Forum Activity for @Omar Forastero

scary indeed. I just don't understand how something like this can get FDA approved.Good luck antonio!i'd love to know what you will settle for eventually.

happy cooking

As you said in your 3rd paragraph, real sugar is best... in moderation. I personally steer clear of "chemicals" for the very reason that Omar mentions.

Blech!

Whoa! Now THAT'S scary! I had no idea!

Hi Omar,

a pesticide? really?!? hmmm maybe a good marketing tool: Eat this chocolate, not only is sugar free but also kill all the bacteria inside out! aha ha ahah just kidding, but i'm now curious!

So far we have:

Agave sugar (hi fructose)

Stevia (no calories but needs bulking fibers)

Erythritol and Maltitol (alchool sugar)

Splenda (sucralose/pesticide...)

Coconut sugar

Add on if you have ideas!

Eventho we use maltitol here, I couldnt agree more with Andy. Moderation is the key.

Antonio, before doing tests with Splenda, did you know that the scientists who invented Splenda, were originally working on creating apesticide? Someone was mad enough to tasteit, andhere's the result...

Hi Ernesto,

will have a look of what kind of coconut sugar i can get here in South Africa. In theory i shouldn't need to change much of a recipe if the coconut sugar has a similar structure.

thanks a lot!

Hi Antonino,

Have you tried coconut sugar? Its from granulated coconut nectare it is LOW GI about 35. I have tried using it in 70/30, 60/40 and 50/50 chocolates and they taste superb almost like cane sugar.

Hi Andy,

thank you, what you say is what i actually think about the issue.... Still it is funny and interesting to do research!

i will keep posted!

Next try will be with Splenda.

We gave up at this point. It's cost prohibitive and taste prohibitive. Most alternate sugar chocolates taste like fake chocolate. Then you'll find that even though it's requested you're not going to sell a lot and you might have more of a waste cost than not. We try to preach to the sugar free requestors that moderation is the key. Just don't eat our food like junk food, test your insulin levels and behave. Young diabetics know this, older ones just want to over-indulge. Interesting behavioral stuff.

Wish you well on your search, at some point we'll have a diabetic artisanal chocolate maker that will solve this for all time.

Hi just an update on research,

and i make a point sayng that i am not a food scientist but just a chocolate maker that i very very curios!

Stevia chocolate is recently available on the market, with percentage between 55% and 80% something.

Stevia is 300 time sweeter than sugar and has not the same effect to chocolate as saccarose (sugar).

To "make up" for the missing sugary part, dietar fibers like inulin,dextrin, oligofructose (??) is added to ,in my word, to bulk up the bar.

Also Stevia alone wont make the chocolate sweet enough (and also costs a lot!) so another form of sugar substitute (sugar alchool?) such as Erythritol is added.

then of course there is the knowledge of how much of what!!

Now, as artisan chocolate maker is a lot to digest... i think Biiig Company have scientists and experts but im not giving up, i can get all those ingredient and play around, inviting a couple of food scientist for a glass of wine and after the second bottle hey should start to talk. eheheh....

Still, anyone any idea on sucralose (splenda) usage?

Hi All again,

anyone have tried "SPLENDA" (sucralose) on making chocolate?

Hi All,

we receive a lot of request of "sugar free" chocolate, most of them they refer to "use Agave syrup/crystals", but this is not what we think as "sugar free"!

Unfortunately here, miscommunication or false information make people believe that Agave "sugar" (!!!) is diabetic friendly...

We know that a 85%dark bar with sugar is better than a 55% dark made with agave, but it takes time to explainthatto every one!

Now, going to the point:

i'm capable of doing some research of real sugar free (sucrose) -chocolate maybe using stevia or other ingredients (Honey won't work). but i not really sure where to start..

Anyone any idea or suggestion?

Thanks in advance!

Antonino

Thank u so much Sebastian for ur prompt reply. really appreciate it. but iv seen some couverture chocolates of big brands being used to make as ganache or mousse. can we do that with HArald?

Thanx

For these, you just melt them and dip things in them, let them cool and they'll solidify. Next step: eat 8-) They're not really chocolate, they're coatings that are made to be easy to use. Originally, Harald's approach was to make low cost coatings that are easy to use to allow (very) small business owners a way to sell confectionery products. Over the last 10 years, they've grown the home use market, which is what these are.

IN what all ways can we use couverture chocolate?

I saw these two brands inthe market so would really appreciate ur tips and guidance.

Thanx a ton..

http://www.harald.com.br/produtos/Detalhes.aspx?ProdutoId=37

http://www.harald.com.br/produtos/Detalhes.aspx?ProdutoId=38&ProdutoTipoId=2

I attempted some myself, and while they looked OK, I'm not a photographer. I had a professional take mine. Even though he wasn't a food photographer, he has been doing it more because he works for the chef I work for.

Here are a few he did for me. He used a light box he had designed. While shine is good, I didn't want too much reflection on them, so his lighting was muted.

Check this great New York Times blog on food photography for some excellent tips. Not specific tochocolate, but should be helpful regardless. For the shininess you just have to have a super well tempered bar, preferably one that was just tempered within a day.

I shot in just natural light next to a window late in the afternoon when the sun was at a lower angle to get some interesting shadows.

I would like to create a menuof my chocolates that features a picture of each flavor as well as have pictures ofmy chocolateson the website. How have you photographed your chocolates? Did you do it yourself? Is special lighting needed so they look 3D & shiny? Did you hire a photographer? Do you use a food photographer? Any help or insight would be appreciated.

I represent a bean to bar chocolate company in Hawaii. Many of our chocolates are made with cacao grown in Hawaii and processed to bars.

I will be happy to discuss the possibility of suppling you with the finest chocolates.

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I have received a number of emails from folks around the globe asking for further information about the table top foiler we once sold. It was a device - nothing more - that had a small pedestal and a brush cut to the shape of your small molded piece. The operator would take a pre-cut piece of foil, place it over the chocolate and then place both on the tiny pedestal and then pull the brush device down over the chocolate by hand. Once done the operator would remove the piece by hand and then smooth the sides and bottom. Quite time consuming and not very effective, We had offered this item for sale through someone who had built a few but it never really took off for obvious reasons so we are no longer offering them.

Foil wrapping by hand is laborious and, sadly, no one has ever produced a low cost, entry level full-fledged machine to do the work so the next best option is a used/rebuilt machine which we do offer but prices start in the mid $20K range and that is a major barrier to entry for most folks in early stage businesses.

Happy to discuss foil wrapping any time - jim@unionmachinery.com

Thanks

Jim Greenberg, President
Union Confectionery Machinery Company

Thanks Jim... I will be sending you a note as well for a quote.

We sell a small table-top foil wrapper for flat bottomed solid goods with very inexpensive tooling.

Please contact me jim@unionmachinery.com for a quote.

Jacqueline,

Thanks You!

This web site is the best.

Neal

Hi Neal-

I am currently buying it from Glerup Revere. If anyone knows of any other suppliers- please keep me in the loop as well.

Cheers,

Jacqueline

JACEK Chocolate Couture

Hi Jacqueline,

I do not have a machine solution for you but yoou may have a solution for me.

What is a good source for the paper backed foil?

Thanks,

Neal Brown

Mojo Chocolates

Hi Clay,

Thanks for your vigilance. Your chocolife pages really is a big help to us in understanding the industry and thus increasing our passion for it.

More power!

Ernesto

We are always here to help. After 100 years in the business, we have come to find great satisfaction in helping companies start up, grow and prosper.

Brad, always a pleasure to have such nice feedback.

Jim

Thank you all for this great info!! This is very helpful...

Cheers,

Jacqueline

Jim;

I went back and re-read my initial post, and would like to make a clarification. My last sentence could be interpreted that your prices are high. I would like to, for the record here comment that the prices you and John have quoted me for equipment in the past have been in line with what is typical in the industry, so your prices are in fact NOT high.

Not sounding like one of your sales guys here, but I would also like to point out for the ChocolateLife community that when I was originally looking for budget-oriented equipment, both of you were an invaluable source for some information, and for that I thank you.

Cheers and Best Wishes

Brad

www.SoChoklat.com

Understood -

Jim

Jim -

Just responding to the "Call me anytime to chat" in your reply. There's a lot of stuff that starts out as public conversations that gets taken private so only one person benefits. Responding publicly means that more people can benefit while making TheChocolateLife more generally useful as a resource.

I did not realize it was private - not intended to be so, Clay.

Thanks,

Jim

Jim:

A general discussion on ROI issues surrounding equipment - that all members can read - would be valuable to all members rather than taking every conversation private.

Jim Greenberg here from Union Confectionery Machinery...jim@unionmachinery.com

Brad is correct in that without real throughput the ROI on a foil wrapper is long and arduous.

His comment about pricing is also correct - even a used machine presents a barrier to entry in the machinery acquisition world for small co's. Call me anytime just to chat and I can educate you on your options without any commitment from you to buy and then you will have some fuel for thought going forward.

Thanks,

Jim Greenberg, President

Union Confectionery Machinery

Hi Jacqueline;

Foil wrapping machines are very expensive if you're only doing a couple of thousand bars per month. One part time,$10 perhouremployee can easily wrap 100 bars per hour, so you're only looking at 20 hours worth of work for one person for the entire month (about $0.10 per bar)- hardly enough to justify a $15,000 machine, the cost of theelectrical, cost of training to set it up, AND the monthly cost of renting the floorspace for it to sit there idle most of the time.

If you look at the cost of the floorspace alone (Sherwood Park, right?), let's say $14/foot plus $6 op costs for a total of $20 per square foot, assuming you're in an industrial area, and not a retail space where premium square footage costs would be charged, you would need at least a 10X10 space for your machine, and walking room around it (100 square feet). According to my calculation, just the space rental would be about $167 per month. Right there is almost all of your part time person's wages to do your bars.

My suggestion would be to wait until you have at least two people dedicated to working full time wrapping bars, before you consider purchasing a machine like that.

That's just my opinion for what it's worth.

Cheers and Best Wishes from Down Here in Calgary.

Brad

Now.... Having said all of that, if you're still set on blinging out your shop with a foil wrapper, Union Machinery sells some used and reconditioned ones. Just make sure you're sitting down when you get John or Jim's price quotes! www.UnionMachinery.com

Hi everyone,

I am just wondering if anyone has a good automated solution for wrapping chocolate bars in paperbacked foil? We are currently hand wrapping (2,000+ per month), and it is time to invest in some equipment to automate it. Any suggestions?

Thank you!