Forum Activity for @Sebastian

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

ok grazie

Penso sia il temperaggio, la temperatura finale non é corretta.

Prova queste temperature per temperare a mano, io preferisco a bagnomaria piuttosto che tavolo di marmo, anche perché qui fa caldo.

raffreddre a 27˚,8 e poi portare a 32˚,2, io preferisco tenermi 1/3 o 1/4 della cioccolata a 34˚, e la aggiungo a a  quella che ho portato a 27˚,8, cercando di arrivare il prima possibile (se serve con l'aiuto del bagnomaria) a 32˚,2

la puoi lavorare poi a 33˚,5

E' importante mescolare molto.

E poi una volta temperato, non riempire subito tutti gli stampi, fai un test con un po' di cioccolato che metti in frigo e vedi come va. Almeno se devi ricominciare hai meno lavoro.

Fammi sapere......

Ciao Allora cerco di spiegarmi meglio ho tostato Ridotto una granella e pulite le md poi le ho raffinato e miscelate (60% di granella   10% burro di cacao e il 30% di zucchero di canna) per 72 ore con il bagnato e macina Fino qui tutto bene il Problema arriva DOPO temperato (ho provato in vari modi Sia sul marmo Che un bagno maria per arrivare alla temperatura di 28 ° e poi a 31 ° lo metto NEGLI stampi lo lascio rafreddare poi li tolgo. DOPO Qualche giorno diventa granuloso con Punti beige, non così secondo me o faccio cosi male il temperaggio o mi sfugge Qualcosa grazie per il Tuo Aiuto

Hi everyone,

my 2ltr tabletop premier wonder grinder has finally got to the stage where the belt is 'shedding' and creating black dust within the machine. I am looking to change the belt and saw in a few discussions about getting a powertwist belt, but i am not sure which one i would need, the only info on the belt i currently have is 'Ecodrive FHP 2190', so am unsure what that refers to as size etc. can anyone help? also i have been recommended a 'polyurethane belt' does anyone know if this is better or worse than a fibreglass one?

cheers,

James

Spiegati meglio, che tipo di cioccolato e in che condizioni si sbriciola?

Hi AnneMarie;

To be very candid with you, I think what they are doing is fabulous!  

The reason is very simple:  Their outrageous pricing and marketing causes consumers to ask questions, and as misguided as it may seem, that helps EVERYONE in the bean to bar industry who has once, if not 10,000 times, taken time to educate their customers about mass produced chocolate vs. the chocolate they MAKE right there in their shop.

A few months ago, Choklat passed the 100,000 customer mark, and in spite of being open for 7 years, being the only chocolate maker in my city of just a million people, having benefitted from tens of thousands of dollars in free media attention over the years, and having our chocolate and wine events sold out 4 nights a week for 5 months in advance on word of mouth alone, every day we STILL get people through our doors that don't know the difference, and get the spiel from me or a team member.

If To'ak garners some media attention, and helps educate consumers in the interim so I don't have to, well... GREAT!  They've told the general public that there's more to life than a KitKat bar (or 260 bars for that matter!  haha!)

Are they going to be around long enough to make a dent in the industry?  I doubt it.  Already the word is getting out that their product is medicre at best, and online reviews are certainly doing them no favours.  The orders will stop coming in soon enough.

Remember Noka a few years back?

One thing I will say for certain though:  The bean to bar chocolate industry is gaining exposure, and many customers who have been to my shop have sought out other artisans.  I know this because they come back even more loyal than before.  Recently I increased the price of my chocolate bars to $10 and up, and bumped our truffles to $2.25 each.  Not a single customer batted an eye.  In fact, when I posted the apology for the price increase on my facebook page, the overall response was, and I quote "Couldn't care less if prices go up. It's 100% worth it. "

Now, we need a $1,000 chocolate bar that actually tastes good!  Anyone out there want to give it a go?  LOL

Brad

Hey, that looks fun!  Thanks for sharing that exercise.

My current recipe is pretty straight forward, but I've been using coconut milk.  The results are delightful, but I haven't figured out how to not lose money on it or compromise it's quality.  Some messing around is definitely in order before I can bring a caramel product to market.

Here - this will be a good resource for you mate.  Let me know when you've got something you're happy with and i'll buy some 8-)

http://nca.files.cms-plus.com/ResidentCourse/Week2/Labs/ResCourseWk2LbCH10&11Caramel,Fudge&Toffee.pdf

it does.  you'll need to compensate by adding milk fat (or a soft fat of your choosing).

Sounds like a "do it and find out!"  I was under the impression that fat content made a difference in a caramel, but honestly I've never tried using a defatted liquid/powder.  I bet it works wonders for balancing that profitability equation, too.  Thanks for sharing!

Hi Bart,

Great to e-meet you. My company is Rescue Chocolate (rescuechocolate.com). It's a line of all-dark chocolates and we donate all profits to animal rescue groups. Please be in touch if you'd like to get some samples!

Best,

Sarah

Every day for years.  Some of the best caramels in the world are made that way.

Thanks Larry!  I'm still on the fence about it, but it'd be really nice to free up some time whenever... things really get cookin'.

@sebastian, have you done this?  What were your results like?

Hi John!  I went into a chocolate boutique the other day that was part wine lounge, and thought it was fantastic - I'd definitely have some tea I were to wonder past such a spot, too.  

Something that may be useful to you is a tool such as foodpairing.com or this one on http://www.callebaut.com/ocen/chocolizer#foodpairing.  Other manufacturers may have a version as well, but it could be a start.  Good luck, sir!

Thanks, @bartbasi, it does help some.  I'm thinking I might try to find/make a styrofoam cooler that fits the kraft boxes I use that I can leave with the retailer, and take one back each time I deliver.  She's a pretty cool lady, so I think she'd appreciate the extra care and it'd work fine as long as it doesn't take up much space.

Wish there was a 'Like' button Sebastian! 

I can just picture how they discovered that technique led to better ganaches.  Someone screwed up - the ganache was clumpy and almost impossible to work with - someone added a bit more cream - beat the hell out of it and voila - the BEST ganache that was ever made!

I wouldn't think so Ruth, but it never hurts to do the test - that's how we learn new things sometimes!  

Kerry - the only reason Aw would be lower because of mixing would be that there were 'pockets' of high Aw areas, and testing done happened to hit one of those pockets.  It's not a function of mixing lowering Aw, it's more a function of ensuring homogeniety.  I see chefs all the time make technical errors as they're trying to explain why this or that technique is better than the other guys' technique.  The fusion of culinary and technology's a pretty cool place to be, but a lot of people don't really understand it, and as such it ends up being theater to some degree.