Forum Activity for @David Menkes

Obviously a US-based opinion as that's where I'm at and where I'm going to base my opinion on, and what I'd love others to chime in on. Rather than just my opinion, I'd love to get a conversation going because I think this may be a larger issue at some point.

So I know Sacred Chocolate is somewhat of an easy target as they do both whole-bean and "raw" chocolate. I don't mean to single them out but they cover both areas I'm interested in so I'll use them as an example. Let me preface this by saying I've never tasted Sacred's stuff and for all I know it could be awesome. I have tasted other "unroasted" chocolate that was awesome.

So, shells first -

On a pure legal front, as far as I understand the FDA regulates the shell content of chocolate to 1.75% by volume:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=163.110

Being that shells are around 20% of the weight of the bean (or more, depending on origin and a number of other factors), that would make Sacred in violation of the FDA regulation, right? So how did they even pass a health inspection?

I read the discussion  earlier last year about Paul Young's whole bean chocolate (which I guess was discontinued?) which mentioned similar concerns. But I'm only now finding out that Sacred Chocolate is currently doing this in the US. It blows my mind. And the reasons for doing it are to promote the health benefits of the shell (!). I've also seen people candy-coating whole cacao beans which makes sense from a manufacturing standpoint (who wants to hand peel tens of thousands of beans?) but not necessarily from a health standpoint.

Now, I'm of the opinion Live and Let Live and these folks are entitled to their opinions on what's healthier about eating the shell or whatever, but here's my concern and what I'd love to discuss - Say that a bunch of people get seriously ill from eating Whole Bean chocolate or Raw chocolate or some other "unconventional" chocolate. The FDA comes in and says "yeah, no we need to tighten regulations on chocolate." Suddenly the rest of us will have to jump through extra hoops when it comes to importing, warehousing, and processing raw cacao beans, even if we end up making chocolate from fully roasted, deshelled cacao. More to the point, I could totally see the Craft Chocolate movement in the US hit critical mass and finally garnering the attention of the Big Chocolate companies, who would use any illness outbreak from a small maker as a way to push additional regulations through via lobbyists, making it more difficult for us to operate. Am I being paranoid? Probably. But don't you all remember what happened with Odwalla with their unpasteurized apple juice that sickened 70 kids (and led to many of their deaths) and led to sweeping changes in the juice industry in the 90s? They felt that  unpasteurized was heathier and retained more nutrients. Sound familiar?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10049198

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_E._coli_case_from_Odwalla_juice

That's exactly the sort of thing I worry about with craft chocolate. It's pretty much a free-for-all and the fact of the matter is raw cacao beans should be a well-documented source with standardized storage and kill steps, regardless of being Raw or whatever. I personally like the fact that Big Government is out of my kitchen when it comes to my cacao processing, but I still consider this a looming issue. Hollywood regulated itself in the 1930s  specifically so the government didn't intervene. Did they go too far? Of course. The idea was ultimately abandoned. I'm just throwing out ideas because, to quote any number of movies: I have a bad feeling about this.

Fudge is a grained caramel, and can have a very wide range of acceptible recipes.  Several questions determine recipes best for your use. 

How are you making the fudge, are you hand beating on a marble slab, in a creamer?

Will you form a loaf on the table to be cut, or cast into moulds or boxes?

Are you looking for ingredient restrictions?

What shelf life are you looking for?

Sebastian -

For what it's worth, when I turned it on, I did not expect to find it in the top nav. I searched for it and searched for it ... and ended up having to ask the dev team where it was when it wasn't where I expected to be. Doh. Homer Simpson moment.

Got it - thanks.  I'm sure that was pointed out somewhere and i've just not been present enough to catch it - thanks.

Priscilla -

I am still not sure exactly what the issue is. I will change your profile quota to " chocolate maker " as I see you have a handfull of cocoa beans in your account photo. Now that you are out of the default member quota group you should be able to see the quota picker. Please let me know if you still can't.

Sebastian -

The Private Notes function is implemented. You can find it by hovering over your name in the top nav. It should be the first item.

There is a twist, however. Right now you can only send Private Notes to people who are following you. This is done to prevent spammers using the Private Notes capability. If you want to connect with someone using Private Notes, the best thing to do is to go to their Profile and Follow them. If their account is set up to accept all follow requests, the Follow button will be replaced by Following. If the member's profile is set to "Approve Followers" then the button will be set to Pending and you will get an email when they approve.

I can turn the "only send notes to followers" off, and it might make sense to do that for the next month or so as members slowly claim their accounts. I will have to think about that.

Speaking of messages - and it's probably because i'm not drinking enough coffee - but i can't for the life of me see how to send a message to someone on the new site.  I've seen reference to private messages, but it's not apparent to me how one actually sends the private message.  Is the funtionality not implimented yet, am i just getting too old to find the new technology, or is there a secret decoder ring one needs to use to find it 8-)

Hey Dave,

Yeah I was thinking about that - I figure there's no harm in experimenting since it's a spare baffle anyway. Will definitely post results once I try!

Something you could try, if you haven't already, is to use some fine sand paper to sand away the dark blotch on the metal connector.  That could fix your issue.  Or...there's a product called DexoIT electrical contact cleaner that you could use on it prior to any sandpapering.  You may just have a bad electrical contact due to oxidation.

Taking a look - notified the JR developer team member who did the data import.

The home brew chocolate group seems to be missing.

I would like to share with all you kind people a recipe I developed for peanut butter cup filling that is the rave to those who try it.

This recipe is not what you would typically find on the web; recipes which contain graham crackers, butter, vanilla and store bought peanut butter.

Nope, this recipes contains freshly ground dry roasted unsalted peanuts, 10X sugar, dextrose and salt (the same ingredients found on that leading brand).

So here are the ingredients for a nice sized batch of filling (about 14 large cups):

200 g dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

40 g confectioners sugar

40 g Dextrose

6 g salt

Directions:

1. Grind the peanut on a course setting if using a peanut butter maker. I have several Salton peanut butter makers. I love that machine unfortunately, they are no longer manufactured, that is why i have several from Ebay. If you don't have a peanut butter maker, you can make the peanut butter using a blender. It will take about 5 minutes to make the peanut butter and you will haver to push the peanuts down towards the blade from time to time until it starts to get creamy. Make sure the blender is OFF when pushing the peanut down. Here is an important tip for the correct texture. Take about 40 g of the 200g peanuts (before you grind them) and pulse 5 to 7 times in the blender and put the slivers aside for later.
2. Finish grinding the balance of the peanut (160 g) and in a bowl, combine the slivers and the peanut butter.
3. Add the sugar, Dextrose and salt to the mixture.
4. Throughly mix. It will be stiff at first but after a few minutes of setting, the filling will become soft and glossy.
5. Put the filling aside while you prepare the chocolate.
6. Now, this is where your imagination takes over, enjoy!

Filling Tips (done by hand):

1. Place a peanut butter cup paper liner (about 1 inch diameter) in a larger container. I use a 1/2 cup measuring cup. You will see why in a moment.
2. Pour about 1 teaspoon of chocolate on the bottom of the liner. You can adjust this amount based on the size of the liner you use.
3. Grab the handle of the measuring cup and gently shake the cup until the chocolate settles flat.
4. Drop 1/2 tablespoon of filling into the cup on top of the chocolate.
5. Shake the cup back and forth with a quick motion. This will cause the filling to settle, spread to the sides of the cup and force the chocolate up the sides ofthe liner.
6. Pour about 1 teaspoon of chocolate on top of the filling and spread with the back of the spoon to cover the filling.
7. Again, shake the cup back and forth until the chocolate is perfectly flat on the top.
8. Remove from measurng cup and let cool and repeat steps 1 through 7.
9. If you have a vibrating table, you can use that instead of shaking the cup by hand. Also, don't shake so hard that the liner flys out of the measuring cup. I already did that.
10. Following this procedure will yield you perfectly flat topped peanut butter cups with just the right amount of chocolate on the sides, bottom and top.

Well, I you enjoy this recipe, if you love peanut butter cups (like the leading brand) you will certainly love these. Also, you can make giant cups or other candy molds. You are not limited to just paper liners.

Best Regards,

Joe C.

I ended up swapping the belt and gears on a Wonder last night and took lots of photos. Will post this weekend!

David -

I am sure that everyone here on TheChocolateLife (and elsewhere) would appreciate an instructable on these sorts of repairs and maintenance. Looking forward to seeing the first.

Desert Indulgence. I like it.

Potomac Chocolate:
@clay: not having to tip the melanger to empty it sounds very nice.

Ben -

Just one of the little things we took a careful look at as we were designing the machine. The fact that bowl comes apart in two pieces so that you can remove it completely is unique. While we wanted it to be efficient (i.e., get to particle size fast) that was not the only aspect of usability that concerned us.

Very interesting topic, however I think the analogy misses on a few points.  Most $100 bottles of wine were originally sold for $20-$50 when new. As they age and get better (not all wines age well, contrary to popular belief) the price increases simply due to supply and demand.  Hence a lot of collectors out there are filling thier cellars up with cases of $20 wines.  In 10+ years, that case of $20 wines *might* be a case of $100 wines.   

Are there winemakers selling $100 for new bottles? of course. But they are few and far between, relatively speaking. And almost all of that is due to reputation.

Secondly, unlike most chocolate makers, winemakers tend to have pure and total control over thier grape production. Many of the finest Bordeux's are from winemakers that have been winemaking for generations. They have grown a reputation, without being able to grow thier production. There's a real difference between a good grape and an amazing grape.  

I know I'm new to the industry and just barely coming out of the hobby, but most of the cacao that I seem to find is a blend of a myriad of different farmers, farming techniques, etc. Further, post harvest ferments and drying can range from great to abominable. All of which is just outside the hands of most chocolate makers. We get what we get and learn to work with it.

I think it's the combination of a bunch of things like this that holds prices where they are even though there are premium artisinal made chocolates vs cheapo candy chocolate. Most of what I've seen for $15+ bars is pure ego, while only some of it is rarity, but mostly ego.  If we can somehow work in something special in one chocolate that isnt in another, that's where I think the prices can and would climb.  

It's not a matter of producing a $100 bar, it's a matter of producing something that becomes worth $100 and people are willing to buy as a matter of value and specialness, and rarity. Elitism is where a lot of high dollar things get thier values.

Hey Paul~

I don't have much experience using any enrobing line, I aquired this enrober this summer along with a package equipment purchase from a local business that had closed some time ago. I really REALLY wanted the melters, and figured that the enrober would be a bonus!  I can tell you that with the help of the previous owner, I got it up and running at my facility and it really is a workhorse.  BUT, totally not the direction that I want my (small hand dipped business model) business heading.  The way that the previous owner used it was to start it running early in the morning and by afternoon, using it to enrobe (not sure if this is common practice) but it seems that by watching the way that the chocolate draped over the enrober, and as it got thicker, the closer that it was in temper?  I dont' have the time for that....I would rather buy another hilliard melter/temperer and dip out of that. 

The Pros that I've seen are: Fast and Steady production, the tanks hold a large amount of chocolate and it's easy to refill with a heated side spout, Easy access to every side of the machine including the loading area, chocolate enrobing area and unloading areas. This machine has a very small footprint ( 3' wide by 16 ' long)...it can serve as a table when not in use I've timed the belt speed to run from start to finish at 10 minutes, which is pretty fast moving when you are loading, unloading and shuffling around trays!  Its got 2 detailers one after the bottomer and one at the end of the line, helps to minimize the "foot" of the chocolate piece.  It uses 2 water heated jackets which are easy to maintain, just ensure that they are topped off each day/use and the machine holds temperature very well.  Both the bottomer and the enrober have seperate water jackets and thermostats. The center cooling unit can be turned on and off as needed manually.  It breaks down into 3 different pieces of machine.   It's a cute machine.  

Cons: uses a roll of paper at the end of the line, after enrobing, which is then transfered onto trays  (con is the disposables cost), another con that I had not anticipated is needing more than just "me" to run it.  obviously need someone to load and a very fast one person or two to unload and rack the chocolates. Anyone else know any cons specific to this unit?  

The plastic belt is going to need to be replaced, probably sooner rather than later, I scrubbed the crap out of it when I got it...the belt has some black spots on it and I may have been a bit harsh on it...I have the name of a local company who does this and I could totally get a price for you, replacement was my next step, then I just decided to sell.

I have a bunch of pictures...not sure how many I can post to  this site...you want me to send them to an e-mail? Feel free to contact me at speckledhenchocolate@gmail.com

Desert Indulgence is the name I went with.

@clay: not having to tip the melanger to empty it sounds very nice.

Tim -

Welcome to TheChocolateLife.

For the sake of members everywhere, what's the name of your company? Want to make sure you are mentioned in the current databases of makers.

David -

If/when you do, document it in photos and post an instructable. You can use the new photo galleries to do this. Title each image with the name of the step - Chocovision Rev Delta Baffle Repair - Step 1 - and so on. And put the text in the description. When viewed in Lightbox mode it becomes a step-by-step guide to repairing the baffle.

Hi Clay,

Beautiful, it looks perfect with the blue hyperlinks.

Thanks,

Joe C.

Yeah we got it for $1k and it included several baffles so we're not dead in the water by any means. Was just curious if anyone had attempted to fix one yet. Another in a long line of fixit projects...

Joe -

Does the blue work better for you?

As an alternative, Indi is selling theirs for $4k shipped.

Erin@indichocolate.com

Lynda -

Thanks for sharing. I am glad to hear that TheChocolateLife has been such a valuable resource for you.

Joe -

Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been trying to find a set of colors that can be used universally in the site using the overall color scheme from the old TheChocolateLife. Still working on it. Part of the issue is that some of the CSS classes are doubled up. So if I change something it might have to work against both a dark and a light background. That makes it tougher.

David -

Baffles cannot be easily repaired as the wires are epoxied into the baffle. Whatever is causing the short is probably buried somewhere between the sensor and the contact wires. Troubleshooting is hard because you have to disassemble the baffle to find the cause of the short.

As you bought a used machine, Chocovision is not obligated to honor any warranty. Did you ask for a good price? Try looking for parts on eBay, too.

Hi Clay,

Great site, excellent resources here.

The only thing I found which may use a little tweaking if that when you move the mouse over a hyperlink, the link changes to a color which is almost the same as the background color. This has caused me to hesitate from clicking on the link thinking something was wrong or the link disappeared, especially when there is a link embedded in the forum since the text is tiny.

Typically a link will remain the same color and it will become underlined when a mouse is moved over it.

It is not a big deal, it just tricked me a few times.

Best Regards,'

Joe  C.

FBM introduced a new machine at SIGEP that I helped them design - the >> RUMBO << .

The design is a hybrid of the Indian wet grinder and a traditional Lehmann melanger. The bowl and the base are fixed and the grinding stones turn. The grinding stones are direct-drive: no belts or chains, and the motor is variable-speed.

The base and the grinding stones are also made of real granite. The people who cut the stones for the RUMBO are the same people who cut the stones to repair actual Lehmann melangers. The grinding stones weigh 45kg each as well.

Perhaps more importantly, the RUMBO incorporates a forced hot air mechanism into the design. You can heat the stones and base before you start grinding so that the fat starts to liquefy more or less immediately. Furthermore, you can keep the air blowing while refining (or not) your choice.

Also, the machine unloads itself. There is an opening in the side of the machine and the scrapers push the chocolate out of this opening. No more tipping the bowl and having to reach in to scrape the chocolate out. The bowl is in two parts and is removable so you can reach the innards for cleaning.

Finally, it's price competitive with a fully-loaded CocoaTown 65. About 10% more. Rated batch capacity is 40 liters, but the bowl is 120L. The more chocolate you put in the machine the longer the processing time. We are looking at ~24 hours to grind/refine to the desired particle size, then transfer to a Kleego50 for conching (in under three hours).

If anyone is interested, please send me a private note and I will send you the catalog page.

I am using dulce de leche is a recipe and if I store the left overs in the refrigerator it starts to crystalize becoming gritty after a week or so.

I read that adding cream of tartar or corn syrup will help inhibit the formation of crystals.

Is there some type of rule of thumb of the ratio between the additive and the sugar base to keep it smooth and creamy?

Thanks

Joe C.

i would be very interested in the larger premier grinders as i currently use 4x of the 2ltr tabletop ones, and have had no problems runnning chocolate for days at a time in them. Real work horses

Have you heard about Bavahni's project? He's doing a 65lb and a 100lb "Premier" grinder.

There are two important indicators on the Forum Index pages.

When you see the number of posts surrounded by a dotted line it means that that item has been pinned. It will remain at the top of the page.

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Done and done. Sent you a private message.

Confectioner please. 

Thanks a lot for your help.

Victor -

The two are related to each other. I thought I had fixed the quota select not being visible last night. While I am continuing to find a permanent solution, what quota do you want to be in? Blogger, Chocolate maker, Confectioner, Enthusiast, Other Chocolate Professional, Retailer?

Hello,

I also have the quota not appearing problem. Also tried to send you a private note but when I enter clay in the recipient box all I get is "No results".

Susan -

Problem solved. The issue was not that you didn't have a Twitter account, it was that there were a couple of fields where I set the minimum number of characters to 16 and you did not enter that length of an answer. To help prevent robots from signing up for accounts I set this minimum. I edited your answers - e.g, from "Belgium" to "It was during a trip to Belgium" to check that, in fact this was the problem, and it was. I was also requiring at least 2 characters for a Twitter account which meant that people without an account (or who didn't want to share) would not be allowed to sign up/update. Thanks for pointing this out to me so I could get it fixed. Done and done.

Susan -

When creating the fields I thought I did make them optional on both the create account and update account forms. I will go and check them to make sure. Thank you for letting me know.