Forum Activity for @Andrea Bauer

Please be more specific about the problems you are having. The answer may depend on the issue. Your cocoa butter might not betempered correctlybefore you start. You could also "work" the cocoa butter too much as you are spreading it on the acetate sheet. You could be putting the cocoa butter on too thick on the acetate sheet which can cause it to not transfer correctly. You can spread the cocoa butter a number of ways to create designs (although I findpaint brushes tend to leave bristles behind) but that is something you need to play with to achieve the look you want. Unlike Gap, I usually just cut my transfer sheets to size and use them without spreading chocolate on them first (I usually use them in magnetic molds). One other tip is that you can spritz your countertop with a bit of water to help hold the acetate in place while you are putting your color on and making your design - just make sure you keep the side you are adding cocoa butter to dry!

When I do this I:

- Clean the acetate sheet with cotton wool

- Make sure your coloured cocoa butter is in temper (ie., you haven't heated it too hot)

- Paint/spray/splatter/dab it onto the acetate and let it set

- When you're ready to use your sheet, spread a thin layer of chocolate over the acetate, cover with baking paper and put a few baking trays on top to weigh it down and keep it flat

At that point, the heat from the chocolate should allow the cocoa butter on the acetate to adhere to the chocolate.

Hi, this is my first time in this forum. We are starting a small factory,I always read your posts and comments, its been very helpful!.

We want to make something different inour market like transfer sheets painted by ourself with cocoa butter. We have researched the technique in books, some videos but it has beenvery difficult to make them. We use cocoa butter with powder colors from chef rubber, an acetate sheet. The book that we have used is The Art of The chocolatier by edward Norton and Marking Artisan Chocolates by Andrew Garrison.

Can you help us with the entire process, we dont know what is wrong!

Thank you very much.

Maria

Whe are helping

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Further to coincidently running into a large cacao tree in the Darwin Botanic Gardens that turned out to have a very high proportion of white beans in the pods,in the inflight magazine was an article on Daintree Estates Chocolate - Australias newest chocolate maker. This was a huge 5 page article, quite well written and acurate which I was impressed with. See attached.

Hi!

I'm hoping someone out there can help me. I seem to have hit the wrong mode on my CT60 chocotec machine, and now it won't let me turn up the temperature. The control looks a lot like machines from keychoco. I've also looked for a manual on line and found nothing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

Charley

Just use your melting thank and when you're done do the rest in a bowl for your next batch..

Hello,

Just curious if anyone has a good idea for tips on flavoring tablets/bars. I am experimenting with freeze dried powders, and that works OK.

Also keen to find out some methods for making the batches for molding - using a bowl, the chocolate gets too cool too quickly - looking to be able to make around 20 molds at a time (so about 100 bars) and I am not sure I want to use a melting tank full of flavored chocolate...any other method I haven't thought of?

Cheers, Stu

I'm with Adam G on this - as chocolate cools the latent heat of crystallization given off by the rapidly growing crystal lattice can warm the chocolate considerably and throw off the temper. As soon as you see the chocolate starting to crystallize around the edges, put your molds (or your bark) in the fridge (ideally with good air circulation) for about 10 to 15 minutes. Don't forget them in there or your next problem will be sugar bloom from condensation.

It sounds like you need to cool the chocolate down quicker. If it's not quick enoughsome of the cocoa butter molecules in the warmer center of the chocolate slowly release and rise to the surface. You may also want toexperiment with using layers of chocolate to fill the mold instead of just one pour.

Hello everyone,

After reading through everything I could find online, I still can't find a solution to this strange issue I've been having with my chocolate temper. I'll lay out all the specifics and some pictures in hopes that someone, somewhere, has had the same problem before and can give me some pointers. Thanks so much!

Alright, I'm working with a Chocovision Revolation X3210 tempering machine (capacity 10 lbs). I've had this machine for just under a year and have had beautiful tempers out of it for months.

I use the default tempering process on the machine - it heats to 108 degrees Fahrenheit, I add seed (I use more chocolate from my box of Noel chocolate - I don't measure it, I just throw a handful or two behind the baffle) and it cools to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I remove the remaining seed from behind the baffle, and the chocolate continues to cool until it reaches 88.7 degrees Fahrenheit. When it is finished, I stir the batch for a few minutes and do a test with my offset spatula.

The chocolate used is Noel 55% semisweet dark chocolate. I've been using this chocolate for over a year and have had good tempers with it in the past.

My kitchen is between 64 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and between 28% and 38% humidity. Outside, it's been wild weather here, with temps from 45 to 80 in the past two weeks, and it's been both bone dry and rainy. My chocolate kitchen stays consistent throughout the changes in weather (at least according to my inside thermometer).

What I've been trying to make for the past week or so is molded chocolate bars and chocolate bark. For the bars, I use plastic sheet molds that are approx. 0.5 inch deep. My technique for this is I ladle the tempered chocolate into the molds, scrape off the excess chocolate with a metal bench scraper, bang it on the table to release the bubbles, and place the nuts or fruit on top. I then set the mold on one of my aluminum baker trays, which I slide into my rolling baker rack. For bark, I ladle the tempered chocolate onto a baker tray line with a sheet of acetate, hold the tray sideways to allow the chocolate to spread thinly across the tray, sprinkle the nuts or fruit on top, and slide the tray into my baker rack.

I have been using these techniques for over a year with success. (I do notice that my chocolate bars sometimes are barely streaky on the side I scrape, but I don't see how I could avoid that. The excess chocolate does need to be removed, after all!)

The problem I've been having recently is what I have identified as chocolate bloom. That seemed to be the most logical explanation according to what I've read and what it looks like. It's basically a dis-colorization of the chocolate - it looks whitish and dull, with the occasional streak. This is happening on the side exposed to the air, not the side that touches the mold or acetate. That side looks beautiful - shiny and completely free of any dis-colorization or streaks. The chocolate is hard and has a nice snap when it's broken. It does not melt in your hands and does not feel soft. It seems to be in temper except for the dis-colorization on top.

To me, it seems this must be the cause of the chocolate cooling incorrectly - either too slowly or two quickly? I wondered if maybe it is falling victim to some sort of draft from either my air conditioner or two dehumidifiers, but I placed the molds and bark at various places around the room and had the same ending product. The strangest part is that my test on my offset spatula looks wonderful.

I am stumped. Has anyone ever had this happen before? If so, how did you solve it? Would blowing a fan over the cooling chocolate help? Should I pop the cooling chocolate into my refrigerator for a few minutes?

Any suggestions or comments are very much appreciated.

Please excuse the poor picture. I left my camera at home and had to take a photo with my phone. I shall upload another if you like. :)

Anyone looking to do a fun trip to Venezuela might contact Leo Zamora of CatteleyaTours.com

I spent 2 weeks with Leo in 2008 trekking thru the cacao regions of Barlovento, Chuao etc as well as visiting many National Parks, giant sand dunes and botanical gardens. We were invited into many farms and homes ( wonderful local people who understood there's politics and there's people, and they welcomed the people of America.) and the factory where El Rey is produced and even tracked down bootleg cacao liquor. (Oddly except for the airport, you cannot find a decent chocolate bar in Venezuela!)

In any case Leo is a great tour guide, speaks great English and has a sense of fun and adventure. It was an incredible trip.

Eileen -

There is no "typical." You need to look at YOUR cost structure and what you hope to achieve.

When it comes to sales mix, you can model different percentages of revenue from different sources in order to be able to determine what mix brings you to profitability. In many respects, this sort of modeling becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. Figure out what mix works for you and then plan your marketing and sales efforts accordingly.

There are no hard and fast rules other than if you underprice (often mistakenly) you will go out of business. You need to look at what you want to achieve, not look to others for guidance. What works for someone else might not work for you.

Clay

You are a tremendous resource, thankyou so much for the worksheet and information - extremely helpful.

Yes, in adding distributer margins, I'm quite concerned about overall gross margin. Is 30% a typical margin in this industry?

We plan to focus on online and affliate sales as much as possible. What percentage of total revenues can one expect from online sales chocolate retailers? What has been other's experiences for online sales of chocolate?

Thanks!!

Eileen -

You have to do some math to figure out what works. At $1.68 plus $0.12, your cost of goods is $1.80. Is you run that through a multi-tier pricing model (what's your gross margin, what's a broker markup, what's a distributor markup (this gets you to the wholesale price), what's the retailer markup, then you arrive at a suggested retail price. Once you can model this you can figure out if any quote is too expensive.

I just did this exercise for someone and put together a spreadsheet to work on multi-year sales forecasting and gross profit margin projections. I've taken out all the extra stuff and left just the COGS and markup lines so you can play with them yourself to see how they interact.

Note that Gross Margin is not the same as markup and I've done that calculation properly. Also, I've assumed a three-tier sales strategy just so all the costs of distribution are factored in. I've noticed that companies that assume they're always going to be able to sell direct to the retailer or customer get crushed when they have to use a distributor because they've never thought about what those layers would do to their cost structure. You can set the percentages to be whatever you want (including 0%) to see how changes affect costs.

For those who don't care to download the spreadsheet, a $1.80 cost of goods, 30% gross margin (you earn $0.77/unit), 10% broker markup (36 cents), 20% distributor markup (79 cents), and 100% retailer markup results in a suggested retail price of $6.79. Going from 30% gross margin to 50% gross margin jacks up the retail price to $9.50.

Of course you don't need all those tiers and your markup and percentages may be different. However, I'd work with this structure so you understand exactly what you're earning (or giving away). In the beginning, if you sell direct to the retailer you get to keep the broker and wholesaler markups, raising your revenue per unit to $1.82 (a 50% gross margin, which is pretty good).

Clay

Thanks so much for replying, what you posted was very helpful.

To answer your question, I believe the beans are sourced from Venezula and the bars are to contain at least 60% cacao. We are adding additional ingredients so the bars are a customized formulation so I assume that adds to the price. We are not using one of the company's stock. The company's own bars retail for $5-6 for a 2.8 oz bar.

These are run through a machine and not hand molded. We have a tiered pricing structure and the $1.68 was for a 8000 unit run. Packaging was an additional $0.12/bar.

If we expect to order more than 10,000 units should we expect or be able to negotiate a better price?

And yes, I would like to know what the production cost itself should be exclusive of packaging and ingredients.

Thanks in advance to everyone!

Eileen -

There is not enough here to answer your question because we have no idea what chocolate you are using. The price above comes to about $9.60/lb for the chocolate. That probably means the company is paying no more than $3-4/lb which limits the range of suppliers. A 3x markup seems high but when you factor in losses due to chocolate being left in the machines and changeover, it really isn't. If you use this 3x rule of thumb and apply it to a variety of recipes, you'll see that changing the cost of the base chocolate (and ingredients) does to that side of the cost model.

What you REALLY want to know is the cost of taking a chocolate (ANY chocolate) and molding, wrapping, and packing it into boxes, ready to ship and sell.

I have heard prices ranging anywhere from 40 cents to $1.75/bar for labor associated with bar production, exclusive of the cost of ingredients and the packaging itself.

From there you can start playing with the chocolate being used (and any flavorings/inclusions/other ingredients) to get to the first rung for the pricing structure. You also have to ask questions about minimum runs. If you want only 100 bars to start, labor costs are going to be very high. Minimum runs are often in the 10,000+ range to start getting labor and related prices (including changeover costs) into the reasonable range. for the company doing the work.

Hello all,

I recently found this website and it is such an informative and great resource as I start my own chocolate endeavor. My partner and I are developing a premium dark chocolate bar that we are marketing to a very specific demographic. Since we are just starting out, we decided it would be easier to start with a private label product. Right now we are working with an established chocolatier who has quoted us a price of $1.68 for a 2.8 oz bar, just the chocolate itself and no packaging. How does this compare with other private label quotes? What are the ranges we should expect to pay?

Thank you so much for the suggestion! Can you please tell me where I can get the "Myrcryo from Barry Callabaut" you are referring to? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the feedback Kerry and Kathryn! I tried again yesterday and the same thing happened with my chocolate covered pretzels. I will try a different chocolate, then try the 68 degrees. Thanks!!

Having your room temperature at 68 degrees F is the ideal. I would suggest trying again, let the chocolate set with the room at that temperature, and see if that takes care of the problem.

I used to have a sinsation - which is what has become the revolation - but I don't recall it having more buttons than just one for milk, white and dark - so not quite sure what the seed method #1 vs #2 refers to. I assume the ghiradelli is 'real' chocolate. You can use any dark chocolate for seed as long as it is clearly in temper.

I used dark chocolate setting (108 default point) then I did seed method #2 but then changed it to seed method #1 mid cycle.... maybe thats where I messed up. I shouldnt have done that.

Oh also, I used Ghirardelli chocolate, but wanted to ask if my seed chocolate could be a different brand or would that mess it up.Thanks!

So you tempered with your Revolation? What settings did you use?

Ok. well my first attempt at tempering bittersweet chocolate baking chips went relatively well except for the way they set. I let them set overnight in my kitchen, didnt put in fridge or anything. Room temp in my house was about 73-75 degrees. As you can see in these 3 pics below they have a lighter color swirling thru them that is making it look discolored, old and nasty. I think this is referred to as 'bloom'. What did I do wrong and how can I prevent this from happening?

.

Awesome! Thanks so much for the welcome!

It's all about producing the correct type of crystals in the cocoa butter so that when it cools the crystals form a nice lattice that contracts. This give chocolate with gloss, snap, the expected mouth feel and resistance to melting at room temperature.

Really that's it? I just have to run it thru the tempering machine and temper it? Great! Yeah! Thanks - will try it tonight! It seems so unreasonable how just altering the temperature can completely change the feel and consistency, without acutally changing/adding anything to the material (chocolate) Thanks!

Yup - tempering is the solution to your problem.

And welcome to the forums Erica.

Hi! My name is Erica, I live in FL and I'm happy to be here! This is my First Post and I have a problem/question....I usually use Merckens Candy coating when making my chocolate, but now am experimenting with real chocolate since I now have the Revolation 2 tempering machine (as of this AM!) IM SOOOOO EXCITED. However heres my question, when I use bittersweet chocolate, it seems that it never sets. Now, I am not tempering it, I'm melting the baking chips down in the microwave in small incriments and then dipping my pretzels, oreos, etc, but b/c this chocolate (bittersweet) literally melts in your hand its not ideal for anything I'm creating. How do you transform bittersweet chocolate so that it will actually set and have the "snap" that is ideal? Will tempering help at all? Thanks in advance! Erica

Brian,

Thank you so much for your kind and informative reply.It seems the best job in the world does have its hazards.The mask types are a great reference!

On second thought, I might as welllook for a Darth Vader mask and outfit.

Felipe

Hi Felipe, without knowing what kind of beans or equipment you are using, I would say that you are guessing correctly. Cacao dust is a big problem for us when we are bagging for export for example, its a strong eye/respiratory irritant. that same dust is present in roasting and winnowing. in chocolate processing you also have acetic acid laden vapor, ash particles, and your respiratory tissues are dried out from the heat potentially, which makes all problems worse. Grinding and conching liberates a lot of vinegar (acetic) acid which is very hard on the respiratory system.

If the mask helps then I would say you need a better mask or a filtered breathing system. try an N95 rated medical mask for example which should mold around the nose, seals off better than a simple exam mask, and protects against finer particles. or go to a 1 or 2 cartridge respirator, using cartridges rated for fine particulate and/or acid vapors. they're not fun to wear but they do protect you.

hope this helps

brian

I have noticed that in days of intense indoor chocolate making work I end up with some discomfort. Commonly a stuffed or a runny nose, similar to having a cold.

My first guess is the smaller particles that are liberated when grinding the beans and winnowing may get into one's respiratory system and produce this symptoms. I tried wearing a mask while grinding and winnowing (both indoors) and it seems to help, but not completely.

How about vapors while roasting? Is the acid from the strong whiffing to tell if beans are done doing something nasty to my nostrils?

Does anyone care to share what kind of measures are being used by them or their teams?

we mould a lot of compound chocolates, almost 1500 kg per month. please contact for your specific requirements. my contact details are +919537125212 chintan shah, vadodara, gujarat, india

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I use small paintbrushes. You can pick up a bit of gold leaf on the brush and dab it on. I think it works reasonably well although I still think gold leaf can be hard to control! Andrea

I like to decorate my enrobed bon bons with gold leaf; however, I find that I have a hard time controlling it. I have tried using a pairing knife as well as tweezers. It works, but it certainly does not work 100 percent of the time. I use the sheets and it can sometimes lead to a mess. Has anyone ever tried the petals? I would love to get some tips on how to handle this delicate product. Thanks!