Forum Activity for @73_t

Thanks for the good information.

They're cocoa moths.   Preetty soon they'll be flying everywhere.  They're on all cocoa beans, from every origin.  

Keep your beans in a cool and dry place and the eggs won't hatch.  If you need to fumigate, that's also done regularly in cocoa warehouses all around the world.  

It is impossible to order beans from anywhere in the world that will not have an infestation issue over time, if improperly stored.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or inexperienced.

Hi everyone,

not sure how common this is as i cant find much information about it. Basically i got a small sample of cocoa beans from venezuela, didn't get around to trying them out for several months, but i just came to trial them out and found a weird bug/lavae type thing on the inside of the sack, at first i thought it might be just a random bug as i have never come across it before, however i roasted a batch 130 centigrade for about 15mins. But cracked open a bean to test the nib flavour and found another lavae inside it. I did a bit of research and found that it could be the 'warehouse moth'. But no information on how to go about getting rid of it.

Has anyone else had a similar issue, or heard of these pests? and what can be done to either get rid of them? or what process do you undertake to sort out beans with potential bugs against safe beans?

major help needed as concerned about ordering any large amount, from what is otherwise a very nice flavoured bean.

thanks

James

We are a small batch chocolate maker in Austria, working bean to bar for our ZART Chocolate Makers product range.

For our pralines and other bars (not! indicated as bean to bar) we use couverture. (although we use of course some of our "homemade" chocolate in truffles). We intend to grow our chocolate making capacity, to cover our entire need in the pralines from our own but that is a longer process.

By "hand blender" i meant a stick blender. Thank you for the response that i dont have to invest that much money . Maybe i will invest a little bit in a better stick blender (more rpm) since mine is really old and not made for 2 kg batches. I also will try to optimize my recipe for ganache. Just for information: I ONLY make ganache to cut and coat it later in our enrobing line. So i try to make the recipe as smooth and fine as possible which is still "cut-able". I also make a bottom and a top chocolate (foot?)  and cut it with the guitarcutter while the top (foot?) still soft to get perfect edges. This works great for me. Still i will experiment more for finding a better recipe.
So i guess the Vacuum unit at some mixers is only good for better shelf life and doesnt affect the texture of the ganache. 

(sry for my "not so well" english )

Maybe

It is this information,too.

List of bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bean-to-bar_chocolate_manufacturers#cite_ref-LondonAcademy_2-0

wow! I'm glad.

Thanks.

Everything you need to know about making bean to bar chocolate at home can be found here: www.chocolatealchemy.com. I'm not affiliated with the site, I just use it.

I think so.

When I learned the price of "bean to bar chocolate", I surprised.
However, it is natural to high compared to goods on the market.
Because, I think there is a need to understand the difference.
Wagashi is japanese confectionery.So is it.
Nobody complain.
I think it's because everyone knows the reason.

I want to carefully convey the words and goods.

Thank you both.
I live in Japan.
I am an amateur.(*'-'*)
That has become a great help.

If you need high quality seeds : 

https://cacao.farm/product/cacao-seeds-theobroma-cacao-amelonado/

We accept only  bitcoin at our web store. (Just as cacao beans at some point were used as currency)

If interested you can use  Circle or Coinbase to purchase.

Good luck!

I'm interested. Did you buy the unit new? How many hours on it?

 Where are you at?  Both Rutgers and Penn State have cocoa trees growing at their campuses...

Hi Annette.
I'm interested in your activities .
It might be difficult.
But, I believe that if I can also grow cacao tree in Japan.
And if successful it is wonderful.
I'll study harder in future.

That's wonderful!!

こんにちは。Hello.

This is a list of Japan. Still very less.

Bean to Bar Chocolate

CACAO MAGIC

Choco Reko

Emily’s Chocolate

Imalive chocolate

Marc

Minimal

Palet Dor

Pierre Marcolini

xocol

Cacao Lab

Coffee Beans Yumeji

Thank you for the good information.

I was surprised that you use the hair dryer.

I feel I can do it.

thanks

I think I've learned a lot.

It is very convenient.

I agree with Sebastian. A good stick blender (I paid $50 for mine) can give you a wonderfully smooth ganache (and I've eaten more than my fair share of Parisian chocolates)

All you really need is a good stick mixer (burr blender), and a recipe you're happy with.  You can make a fantastically wonderful ganache without spending 10's of thousands in capital.  If you're not satisfied with the ganaches you're currently making, i don't think an expensive piece of equipment will change that.  Not knowing your details, i'd focus on the recipe.  if by hand blender you mean a beater blender (two rotating beater blades), i'd suggest you consider an inexpensive stick blender (it's a very high RPM/shear mixer where the blades meet the ingredients; downside is that it's a small unit, so it takes longer to get full contact with all the ingredients)

Thank you for the information. Sounds logic to use either a stephan mixer OR a Cadix but not together.

ok, the reason why I am so interested in such things is because i tried some great ganaches from top chocolatiers from paris, like henri le roux or patrick roger, and (apart from there delicious taste) they got a very smooth and still cutable ganache. Especially I like the texture of the ganache. I made alot of ganaches by myself and never got that smooth and fine texture (tried alot of different ratios, added glucose,invert,sorbit,hony,...), so I was thinking it has something to do with my equipment (hand blender) and so i started looking what they use (and found the machine which you see in the pictures).
After seeing that alot chocolatiers use a stephan mixer with vacuum I am thinking my process adds some air into the ganache which affect the texture. unfortunatly these machines are very expensive.

Does someone made similar experience?

edit: or maybe to summarize: Does a Vacuum mixer (like Stephan) makes a different texture than a handmade (or hand blender-made) ganache?

Email contactus@eatingevolved.com for more information.

For sale, used Cocoatown melangers in good working condition with new belts.  Multiple units available for purchase.

Unit description:

ECGC-12SL CocoaT Melanger is a granite stone on granite stone grinder to grind cocoa bean nibs to chocolate liquor. Melanger is an ideal tool for chocolatiers who want to make chocolate from bean to bar or cocoa nibs to cocoa liquor. The melanger has enhanced ventilation system and helps to grind 8 – 10 lbs of cocoa nibs for 24 hours or more.

Melangers have two #3 black granite stone rollers that rotate at 135 -140 rpm on a granite slab. This creates tremendous shear and reduces the particles of sugar and cocoa to the smoothness expected in modern chocolate, about 15 micron range.

The roller stones and wiper are attached to the stainless steel shaft, and the whole roller stone assembly, is removable as one piece. They are easy to clean, handle and store. The roller stone assembly is locked into the lid for reproducible tension. The conical roller stones serve dual function – conching in addition to grinding.

Deluxe Melanger is ideal for small chocolate businesses or for R&D to develop recipes for big businesses. In addition to grinding cocoa nibs, deluxe melanger can also be used to grind nut butters, tahini, and more. It grinds upto 8 lbs of cocoa nibs in a single batch.

$250 per machine.

 IMG_0287.jpg - 484KB

Does anyone have any recommendations for good places for hot chocolate in and around New Orleans USA?

Thanks!

Giselle

www.ultimatehotchocolate.com

Hi

I spent a few weeks in Oaxaca tasting and making hot chocolates. I wrote up several articles about my experiences on my blog Ultimate Hot chocolate (www.ultimatehotchocolate.com).

I found without my difficulty local women who taught me a variety of ways to make different locally loved hot chocolates. Everyone here drinks hot chocolate and it is an important part of big cultural events such as weddings etc. So groups often come together to make family recipes the traditional way. 

Hi!

My name is Giselle and I have been reading chocolate life posts for a few years now on and off.

I write a blog called Ultimate Hot Chocolate which is about my travels around the world in search of the ultimate hot chocolate. The blog is part travel blog with tips about the locations I visit and part cafe/restaurant/chocolatier review blog with notes on the hot chocolates I find. This year the blog will also have recipes added. You can find it at www.ultimatehotchocolate.com

I am always looking for great spots to visit on my travels so if you have a favourite hot chocolate please let me know and if I am ever in your area I will definetly check it out. 

Larry, thanks for the informative thread on the DIY cooling tunnel. Its cool to see other MacGyvers out there...I like the DIY approach whenever possible. It kind of suits my mindset on many things.

A proper cooling tunnel would theoretically work in my space, but it would take up so much space to rend it an impractical solution for me.

I guess I'll stick to parchment paper for the belt...I was just curious, since I saw a video of the belt with a silpat type material, and thought it would be cool to do. I do this with textured acetate sheets when I hand-enrobe...guess I'll stick to that when wanting the textured foot.

I'm just hoping to make good use of the JKV with all its attachments, now that I have it operational in the space. Turns out the space was already wired for 3-phase, (if you recall my previous thread on the subject), so I didnt need that phase converter after all. Was a shocker to both me and the owner of the building, when the electrician told us we were good to go!

Dallas,

I suspect the 2m take-off belt is too short. I've read that chocolates about 8 minutes in a cooling tunnel to set properly. Thus with an 8 foot cooling tunnel, the belt can move 1 foot per minute. a 16 foot cooling tunnel allows the belt to move at 2 feet per minute and so forth.

The challenge with just having the take-off belt (no cooling tunnel) is the chocolates would have to sit for quite awhile before being able to touch them to take them off the belt. Like Clay mentioned, the paper take-off allows you to move the chocolates elsewhere to cool and set.

Do you have space for a cooling tunnel? the old chocolate life website has basic instructions on building one, or you could add a manufactured one to your system.

There is no particular reason to heat up cream in the Cadix and transfer it to a Stephan unless the Stephan has a vacuum attachment and the Cadix does not. If that's the case, then it may simply be a volume issue - the Cadix is a large heated vessel. You can get Cadix Pros with vacuum attachments.

As Sebastian points out, heating the cream to a certain point can help with shelf life and a high shear mixer is good for creating stable emulsions.

If your volume requirements are much smaller and you don't need the vacuum, something like a HotMix Gastro Pro might be worth looking at.

Interesting, re: textured-belts. I have a 2m long take-off belt, so its something I could definitely consider. I like the textured foot look.

I have 3 Martellato M2000 Bar Molds for sale.  They are in great shape, I used them for about a month and decided to use a different mold.  The plastic is very thick and sturdy

New -  http://www.bigtray.com/martellato-usa-inc-chocolate-mold-ma2000-sku-mloma2000-c-14630.html

Pictures

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Link 4

Asking $50 for all three molds, plus $5 for shipping or local pickup in Portland OR.  Thanks for looking

@dallas - commonly used on enrober (take-off) belts, no; they are most often found on cooling tunnel belts.

The take-off belt on most enrobers is too short for the chocolate to completely set, that's why paper or parchment is used to cover the belt and to make it easy to transfer the product to some other location to finish cooling. The textured belts (often with a logo) are custom-order items.

I've never used a cadix, but these types of things are useful as they're high shear, heated mixers.  Some of them can pull a vacuum.  Very good at mixing things up and cooking them simultaneously.  In a ganache, heating the cream can help form a better emulsion, and if you get it hot enough, can help with shelf life.

I came across a short video on the internet showing an enrober belt with what appeared to be a silpat-styled belt, or cover. I've got parchment paper rolls or acetate rolls, but a re-usable silpat would be pretty cool. You get the texture of the silpat on your bonbon bottoms too...I like that look.

Is this something commonly used on enrober belts? 

thank you for the answers

I was more interested in the function of this machine. It seems that (2nd picture) it is used to heat up cream (for a ganache) and later it is put together with the chocolate into a stephan mixer. I am curious about why to use such a machine to heat up(cock) cream? or is it because of quantity.

i am looking for chocolate world moulds number 2051 , these moulds are no longer in production by CW. IF you have any that you no longer require please message me

mick , kilbeggan handmade chocolate 

It's a product from CadixPro in France. Similar to a Stephan or RoboQbo. http://www.cadixpro.com/portfolios/sugar-cooker/?lang=en

hard to say from the photo.  could be a stephan mixer / kettle.

Hello chocolatiers,

We are selling our 2nd 2012 Selmi One tempering unit. 

Volumetric dispenser and pedal to control the flow of chocolate. Close circuit cooling system featuring counter current heat exchanger.

• Tank Capacity: 26.45 lbs

• Pwer Requirements: 220V, 3 phase

• Dimensions: w 14.18" x l 28.75" x h 57.48"

Condition: Excellent

Location: NYC

Price: $6000

Please feel free to reach out with any questions!

Diana 

DianaKelleryd@gmail.com

 Selmi One 1.jpg - 75KB

Calling all chocolate consumer enthusiasts/lovers to help us with our research.

We're beginning to do research to find out how and why consumers buy and enjoy craft/artizan chocolate.  We're looking for consumers/enthusiasts of dark chocolate.  This includes anyone that consumes craft/artizan chocolate but IS NOT in the business as a chocolate maker or works in the chocolate industry.

Once this research is complete, we'll publish our finding and analysis for anyone in the industry to benefit.

Please fill out the following survey.  Then if you agree, we'll pick 10-15 people to participate in a more detailed interview.  

We know your time is valuable, so if you're selected for the interview, we'll give you $50 Amazon Gift Card for your time!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HS7QFLQ

Thanks.

Ilya Sterin

Hi, i just need some little help. I want to know what machine this (image attached) is?
I saw it at a few chocolatiers and it seems it is something for cocking and mixing? (one picture with where cream is inside in the other picture there are caramelized nuts inside).
Does someone know this machine?
friendly regards, dd

 machine1.jpg - 70KB

I run a homemade chocolate business and I am searching for a new packaging service company. Has anyone heared of the Clearpak Creative Packaging, here in Ontario. Have been thinking of doing the packages from there. Would love to hear some more about their services, incase anyone here have tried them before. Thank you.