. We did a test using an immersion blender to see if we could get it to come together and we tried running it through the tempering machine, but no luck.
That will be one of the most effective emulsifiers you'll be able to use.
How do you know it's not emulsifying?
What is your total % fat of your recipe, and your ingredient list (with their %'s of formulation to be most helpful).
we have tried a few different methods to introduce whole milk powder at different stages of grinding but it doesn't ever completely emulsify - we are trying not to use soya lecithin and know that other bean to bar operations have had success without it - any suggestions??
Everything else inside works. It seems like a shame to get a whole new machine. I guess I could keep this one for parts.
Hi. I'm looking for some advice. I noticed that the frame inside my ACMC is broken at three of the four spots where it screws into the frame. The metal where the screw sits has snapped off from the rest of the frame in all three spots.
It seems to me I will need another machine very soon. Maybe I'm wrong. Has someone else dealt with this?
Greg
I recently tried to make date truffle, consisting of Date, cashew, almonds. The center became too soft and does not harden, probably because the dates were soaked in water for too long and there was still water content after draining the dates. I refrigerated the center but its not hardening. Is this because of the high water content, If so is it possible to remove the water?
TIA
Hi Ben,
Thanks very much, I appreciate all your help.
Best Rob.
Yes, you'll want to make sure that it is well-winnowed. I just winnow and then put the winnowed nib into the melanger.
Hi Ben,
That sounds like a good idea, but would you haveto be very careful in making sure all the 'husks' were removed from the roasted cocoa beans? I have seen the filter on the juicer produces the cocoa mass, but does also filter catchparticles of 'husks' out. Is, this what you have done just transfer the nibs directly into the grinder?
Best Rob.
If the juicer is to pre-grind the nibs before putting them in the melanger, I'd suggest skipping it altogether. You can put nibs directly into the melanger.
Hi Brad,
Thanks very much for the link, much appreciated!
Cheers Rob.
There is a website solely dedicated to making chocolate at home.
Cheers.
Brad
Hi Ben,
Thanks very much for the information on grinders.
Is there any substitute for the ' giant juicer', I see there are many models on e-bay, but all seem to
be USA based with expensive postage?
Kind regards
Robert.
I know that the Premiers work for making chocolate and I'd imagine the Butterfly would, as well. The Butterfly's 3-wheel configuration is pretty interesting as it basically doubles the grinding surface area.
Hi Everybody,
I am interested in making chocolate at home from scratch, from roasting the cocoa bean to the chocolate bar. I live in the United Kingdom. UK, but making chocolate here is not so well supported as in USA.
I think, I have found a source of cocoa beans on
e-bay(cocoaman)UK, and also giant juicer, I think can be purchased via e-bay as well. There seems to be many models, but most are available in the USA, are
there any cheaper alternatives to the giant juicer?
The last thing is the wet/dry grinder to remove any
grittiness from the chocolate. I have found 3, models, but Im not sure if they are suitable, Premier, 1.5 L. wonder stone grinder, Premier, 2.0 L. table top compact stone wet grinder and the Butterfly, Matchless table top wet grinder, 2.0 L?
Also, I am looking for a good book on making Chocolate at home, from scratch, from cocoa beans to chocolate bar? Is there anybody that could help me? Any help, or suggestions would be very much appreciated!
Look at Charm School chocolate
I tried both their vegan white and milk made with coconut and they were good.
I am also in Upstate NY and am looking for a company that makes white chocolate that can be tempered. I am in the process of formulating a vegan full fat milk powder that I am hoping can be used to make a vegan white chocolate that has a comparable taste and texture to traditional white chocolate. Do you know any small batch processors that may be interested in giving it a try?
Thank you, Lagusta, for your response. It's certainly not as easy as I thought it was going to be. The recipe given on the internet was said, on the same website, to be easy and delicious. I suppose that coconut sugar didn't melt because each granule was surrounded with oil and fat although that didn't affect the regular sugar. I wonder why the person compiling the recipe didn't get the same result. And thanks for reminding me about the gelatin, I'd forgotten that. Maybe if I continue with this experiment I will try the agar-agar but right now I am disillusioned. From what I have read on this website it will be a very hard slog to get a good vegan white chocolate. Thanks again.
eileen
Hello Eileen!
We make a version of what you're making that we use for fillings and things. You can't really use it as a "ganache" without adding so much cocoa butter that it tastes terrible, or so much sugar that it's way too sweet, but it works as a thin piped filling. Instead of coconut sugar we use a vegan powdered sugar and whip it all up in the food processor with lots of vanilla. It's nice. I definitely wouldn't use gelatin to the mixture, because that would make it not vegan, but you could experiment with agar-agar, which is a vegan gelatin derived from sea vegetables.
Hi: I did a search on that company on the internet and you were right about contacting them. But the computer wanted me to open an Outlook account for emails and when I wouldn't the notice appeared saying the address was incorrect! Anyway, regardless, I got around it and sent the email off.
Thanks again for your help.
eileen smith
Me again. I tried that email address and was told it was incorrect so it didn't go through. What did I leave out? By the way, thanks for your help.
eileen
Yesterday I tried to make the vegan white chocolate using a recipe I found on the internet and which called for coconut oil, coconut butter and coconut sugar. I first of all melted the cocobutter and then added the oil to it and mixed them thoroughly together. I then added the coconut sugar and that's when it all went down the drain! The coconut sugar would not melt into the mixture, and an hour or so later it still hadn't melded. It just lay there in the bottom of the bowl, and six hours later it still had not changed. I then tried the recipe again using icing sugar this time and I had no problem at all, it came out in a hard block. The problem came when I thought I would use it as a ganache and added some liqueur to some of it, mixed it all together very well, and then put it into the fridge to set. I took it out this morning and tried to scoop some to make a truffle but I found that the mixture had separated, the liqueur was underneath a hard layer of the 'white chocolate' mixture. If I add gelatin to the mixture do you think that would help keep it all together? I also tasted the stuff and it retained no taste at all of anything.
Hello! How nice to meet another vegan organic chocolate company!
And what a bizarre experience with the Callebaut rice milk chocolate, wow. I'll look out for it, even though it sounds rather odd. I'm now working with Cacao Prieto, in Brooklyn, to make us some white chocolate--exciting! I'll follow up when I've tried it.
