Forum Activity for @Clay

A flow wrap machine uses rolls of film.

[quote="Clay Gordon"]

You are looking for what is called a flow wrapping machine. 

Prices are based on the size of the film that can be handled (width and length) as well the number of pieces per hour that can be wrapped ++ options that include not wrapping when there is no product present, metal detectors, and more. It's important to keep in mind that you don't get what you don't pay for. Skimping out on features at purchase could lead to production struggles.

One key aspect of the design to inquire about is the ease of changing the knives. Some models make it easy - some make it very hard.

The FW 350TC  available from PAC Machinery (US) is one of the smallest I know of. I do not know the price and I do not know anyone who has one and have no information on how easy it is to adjust or to use. This is solely based on size, which is what you appear to be most concerned about.

[/quote]

Does this machine use "bags" or rolls of stock sheet that feeds in the machine?

SO.

I do believe I've figured out how to actually temper with the not-so-precise precise heat mixing bowl. There's a 'chocolate' button on the bowl, but we've already decided it doesn't work the way that it should (since the bowl heats from the bottom and not around the bowl). So on the advice of you fine people here at Discover Chocolate, lol, I decided to play around with the settings to see if i could find something that works. I have, and I will share it with you just in case anyone wants to get one and doesn't want to go through the trials and tribulations of figuring it out   And hey - maybe someone will be doing a google search about it and find this post!

-Starting with a kilo of solid chocolate that has been chopped OR a kilo of chocolate drops/wafers -

1. Add 10% of chocolate to the mixing bowl and manually set the bowl to preheat to 135°F.

2. Melt 2/3 of the chocolate in the microwave.

At this point a some (if not most) of the chocolate in the bowl will have already melted. 

3. Add the chocolate that you melted in the microwave to the PHMB (<--- strong="">Precise H eat M ixing B owl) and set your mixer to stir.

4. Once the PHMB has completly melted all of the chocolate,  turn OFF the bowl as well as the mixer .  Check the temperature with a thermometer you trust.

5. When the bowl hits around 118° for dark, 110° for milk and white, add a handful of seed and wait for it to melt. 

6. One it has, turn the bowl back ON and set the temperature to about 95°F for dark chocolate and about 90°F for milk or white chocolate. 

7. Continue to add your seed chocolate,  a little bit  at a time. 

I've found it helps to be doing something else in the kitchen while youre doing this - haha.

8. Every time you add seed, wait for the temperature on the bowl to drop by...mayyyyybe, 2-3°, before adding the next bit of chocolate.

9. Once the bowl has hit the target temperature of 95° or 90°, check the temperature with your thermometer and (all fingers crossed) you should be in the right temperature zone for tempered chocolate (88-90 for dark and 84-86 for milk and white).

10. Stop the stirring, and only turn it on when the temperature (of the thermometer, not the bowl - because the bowl holds at the temperature you've set it to) of the chocolate (test the 'top' of the chocolate, since this is what cools first), dips below the range for the chocolate youve chosen to temper. The action of the stirring will....kick up, for lack of a better word, the warmer chocolate at the bottom of the bowl, and mix it in with the cooloer chocolate. Periodically stop stirring and check the temp with a thermometer to see if your back in range yet.

Now, I've tried the above method around 5 times, and each time it has worked for me. So HOPEFULLY, it can help someone else!!

Have fun and keep chocolating!!

-Lauren

Hi Wendy

Yes, I still have them. They weren't used that often, lightly for about a year. Let me know if you have any other questions. 

Cheers

Hi Dirke,

Are they still available and how long were they in use for?

Best,

Wendy

We have 1,000+ lbs of organic, fairtrade, cocoa butter warehoused in Ohio.

Purchased from Atlantic Cocoa last year.

Packed in 25 kg boxes. Asking price $4.10/lb.

If interested email miles@perfectfuel.com

Miles -

The best way to update a post like this is to "close" the old post by selecting "Closed" after clicking on the light bulb icon. That will let the old post age off gracefully. You can then post a new Classified with the updated information.

You are looking for what is called a flow wrapping machine. 

Prices are based on the size of the film that can be handled (width and length) as well the number of pieces per hour that can be wrapped ++ options that include not wrapping when there is no product present, metal detectors, and more. It's important to keep in mind that you don't get what you don't pay for. Skimping out on features at purchase could lead to production struggles.

One key aspect of the design to inquire about is the ease of changing the knives. Some models make it easy - some make it very hard.

The FW 350TC  available from PAC Machinery (US) is one of the smallest I know of. I do not know the price and I do not know anyone who has one and have no information on how easy it is to adjust or to use. This is solely based on size, which is what you appear to be most concerned about.

Cheers Clay, that looks like a great option! i will contact HCS today and see what sort of price they go for

These electric guns can be used to spray on large pans?

Ok so it's two different effects, I'm really curious to try both.

Thank you very much, that is really great insight! Now is time to experiment and see how it works out :D

I'll keep the ammount of colorant low then, I thought it was the other way around...

KREA Swiss thank you very much for your answer. I loved the effects of your gun and I'll keep your information in mind.

Cheers.

900 lbs of Organic Fairtade Cocoa Powder.

Warehoused in Ohio in 50 lb bags.

Natural powder. Not single origin. Selling at $2.30/ lb

Shipping not included.

If interested please email miles@perfectfuel.com

This cocoa butter is still available. 1,300 lbs

Our price has come down slightly to $4.10/lb.

Let me know if interested.

We still have 100 molds available at this price.

Please let me know if you are interested in these great priced molds.

When an item is bought or sold, please mark it is as such.

On the Forum page there is an icon of a light bulb. 

Click on it and select a status from among the list.

For Sale items should be marked SOLD.

Wanted to Buy items should be marked COMPLETED.

If your need is URGENT you can mark it as such after it's posted.

Thank you.

I think the issue here is that David is dealing with a government procurement process and the government is in Colombia.

There is probably no budget for a consultant to make sense of what has been specified and it may not be possible to move money around between line items even if the items or wrong or the money can be better spent in other ways.

Right or wrong, that may be the reality of the situation David faces.

I am also interested, send pics and contact information to Larry@ruthhuntcandy.com

One effect is not better than the other, they are different.

If what you want to do is decorate a shell mold with a high-gloss sheen and air-brush/spatter pattern(s) (Norman Love is the acknowledged innovator and master at this technique) then you want to use cocoa butter.

Spraying chocolate gives you a flock/textured effect and is not normally used on confections but cakes and sculptures.

There is a total difference. You'd use uncolored cocoa butter as the first layer in the mold is going to give you a shiny surface. Them you build up the layers of color in reverse before filling the mold with chocolate to create the shell.

The more colorant you add to the cocoa butter the more opaque it becomes.

Hi 

I am interested.

Could you send me more information and photos to codico.2007@gmail.com

Thanks

Please email me to discuss this product. byrdeus at gmail.com. Thanks

Hello. Am interested send me pics n video.

Regards.

Stephen

I am based in New Zealand. Leaving the country so looking to sell as soon as possible.

I purchased these from indichocolate.com brand new. Willing to sell one for $180 USD including shipping, or 2 for $350 USD including shipping. Bought brand new under a year ago and only used 5-6 times. Cost for both was $500 excluding shipping.

Email me on logancolinsimpson at gmail to discuss. 

Thanks,

Logan

Hello Clay and docesobremesa,

I just want to let you know that Krebs is now KREA Swiss , but we still sell our food spray guns under the new name.

Our electric chocolate spray gun, the hotCHOC, was designed to spray heated chocolate with a misture of cocoa butter and can also be used to spray with colour. And when investing in our gun, you can also use it to do the frozen/velvet effect, final chocolate coverings, etc., and not just only to spray colour. (see pictures of clients)

If you find any interest, feel free to contact me by email at s.castro@kreaswiss.com for more technical information and a possible discount.

Wish you two a nice week.

Kind Regards,

KREA Swiss team

 hotchoc-baking-goods.jpg - 24KB

What do you think gives the best effect, chocolate or coccoa butter?

Is there any difference or it just deppends on the ammount of colour that I put in the misture?

Hire.  A.  Professional.

jonstewartbrainexplode.gif - 634KB

David:

You are asking us to do the impossible because we don't have enough information to answer your questions. Without knowing how much chocolate you need to make, making a recommendation - any recommendation - is not helpful to you.

That said, to the best of my knowledge, there are no small ball mills at the prices you say you need, except maybe for machines I would not trust to arrive broken, break down immediately, or be made with non-food-safe materials. Search on Alibaba to see what I mean.

Daniel, Peter:

Can we please move the conversation about the universal to another thread? I don't want to take over David's thread.

:: Clay

That's news to me. The manufacturing company's head mechanic worked on it last year and told me there would always be some pressure applied.

There are airbrushes specifically designed to spray colours. A good  source for information about them is Chef Rubber (www.chefrubber.com).

You use these to spray colored cocoa butter, which is quite fluid.

Generally, if you want to spray chocolate you would use a spray gun made for paint (e.g., Wagner Power Painter), or you can purchase a spray gun specifically made for chocolate (e.g., Krebs).

Daniel,

If your Macintyre is continually grinding you have a mechanical problem, you need to get a mechanic to look at it. Any correctly functioning Universal will not continue grinding once released from tension. 

Hi guys,

I'm an amateur who recently found his passion in chocolate making.

I've been successful at melting chocolate and making pralines, but now I would like to know how can I spray colour into the pralines... I really love that effect.

Is there an airbrush specifically designed for spraying colours? Should I mix the colour only with coccoa butter or can I also use chocolate?

Thanks.

Hi Lauren,

Welcome and lots of success on your business!

You´re right, that would be the correct order to do this kind of stuff.

The thing is that my employer just gave me names and prices, for example:

Ball Mill                                12.000 $

Laboratory Ball Mill                 1.100$

And i already know that a laboratory ball mill could cost as much as a "commercial" one with 3 to 4 times the capacity.

The same situation goes for a roaster, roll refiner, butter press and other equipment that i don´t even recognize. Just to mention one, a "potentiometer". And no one in this institution can give me any info about what a potentiometer means, because the guy who ordered that stuff, with those names and prices, isn´t working there anymore.

So i´m taking a long shot with you, to see if there is a remote possibility that someone could know, where to get a new Laboratory Ball Mill (or any ball mill) for that price.

Interested in this machine if still available. Please email me at ae3139904@gmail.com Thx

For those who are DIY'ers of the group - you might consider getting some carbon fiber tape, and a few wires and a thermostat and a battery you can make your own controllable heat tape that you can then custom fit around your bowls.  Sure there's heat tracing wire already out there, but it's thicker and, well, if you just bought it - then you're not the DIY type 8-)

I am in Sao Paulo, humidity is 80%, after a few hours with a dehumidifier I can get to 60% woohoo, I am using the small premiers for now. I was afraid that the humidity was causing my 70-80% bars to be too viscous and thought that roasting nibs, instead of cacao, would help me maintain more butter in the nibs. I will weight before and after roasting, then after proofing and see how this changes things. Thanks everyone. 

Thanks for the comments on my avatar. A friend of mine who is a macaron baker (ex- art director) in Amsterdam did it for me.

What does reasonably–priced mean to you? What you think is expensive might be cheap to someone else. It's important to consider where your market is - you can charge more in most big cities than in small towns so cost of chocolate is one thing to be factored in. Right now there are too many unknowns.

In what quantities do you want to buy? It may be that prices are high because you are buying in small quantities. As for a basis for comparison, take a look at the prices for couverture on Chocosphere.com and on Amazon.com. You should to that before you come back with more questions.

Clay -

Im in love with your avatar haha.

I honestly have no idea what brand of chocolate I want to use. Something....not belgian? haha Maybe the question should've been "what's your favorite non-belgian, reasonably priced (on a start-up budget) chocolate"? Obviously, its opinion and what one person likes, I might not like, it just gives me something to think about and or research....ya dig?? hhahaa

As for chocoley, their website says 'Chocoley is crafted in the finest belgian traditon and proudly made in America". I don't know, the way they talk about their chocolate makes it sound like they made it.'

PS- do you know what I mean when I talk about that 'taste' I dont like in  belgian chocolate?  It's almost like an anise flavor....which I normally don't mind, I'll tear up a bag of black liccorice..but get it out of my chocolate lol

Lauren -

There are two different issues at play here:

1. What chocolate you want to use.
2. What company you are going to buy the chocolate from.

For example, you might purchase Guittard directly (a pallet at a time) or in smaller amounts through a company like Ciao Imports or Sysco.

If you were interested in using Felchlin you'd be in touch with Swiss Chalet Fine Foods out of Miami who would connect you with a local rep.

Chocosphere is a source for many different brands of chocolate for tasting and testing.

I would focus first on what chocolate brand(s) you want to use and then figure out the best supplier, which includes factors such as shipping and availability (do they always have what you want in stock).

PS. - Chocoley probably does not "make Belgian chocolate." What they do most likely is contract with a manufacturer that is associated with Belgium who supplies them product on a private-label basis. It could be Barry-Callebaut (which is really a Swiss company, now), but the product could be manufactured in Belgium - or in Vermont or Canada.

Not sure if this is the right place to post this question, so feel free to move it if necessary! 

I fully intend on starting a small confectionery business, and I'm looking for a good place to get the chocolate for said business.

I always used Chocoley for their compound coatings, because they were seriously, the best compound chocolate I ever put in my mouth But they also do couverture chocolate. I've already established a 'wholesale' relationship with Chocoley (www.chocoley.com)....air quotes around wholesale because even with the wholesale discount, its still pretty expensive. Plus they make belgian chocolate - and for milk chocolate....I'm really not a fan. Theres a taste in belgian chocolate I cant put my finger on, but (at least for me) it ruins  the taste of a good chocolate.

So I'm looking for a good chocolate supplier that I could use to supply the chocolate for my eventual business...what is your favorite bulk chocolate supplier?

Thank you,thank you!