Krebs 45 is the best answer. fabulous spray gun, great on thicker chocolate & fruit puree
you can buy one online www.superkleendirect.com - several to choose from but the 45 is best for thicker liquid
happy cooking!
Hi Rick- sorry for the late reply- just seen this.
In case you didn`t already get hold of the KREBS food sprayer already, we have dealers in the US that keep it on stock including Albatross and Kerekes .
If you need any help, just contact me here
Hello Wendy. I just read about the "CoolBot" system I am fascinated by it. Reading on their website, it helps that they are honest about where the system will NOT work and who should not buy it. Has it helped your tempering process?
As you might gather from my page I represent a company that deals with all things chocolate, save for actual provision of slabs. We also conduct workshops through ROTARY and other NGOs as part of their initiatives to generate employment amongst specific groups. Reading about "CoolBot" gave me an idea for a low-cost cooling environment that can be adapted and implemented at the grass-root level to take chocolate making to the next level.
Since we are not chocolatiers at our core, our workshops are generally catered towards the basics. However, you being a chocolatier and if you would be willing, I would be glad if you could provide an insight on your experience with this system.
Greetings Where can we get the spray gun in the US? THanks Rick B Green Goddess Organic Chocolate
Hi Wendy,
Yes - I think I have it now. Although still working on it.
The spray gun was a total failure for the reasons given earlier. However two very good things came from it. One was that if anyone is thinking of using a standard spray gun for chocolate I'd sincerely suggest that they DON'T go there. I'm now told that if I want to use milk chocolate then that's different - should have specified that in the first place. Buy new needles and nozzels. I give up. I have no belief that that will work now. So I have blown my money.
The GOOD part is that I do have belief in the Krebs product not the least for the wonderful attitude and help from Sean from Krebs that pops up on this forum. He has good answers for chocolate spraying although I am still cautious of the air pressure. However the following seems to indicate that I won't need to spray.
(Incidentally, the overspray can be handled by spraying into a BIG BOX. Simply work within it.)
The second VERY good idea came from this forum and some others I have been chasing around with. I tempered a 50/50 mix of Sicao milk chocolate and cocoa butter and as you say, piled my strawberries into the pot. Have to work quite fast and REALLY watch the temperatures. Then pour them into a seive and let the chocolate mix drip out. (Did I say to REALLY watch the temperature?) Then pick the berries off one by one - a fast process - and place them on a special "chocolate mat" I purchased. The chocolate won't seep into the mat and the strawberries break off cleanly with almost no "foot".
When they "set" - as the mix is tempered that happens quickly - I simply take them off and pile them into the pan and start to build the chocolate up. The layer is really thin but as it's tempered it's hard and the strawberries tumble well without breaking up - although I need REAL care as once they start to break they go to pieces quickly.
This process has drastically shortened the process from a two day process to about seven hours turnaround and I am convinced that I can reduce it further. It's still not really "commercial" but a LOT better. I am about to do the same with dark and white chocolate too.
Also looking at enrobing to see if I can make it faster still but the above may not mean that I can delay purchasing the enrober (although I REALLY want it for other things too) if modifications to the above work even better.
I have this weekend installed an AMAZING "Cool Bot" - idea also from this forum - which will help me HEAPS with low temperature control (after tempering and in panning). And am waiting for my new 70Kg pan to arrive too. PLUS a new spray system for the pan. With all of these I SHOULD be able to make commercial quantities semi-automated in time for the Christmas rush.
Have you figured this out yet? I'd love to know how you did!
I'm stumped, I can think of how you'd spray very light products..........isn't the over spray as much of an issue as the air pressure?
The only way I've been able to do similar was to completely coat the product in a very thin chocolate (tossing in a bowl, like you would a salad) and then sifting it out laying it on to parchment to dry. I'd love to know an easier way.
Hi Colin.
I'll send a quote for the Krebs LM45 food sprayer- and the suction extension tube in case you want to spray direct from a larger container. We provide with the local power requirements so Oz is fine.
Kind regards
Krebs Switzerland Food spray guns
Can you give me a price please? And shipping. colin.green (at) captaincoffee.com.au
Preferably 240V 50 Hz although I do have US power (120V 60Hz) too if needed.
Thanks!
Hi Colin- yes, we ship to Oz very often and just setting up a couple of dealers there as getting too many enquiries for the food guns to manage direct. Just give me a shout if you need one sourcing.
King regards
Krebs Switzerland Food spray guns
Thanks so much for this. I am going to have another try at the system I have purchased as it cost me quite a bit of money and I have not tried the dilution with cocoa butter idea as yet. I have ordered some and it should arrive tomorrow. The high air flow is a problem although I can turn it down - although I assume that that will imact the way the sprayer works.
I am in Australia so I assume that I can get one here OK.
@ Kerry- Yes, you can adjust the power of the food gun by the knob at the back, so you can change the flow from very powerful, to almost nothing. There is an online brochure which shows this better.
As Mark points out, if you need the extra power required to spray very thick materials, then you can choose the Krebs LM45 spray gun.
Krebs Switzerland Food spray guns
Hi Colin,
You can use the Krebs LM25 (60W) food spray gun and simply turn the power knob right down for a very small airflow. It works exactly as it sounds and we sell many many food guns into the market for cake decoration etc where a delicate balance of power options are needed.
If you go to the Krebs gun food sprayer web page you can find more info- or contact me on this link and I'll arrange a gun for you ASAP.
Kind regards,
Krebs Switzerland Food spray guns
I would urgently like to know if the Krebs has a substantial air flow please? I am doing very light products (freeze dried fruit) and as they are so light I need as small an air plow as I can get.
Any thoughts please? I'm in a bind and need to purchase a gun as soon as possible.
Thanks!
Can you adjust the flow?
Hi Kerry admittedly I'm using quite thin chocolate because it's just a topping, but it seems to be handling this okay. Anything thicker and the the higher wattage one would probably be better though. Not sure about the nozzle yet, seems quite easy to clean though, I just made sure I flushed it though with warm water as soon as I'd finished with it
Mark,
Have you tried it with chocolate yet? What is the material for the nozzle - ie can you hit it with a heat gun if it gets blocked?
Hi Sam, I've been discussing this in another thread, and I just bought a Krebs LM25. I almost got a Wagner one but was concerned they are meant for paint and not food. It arrived today and first impressions are good, a few choices of nozzle depending on the concentration of application needed (I use the wider one for spraying trays of doughnuts mainly).
What do you want to do with it?
Hi!
Any one can guide on which chocolate spray gun to purchase?
When I bought my Dedy, it was cheaper to get it with the 4 frames than buy it with one or two frames, separately. Check it out with Tom at TCF sales, he sometimes has them on sales, ask for a small discount. Don't tell him I said this, LOL.
As mentioned previously.. don't get the Prefamac, as it is just the Dedy guitar cutter with a Prefamac branded plate on it. They also force you to buy four cutting frames, whereas with Dedy, I think you can buy individual cutting frames. Go for the Dedy.. lovely bit of kit.
Which one is recommended:
Prefamac Guitar Cutter, Bakon USA, Martellato, Dedy, JKV ?
For caramels I have a wonderful steel rolling pin with adjustable wheels, does a great job, but it is not for chocolate. I love my equipment and machines, I get the best quality I can, I feel in the long run it is the only why to go. The Dety for instance, is made like a fine musical instrument.
I have a Dedy with 4 frames also, it is a beautiful piece of equipment. Tom at tcf sales is great to work with. I thought the cart was a bit expensive so I put together my own stainless steel one. Cost about $ 120.00 and it is just as nice. Buy 2 stainless steel carts at Sam's Club, Costco or other such store. They come with top, a self and a basket, plus heavy duty wheels.You will have an extra set of legs, wheels and a basket, put aside. Assemble, 4 shelves on the legs, basket on the bottom, presto, prefect guitar stand. Plus the basket on the bottom is great for accessories. I will try and put up photo later. But it is really simple, let me know if you have any questions on this set up.
There are no cheap guitar cutters. If they are too expensive, like we think they are, you can DIY one with a lot of elbow grease or do hacked solutions, like we do, with a caramel cutter and then a warm knife. It's not as chop-chop quick as a guitar but it doesn't cost much either.
i see plastic guitar cutters everywhere.. any example of steel one?
is the base of steel in this ?
http://www.tcfsales.com/products/59-Chocolate-Guitar-Cutters/282-Confectionery-Guitar-Cutter-075mm-base-3-Frames/
This states - High qualityaluminum alloy Base delivers precision
tcflsales.com guitar cutters are expensive ones... Further they offer only domestic shipping
Don't bother buying a Prefamac guitar cutter - it is just a Dedy guitar cutter which they put their logo on.. they didn't even bother repackaging mine.. all they had done was cut a hole in the bubble wrap to afix their logo plate..
Don't get me wrong I love the guitar cutter, but just buy it direct from Dedy and not Prefamac. 
Totally agree with George. Any money you save on the plastic guitars you'll spend buying replacement wires for them...
For what it's worth, the sizesI use are 15mm x 30mm for rectangular chocolates and 22.5mm x 22.5mm for sqaure chocolates.
If you go to tcfsales.com you can see the Dedy products. We have one and like it a lot. Not cheap but good.
Pete
I have a Pavoni double guitar I purchased from ChefRubber.com I don't think the cart is necessary. I would recommend getting a steel one and not one of the cheaper plastic ones.
I have a Dedy and it works well. It is on a stand with wheels and I have 4 frames. I mostly use the 22.5 frame.
Can anyone recommend a Good Guitar Cutter to purchase?
Should i purchase with stand / Without Stand?
How many frames do we need?
Looking for urgent revert from Seniors..
Thanks
From the press release:
The best tasting chocolates in the world are poised for extinction. As growers continue to remove or replace fine flavor cacao trees with less flavorful, high-yield, disease-resistant cacao hybrids and clones, a world of ordinary flavor dominates the chocolate universe. Connecting genetics to flavor offers an important new way to protect and preserve the finest flavors for future generations. Alas, no genetic initiative has ever focused on flavor first. Until now.
Enter the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Initiative , a partnership between the Fine Chocolate Industry Association ( FCIA ) and the USDAs Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) to create the first-ever genotype map with a focus on flavor cacao trees.
The HCP welcomes any beans to be submitted and evaluated for their flavor, but not every bean will be identified as heirloom. First of all, it has got to taste good, says Dan Pearson, chief executive officer of Maran Chocolate and FCIA board member, who helped develop the HCP. Can taste be objective like genetics? No. But genetics alone say nothing about flavor. Strong genetic origin may have the potential to yield the best flavor, but genetic identification itself simply reveals what a bean is, not whether it is really yummy. Thats about classification. Thats the second step. If it doesnt taste good, we are not going to proceed with the genetics.
In other words, flavor comes first, which is why the FCIA chose the word heirloom and its basic Websters definitiona cultivar of a vegetable or fruit that is open-pollinated and is not grown widely for commercial purposes [and] often exhibits a distinctive characteristic such as superior flavor or unusual colorationto frame the HCP.
To read the entire press release click the following link:the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Initiative .
I am a newbie to the chocolate industry and am very thankful to have discovered this site and read the wonderful articles/comments/questions posted on the forum section by the contributors & experts on this field.
I am looking to buy a franchise chocolate retail store in the southwest region of US. Can someone guide me on how to go about evaluating the worth of the storeand how to price it so that I can make a reasonable offer?
Thank you in advance for your help & guidance.
Mahesh
Hi Paul,
I have just posted that I think that part of the problem may be over filling too. I very much apprecviate your confirmation of the shellac back-to-back possibility too. I changed both of those variables (filling & shellac residue) and have a far improved result.
I don't use a shellac powder - I use a liquid (Capol 425M). I didn't know there was a powder and I'll keep that in mind. If you don't use shellac how do you seal the surfaces?
The chocolate is 62%. I use Sicao (sometime Barry Callebaut) 70% and also 55% and combine them to get it "just right" for the balance for coffee beans, which is what I mostly do. For simplicity I tend to stay with the same mix for all dark chcolare work. I had wondered if the mixture was a problem too but for now it remains a "possibility" to ponder next time.
You mention your environment. I have been over your various pictures and saved them for inspiration as I need to re-do my room. You have a very similar set-up to me as far as I can see but your wall surfaces and some of your equipment is better. Your pan seems about the same as mine - a bit smaller I think. You look really well organized! You have two pans?
In one of the pics you have two pipes leading into your pan - one will be cold air. What is the other one please (the flexible pipe).
Thanks again!
Colin
Hi Colin,
I like your theory that there is a thin coat of shellac in the pan. The two surfaces collide. I've always panned with dark chocolate then reset and used ribs for polishing and shellac. It never occurred to me to shellac back to back. The weight and velocity impact with residual shellac theory feels right.
I'm not the best at polishing. Mostly due to limits in RH and environmental temp. I get breaking from over polishing a rather heavy center. I have not used a shellac powder.
What percent is the dark chocolate?
Cheers,
Paul
I tried your thought Jeremy, and reduced the amount in the pan - re-did in two batches. I got a far better result.
So maybe over-filling is the problem. I was careful to stay within the 15Kg limit but maybe it needs to be 12Kg (or so) for this line.
Thanks for your insight!
Colin 
