Forum Activity for @Jessica O'Keeffe

I will delve deeper, a quick look on the web sight only stated Canada/USA, thank you 

The EZtemper ships worldwide and works with all voltages. It's the only one of it's kind in the world in this price range!

Does anyone know of a similar unit available in the UK? I have been looking at an automatic tempering machine to help speed the process up but this looks like it would be a lot more useful to me overall. Any advice would be much appreciated 

Thank you, I'm attempting another small batch today and will try to fridge them immediately

Its only the side in direct contact with the mould so i think its not cooling quick enough and the immediate chill will hopefully resolve this- i will post my results later!

I've found with things like honeycomb which are great insulators - that I get bloom if I don't get them in the fridge for a few minutes while the chocolate is crystallizing furiously. Milk chocolate seems to be the worst for this.

 Hello, I hope someone can help please

Over the weekend I have tempered over 15kg of both dark and white chocolate using the seeding method with no issue however when I come to the milk chocolate I am having nothing but issues

I am using barry callebeaut, honeycomb( not coated in coco butter) pieces set in the middle, vacume form plastic moulds ( polished)

I am checking the temper before use and it is always fine, the back of the chocolate and the chocolate itself once set is fine but I am still having issues with bloom? Can you get a bad batch from the supllier? 

please can anyone help! I cant upload an image as it wont allow me to? sorry

Food Bloggers of Canada recently published an article of mine on dark-milk chocolate - a category of chocolate that continually fascinates me: http://www.foodbloggersofcanada.com/2015/06/dark-milk-chocolate-a-new-chocolate-category-to-embrace/ This is a bit Canadian-focused, but still relevant to what's been happening the last few years with this trend.

In conjunction with the article, I published a list of dark-milk bars here: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2015/06/the-ultimate-list-of-dark-milk.html

If you know of others that are amazing or have great potential - let me know!  (or....feel free to send samples as well )

I have been scanning the chocolate industry again here in North America, and after the rapid launch of numerous bean-to-bar chocolate businesses has come a wave of new retailers (in store and online) selling large selections of bean-to-bar chocolate, as well as chocolate-of-the-month clubs popping up all over the place.  I have put them all in a list here:  http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2015/07/list-of-specialty-retailers-of-craft.html. Admittedly, my U.K., Europe and Asia, etc. sections are sparse, and I am likely missing a few in North America - so if you know of others, please let me know and I'll get them added!  And if you have been thinking about this new wave of retailers, I'd love to hear some discussion on it! Jeffrey Stern's article on LinkedIn came at the right time while I was researching this, making me wonder what direction the industry will go in: specialty retailers or mass supply of craft chocolate at national chains? Or both?

For the very popular list of U.S. bean-to-bar craft chocolate makers, click here .

For the Canadian list of bean-to-bar craft chocolate makers, click here .

Lists for other parts of the world coming soon!

It is the 'big' flat surface. 8 by 8 cm flat is sufficient to cause a problem with a thermoformed mold which contracts differently than metal or polycarbonate.

You can make the whole surface look the same (however it will be matte not shiny) by using a badger hair brush (or my personal less expensive option - a Japanese varnish brush from Lee Valley). I suppose you could try polishing with ice water as well.

No contact - so the melter is still available. 

Thanks 

There are many cocoa butter benefits. Cocoa Butter(also called theobroma oil) is a pale yellow look alike of regular butter. Cocoa butter comes from the vegetable fat from the cocoa bean. You can eat it, use it as ointment,  use as s pharmaceutical, and plenty more! It does wonders for your body and I will show the benefits of cocoa butter, but first lets see some other things about cocoa butter…….

http://mycocoatree.com/cocoa-butter-benefits/

Cocoa Butter Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size : 1 tablespoon

Calories:  120

Total Fat:  14 grams

Saturated Fat:  8 grams

Polyunsaturated fat:  0.4 grams

Monounsaturated fat:  4.5 grams

Cholesterol:  0 milligrams

Sodium:  0 milligrams

Carbohydrates:  0 grams

Dietary Fiber : 0 grams

Sugar: 0  grams

Protein: 0  grams

source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_butter  and http://mycocoatree.com/cocoa-butter-benefits/

Facts About Cocoa Butter: 

1.  Cocoa butter fats are great at lasting a long time, it won’t go bad up to about 2 – 5 years.

2.  Cocoa butter is used in mostly all chocolates from white to milk to dark they all contain cocoa butter.

3.  Cocoa butter is made from the residue of roasting, fermenting,  and when they are separated from their hulls. About 50 % of the residue is used to make cocoa butter.

4.  Cocoa butter actually tastes just like cocoa and smells just like it too!

5.  Cocoa butter has a melting point of about 90 – 100 degrees, so you can leave it out at room temperature and it won’t melt.

Cocoa Butter Benefits:

1. Helps Sensitive Skin

If your skin cracks  or it doesn’t do well under climate change. You can use cocoa butter. It helps and soothes the skin of sensitive or dry skin. Most skin lotions have some sort of cocoa butter inside of it.

2. It Can Heal Diseases

It can help heal diseases such as eczema. “Eczema symptoms include itchy, red, and dry skin caused by inflammation. It’s most commonly found in children, although adults can get it” –  http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/eczema/ . If you have this disease then you can use cocoa butter or lotion that has cocoa butter to help heal it.

3. Lots of Antioxidants 

: Antioxidants help fight free radicals and replenish your skin fro signs of aging or stress. For this you can use it as a lotion, an oil, or just eat it. Like I said before cocoa butter does have a lot of calories, so  would suggest lotion or oil form.

4. Better Shaves

If you use cocoa butter for shaving, it will make the shave more relaxing and smoother. You can use both shave cream or gel with cocoa butter if you wish.

5. Go Away Stretch Marks

Cocoa butter can heal stretch marks or some types of scars. It is actually recommended by doctors for women that are pregnant to use cocoa butter so they won’t get stretch marks after they are through will pregnancy.

6. Have Better Hair

Cocoa butter can help moisturize your hair, heal damaged hair, and help with dry hair. If you have problems with your hair cocoa butter can pretty much fix all of them. This goes for guys too! Guys I know that we want to look good wherever we go. Well your hair is one of the things any girl looks at first. If you have dry hair, unmanageable hair, or anything like that then use cocoa butter!

This is my full article from http://mycocoatree.com/cocoa-butter-benefits/

I am the Owner and Operator of mycocoatree.com . We show everything cocoa and chocolate. I am just trying to run my passion which is my website, if you could help me with my passion it would be very appreciated. mycocoatree.com

1 Cup / All Purpose Flour

2 tsp / Baking Powder

1/2 cup / Brown Sugar , packed

1 1/4 / Salt

1 1/2 tsp / Vanilla Extract

Dairy

1/3 cup / Unsalted Butter

1/2 cup / Milk

Frozen

1 scoop / Vanilla Ice Cream

Liquids

1 1/4 cup / Hot water

For more recipes go to http://mycocoatree.com/cocoa-recipes/

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The History of Cocoa

Cocoa was first consumed by the Mayans, Olmec, and Aztecs as early as 1900 BC. Cocoa was not made known by the rest of the world until 1502 when Christopher Columbus reached Nicaragua while trying to find an alternate trading route with Asia. But actually Hernan Cortes, who was the leader of a Spanish quest in 1519 to the Aztec Empire, who returned to Spain with a cocoa mix called xocoati (chocolate drink). The drink was very bitter and many people weren't interested in it, until they added sugar.........

For The Rest Of This Article Go To http://mycocoatree.com/history-of-cocoa/

Hello,

I'd be interested in getting info on this mill as well. info@potomacchocolate.com

Thanks,
Ben

definitely interested, where abouts are you located. Please feel free to email me at katie@soulroasters.com

 Hi Patrick 

Where is the machine located? is it 50hz or 60hz?

Would you please send us some pics and more info to chaqchao@gmail.com

Thank you

Fits about 250kg. Exit screw discharge is reversible. 220V 3PH - new panel. 

I easily added a water jacket ( removed now ) with pipe and /pump.  It could be done permanently with some welding.

Comes with a freshly powder coated lid.

7000 USD

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As frustrating as it is, i fear i am going to have to admit defeat to the release marks on my chocolate bars and simply make do for now. I reckon i have tried everything now, from various different methods of cooling, to warming the mould first at different temps, and finally today i got round testing out the theory of strengthening my thermoformed mould with a metal bracket on the back in the hope that this would fix the issue. sadly it hasnt. The most annoying thing is i still have no idea WHY it leaves this mark on the chocolate, my square bars are only 8cm x 8cm, but obviously this is a big enough flat surface like Michael says to be an issue. Any extra ideas would be very welcome.....

It is a three phase engine. Will contact you both by email, Regards, Ewald

Looking to sell our Selmi One tempering machine. 2012 model Used just over 2 dozen times. 

Single phase 220v

Tank capacity 12 kg

Tempers 12 Kg of chocolate in 7 minutes

heated vibrating table

have difficulty uploading picture here: will send pictures

Price $6000 FOB Origin

Looking to sell our Selmi One tempering machine. 2012 model Used just over 2 dozen times. 

Single phase 220v

Tank capacity 12 kg

Tempers 12 Kg of chocolate in 7 minutes

heated vibrating table

have difficulty uploading picture here: will send pictures

Price $6000 plus shipping

Hi there, we would be happy to take the melter off your hands.

Good Morning @dom-ramsey,

I think I know what your problem is. Are you using beans from local farms? I've had the same problem before, and specially at this time of the year. If so, then your problem is that the beans are not completely dry yet. It took me quite some time to figure out my problem when it had happened to me. I had just the same problem, and got astringend and bitter chocolate even from suppliers that I had good experiances before. I finally figured it out by using beans that were bitter after months of having them just sitting on a drying rack not paying attention to them. And then they made perfectly fine chocolate. 

It is sort of like with Walnuts. If not completely dry=bitter!!!

Let me know if I'm right

We've scaled down and are now using two 6kg Mol d'Art Melters, so this one has to go.

It's in great shape. We barely used it.

Includes a second melting pan.

$800.00 plus UPS shipping from Seattle.

Details and specs here:

http://www.tcfsales.com/products/250-Mol-d%27Art-Chocolate-Melter-Tempering-Machine-24-kg/

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There are a few things a play when tempering chocolate, which nobody seems to mention in their online instructions:

1.  The thermocouple on your ACMC is NOT 100 percent accurate.  I have seen them out as far as 4 degrees.

2.  Humidity is going to play a factor in the crystalization of your chocolate.  Dry days it flows great.  Wet days it's like working with tar.

3.  The entire time you are working with your chocolate it is trying to form crystals.  You can control the fluidity (viscosity) of your chocolate simply by raising and lowering the temperature while you are working with it one or two degrees at a time.  Inexperienced chocolatiers will add cocoa butter to their tempered chocolate when it gets too thick.  This only compounds the problem they are trying to solve, and mutes the taste.  When your chocolate thickens, raise the temp of your ACMC a degree and wait a bit.  If it's still too thick, raise it up one more and wait a bit.  Once the fluidity is more manageable do a temper test.  You'll quickly find your threshold for working temperature, and will never look back.

Just remember: Chocolate works at IT'S pace - not yours.  Be patient.  Pay attention to detail, and in no time you too will be a Kung Fu Temper Master!

Brad

Brad,

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess my knowledge of tempering is more limited than I thought. How can I create beta V crystals without the batch over crystallizing? Doesnt the working temp have to be <92 to maintain the temper?

That's definitely the problem though, because until I add the seed the chocolate is very workable.

Thanks!

Your working temperature is too low and/or your chocolate is far too crystalized when you start working with it (it will be very thick).

Use your ACMC to temper the chocolate, and find a working temperature where the chocolate stays fluid in the machine for a period of time.  I have 6 ACMC machines and I work in lower temperatures than you do, so I know they will hold the chocolate in temper and in a fluid state for a long time.

Once you know what your acceptable working temperature is, then you can take chocolate out of the machine and mold it any time you like without issue.

Cheers

Brad

Where the beans come from is not quite as important as their acidity before the roast, and as well, guaging their acidity while roasting.  

I have beans that I only roast for 30 min, and others (such as my Brazilian beans) that go as long as an hour in the oven.

What you need to pay close attention to is the smell.  They start as brownies baking, then become very vinegary, and then go back to rich brownies and light acidity.

I have standardized a roasting temperature in my shop, of 300 degrees F in a convection oven (equates to 325 in a standard oven), and then just vary the time.

That seems to work pretty well for me.

Hope that helps.

Brad

Choklat

Heavy duty vibrating table - very lightly used.

$600.00 plus shipping from Seattle.

http://m.tcfsales.com/productdetail.mobile?id=252

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James - thermoformed molds are known for this, and the problem is exacerbated if your mold has long, flat surfaces. I have both types of molds (those and poly), and as far as I can tell it's just about impossible not to get release marks with the thermoformed molds. If you figure out a fix for this I would be fascinated to hear it, but I suspect the only realistic solution is the obvious one.

I agree about the roasting times/temps. That seems like an unusually low temp and a really fast roast. 16 minutes is more like a coffee bean cycle, except of course the temps would be much, much higher.  In my experience you want most cacao bean temps, depending of course on the bean, to rise up into the 260º to 290º range. And you want them at that temp, again depending on the bean, for 20-40 minutes. Yes, that's a wide range of times and temps, but your own efforts fall outside of anything I've generally see work well. 

As for Brazilian beans I don't know if the ones I've worked with are the same as the ones you have, but I would consider starting at a much higher temp (300º with hi fan if you're using a convection oven), leaving it there for 5-8 minutes, and then dropping the temp to somewhere in the 270º-280º range for another 25 minutes or so. If you find that you are losing too much of the bean's "personality", then lower than second phase by 10º or so and try again. With really bright beans (Madagascar, etc) you have to tread more carefully with the heat, but I find that the beans with less bright and/or citrusy attributes can often handle a fuller roast without losing their unique notes. 

Also, I've found that while many beans conch out well within 24 hours, there are others that really benefit from a second day in the grinder. A small number even require a third, but in my opinion that's rare. (Tip: conching/grinding temps will often increase significantly in small grinders as you add more nibs. In my Premiers I've seen differences of as much as 25º with 6lbs vs. 3lbs. So if you're testing a bean keep those grind quanitities the same to decrease your conching variables.)

That having been said, a problem with astringency might also suggest a chalkiness, because the two are somewhat similar. That can sometimes occurs when the grind is not quite right. As those of us who use them know, stone grinders (especially the small ones) do have their limitations. Although there seems to be an increasing trend to forgo pre-grinding, I still think it helps, especially with smaller grinders. And of course you'll want to make sure that your stones are not sitting too loosely on their grinding plate. 

OK, that's what I've got. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Thanks guys I will go back to the drawing board with my roasting and see what comes of it. Just needed some encouragement and a light at the end of the tunnel. 

No, the original extraction might have been by steam distillation or expression. While things like vanilla will often be extracted by alcohol or Co2.

I am currently having the same issue with my chocolate bar moulds, temperature of the tempered chocolate is correct, tested it on back of palette knife and the chocolate sets hard with no streaks, yet when it comes out of the mould I get these light swirls just on the centre of the bars. After reading this I warmed the moulds before pouring, and also increased airflow with use of a fan and some cooling racks for setting, room temp is about 20degrees C so not too cold, yet I am still having the exact same issue. Also tried various cooling methods such as total set in fridge, total set at room temp, mix of fridge and room temp setting but still same outcome. So I now agree with Larry and think it could be because unlike poly moulds, my thermoformed moulds are more flexible and so are actually flexing with the contracting chocolate and leaving this middle circle bit (that doesn't flex) to set differently. Will try strengthening the moulds today and will report back with my findings.

Hi Larry, thanks for the link. It does sound very similar to the issue I am having, I tend to agree with your theory that the light thermoformed plastic mould is flexing with the chocolate as it contracts and then leaving this middle circle area. Going to try and strengthen moulds today and see how it goes, will also post in other thread my findings.

48" Alternative Air refrigerated and humidity controlled chocolate display case for sale.

Works well, cleaned regularly, and was in use until last month when I purchased a bigger case from the same company.

Three tiers of glass shelves, each with its own fluorescent bulb for great visibility of product. Price includes acrylic trays.

You must move or arrange moving/shipping yourself (located on ground level about 4 feet from a door, so easy access. Located 45 min. NE of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

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Hi all,

I've been making chocolate for about 9 months without much problem. However, since I've moved my production into a shared kitchen space held at 68F, I can't seem to mold fast enough. 

I'm using:

- ACMC temperer

- 72% Ecuador chocolate, 28% sugar

-  Dental Vibrator 

I heat to 120F, cool to 92F; add seed; stir like a bandit, and mold immediately. I spend most of my time stirring the chocolate and do all the shaking and banging of my trays to get the chocolate to set evenly. I fail every time. 

Any advice?

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Just make sure you're not using water soluble flavors - sometimes folks get mixed up and use the two interchangably..

The roast time seems very short. When we do a low roast (as your temps seem to indicate) we often do 1kg roasting for an hour. Also, Forastero beans can often take a higher degree of roasting (closer to 300F) - but obviously I wouldn't roast at that temp for an hour. I'd try experimenting with your roasting times and temperatures.