Hello,
I'm interested by your 3 Kg Roaster. Could you give some details, please. When you bought it, the shipping weight, photos etc.. I'm also reachable at alek@cacaoauthority.com.
Thank you
Unit is $1100 shipped. If you send me your email I will be more than glad to send you pictures and any additional information!
Thanks,
Ryan Posey
jlmsales.rposey@gmail.com
678-464-1452
May be interested in the Santha Grinder. Please contact me directly.
Steve 503-896-0614
Hi, yes I am. What do you have and how much? Thanks
I have a 2012 Firemixer 14 Table Top available. Please contact me if you are still interested!
Thanks,
Ryan Posey
jlmsales.rposey@gmail.com
Are you still looking? I have an older model available if so!
Thanks,
Ryan Posey
jlmsales.rposey@gmail.com
If you are willing to order from europe - it appears that Vantage House still has some.
Touche, pussy cat!
Sebastian, You are correct, I'm a poor typist and proof reader Methyl bromide not bromine. You are however not quite on with phosphene.....
A phosphene is an optical phenomenon in which people think they see light when no light is actually entering the eye.
The fumigant is phosphine according to the FAO manual ( http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5042e/x5042E0a.htm) "Phosphine or hydrogen phosphide (PH 3 ) is a low molecular weight, low boiling point compound that diffuses rapidly and penetrates deeply into materials, such as large bulks of grain or tightly packed materials. The gas is produced from formulations of metallic phosphides (usually aluminium or magnesium phosphide) that contain additional materials for regulating release of the gas."
According to the cocoa brokers I've spoken with something called ECO2FUME made by Cytec is used at warehouses in the USA, it's 2% Phosphine and 98% Carbon dioxide http://www.cytec.com/sites/default/files/files/ECO_SPEC_SHEET_2-16-11_FINAL.pdf. I agree nasty stuff, but rapidly disappears once the tenting is removed. I share space with a craft distiller on a light industrial park, their 'pest man' would use it if they had problems in their grain store, but you do have to be licenced to buy it and apply it.
The Grainpro bags are as you say just another way to prevent warehouse infestation / and or protect fumigated goods in store or transit.
Yikes, methyl bromide (not bromine) and phosphene are both restricted use due to excessive human danger pesticides. I can not recommend their use...
Industrial microwaves or Cobolt-60 irridiation would certainly work; however are not in practice utilized due to cost, consumer perception challenges, and flavor issues.
GrainPro barriers won't mitigate the problem, it literally puts a bag around it to try to contain it. You could fumigate inside of the bag as a kill step, but utilizing the bag on it's own won't result in a kill, only a containment.
Did I get a review in the book? I have no idea. I scanned it. I didn't read it.
Ah... "Best Hot Chocolate in Calgary" award WAS in fact a competition put on by a charity, and judged aonymously by... wait for it.... HUNDREDS OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC!!!! WOOHOO!!! You know those types of people don't you? They're the ones who keep a business's lights on through frequent patrionage.... But then again, who cares about "those" types. Customers are uneducated troglodytes that the business should ignore because the opinion of a self proclaimed "judge" who writes a book on the industry (add your own impressed ooooooo... and aaaaaaaahhhh... here) is more important than what sheeple a business calls customers think. (anecdote: If you read this and think that I don't care what my customers think, you need to know I'm just being facetious here).
Yuhuh.....
I won by a landslide two years in a row and never entered after that because the results were so skewed to me that nobody else would be able to compete fairly.
Apparently it's a good thing the judging was left up to people who PAY MY BILLS rather than the " narcissistic, bloated, self indulgent wingnut" who saw fit to give me a mediocre review in the book he wrote proclaiming to be THE chocolate reference......
I might be childish (petulant is a better word), but I'm certainly not narcissistic enough to think that my opinion is THE opinion that everyone should adopt as the gospel in my industry.
I'm sure you can also see how much I care about what one misguided individual thinks about my chocolate when I sell out regularly and have to build a larger factory in order to keep up (currently under way now) with demand for product made with recipes that sell well but get poor reviews from people who claim to know what they are talking about. hahaha... That's funny...
The fact still remains irrefutable that no single person can ever claim to represent the opinions of the populus when that single person has not polled the populus for their opinions. Anyone who tries is narcissistic by pure definition of the word.
Oh... and you won't have to come to Canada to try my chocolate. Just North America. Once my new factory opens in a couple of months Choklat will finally be able to produce enough to ship our "mediocre" hand made chocolate all over Canada and the US.
Cheers
Brad
Bean-to-chocolate manufacturing equipment and related items.
Items sold individually or in semi-bundle packs, or one bundle pack. Equipment and retail items are top of the line and have been well cared for and maintained. In addition to equipment, extensive mold collection for sale.
Email me for list of items.
Serious inquiries only. If interested, please contact me regarding photos and/or prices. Buyers responsible for shipping costs.
I dont see such a big problem in releasing a book that reviews a lot of chocolate products. He does not lie like the mast brothers, so there is no reason to compare him with them or even say that he is worse. He just writes down his opinion about the products he tasted and writes a bit about the company. I like this concept. I did find new companies that i wasnt even aware of and tasted also alot. Some I like, some I dont. And guess what: There are some products Bernardini likes and I dont. Thats just normal since every Person has his own opinion about taste and flavor.
Calling the author "... narcisistic, bloated, self indulgent wingnuts ..." and that his book is garbage is just a childish reaction from someone who got a bad review in the book. And still after reading it I would test your chocolate if I travel to Canada, because (as mentioned before) people have different opinions about taste and flavor in chocolates.
The author writes alot of information about what bean to bar is and what the difference is about companies who use industrial made chocolate and people who make their own chocolate from the bean. It is good for people who doesnt know a lot about chocolate and after reading his book they will know much more about what the difference is about small artisan chocolatiers and big commercially made chocolate like lindt or nestle.. . I think this is a good way for the chocolate community.
The title of the book is truly not the best as it claims to be "THE standard reference", but everyone who reads this book will know that the reviews are just from ONE person.
Hello. Are you still looking at this thread? If so, how can I buy thi sguillotine?
Thanks!
Andre
" Otherwise the reader can take this errors as a charming fact for this book, translated from german to english. - See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/forums/opinion/16249/fact-checking-chocolate-the-reference-standard#last"
Grammatical and typographical errors in a book are not charming, and show a lack of respect for the entire book writing and publishing process, and an absolute disdain for the end reader. Don't write a book in English if you cannot do your due diligence, by having it properly edited.
-advice from an author/editor of a number of books and publications.
"The reference standard" for chocolate....
Hmm.....
A reference standard based on the opinions of one person....
Hmmmm.......
And sheeple are buying the book....
Hmmmmmmm......
Me thinks, narcisistic, bloated, self indulgent wingnuts like the author of a book who proclaims that HIS opinions are THE reference standard do more harm that guys like Mast. He should be stopped or at the very least slapped. Hard. The publisher should be contacted. The book should be pulled.
Every one of the referenced companies in the book should be contacted and asked to NEVER sell or gift a single bar to the author again. He's doing more harm than good.
Clay writes: "I would like, in any comments, for members to focus on fact checking the book, not engaging in nit–picking the ratings and reviews of specific products, which, as I mention above, are completely personal. "
FACT: Not a single one of the ratings is a substantiated and accurate representation of what the average consumer of that chocolate would conclude upon tasting the bar, BECAUSE no single person can be representative of an entire populace.
Based on this single, simple, statistical fact (Statistics makes the rules. I don't make the rules). Every review or rating is garbage, and given that it's a large portion of the book, most of the book can be considered garbage, or at the very best, simply the opinion of one person and should not be taken as seriously as a Superman comic book.
THAT'S THE FACTS JACK.
Brad
Hi All
I am new to this site. We export Cacao from the Ivory Coast in Africa. Kindly contact me if any interest.
Kind Regards
Leigh Schoombee
lanicconsultingcc@gmail.com
Warehouse moth: CO2 and barrier solutions
Methyl Bromine used to be employed to fumigate commercially traded cocoa imports at export or receiving warehouses. Banned / withdrawn since 2010 often replaced by phosphine which is highly flammable and rather nasty. Typically in the warehouse they tent the pallets and gas the bags, interestingly phosphine is available in a form where it is mixed with carbon dioxide. I imagine this is both to make a readily applied gas mix and of course the CO2 reduces the fire risk!
Modified atmosphere storage works and certain hot or cold treatments also work. There have even been experiments with microwaving. (perhaps Sebastian can provide industrial insights regarding this?) A small amount dry ice in a dustbin (UK!) or trashcan (USA) for a 1/2 sack works well according to John (The Chocolate Alchemist). If you're handy and a practical sort, (making craft chocolate this typically is the case) assembling a flushing system with a cylinder of CO2 from a welding gas supplier or a friendly bar owner could work if you can't readily get solid carbon dioxide (dry ice). The usual safety / hazard notes about enclosed spaces and pressurized containers..(Attempt at you own risk, I'm not recommending you do it.) Of course also consider, you don't need to pressurize just displace all the 'regular' air and replace and hold with CO2 for a bit, even relatively inactive insect pupae need oxygen to survive.....
FYI: Physical barrier solutions
At the recent FCIA meeting in San Francisco, in the queue for evening beverages I met a nice chap (Jordan) from a company called GrainPro (Google it) , they make / sell special barrier solutions for farmers / cacao producers to protect warehouse stock and even individual sacks of cacao or shipping containers loads. These sorts of protection might be a way to protect your stocks and they appear to have solutions that are highly scalable.
using dry ice is an attempt to modify the atmosphere - dry ice is carbon dioxide, and it sublimates (goes straight from solid to gas without a liquid phase). the thought is that you can use it to displace the oxygen in the atmosphere, and suffocate the critters. it will work if you contain it. personally i think it's the path of most resistance - it's expensive, condensation will be an issue, and you need to keep it tightly sealed once the atmosphere is modified (but not before, if you seal it tightly before you'll end up with a bomb). it would very much surprise me if bay leaves and vinegar did anything helpful. Cool and dry with spot fumigation as needed is the best option, in my opinion.
Remember to quickly discard your winnowed shell as well - the eggs are 90% on the surface of the shell, if you let your shell lay around in a warm room, they'll be quite happy to hatch the larvae there vs on the full bean in storage as well.
Cheers Sebastian, its good to actually get advice on preventions as the Rentokil bloke was helpful in telling me how to chuck everything and cleanse the room, but not very good at saying how to prevent future attacks. The room generally is quite cold, although i dont actually have access to a walk in refrigerator which would be handy. We had an unusually hot and humid late autumn/beginning of winter this year unfortunately so i dont think that has helped. Researched some preventions yesterday and the pheremone traps sound like a great idea, also perhaps oddly, bay leaves dotted around and a tub of vinegar is a good prevention...who knew.
I also saw on chocolate alchemy that dry ice is a good thing to use to kill of anything living within the beans when they arrive. Have you used this method?
Cold and dry is the best storage. I find 60F or below and 50% RH is a nice target. Tarp and fumigate if you're seeing signs of activity. You can also consider pheremone traps if you're getting fliers emerging.
First of all sorry for all errors in my answer. My english is not as good as Clay’s english.
Preamble
The book was written and the tastings were mad from September 2014 until End of March 2015.
The german version was edited twice, then english version once.
The translation was made from a professional translator born in Australia.
Why „The Reference Standard“?
My first edition was published in October 2012 in german language only.
The book won the Gourmand Award for the best chocolate book of the world in 2013 (By the way, the new edition won the Gourmand Award for the best cookbook in Germany and is nominated for the Gourmand Award for the best chocolate book in the world 2015).
Many people, media, readers and from the chocolate business, named my book „Reference Standard“ or „Chocolate Bible“, I got even the name „The Chocolate Pope“. Myself I don’ t feel to be the chocolate pope or to wrote the chocolate bible at all. I even don’ t like this titles at all. I even don’ t like to call me „chocolate expert“...
But I understand that people say that this book is a reference standard as there is no other book with this volume and fullness of information.
So, it was not me who named the book, it was the media, reader and the chocolate community.
Another reason why this book got this name is that it is the first of his kind and that I’m sure that there will not be another similar book coming out in the near future. It is the widest and the most complete compilation of chocolate companies.
Overlooked Companies
Sorry, I don’ t think that there is any really important company overlooked. Give me a sample, please. Short reviews: Yes, some companies, also big companies, got a smaller review as they don’ t worth more words. Otherwise every company got an introduction as much as I got informations. And yes, I don’ t need to taste 15 different chocolates from Cadbury, Milka, Hershey, Godiva, Leonidas etc. to have the opinion that this kind of chocolates are wasting my (and the readers) time. I prefer to take the time and the place for small pearls as Rogue, Patric, Fruition or Pump Street Bakery.
Actuallity of information
It is wrong that much of the information would be out of date. I checked in September 2014 all reviews of my first edition which I wrote in the year 2011, revised in 2012. During this two years 98 % companies still existed, in 95 % of the companies where no changes and almost 80 % of the reviewed products where still in the market.
As already mentionned I wrote the new book until end of March 2015. In summer 2015 I checked again some facts and I made some correction as the change of the name of Brasstown Chocolate (formely It’s chocolate) and the fact that Allsop, Damien ceased operations (you can check this on page 157) was added the 5th June 2015. Three and a half month before publishing the book. And Clay write that the information in my book are out of date?
I don’ t think that any edition of Gault Millau or Michelin are more up to date than my book.
Grammatical and Typographical Errors
Maybe it is true that there are some errors and yes, unfortunally I’m personnally not in the position to check it. Otherwise the reader can take this errors as a charming fact for this book, translated from german to english. As I’m not able to evaluate this point I’m abstaining me to take more position.
Tolerate and Suspect
I don’ t agree with Clay’s opinion that in a reference standard nothing should be suspect. There are a lot of facts and informations which are communicated from companies, but sometimes there is no way to check these informations. Why should this be unspoken or unwritten?
Example: A company claim to be Tree-to-Bar and you ask as an author or journaliste to get information about this, but you don’ t get an answer. Should you accept it and don’ t speak/write about this secrecy? No, never. If a company don’t answer should be something wrong and I write about this.
Hispaniola and Sanchez Cocoa
This two kinds of cocoa are sold as different varieties. This word (in German „Sorten“) is used in German language as the word to make the difference between Hispaniola and Sanchez, but also to make the difference between Porcelana and Ocumare.
The chapter where this two beans are mentioned didn’t explain WHAT the beans are. The context is only that Hispaniola and Sanchez are the two beans which are famous in the Dominican Republic. Even if the traduction is not correct, it doesn’ t disturbs as it is not relevant.
Lazy Georg
This is completly nonsense.
It is hard to read this as it is a direct attack and aggression to my person.
I worked very hard to make all research for the book. In total more than two years and every doubt I had I followed up until I got a credible answer or, sometimes, there was a dead end without a satisfactory answer.
Often I send three, for or even five emails to get information, I tried to get by phone call informations, I searched for hours online, asked friends as Mark Christian and other well known chocolate experts. I travelled to many countries and searched in books.
The most informations are from the website of the companies, of course.
Cacaosuyo:
The concept of my book is to publish always the processing stage as communicated from the companies (when they communicate it). But also to publish the processing stage, when the companies NOT communicated it. In this case I had a lot of work...
Cacaosuyo claim to be not only Bean-to-Bar, but also to be Tree-to-Bar. Tree-to-Bar means that they own at least one cacao plantation and that the cocoa sourced for the chocolate comes from this plantation. I didn’ t got any proof about this and any request forward to Cacaosuyo was without response.
The website is empty and no other information are avaible.
I’m surprised that Clay only reproaches me that I doubt that Cacaosuyo is a Bean-to-Bar producer. Why he don’t reproaches me that I doubt the Cacaosuyo is a Tree-to-Bar producer?
Until a company don’ t proof that they are Bean-to-Bar (or Tree-to-Bar) I will always have the tendency not to believe. Especially if they claim to be Tree-to-Bar without showing proofs. Damn, which serious company don’ t use pictures etc. from his own plantation for marketing purpose if they are Tree-to-Bar?
And yes, I got reliable information that Cacaosuyo was not Bean-to-Bar at the time when I tasted the bars (end of 2014). If today they are Bean-to-Bar, nice. But it still lacks the proof of Tree-to-Bar.
And yes, I only write about rumours as of course I would never divulge my source of information.
The customer have the right to get easy access to informations and this is with Cacaosuyo not the case (by the way, I like the products and they got a quite good product review).
Pacari
Almost the same as Cacaosuyo, but even more outrageous.
1. They use for marketing very penetrating „Tree-to-Bar“. This is the first what you see when you open the website. But, they don’ t own a cocoa plantation which is able to source all the cocoa which Pacari use for chocolate bars. They have at this moment cocoa from eight different regions and I don’ t believe that Pacari owns 8 plantations around Ecuador and Peru (the Piura-bar is made with peruvian cocoa). On every bar is written: PACARI – Premium Organic Chocolate – From Tree to Bar.
It is incredible that nobody move and speak out what I write. This claim is a lie and much more lie than the „scandal“ of the Mast Brothers (this scandal is overdrawn). Shame on Clay that he support and protect a company with lies so obviously. Shame to the media who don’ t follow up this lie and shame to all the „Awards“ which accept to give prices to a company which obviously don’ t tell the truth.
Also in the case of Pacari I got reliable sources of information that not all chocolates are Bean-to-Bar (especially the bars with inclusions).
To finish this point about Bean-to-Bar:
In the case that I’m not able to verify myself the information of the company I wrote „unconfirmed“. This gives to the companies the possibility to be transparence and to proof the truth.
Last thing about Pacari:
The „Raw Chocolate“ is ridiculous as it is NOT Raw Chocolate. Santiago Peralta himself told me at the Salon du Chocolat Paris in 2014 that it is NOT Raw Chocolate. He calls it „Minimal processed“ chocolate. Why he don’ t communicate it as minimal processed chocolate?
After his explication Santiago himself was not able to tell me at which temperature the beans are treated. He told me only that it is much more than 50 degrees celsius.
Tree-to-bar: Lie, Raw Chocolate: Lie. How can I trust whatever Pacari communicate?
Hoja Verde
This is the biggest nonsense in your review. The only reason why Hoja Verde got such a long review is that the review was written by Mark Christian. I was not willing to censor or cut down his review. That’s all.
I have no more relationship to Hoja Verde since 2013 and even some of my recipes where changed after my engagement.
Patrice Chapon
Another error from Clay. It is simply wrong that Chapon was declared „unconfirmed“. Everybody who own the book can check it (pages 259).
The products got a good, but not a superb review as I don’ t like as much as before the quality of his assorted chocolates. There is nothing personal behind. His quality is not the same as four years ago, that’ s all.
Volume of reviews
Better the company, bigger the review? No, not in my book. Some companies has a long history, so I need more space to write about. Other companies don’ t worth to write more or to taste more than three chocolates. For example: Tasting three, four chocolates from Cadbury, Hershey or Milka gives me enough impression not to taste more. I prefer to take more time and space for companies such as Rogue, Fruition or Metiisto.
Maison Boissier
I start really not to understand what Clay really search? What is your problem? Boissier got even not one full page with a mediocre review. Do you want me insinate that I’ m corrupt?
I give you some more „critical“ reviews as they are friends of mine:
AMMA: Diego and Frederick are for many years friends.
Wonder Chocolate: Dito, Frederick is a good friend.
Akesson: I know him for long time.
Bright Chocolate/Australia: Yes, I spend the evening there with the family with a nice barbecue.
Zotter: He gave me a lot of samples for free.
Domori: Jep, nice guy with good contacts. I have to keep him hot, who knows?
Rogue: Yes, I idolize him for his courage.
Coppeneur: My old company.
Go Clay, search any possible irregularity.
I can honestly and without any doubt say and write NO ONE REVIEW is payed or a niceness because the company is from a friend (or even I got money).
Different company wanted to support me and I never accepted anything.
By the way, only for samples I spend more than 10.000 $...
Felchlin
Hey Clay, next error! If you had read my book attentively you would know that NO PRIVATE LABEL PRODUCER, neither Felchlin got a review.
But Felchlin make for Idilio and Original Beans two great Private Label product lines and only for this reason I mentionned them.
So the reviews of them are representative. Oh yes, perhaps I got money from Felchlin for this...
Dangerous Book - Again Out of Date
That’s not the truth. Every company had the possibility to tell me a date for changes. Two examples:
In my first edition I was in contact with Caffarel because they used artificial flavors (Vanillin) in their chocolate. They told me that they will change it in the next few months. I wrote this in my first edition (Unfortunally it was a lie as it still existe Caffarel products with artificial Vanillin). I wrote about this in the new edition (page 244 intro last phrase).
Benoit Nihant: When I got the samples he used couverture for his assorted chocolates. He promissed me that until September 2015 he would change to his own chocolate. I wrote it in my intro (page 612 last phrase)
Summary – tasting different
That’ s totally wrong. Many readers contact me saying that they agree in many, many times my opinion of tasting. Of course not all and not always, but very often.
In many case during a tasting people taste different things. This is a fact that I wrote in my book.
Rating
It is true that not all products were rated for the current edition. In this case it is written and every mature reader is able to perceive this.
Nevertheless more than 3.000 products were tasted for this edition. Mainly bad chocolates were not tasted (again), this are the short review. Why spending time for bad products if there are so many new things to discover?
I checked all companies before writing only a short review if they worth to retaste them.
For example Läderach from Switzerland. They still make the same chocolates and still use in some chocolates artificial flavors. I’m not interested to taste them again until they stopp to use artificial flavors etc.
I will ot justify myself for every short review as every reader can read them and will understand why I wrote only a short review.
This also is explainted in my book.
Batches
Again an error, Clay. Some batches are published (example: Brazen, page 227).
But, who cares which batch was tasted? The reader? What the hell you think is usefull to him to know that I tasted 6, 8 or 10 months ago batch #40, Bar 32 of 44 from the Brazen Bar Dominican Republic 70 %???
How many pages would I have to add if I note all batches? Many of the companies know when I got the chocolates. They only have to check when I bought them (as I bought mainly samples from them directly). Others as Domori or Zotter can check when they send me the samples.
The companies know that I tasted during September 2014 and March 2015. It is at this volume not possible to give all informations to the reader (ingredients list would be quite interesting also). Incredible that you don’ t have any understanding for this.
What’s behind it all and what we can gladly forego
Sorry that you don’ t understand the phrase. Perhaps the translation is not correct, but the initial idea was not that the two phrases are in context.
But I understand. You want to tear up the book and every thing you find is good to massacre.
Summary
I don’ t think that any of your accuses is correct. There are perhaps some delicate details which could be more clear, but in summary I don’ t agree at all with your opinion.
Conclusion
I will not write a lot as I’m tired to repeat all. I have the impression that 1. you are influenced by some people (especially Santiago Peralta) because they are friends and 2. You have a personal problem with me.
Your review is so much nonsense that I will not response anymore after this post. Your hidden allegations are far away from any fairness and for this there is no base for me to continue any discussion.
Bocas del toro, an island near the North border with Costa Rica. My girlfriend's late boyfriend bought some property and discovered it had 10,000 old cacao trees on it so they bought it back to life, I guess it has been organic for a really long time. We mostly use those beans or a neighbors who works on the farm so we know the fermentation is ok. We have an organic coop and sometimes broker their beans. I have been doing the coconut sugar bars for a health food store in Panama city, at first The taste was strange but as the bar ages it mellows. Just not use to the taste of that sugar, It may be the new thing.
yep, that is correct. https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/ is using this mold to do 2oz bars
https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/process/#anchor
Thanks Larry!
Joe,
I found the mold listed on another website. They should be about 100 grams.
Classic break away bar
approx 3.5oz, 3 cavities,
5 7/8x 3 x 3/8in,
stripes on each small rectangle
FYI - I make it here in Houston, TX
We make bars with it here in Panama, why dont you do it yourself? What is your price point? What percent sugar, cacao, butter ect are you after.
And by the way there are at least 6 good bean to bar makers within 40 miles of me, and we sell to tourists and locals. Ours is called the sweet dream, or Darklands. Organic beans from our farm, is our source of beans.
I sell organic beans to several bean to bar makers in the USA so for anyone to say they are the only one is cause for a law suit. I can give you a hint, Atlanta, Alexandria, and Ashville.
No specs on grams per mold/cavity at the website link. Do you have an approximate figure? Thanks for your quick answer!
Do you still have the molds for sale?
Hi thanks guys for your advice, its reasurring to know that its not just me and these beans that have had this problem. Sebastian, you mentioned they will always eventually occur if improperly stored, how best would you recommend storing the cocoa beans in order to minimise the chances of these moths taking hold? Currently i store them inside and have a UV fly zapper which helps, but i wondered if there were better precautions to make.
I have just discussed concerns i had with Rentokil (hope these answers can help others):
1)are they poisonous/dangerous to health - No, but like any living organism there is always the chance of bacteria being transferred
2) Do they just attack cocoa or attack finished chocolate also - predominantly they will only attack cocoa beans as that is their prefferred food source
3) What do the eggs look like - white/creamy, but also tiny, will only see them through a microscope
4) Can you safely fumigate the coca beans leaving them safe to use - Yes but the process is very expensive, starting at £3,000. So need to outweigh the cost of destroying beans, fumigating the room (normal non-food safe approx £400) and starting fresh, against using food safe fumigation (£3,000) which leaves the beans safe to use.
5) Once fumigated whats the risk of return - always a risk, moths are very common problem although not many want to admit to having it for obvious reasons, but everyone will likely have a problem with the moths at some point when dealing with cocoa beans.
Any more advice and experience to this thread would be great as i think its a problem that might not be discussed enough, but a problem that it seems is inevitable.
Hello Primal chocolate!
I've sent you an email at the address. Looking forward to reading your answer.
Alek
Email sent.
I am changing direction so I am seeling all my home-based hobby chocolate equipment. I have a:
2 x Premier Wonder. Great little machines that were used only few times each and bought new a year ago. $130 each.
1 x ACMC. Used ACMC chocolate tempering machine. Works great and includes 2 bowls and 2 baffles for multiple matches. Does not include lid/dust cover. I have bought it used so I don't know how many times it was used before me. I have used 3 times and works great. $420
10 x Polycarbonate chocolate molds. Barely used polycarbonate chocolate molds for bars that I bought new. The models is CW2110. No scratches in the surfaces. Dimensions are 6.1x3.0x0.3 in or 156x77x8 mm, 3 cavities, approx 2.85oz or 80 grams. $130 (13 each).
Contact me at davemuci gmail
Hello @honmeid,
Welcome to Seattle (when you arrive, that is)! I don't know of any jobs, but here's a list of bean-to-bar companies in the Seattle area:
Of course, you have likely already heard of chocolatiers like Fran's. I'm not as familiar with the confectionaries, but you might want to look at Fran's, Oh Chocolate!, Hotcakes, and Intrigue Chocolate. Aaron Barthel at Intrigue is very highly regarded.
http://www.seattlemag.com/article/best-chocolate-shops
http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=chocolate&find_loc=Seattle%2C+WA
http://www.getyourhotcakes.com/
Good luck!
Blessings,
Andrew
Yes. Use a fogger, tent/tarp your pallets to maximize contact / exposure time, and place your fogger under said tent. anything that ends in 'cide (pesticide, insectide, etc) i don't think i'd characterize as harmless to humans, so don't go looking for opportunties to breath it in or take a bath in it. It's very commonly used as part of routine pest management cycles, and will be most effective if you're storing in bulk to use on a regular basis (ie don't wait until you've got a room full of moths to begin treating).
