Forum Activity for @ChocolateRegards

As I work on recipes at home I use a regular refrigerator for my product which is enrobed with chocolate.  After taking the enrobed product out, there was  slight sweating.  I checked the room temp and it read 73-74F.  I turned on the house a/c and had temp at 66-68, sweat disappeared.  Aesthetically it looks fine but upon touch there is a graininess there and likely with a magnifying glass I am guessing it wouldn't look as smooth. Is it the humidity in the refrigerator that starts the problem or what is it that I need to understand and what are the remedies?  Thanks

Hi Clay,

I am looking for 25 lbs at time.  I am in Montana

garfoid -

In order to get chocolate to set properly (snap and sheen) it needs to be tempered to promote the formation of the right crystal structure.

Hand tempering is a skill that needs to be learned - a process that takes time and practice and not necessarily something that someone who is just making a few of something once a year (or lifetime) wants to master.

One option is to use a compound - a "chocolate" where cocoa butter is replaced by another fat, called a cocoa butter equivalent (or CBE) or cocoa butter replacement (CBR). These fats have higher melting points and are solid at room temperature and they don't need tempering. They are often sold as candy melts. 

However, if you are using real chocolate and don't have the patience or skill to temper, then adding some wax to the chocolate will force it to harden in an acceptable way when it cools.

I took a look through CFR 21. to see if there were any applications where paraffin could be used on a label without disclosing it and I don't see one. There are persistent claims that paraffin is added to cheap chocolates on a regular basis, and don't need to be disclosed because they can be listed as "other flavors" and I don't see that in the regulations regarding paraffin as a food additive.

How much are you looking for and where are you located?

If you copy and paste the URL into your browser (rather than clicking on it) it will come up.

Thanks for the reply Kerry, what would you say to people who claim that it is in cheaper chocolate bars, especially in hotter climates? 

Paraffin was commonly used in home made chocolates when I was a kid to avoid tempering - it is not used in chocolate these days.

Subscribed on Pocket Casts! Thanks so much for this! It's great! 

Maybe its stupid, but a low tech solution would be a brick you've kept in an oven at a low temperature over night, then turn the oven off, leaving the brick in there and it should maintain a warm temperature without getting too hot? 

Hey guys! 

I'm just curious as to what parafin wax does. Obviously being a wax, it helps the chocolate to set, well kinda 'forces' it to set around the wax molecules, giving it a higher melting point.

Is wax common in mass chocolate production? I can't find any manufacturer with an ingredient as 'wax' but there are so many claims, I just want to understand why. 

Any help is appreciated! 

Cheers!

Gareth 

Hey! I'm a Brit currently living in Turkey, although i'll be returning home soon to start my business there!

I own a novelty chocolate company, the details are super secret right now, but once we're launching i'll announce it here! 

I love designing my own moulds on Fusion 360, 3D printing them and casting them with food safe silicone! I'll be asking lots of questions so its a good start to introduce myself!

Can I ask you, would the refiner work for making but butters, so you think? If so, I would be interested. You can email me at Christy @ christysconfections .com (no spaces)

Sorry, total for the tall dark green boxes is 100 boxes/1 case.

If you're still invested, please send your email address to christine.neococoa@gmail.com and I'll send you a PayPal invoice. Thanks!

Hi everyone!

We have a very lightly used Packint destoner for sale. Purchased at $9000 and we are asking $7000. See photos below and feel free to email annie@dandelionchocolate.com with any questions!

 IMG_8978 (1).JPG.jpg - 65KB

I would like to get all the TALL Dark green.

Would you check your inventory on the quantity so we know for sure?

thanks

100 - $12.00 UPS

400 - 30.00 UPS

(UPS was half the price of USPS.)

the email i got didnt have the photos. so thank you.

what is shipping for green box tall to zip 33134?

100 and then all 400?

thanks

I will buy it, Kristian. Will email you.

interested in your larger boxes.  the large green one, is it the medium green color.  it looks like you have 3 different colored green ones.

In the larger size, 3.5 x 3.5 x 1.5, I have 400 boxes that are dark green and 100 light green.

The other green box is the smaller size, 3.5 x 3.5 x 7/8.

 greentall.jpg - 160KB

interested in your larger boxes.  the large green one, is it the medium green color.  it looks like you have 3 different colored green ones.

Lightly used Krebs LM3 hotCHOC Heated Chocolate Spray Gun for sale.

$200 + shipping

kristian (at) nuttyness (dot) com

 2017-06-19 11.23.39 (Large).jpg - 192KB

Hi Jonas,

Thank you for replying. Yes, a 40lb one could work. Please send me the details to: cisalass@gmail.com 

Thank you!

Cristina

Thanks so much for all those ideas.

I use a restaurant food warmer with a roll top lid that I've hacked in a fan and temperature control. You can see it here:

https://www.facebook.com/PotomacChocolate/photos/a.125991854108467.9786.124491320925187/547818471925801/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/PotomacChocolate/photos/a.125991854108467.9786.124491320925187/547819058592409/?type=3&theater

Other possibilities are food warming cabinets, bread proofers, or dehydrators.

I use the warming draw at the bottom of my oven.

hi there,

I would love to know what is a effective way to warm my molds to just the right temp?  I am tired of using a hairdryer and looking for something that can warm alot of molds at once.

Thanks

Hello Cristina,

What size are you looking for? I have a 40lb one that will be available for sale in mid August.

Warmly, Jonas

Brian,

Sorry, I don't know how to send a private message on this site. Could you please send an email with your contact info to acchocolateco@gmail.com?

Thanks,

Ali

How did you arrive at 0.01g?  0.01g / 28g is 0.04%.  That seems like it might be overkill for chocolate.  An inclusion would weigh much more than that.

You could also look into a pancake batter dispenser. I got one a while back, but never got around to really testing it out. It would probably work with larger inclusions than a syringe, but may not be as precise. You could fill it from the spout on your tempering machine.

The one I have is manual, but they also make motorized versions. Here's the one I have:

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/aluminum-pancake-waffle-batter-dispenser/158PCD13.html

I would look into a large syringe over a funnel. There's a link in a couple threads either here on the Chocolate Life or on Chocolate Alchemy. You can be very precise with them and they're not messy. Larger inclusions would be a problem, though.

So far I have provided at most a few hundred pieces at a time, all boxed thus far. I am interested in your mention of "open-stock." In those situations what was done to keep heat and humidity from the chocolates? Since I wrote my initial message, I have spoken with the baker, whose shop will open in a month or so. He is planning to have a small retail area with local products, so as long as he has a cooler, that is perfect for me--it means just putting one box out for display. The restaurant is another matter. 

So I am wanting .01 of a gram accuracy, and the bar is 28 g.  And I currently use a different mold (polycarbonate) and because it is rigid, and the shape of the bar narrower, I don't have as much deviation in the weight of each bar.  I fill them by hand either with a scoop, or the spout on my Perfect Air temperer.  And then I scrap off excess.  It is very messy and if I could afford a fancy tempering machine with the depositor that would probably eliminate alot of trouble. In the meantime, we are currently looking at buying a scale that reads to .01g and then purchasing a funnel to deposit the chocolate, but I am concerned about how time consuming that process will be.  Also we are trying to get a funnel that can handle inclusions. 

What do other folks use who don't have the fancy machines to do it for them? 

I've been through this a bunch of times with different resellers, including retail, restaurants and cafes/bakeries. Some pre-boxed and some as open-stock. Each situation posed unique challenges and it wasn't always possible to achieve long-term financial success with some locations. 

How much stock do you provide on consignment? 

Could I ask how you are filling them now?

I'll send you my UPS number. PM me with a phone number. 

Brian

I don't have the answer, but whoever does is going to want to know what accuracy you are seeing and what your target is (i.e., +/- x grams for each case).

I have sold boxes of chocolates on a consignment basis with some success. I seal each box in plastic (not vacuumed), and the seller stores them in a cooler. I include directions to bring the box to room temp before opening the plastic, and this procedure controls condensation. I include an extra open box (covered in plastic wrap) for display so that buyers can see what they will get. I like the consignment arrangement because it gives me control over freshness--there is no incentive for the vendor to keep the chocolates beyond their estimated shelf life. It does end up costing me, but to me that is less important than my reputation, and certainly less important than health concerns for the eventual consumer.

Now I have two new reseller possibilities, a bakery and a restaurant, which present somewhat different issues. The bakery might agree to sell plastic-wrapped boxes as I have been doing (though I imagine their customers may want to buy individual pieces as in a chocolate shop), but the restaurant would want the chocolates available as customers order them from the dessert menu, not with an hour-long delay for the bag to come to room temp before it is opened. In neither case would I expect a humidity-controlled storage cabinet. I've seen what happens to chocolate exposed to humidity, and it is not a pretty picture.

If anyone has experience with the issues I mention, I would appreciative having your thoughts.

Hello everyone,

I am looking for a gently used melanger, small or medium, in Northern California.

Thank you,

Cristina

hi there,  I am trying to determine the most efficient and effective way to fill molds with an exact amount of chocolate.  I recently weighed many of my bars that are coming out of custom made plastic molds (not as rigid as poly-carbonate), and they all come out at different weights.  If there is a particular way to use funnels and scales?  I am looking for details....ie. what type of scale in order to get precise and also be able to hold the weight of the entire mold (4- 1oz cavities)?

What type of funnel and where would I find it?  What type of machine? if there is one that doesn't cost the moon.  I really have no idea if there is a small scale depositor that would be in my reach financially, but if so please recommend. 

Thanks

Beth