Forum Activity for @Robert O'Byrnes

Freddo, I have been using Fbm Unica for about one year now. I would strongly recommend this continuos tempering machine. As Clay mentioned you will want to add the artisanal package such as the heavier motor for craft chocolate.  The working bowl holds 25kg of chocolate. Simply add chunks of chocolate when the bowl is about half empty and continue working your chocolate. No need to seed. The only downside in my opinion is working manual is limited. However, having said that, Fbm will Skype with you and give you very good technical assistance. 

I only ever temper one 50lb batch in a day, but if you had pre-melted chocolate on hand, I'm sure you could double or triple that.

Clean up is not too bad. The whole scraper assembly pulls out as one piece and then further disassembles for easy cleaning, and the tank is just like any other tank.

@ben thanks.  How much chocolate can you temper in a day and how easy is clean up?

Greetings,

We want to buy the Twirlo Coating Kettle you advertised.
We don't know how to contact you, and wanted to place the order ASAP.

Is the unit still available?

You can contact me via henkens@mac.com, or by phone at (252) 646-1278. 
This is a number in NC in the USA.

We can pay for the unit by paypal or any card you preferr.

We hope to hear from you soon.

Robert Henkens and Celia Bonaventura

I have some of the tilting ones and they work fine, fully ventilated just like the 1.5litre version, and no issues with overheating. Coming up on 12 months use. Belts don't seem to last long though.

Check Uline.com they should have what you're looking for (If the standard size does not fit, they may have custom size as well).

http://www.uline.com/Grp_93/Insulated-Shippers-and-Supplies?pricode=WF712&AdKeyword=styrofoam%20cooler&AdMatchtype=p&gclid=CPPXp_qM_8UCFREoaQodLSkA8g&gclsrc=aw.ds

Jeremy, feel free to email your response to nicole@essencebychocolate.com or call me at 415.519.7155. Thanks!

Hi James,

About direct contact with company supplying the machines for buying multiple machines  - you mean the company that produces them ? If so, you have their contact person to turn fot it?

Thanks

Hey Jeremy! Good to hear from you. No worries re the lid, I bought a new one from Hilliard . 

How much are you asking for one of the Chocovisions? I don't do fudge, but I am considering chocolate covered nuts although I think what I really need at this point is just a simple panner.

Cheers,

Nicole

Hi Nicole....  

I remember selling you your Hilliard Dipper.  I'm glad you love it!!!  

I FOUND THE LID!!!!!   I can Mail it to you if you want it!

I don't have another one at this time but I do have a couple of Chocovision Revelation X 3210's that I would be willing to part with. These are great machines and have a larger capacity than the Little dipper.  I've got quite a few of them and use them daily.

Also, if interested, I have a Calico Cottage fudge kettle and a Belt Coater for sale.  Beltt Coaters are for panning chocolate dragee and can be very fun and productive.  The link for the belt coater is decorchocolates.com/BeltCoater.aspx

Hi there,

I'm in the market for a Hilliard Little Dipper as I love the one I have, which I bought used, and need a second one. Any one have an extra one they would like to sell used?

Thanks!

Nicole

A bit of a challenge - but I made a video showing tempering and working with white chocolate using EZtemper - shows working with the chocolate at a much higher temperature allowing you to get a nice thin shell.

@aura An older model Savage Bros. 50lb table top tempering machine.

Hi, if this topic has already been covered please forgive. 

What temoering machine do you use? What do you like and don't like about it? 

Hi, I'm looking for small printed boxes that I can ship my chocolate in but then can become a display rack for the bars.  Any online companies people have used for this?

 @ben which temperer do you have

Anyone have any experiance of these?

Thanks!

I'd say the entire practice is a single lawsuit away from oblivion.  I certainly wouldn't build a business on it.

True enough, I guess there is a big difference between "safe" and "safe enough"

i'm not familiar with them.  i think it's safe to say that every day, people do things that they shouldn't do simply because they don't know any better.  If the burden of safety was applied universally, cigarettes would not exist 8-)  Studies have shown over and over again that if you believe something's ok, you're going to do it regardsess of what the actual data says.  Thats' the reason we've got a raw chocolate movement that won't go away.  And the reason why people will keep trying to drink things loaded with heavy metals, pesticides, and mycotoxins.

Do companies like Crio Bru not have to prove their products are safe for consumption?

It has to do with your temperatures.  I'd suggest contacting the chocolate company to inquire about their recommendation, since we don't know the formulation of the chocolate.  After dipping them, return the dipped bars to your blast freezer quickly if possible.

Yes.  Consumption of shell based products is a fantastically terrible idea.  Lots of discussion here already on the boards covering the why's of that.

@sebastian  Would you consider that after roasting at, let say, 120ºC/250ºF for 35-45 minutes the micotoxins are still present?

Just curious where I can find material on the husks. People say its full of metals but I have had no luck finding much on it. And more and more people are consuming them.

Hi,

Does anyone know a good source for high quality paper envelopes / bags for chocolate bars? Similar to what you see Madecasse and other brands using now. I would like to use for small production bar and be able to apply stickers for various flavors. 

I am having some trouble with my dipped ice cream bars.  Shortly after I dip them, they devolop little "pimples" of melted ice cream.  I use a basic chocolate & coconut oil dip that is slightly above room temp.  Is there something I am doing wrong?  I start with -10 degree ice cream.

Completely fine to use as compost.  Fantastically terrible idea to use as a brewed item for consumption.

The Savage Bros. temperers do not need to be seeded. They use a water jacket hooked up to a cold water supply to cool the chocolate.

Also, I haven't had any issue with keeping the pump warm, but not too warm. Just run it on the timer with the heater off. 

What about those companies making brewing cocoa from the shell?

Yes I meant prima.  Our reservations on the batch machines is the need to seed them.  Thanks for all this info.  very helpful

Hi Aura. 

11 origins. Wow. Do you mean the Prima?

I'm still searching for answers myself but I've learnt alot in the past few weeks.

It depends on what your chocolate is like, what your throughput is like (how fast you will use the chocolate in the machine), what you are making (bars?), how big your batch is. Its a minefield out there and not alot of solid information to go on. 

I think the main thing to consider is in-country customer support - you dont want to be on the phone to Italy or France at 1am trying to sort out problems, not unless you can speak french and italian.

Ask to see the user manual of any machine you are considering. Some manuals are hopeless but others may help your decision.

Regarding the Prima. As Clay has said the small machines take alot of dialling in (I know because I currently have a small machine), they have a shorter screw pump (auger) which means less cooling power, not good for thick chocolate. And the temperature difference between working temperature and tempering temperature is small (0.5 degree) which means you will be working with you chocolate alot cooler then you probably have been. This is not configurable unfortunately. And again not good for thick chocolate. Its only when you get to bigger machines that you get longer screw pump and more temperature range in the tempering curve. 

If youve been tempering on a slab you will be used to working with three temperatures. The continuous machines mostly only allow you adjust two temperatures (melting & working) and the machine will decide what the tempering (seeding) temperature is.  I assume these machines are mainly made for working with coverture which can stay more fluid at cooler temperatures, but if you want to run your working temperature high, to keep fluidity in your bean-to-bar chocolate, you will sacrifice the seeding temperature because the seeding temperature is fixed (0.5C - 2C degrees less) to the working temperature. Hope you can follow me. There will be compromise somewhere. However with a batch tempering machine you can play with all three temperatures as much as you want.

My ideal machine would have, 25-40kg bowl, long powerful auger, user configurable three point tempering, removable/reversable/variable speed auger, pneumatic dosing head and be compatible with an automatic mould loader.

Now I'm no expert so I'm just passing on what I have learnt these past weeks. This sort of information just isnt out there. It would be nice if an expert could join this discussion to give better explanation of these machines.

We too are in Canada and we looked at the air4 but it's a wheel and requires seeding method which with 8 origins seems like a challenge to have tempered chocolate in every variety always on hand.  

We put our roasted shells in our compost that we use on our garden beds.  Is this unwise?

I'm curious for this answer to as we are in the same boat.  We currently have about 11 origins.  We are leaning towards the prime.  Any thoughts on this size?

Hi all,

We are looking for a suitable fridge in order that we can speed up production of our bars and I stumbled across these fron Vantage House in the UK:

https://www.vantagehouse.com/chocolate-equipment-results/CHOCOLATE%5FRANGE/Chocolate-Range

Does anyone have any experance with this fridge Brand and is this suitable for cooling down bars in the moulds faster?

Thanks

Calum

Hey guys, still browsing for one of these. If anyone is looking to sell this, or maybe even a selmi, let me know. I am looking to buy asap.

Kyle

What "language" do they speak?

I've been having a really frustrating time with distributors, and wondering:

1) how widespread is this incompetence/apathy?

2) how do you put up with it until you can order direct from manufactuers?

3) is there a good alternative for the little guys who don't want to order a year's worth of supply at once (from 7 different places)?

Thanks!

As the owner of the above linked chain belt upgrade, I can't recommend it enough (it may cost you more than the machine though, but I felt it was worth it personally) I did have to make a few final alterations to it after that photo was taken, and the noise is down to a slightly more acceptable level.

I'm keen to try one of these power twist belts though, there is a fenner supplier local to me who I hope would be able to get one in, in the UK. I've been using a belt coating spray too which has helped (but not a lot)

Hi, I'm looking to add some colors to my bars / barks / brittles with edible flowers like roses and Nasturtiums.
But the concern is that they would wilt too soon.

Does anyone here have any experience with edible flowers with chocolate?
I'm considering a light sugar glaze for preservation, but hoping I might get some feedback here before I try that.

Thanks!

Having been at this game now for almost 10 years, I've tried a lot of things.

The belt you want to switch to is a linking V belt.  They almost never stretch, are almost impossible to wear out, and are a collection of links which can easily be added or removed, or even replaced if you sieze the bowl and burn a spot on the belt.  

Check it out:  http://www.fennerdrives.com/powertwist-plus/

I'm not sure where everyone is, but most transmission supply places carry them, or in North America, Acklands Grainger.

Brad

This website sells replacement parts for the Premiers. Might be best to contact them first and have a chat:

http://indichocolate.com/products/chocolate-machine-replacement-parts?variant=1168767445

I've also seen this photo (at the top of the thread)

http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/thread/1572/premier-grinder-loosing-refining-ability?page=2