Forum Activity for @Daniel Herskovic

Hi there,

I noticed some manufacturers make a creamy ganache with coconut oil (not coconut milk or cream of coconut). Lindt is a good example of this. Does anyone have any type of recipe like this? I imagine the result will have a long shelf life.

Thanks for your input!

Daniel

Rosen -

Welcome to The Chocolate Life. We are here to help!

Hilliard Little Dipper

$995 + $75 ground shipping in continental US (plus sales tax if purchased in Washington State)

We’ve graduated to larger equipment and no longer need our Hilliard Little Dipper chocolate tempering machine. This work-horse of a machine is an excellent upgrade if you’ve been using smaller tempering machines or are planning to temper between 1.5 lbs and 25lbs of chocolate a day. Plugs into a 120 volt outlet.

The machine uses two 100-watt lightbulbs as a heating mechanism, and they’re easy to change once you unscrew the metal backing on the machine. It’s also relatively easy to unscrew the baffle and the bowl for cleaning or changing chocolate, as necessary. Temperature is controlled by a mechanical knob and the tempering bowl motor is controlled by an off-on switch.

Contact Lauren Adler (206) 792-6799 or lauren@chocolopolis.com

 Hilliard Little Dipper 3.jpg - 999KB

It does not.

Gotcha, thanks for the clarification!
I imagine a sealed plastic bag in a carton box should satisfy your nib transportation.
Just like when transporting almonds and other seeds or nuts.

Hi,

Thank you for the opportunity to sign up to this forum.

I'm a chocolate-making hobbist from Cornwall, England. I've joined to discuss chocolate and hopefully improve my skills.

Rosen

It is about the roasting of the nibs in there shell. I have read that when roasting the cocoa beans, the shell takes up a part of the fat that is released during heating. 

I'm interested to hear as well. I have access to a Unox, so I'd like to hear practical experience others have had with it.

Chocolats du Calibressan in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, CA is looking for a chocolatier, Full time, long term. Must have knowledge of chocolate tempering, molding and piping. In addition you will be trained in the process of my chocolate making. Salary start at $14.00/h DOE. Email cover letterand resume jeanmichel@chococalibressan.com

Thanks @ning-geng-ong!

I will share roasting results once I receive the machine.

[quote="Daniel Haran"]

Can you link to the exact motor and springs you bought? Thanks

Daniel,

Here's the specifications:

OLI Vibrator: MVE.0041.36.115 Electric Vibrator Motor, Single Phase, 2 Poles, 3,600 RPM, 60 Hz, 115 Volt , 143.30 Lb Output Force ( *adjustable)   

This may be a wee bit too powerful in truth, but better too much force than not enough.  n.b. Adjustable with blade rotation and or the router speed control.  It's also important to note the Fc these produce is different depending on the electrical supply frequency  i.e.  50 Hz (Most of the planet ) versus 60Hz (USA).   You get considerably more Fc (centrifugal force) at 60Hz versus 50Hz) so it is possible in the States that the smaller (cheaper) MVE 21 series motors may also be suitable?  However, I've not tested one on this set up.

* Setting the blades inside the motor: Turning 4 blades... (see instructions with motor) provides a 16# centrifugal force, (11.1% of maximum Fc) this setting in combination with the springs I used seems good.  Tested as supplied the motor could probably vibrate an entire 6' x 4' kitchen table. Now there's an idea....!

Springs:    Part Number    C08500922250S
Compressed Length    1.413  inches Outside Diameter    0.85  inches
Wire Diameter    0.092  inches  Spring Rate    25.32 Inch Pounds Load Capacity    16.98  pounds  Overall Length    2.25  inches Size    0.85"
Material Type    stainless_steel_302
Specification Met    AMS 5688 , ASTM A313                                                       Number of Items    10
UNSPSC Code    31161904
Currently Backordered  on Amazon, Pack of 10 - $23 when available.

I made the bushings to hold the 4 springs such that there is about 1" free on each of coils, this clearly modifies the relative spring rate,  but again seems to work well.

Have fun! and if you build one be sure post details....

Mark

Can you link to the exact motor and springs you bought? Thanks

I see where you are coming from but I don't exactly understand the statement about nibs having higher fat content.

Hello Ning-geng-ong, Thank you very much for your reply. My first idea was to import beans but there are some benefits when working with nibs such as higher fat content of the nibs, shorter roast period. Plus  I save some money from not buying a crusher and winnowing machine. 

Hello Guusb, why not start with dried beans instead of nibs?

Hello Everyboby! 

I have a questions about importing cocoa nibs to Europe. I want to import unroasted cocoa nibs from Asia to proces to chocolate in Europe. Does anyone know in what kind of material best to transport cocoa nibs so that it will not effect the quality? 

So... there's a situation about a great book based on the taste of one person. Aren't all food, wine, etc. books based on the taste of one or at least four persons? - and I don't even mention al the suggestions they make in their books. If I want to read a good book about some kind of product I can do two things: the first thing is enjoying a book about the product I love and ignore someone's taste and suggestions or take someone's suggestions and taste as a example to learn more about my favourite product. - In my own blog I also write about products based on my taste. Nothing wrong with that.

And than the grammar / translation: as a writer ( what I do next to blogging ) I also make grammar mistakes, this is what makes me human.

For me this book from Georg Bernardini is a masterpiece. I spend hours of time creating my own chocolate list. - till I found out about his book. Now I only look further for chocolate products that aren't in it. That's also why I ask him if there's another version coming up within 5 or 10 years. Unfortunately not... so, if there are
things people don't like about his book: here's a chance! - write it!

Good luck Georg with your chocolate... I'm still enjoying your book.

Tonny, Thanks for sharing, I'm excited for you. 

Just a quick update: I ended up ordering a Unox Mind.Maps and It's on its way to me - The Unox Sales & Marketing Director was very resourceful and helpful and in answering my questions and addressing my needs - Those Machines has outstanding controls and can be used almost anything beyond cacao and once you figure out your roasting profiles and store them, cacao roasting could be handled by unskilled personnel - Thank again Clay Gordon for the your valuable advice!  

@peterk, can you please share the your breakage discovery across the four different roaster types? Avoiding breakage during roasting is of importance to me.

The following equipment is for sale in the LA area. Pick up only. 

Robot Coupe R2N Commercial Processor

Used a handful of times only to grind chocolate

Like brand new

$700

Mol D'Art melter 12 kg, includes 2 additional 6kg pans

Gently used, like new $650

Commercial Drinking Chocolate Machine, brass finish

$250

Price Computing Electronic Scale, up to 30 Kg capacity

$150

Please contact Elizabeth at (818)639-2417

 image.jpg - 133KB

We have 1,000+ lbs of organic, fairtrade, cocoa butter warehoused in Ohio.

Purchased from Atlantic Cocoa last year.

Packed in 25 kg boxes. Asking price $4.50/lb.

If interested email miles@perfectfuel.com

More molds still available.

Let me know if you are looking for some excellent molds, 0.5 oz cavities for a great price.

-Miles (email above)

Nino,

We did exactly that, the same beans on four different roaster types, tasted them off against each other as nibs and then as liquor. One of our conclusions was that the breakage has a greater effect than recognized. As far as " brighter" I prefer to think of it as complexity.

WOW, Brad and Clay agreeing on something? how long have i been away from this forum???  what is happening!? ha ha ha!

Good luck with the factory Brad! following the process on FB...

We have a fluid-bed roaster that we built locally (South Africa) together with our coffee roaster/engineer friends. 

Compared to the drum roaster i previosly owned, it is fast and it doesn’t break the cocoa beans while tumbling, meaning the beans roast evenly and no broken-burned nibs end up later in the chocolate mix.

Once I figured out the profile I want for my beans, the parameters are set and practically anyone can roast! Compared to the drum-roasting it is almost a walk in the park.

 I used to work with a drum roaster, and although is very difficult to compare (i use now different beans) I agree that the fluid-bed gives a “brighter” roast than the drum one. it has  enhanced the fruity notes of the beans and it is very consistent.

it would be fun to test the same beans in both type of roaster to see what really is the difference between the two!  

Cheers

Nino

Hi Clay,

thanks so much for clarifying, this is helping shed some light for me. We have access to a Selmi Legend and that's what we have been using. Regarding tempering by hand, we have done that at the beginning and never had any issues with it, which I guess means we were never challenged in that aspect. We have already looked into tempering curves and yes we do see some clarity from that. Do you have any advice regarding the Selmi Legend, or any other thoughts on what might help us get insights?

Brad/Clay

Thanks again for the advice. My background is organic superfoods so I tend to focus too much on taking care of a niche. I'll instead focus on making the best hot chocolate possible.

I'll start with the recipe Brad suggested and adjust from there. I didnt quite get how to take it from kitchen to mobile vehicle to hot chocolate in customers hands?

for coating cabin you can check also this link.

https://akaygam.com/belt-coater.html

Good to know, thanks!

OM foods is expecting a shipment of ecuadorian cacao near the end of the month. The price on the site is a lot lower on this shipment as well. Send them an email and inquire about it. The stuff on the site they are almost out of.

Also would you mind giving other advice?  

What width strings should i use?  

Can you recommend ganache frames?  Whats the highest I would want to go?  Are acetate sheets preferable to silicone mats?  I will be making two layer ganaches.  I also make pate de fruit.

Im thinking of buying the cart built for the cutter but its $300.  What I like is I have no room for the cutter and i can store my 5 frames underneath perfectly.  Any reason to get something else?

Here's some pictures.  Thank you.

 IMG_20160311_163105661.jpg - 1.8MB

What tempering machine are you using?

Who in your operation knows how to temper properly by hand? Part of the issue is that you may be relying on the machine to temper and you are using a temperature formula that does not work for your chocolate. This is less of an issue with commercial couverture (but it is an issue). When you are making your own chocolate, the challenges are much greater.

BTW, I find semi fluidized bed roasters to be the most controllable and most precise roasters I ever worked with. You can get whatever profile you want out of these things, it really surprised me. That said bring a few checkbooks.

I agree with Clay.

OMG.... Did I just say that?  LMAO

Cheers and good luck with your drinks!

I think that´s a great idea Clay, and we would love to have you here. I think it´s possible to join this event prior to the Cacao de Oro Colombia, and Casa del Chocolate Colombia, so everyone could experience more of Colombian cocoa.

What are your recommendations in terms of ensuring the machine tempers correctly, do you have any insight on that?

Changes in humidty can affect temper. If the humidity is 55% one day and 75% the next then the temper points are likely to be different.

Just because you use a high-end tempering machine (what brand?) does not mean that the chocolate is in temper. The machines are not artificially intelligent - they only do what you tell them to do. The moisture in coconut palm sugar is particularly problematic.

David -

The whole idea of TheChocolateLife is open sharing. I hope people will answer publicly here - perhaps in addition to responding privately.

October is shot for many of us. There is a chocolate show here in NY the first weekend, then Chocolate Week in London followed by Origin Chocolate in Amsterdam and then the Salon du Chocolat in Paris.

In the US, anyway, you have the NW Chocolate Festival in mid-November followed by Thanksgiving. Trying to get most people out of their workshops to travel in December is going to be tough.

So that leaves September. After the 11th and then finish before the end of the month.

You want a mix of people to attend - buyers for sure (specialty brokers and small chocolate makers), but also people who can promote more generally ... writers, video production, and etc.

The organizers at the Salon del Cacao y Chocolate have done a great job of organizing these kinds of events/trips over the past five years.

I am interested in attending!

Grant -

Brad gives a lot of good advice here. 

Right now it sounds like everything is abstract. Actually make the products and try them and then give them to your friends and have them try them. Test them out. You won't know what works until you do.

One thing we don't know is where you are. Brad's shop is in Calgary, Alberta, CA, and that market might be different from other markets.

Using butter is a bad idea - there's already enough fat in cocoa. If you want to make your product thicker/richer just use less liquid or mix different milks. See the Wikipedia entry on this .

Why are you reluctant to use cornstarch? Have you tried it?

The most important take-away from what Brad says is that by trying to be everything to everybody you end diluting (pun intended) the brand and end up being ... without a viewpoint. You cannot cater to every potential food allergy or dietary fad out there.

Pick something and do it well. Own it unapologetically and do the best you can. Yes, you will lose some business ... but focus on the 90% who want your product and not the 10%. (Is there a vegan meetup in your area?)

If you want to do a water base and then prepare it with milk or water that's about as far as I would go ... but if you are steaming will you have to have two of everything (do you have room in your mobile environment?) to avoid cross-contamination -- the fraction of your customers who are vegans (research suggests that about 2.5% of the population is vegan - at the high end - but I bet the percentage of vegans in Omaha, NE is a lot less than in San Francisco) will require it.

But until you actually test in your market you can't know.