Forum Activity for @Mark Stickley

Thanks! I'll try that out.

Hi folks!

I'm pretty new to making chocolates but I'm jumping in at the deep end and have decided to make everyone chocolates for Christmas. I've have some minor success in my test runs so far so I'm wondering if anyone can help me with fillings.

My favourite type of chocolate filling has to be the milk chocolate praline - you know, the kind you get in the middle of Guylian chocs. I have googled quite hard but I am struggling to find a recipe for creating something of that colour, flavour and consistency.

I've had one attempt so far using the recipe at the bottom of this page ( http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=30086 - careful if you try this, the quantities are massive) and while very tasty it does not match the colour, texture or taste that I'm looking for. Any recipe I find on the web is similar enough to that that I really doubt it'll be much different.

Can anyone help? Do you have a good recipe you don't mind lending me?

Thanks!

Okay, here is a good one for the "fair-trade" discussion (or what I like to call the: "friar-triad missionaries").

From the linked-to page (visit the page to read the rest of the summary and to download the full report):

[Transnational Investigation] The FAIRTRADE Chocolate Rip-off

In a six-month transnational project led by the Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR), journalists hailing from Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and the Netherlands investigated the alleged benefits received by cocoa farmers in West Africa via the FAIRTRADE label.

Their conclusions are shocking: whilst the chocolate consumer in the West pays a significant mark-up for honest chocolate, these benefits amount to little or no improvement in the lives of cocoa farmers. In some case, because of FAIRTRADE cooperatives increasing dominance, farmers were even worse off than before.

The full dossier is titled The FAIRTRADE chocolate rip-off, and was partly funded by the Programme for African Investigative Reporters (PAIR). The story, parts of which have already been published in Dutch, has caused a stir in the Netherlands.

Pretty much nothing new that we don't know or have discussed on TheChocolateLife. Just adding more...

Best to all.

-Mark

Hi Lana,

How much cocoa butter should we add? Previously, you said 10 - 20% butter oil. Would be the same for cocoa butter?

Thanks,

Omar

Thanks, Lana. I tried the method with the added cocoa butter and got a great result. The coat is much thinner and the truffle is better. Thanks so much for your help! I'm experimenting with shelf life as well. Will check how the truffle is in 2 and then 3 weeks from now.

Thank you all for your input. I checked the websites of neococoa and intrique chocolates. The latter doesn't give info on shelf life, neococoa says that its chocolates should be consumed within 2 weeks. I will try coating with butter oil, also thought about spraying the truffles with a chocolate gun in order to get a very thin shell. Does anybody have experience with that technique for chocolate candies or truffles?

Also maybe you could use untempered chocolate to coat. As from what I understand untempered chocolate melts at lower temps and is softer.

There's a Seattle chocolate company called "Intrigue Chocolates" that does exactly this.They tell people that their chocolate (interestingly they call their product "chocolate" or "truffles" but never ganache) must be refrigerated and eaten within the month. I bought some about a month or so ago. Their samples were terrific, but once I brought the bar home and refrigerated it the texture was just never the same.

Bottom line - yes you can do this and Intrigue is making a whole business out of it, but you would have to instruct your customers to refrigerate the ganache if they're not going to eat it within a few days. Many (if not most) retailers would not want to sell a product that had such as short shelf life. But I think that if you present the ganache as an artisan product with no preservatives, etc and you're honest with your customers about the limited shelf life you would be fine. Many customers might even see it as indicative of a higher quality, craft-based approach.

http://www.intriguechocolates.com

I can't remember the exact numbers, but from memory the shelf life of uncoated truffles is considerably less (measured in days rather than weeks)

Hi,

I have been making truffles for quite some time, but have never been happy with the hard shells. What I'm looking for is a soft truffle that just melts in your mouth. So I have been experimenting with different types of Ganache that I let harden over 1- 2 days at about 68 degrees F. Then I cut them on the guitar and just roll them in high quality cacao powder.

The truffles look and taste great. I'm just a little concerned about the shelf life. The ganache consists of cream, couverture and a tiny amount of liquor. The shelf life of my former truffles that I enrobed with tempered chocolate was 3 weeks. Is it less when the truffles don't have a hard shell?

Thanks, Caroline

1cc=~1.27 grams. This is at least for my dark 60% couverture.

Is there a way to work out mold size from weight?

Essentially I am looking to have mold made for 75 grams and require a certain thickness. I realised I don't actually know the weight/volume ratio of chocolate so can't work out the exact dimensions of the mold.

Does anyone have a formula for this or at least know the volume of 100g of chocolate so I can work it out from there?

Another one of those little questions that leaves me scratching my head when planning my start up.

Hello,

I make chocolate panning but i use polishing agents. Maybe i can help aomething...?

Hi,

I am currently looking to start a small chocolate business by producing various type of panned chocolate. I have done some research and found that most of the people will use polishing agents (e.g coating gum & shellac) in polishing the chocolates. I personally don't quite like this method because the smell of this polishing agents are quite terrible. Anybody knows how to complete the polishing by not using the polishing agents? Also, will the results be comparable to using the polishing agents?

thanks.

A very small amount of cocoa powder will have been processed to contain lecithin. Unless you've specifically asked for it, yours is not.

Why do you read that? i've no idea 8) i've read lots of crazy things on the internet.

One t hing you'll need to watch with higher fat powders is that they will be more susceptible to both temperature and pressure, in that the fat in them may melt or squeeze out, and when it resolidifies, will turn yoru bag of nice powder into a brick of solid cocoa. however, it's still fine, it's just needs to be reground.

Can you tell me what you mean by "unless it's been lecithinated"?

And why am I always reading that cocoa powders with a high fat content have a low shelf life?

Thanks!

Dorothy

Every cocoa powder, unless it's lecithinated, will have the same shelf life if properly stored. Assume proper storage conditions, and it's not lecithinated, your cocoa powder will be good for up to three years.

Can anyone please tell me the shelf life of Pernigotti cocoa powder? It has a higher fat content (20-22%) and I want to make sure I am not using any that has gone bad.

Thanks,

Dorothy

I guess this gives new meaning to "hot chocolate"

5:59PM EST November 23. 2012 - In a real-life caper that could have starred Willy Wonka , Austrian police are seeking a thief who stole 18 tons of chocolate bars and melted into thin air.

Earlier this week, a truck driver loaded 33 pallets of milk chocolate at a factory in Bludenz for a delivery in the Czech Republic, Austrian public broadcaster ORF reports, according to the Associated Press . But the license plates and paperwork for the truck and driver were forged, was discovered when the real truck showed up later, the Austrian Independent says .

The paper says the truck was chartered from Chechnya .

"The fraudsters were very sophisticated," police said.

The news reports do not identify the producer, but Suchard , famous for its Milka brand, has a factory (and shop) in Bludenz.. Kraft Foods now owns the formerly Swiss

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/11/23/18-tons-chocolate-stolen-austria/1723445/

Yep, temper to 27C

I should have mentioned, this is for making bars and not fillings. I think I'm right on the border of this batch being able to hold its shape as a bar without melting or breaking too easily. I'll try doing a temper and see if that holds better at room temperature. If not, I'll just put it in some 4oz mason jars. It's for holiday gifts.

I temper until about ambient. Getting the right crystal structure can not only help with texture but in slowing oil migration into the shell.

Am I going to get a crystal structure with all the hazelnuts in there? They were in the conch for a few days so they are fully incorporated. I molded one that wasn't tempered and it seemed pretty much like what I'm used to. Thx.

Swiss Chalet here in the US sells Felchlin wholesale.

Hi Brad,

For premium chocolate I've paid from US $7 to $14 per Lb, wholesale. I have bought from the chocolate makers direct and from distributers. The average has been around $8/$11 but for 100% I've paid up to $14. The prices have gone down somewhat but not much. I buy Felchlin, Grenada, Valrhona, El-Rey, Askinosie, Amano and Waialua Estates. Hope this helps. -Mark

I get Callebaut for $3.79/lb here in Alaska from a local wholesaler. I was quoted $12/lb for Vahlrona before shipping, which cost more than the product to Alaska so I stopped there.

Max Felchlin sells in pounds????????????

I'd love to get his stuff in, here in Vancouver, but no one wants to bring it in, and I can't find the head office to ask what minimum quantities they want for Vancouver.

Before you consider Qzina, consider Lindt. They have an office in Toronto and will ship in quantities of 100 kgs.

I pay $85 for a 22lb ofcallebaut 811 callets.

Blommer's the largest US grinder of cocoa. They are a bulk industrial producer of chocolate, and they do as well as any of the other bulk chocolate producers. They'll have a range of stock products to select from.

I have never heard of them but they look to be a large company. After looking at their site, their product list only dark chocolate on some of their products without giving the percentage of cacao solids. These prices indicate they are purchasing bulk cacao. When cacao is fine flavored, the farmer and cooperative/exporter should be getting close to $1.50 to 1.75 a pound for export purposes and sometimes, a little higher.

Does anyone use Blommer's chocolates?

We have used it for family tradition and still like the creaminess of their lexington chocolate.

Direct from Blommer (2000 lb order) I was quoted $1.90/lb- you could tack ona quarter/lb for shipping.

Until we can get to that point, we get it through a local store and have worked out a price of approximately $2.90/lb.

I haven't seen anyone's comments on Blommer and would be interested in your thoughts.

Hi Brad,

here in South Africa (don't know how much will help you) we sell chocolate at ca $13/kg (71% dark) and ca $10/kg for a milk 38%.setting us in a medium high price range.

We are a small bean to bar organic chocolate factory (1T/month) that sell as well to restaurants and hotels.

we are competing against

A)the big guys (callebaut,vahlrona,lindt,belcolade, ect)

B) against lower level of chocolate (chocolate is chocolate...we hear that a lot here!!)

C)No one else sells organic chocolate, so it is hard to compare "apple with apple" fairly.

I am telling you that simply because if you produce an excellent chocolate and you approach directly Pastry Chefs you will be able to enter the market without problems.

Being a Pastry Chef my self, we have managed to "speak the same language" of the Pastry Chefs of some of the major 5 star hotel in Cape Town.

We offer them chocolate and chocolate solutions,ideas and customer care that makes the difference between us and a just a sale rep of a big guy.

Taste and consistency of course is what will make you competitive but on this, i believe some of us has a lot to learn from you!

All the best with the new shop!

PS: i sent you some chocolate few months ago via a client of us coming back to Canada, have you ever received it? (Cocoafair)

Nino

I am currently buying Callebaut 835 dark chocolate in 11 pound blocks and I am getting it for $3.63 per pound.

Brad - I get Guittard and E. Guittard from a local bakery supply company for about $4.50/lb, buying in 10 - 50 lb orders. Some of it they stock normally, but the E. Guittard they stock for me specifically at that price.

Thanks Clay. That was very helpful.

Brad:

Directly from Valrhona, price for "pistoles" of couverture darks and milks average around US$8/lb for their minimum wholesale order.

Guittard runs considerably less, with their most expensive product being under US$6/lb for their minimum wholesale order but most running in the $3-5 range depending on format and pack.

Callebaut products are generally price-competitive with Guittard, though some of the origins and the Cacao Barry rare origine line are at the high end of the range. Belcolade is at the lower end of the range, generally.

Prices are negotiable to some extent as you go closer to the manufacturer/importer and can quote larger volumes.

In general, it's best to be just slightly less expensive than your target price competition.

Thanks Edward and Sebastian!

Very helpful and certainly a reality check for me. These prices are definitely a far cry from the prices I charge retail for wrapped bars!

know that between 8-20/lb - callebaut's making an absolute killing on margin...

Like others have said, it all depends on volume. Chocolate is a commodity.

If it means anything to you, I buy aprox 1000 kgs per year. I'm paying around $12./kg for a good single origin 70%, and around $10.00 for a good 38% milk chocolate.

These prices were negotiated with the CDN branch of the mnfctr and based on a minimum of 1000 kg/year. One very nice thing I like about the mnfctr. is that their prices are very stable--usually it will only change about every two years-barring any unforseen circumstances. They will give you a 2 mth "heads up" before prices do change.

What you should be doing is estimating your minimum amount and taking this to the various suppliers and asking them what kind of a price they can give you. You know that old saying about asking the price of a Rolls Royce? If you ask suppliers for pricing on a high volume product, you'll get all kinds of answers. Dangle your yearly consumption infront of them, and they'll sit up and sharpen their pencils before giving you a decent price.

In my town (Vancouver Canada) prices are all over the place. For the same Callebaut 70/30 prices can range from $8.00 to $20.00 depending on the supplier and their "story of the day".

If you are using large amounts, it helps to deal directly with the mnfctr or regional sales rep for the mnfctr and NOT local distributers.