Your opinion on mini enrobers!
Posted in: Opinion
Thanks!
Forum Activity for @Pamela
Your opinion on mini enrobers!
Posted in: Opinion
Hi! I love talking about enrobers. Check out the link below. You will see my detailed post about my experience with the Mini enrober by Perfect Equipment. Good luck with your decision
http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/what-s-your-dream-machine
Your opinion on mini enrobers!
Posted in: Opinion
Hi there!We would love your opinion on mini enrobers! We are a small company and we are celebrating our one year anniversary this month! We are currently using two ACMC table top tempering machines. We hand dip all of our chocolates. At this time, we don't make anything with molds. We are ready to make the next step and buy the right machine to help us speed up the process!We are looking to buy a Bakon USA Choco TT with the mini enrober attachment. We plan on buying the Choco TT first and then saving up for the attachment. Has anyone used this enrober? We would love to hear from you! Also, because we only fork dip, would this tempering machine work with fork dipping until we get the attachment?Please do not respond if you are a company selling machines. We would like to hear from chocolatiers!
updated by @Pamela: 05/09/15 15:41:45
New Website
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
It is a basic blog on word press. I did pay the $99 pro bundle and will change the template soon. I will make it user friendly and is currently for informational purposes. I am trying to make everything connectable through both the menu and categories. I do not want the most recent blog to dominate the home page and want to increase the font on the letters in the menu. I am on a quick learning curve right now.
New Website
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
I like it - but have an issue with only being able to scroll the bottom half of the screen.
New Website
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
The Chocolate Life friends. I started a new website and wondered if anyone wanted a peek. It is all but a day old so please be gentle.
lachorenachocolate.com
updated by @Thomas Forbes: 04/10/15 14:55:10
Seeding rev delta or any revolving bowl tempering machine
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I was wondering if, when melting with buttons, users of the Rev Delta, seeded with a block of different chocolate to allow easy removal, when their chocolate only came in button format?
updated by @Jim Braunagel: 04/11/25 09:27:36
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Yes and feel free to contact me. If you have a question, I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.
Andrea
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thanks Andrea for all the tips, it is greatly appreciated.Can I friend you in case I have any more questions? It is nice to talk to someone that is using the same chocolate as I am.
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
OK, if the temperature ranges are working better, then make sure you are stirring a lot. Your chocolate, as a mass, will not cool evenly. Stirring often helps create the type of crystals you want and the stirring will help prevent uneven temperatures throughout the mass(and bloom).When you reheat from your low temperature, make sure to do it slowly. If you go over your target working temperature you'll have to start over. I reheat in the microwave and 50% power in short bursts (6-10 seconds depending on the temperature). As your temperature drops, you can put your bowl back in the microwave and do a short burst again to bring it back into working range. I taught myself to temper and so I know you can figure it out as well.
BTW, I bought a small tempering machine thinking I'd use that once I had learned to temper by hand and I've sold it and temper everything by hand. If I was doing higher volume I might consider another machine, but until I would need something that might temper around 10 pounds at a time I'll just do it by hand. I found the bowls on the smaller tempering machines too small to work with.
Continued good luck!
Andrea
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thanks Andrea! I did have better luck using your method of heating, dropping temp and reheating but it still had bloom, just not as bad. I tried this method to see if there would be a major difference and there definitely was. The chocolate tasted chalky and was light on the inside of the bar. As I said, I am new to this and am trying to figure it out by reading and experimenting. I do not currently have a machine (am looking into a few different ones) but I thought I should know how to temper by hand anyway. I figure it is important to know how to do it by hand as well just in case you get in a bind in the future. Thank you for the temperatures, I will give it another try tomorrow as it is about 40 degrees where I am, so it should be good working conditions tomorrow.
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Julie,
I posted a reply some time ago and saw some additional posts over the last few days. I have to say, I know there are a variety of ways people temper their chocolate,but I am a bit confused about your method. Are you tempering by hand (and not by machine)? If that is the case, then I think you would be better suited to a different method. It sounds like you melt your chocolate out, seed it and then simply cool it to 90 degrees to work with it. I think you should melt it out (maybe to 116-118), seed it (I don't follow a hand and fast rule of 25% - I usually add a handful of chips), cool it to about 79-80 and then rewarm to about 89-90 to work with it. I am using the same Callebaut as you and have had great success with this method.
I know there are people who melt their chocolate, seed it and then cool it to working temperature but they all seem to be using melters. I think achieving temper this way is much more tricky especially when trying to do it by hand.
Keep trying, and you will figure it out. Also, bear in mind your ambient air temperature and humidity levels will affect tempering. Your issues may be due to those differences especially if you had been successful before. I know it warmed uphere in my location yesterday and I had trouble removing chocolates from molds when I had no issue last week and all of the molds were done at the same time.
Good luck,
Andrea
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Andy,
Thank you for your reply. I am new to this and have been reading as much as possible but the temperatures vary for dark/semi-sweet chocolate from site to site so I have been trying to stay within the range I have been reading. I am using a Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate that is 65% as it is the ONLY allergy-free chocolate that I have been able to get my hands on. It is in mini-chip form and melts extremely quick. Any idea what temps. you would start experimenting with?
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Every chocolate is a little different so do a little research into what your chocolate really wants in temperature. Off the top of my head I know our 55% we hit 112 for melt, then down to 87 with seed, then working temps are about 90 and we notch up to about 92 as the day moves on (to prevent or keep at bay over temper.)
Know what temps you need to be at, know how long you need to be there, run tests.
One of the best learning experiences we'll do with a new chocolate is to take a little swipe of chocolate on parchment paper every few minutes while the chocolate is on its way down from 90' monitoring the degree and time and you'll see how each sample is different. No temper, no temper, some temper, more temper, temper, temper, temper.. Then next time you work your chocolate you can fine tune.
Keep trying, you'll figure it out. Just remember to be watchful, research, record, and repeat.
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Julie;
You should put a request in to Clay, the owner of this site, to post a document on tempering chocolate, and make it available right on the home page.
You aren't even close with your temperatures.
Brad
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I am with you Maggie! I have been trying to temper dark chocolate as well and am having all kinds of problems. I bring my chocolate up to 115 then I add 25% seed chocolate and bring it down to 90 to work with it. I am wondering if leaving it out to harden on the counter is causing the problem. I have read that 55-60 is the best temp. to let it harden at. If I refrigerate it to hardenit looks great. What is the best method on bringing it back to room temperature as I know humidity will be an issue as well?
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
First thing to do is make sure your thermometer is reading correctly. You'll need to test that. Assumingthe range of your thermometeris large enoughyou can test it in boiling water (unless it is an IR thermometer). Then you should check your upper and lower temperatures you are working at with your chocolate. I personally don't have a concern about you starting to work with your chocolate at 89 degrees. I actually start at this temperature when I am molding and increase the temperatureslightly from there as the chocolate thickens up some.
All of that said, there are lots of things you might be doing that lead to your chocolate not tempering correctly. Generally speaking time, temperature and agitation are the factors in tempering. As a beginner it will take a lot of practice before you get it right and feel comfortable with it. When I started, I quickly figured out that before I was ready to mold or dip or whatever you plan to do I needed to get tempering down and then practice it a bunch of times before I even moved on to actually doing something with the chocolate. Keep practicing and you will figure it out.
Andrea
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
What high-low temperatures are you reaching? Also, 89 seems a little low for a working temp for dark chocolate. Try 91-92.
losing temper w/tempering
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Just starting out and am having a Very Challenging experience trying to temper properly!
I bring the dark chocolate to 89 and it still does not have the beautiful glistening look
What on earth am I doing wrong?????
Please HELP
updated by @Maggie Prittie: 04/11/25 09:27:36
Sourcing chocolate and supplies in Canada
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
It's a great shop - love to visit it when I'm in Montreal.
Sourcing chocolate and supplies in Canada
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Kerry -
My thoughts exactly with Qzina and D+R - I was going to suggest them. Didn't know about France Decor.
Sourcing chocolate and supplies in Canada
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
In Montreal you can buy from Chocolat-chocolat and Design and Realization. Qzina is doing online sales now and it's free delivery if over $100. They are out of Toronto. Also in Montreal there is France Decor.
Sourcing chocolate and supplies in Canada
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Hello,
I'm about to begin the Ecole Chocolat course and I am beginning to look into the supplies and bulk chocolate that I need to buy for the course. I know that I have access to lots online, but I was wondering if anyone can point me towards Canadian suppliers. I'm in Montreal.
Thanks!
Isabella
updated by @Isabella Geddes: 04/07/25 13:00:14
Cocoa Butter
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Hi everyone, Thanks for this pointers. I had not thought of Jerry over at Chocosphere (duh, I've got an account with him). Clay, Thanks, I will look into that - I will try my local bakery supply house to see if they can get it. 35Lb isn't out of the realm of what I can start with. I've not heard of cocoasupply but will look into that too.
If I could get some Waialua Estates cocoa butter And 100% I would, but I don't think they make either.
Thanks again!
Cocoa Butter
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Have you tried cocoasupply? (.com)
I buy both deodorized and undeodorized from them. They do sell amounts as small as 5-lb bags for pretty decent prices.
Cocoa Butter
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Mark -
Having used it, I can say that Blommer's undeodorized cocoa butter is quite good. You have to order 1 tonne if you go through them, but if you call them you can find out the name of your local distributor. That's what I did when I needed some here in NYC - it was a restaurant/bakery ingredient company.
The price was quite good for what we got - only challenge for you going this route is that I believe the smallest size if a 35lb tub. That said, it will probably be one of the less expensive alternatives on a per-pound basis so it might not end up costing that much more than a more expensive cocoa butter in small quantities.
:: Clay
Cocoa Butter
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Try www.chocosphere.com . They carry Callebaut & Pacaricocoa butters. Just do a search and scroll down to the bottom of each page. I can't speak to your other requirements but they have smaller sizes.
Andrea
Cocoa Butter
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Hi All, I am looking for a good source of Cocoa Butter, small amounts <5kg, to start. Using it for my r&d for making my own bars.
I would prefer organic (whether certified or not). Single origin or blend, and not chemically deodorized.
I know this stuff is expensive, but I don't want to lose my shirt on buying cocoa butter...
Thanks, - Mark
updated by @Mark J Sciscenti: 04/07/25 13:00:14
Chocolate Chips Bananas and Cherry Cake Recipe
Posted in: Recipes
For years and years people have challenged my idea about banana and cherry working well together in a recipe. I would say they would and my friends would disagree.
I never did anything to try to prove my point but now I have my very own chocolate website, I thought it was time to prove them all wrong.
So I did a bit of research and came up with my very delicious and healthy dark chocolate chip banana and cherry cake.
It's got all of the necessary cake ingredients self raising flour, butter, eggs, caster sugar, and vanilla to which I have also added LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond meal) bananas and Morello cherries.
The cake must have been quite a success as I've not received any complaints about the flavours at all.
Come and check the chocolate chip banana and cherry cake recipe for yourself, I'm very confident that you won't be disappointed.
updated by @Geoff Auckett: 05/07/15 12:38:45
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Why not just make a wiki page with bean suppliers, origins, and quantities available for purchase? Wikis were created just for tasks like this.
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Are Meridian Cacao's beans organic (if not certified, do they use pesticides, etc?). Also, are there discounts for TheChocolateLife members?
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
If you are going to facilitate transactions between people, rather than stock the product yourself such as what John Nanci does, there should be some type of membership fee charged for this section.
I could easily write the software for this at a reasonable price.
Cheers
Brad
"due to inflation and the penny being discontinued, my two cents has now been rounded up to a nickel."
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Roger -
It is a good idea - and it belongs in the Classifieds section.
Doing it this way requires that I "police" every post where someone asks to buy or sell beans outside that single post, point them to the correct post, and close down the one where the question is asked (unless it's a blog in which case there's nothing I can do).
I mention that because we tried to create a single "official bean-to-bar chocolate maker" thread and in the end it turned out to be too much work to force all new entries into the single "official" thread.
Blog/discussion software is not the best tool to this. If anyone has some programming skills and wants to work on some useful database tools I would be happy to work on this.
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Clay, perhaps it should be a "one way" list, that is, posting only for those who have beans or a source for beans for sale. The lisiing would be updated by the providers as needed.
More like a reference thread than a discussion. Take the bean discussions to the regular posting areas.
I think it would provide a great service for sellers and buyers, win win for all.
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
It is of interest to me - buying small lots of cocoa beans. I saved this thread for future reference, but having it in one spot that makes more sense would be good.
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Roger:
Interesting idea ... and one that I will think about some more if/as people chime in on this.
A generic "Where to Buy" category makes sense to me in a general discussion area.
There is a whole Classifieds section where an "I want to buy/sell cocoa beans" makes a lot of sense and it would be highly specific. I could close this discussion and point to one there.
A "Where to Buy Cocoa Beans" in the main discussion are seems redundant to me.
Anyone have any strong opinions one way or the other?
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Thank you all for your help!
Imho, I would suggest that the mods make a new category specifically for those of us looking for beans to buy or sell. It would make these transactions a bit easier for all.
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
HiI am interested in buying small quantities of cocoa beans in the ukPlease advice meRegardsMariana
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
We have trinitarian cacao beans from Costa Rica 
you can contact me at daniela@chocolate-nahua.com if you're interested!
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
You can also contact Tom Sharkey in Hawaii- Direct from the farmer. He does small orders.
(808) 895-6600
tshark@hawaii.rr.com
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Hey, i can get you the 10 pounds of cocoa beans from Uganda ( East Africa) for 14 dollars. Stephen Sembuya
Small quantity of cocoa beans for sale (I want to buy)
Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE
Thanks Clay, any others you can recommend? I would like to have several in my "arsenal", to get a variety of beans to choose from.