Forum Activity for @Carlos Eichenberger

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I've been making chocolate with Santha/Ultra grinders since 2008. The machines are in constant use. I have yet to experience separation of the bowl(s) and as stated before, since my second batch of chocolate, I don't pre-grind. My biggest wear item are the bushings in the stones.

We have a warming box set to 115F and just leave the nibs in there overnight. Warming them in a microwave seems kind of counterproductive, as the nibs' very low water content will make them difficult to warm.

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I am now in favor of pregrinding the nibs. Even with melted cocoa butter to start, the cold nibs put too much stress on the machine and can easily separate the plastic center piece from the stone. I tried warming the nibs in the microwave, together with cacao butter and it was as slow as doing it separately.

We deal with three machines at a time and without proper pre-grinding or pre-warming the nibs take a long time to pour in, and can damage the machine leaving it out of service .

I see a lot of used meat and grain grinders around, like this one , but I'm not sure if they can be sanitized well enough to deal with cacao.

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Sebastian has a very good point... we actually replaced the craptastic black rubber belts with fiberglass link belts which last 10x as long.

And still the belts need to be retightened about once every two months.

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

You may also need to tighten the belt from time to time.

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Absolutely. They do need to be quite warm, 115-120 F at a minimum, as must be the bowl and stones!

You can't dump the entire recipe's worth of nibs in all at once either, it takes about half an hour of slowly adding them in.

It also helps to add some of your supplemental cocoa butter at the beginning to lube things up a bit.

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hey Dylan,

Cool video! The grain mill looks like a nice and economical way to make liquor.

Thanks!

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks Cheebs,

I tried nibs directly but not warmed, the instrument seized up. So if you warm the nibs and allow the cocoa butter to soften the Santha can grind without any issue?

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I don't really see why you need a pregrinder. Both the Santha and Ultra can perfectly handle (warmed) nibs. I haven't used the Champion (or any other device) to pre-grind since my second batch of chocolate in 2008!

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hey Adam,

I was having similar issues and did not like the champion juicer. Super messy, heavy, and always getting really hot. I ended up using a grain mill. If you secure it to a table it will quickly refine the nibs to liquor. It will be a peanut butter consistency. It's a bit of a workout, but if you are not doing too many lbs a day it works great. We have a few videos of the grain mill in action if you check out the manoa chocolate website. Hope this helps.

-Dylan

pregrinders

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Greetings all,

I was wondering if anyone can offer some advice on pregrinders. I have been using the champion juicer which is slow and messy. I see that INNOmix offers the Surya Mixer Grinder (which looks to be the same as the CocoT mini Pregrinder but about $20 less at INNOmix ( http://www.innoconcepts.com/ )), as well as four other models: The pigeon kitchenmate, pigeon kitchenmate 2, pigeon special, and the pigeon special plus. These four other models have a larger capacity than the Surya Mixer Grinder/CocoT mini which can only take 2 cups at a time.

I'm trying to find a pregrinder for less than $200 that can grind 4+ cups at a time. Does anyone have experience with these grinders or others that are within these specs? Any insight is much appreciated!Thanks!

updated by @Adam Kavalier: 04/11/25 09:27:36

adding spice/favour to chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques


updated by @Coreen Chua: 04/11/25 09:27:36

How to storage/keep filled chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi everybody!!

I have a question for you. Where should I storeg/keep filled chocolates with ganaches? In a fridge?

I have to make arround 40 kilos, what will take me a week. What I should do in the meanwhile with the truffles and chocolates already done?

Thanks in advance!

Esteban

updated by @Esteban Iriart: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Selmi help please

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thank you.

I actually went back to the shop shortly after posting and did just that. Turned out to be a blown fuse on the electrical board. ( as you said)

Selmi help please

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

did you check your power source breaker? sometimes if you are running on 3 phase but everything else is running-lights etc you can forget to check the breaker.

Selmi help please

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If anyone out there has a lot of Selmi know how, please help. End of day today my Top decided to call it quits. The machine was accidentally taken out of temper, and less than a min later the temper button was pressed again. A few seconds later it decided to die. And Die it did. The black/red switch on the right that is usually used to restart these things is permanently stuck on red and the black seems disabled. ( not even a clicking feel when pressed)

Any thought anyone?

Thanks

updated by @Chocotoymaker: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Homemade Chocolate Shaker

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I'm still only molding chocolates for friends, family and the occasional charitable event, but I found that even on a fairly small scale I really needed a shaker to get out those pesky air bubbles. I looked for a used one, but boy were they expensive. What I ended up doing was making my own out of an inexpensive Eberbach Lab Shaker. Sounds strange, huh?

Here's what I did. I purchased a shaker at a state auction where they were selling off old lab equipment (I've seen these for sale on ebay as well). I gave it a good scrubbing, removed the old tray that was designed for other uses, and then attached a half sheet pan to the shaker base. This was accomplished by setting the original tray on top of my half sheet pan, marking the openings and then pre-drilling the holes. I used the screws from removing the old tray to attach the half sheet pan. I then put another half sheet pan on top of this one so that it's easy to remove for scraping out chocolate.

I'm thrilled with the results. The table fits 2 molds at a time (I could of went with a bigger tray if I wanted) and I no longer have air bubbles. Please keep in mind that this lab shaker isn't vibrating, it has a reciprocating motion.

See the attached photos.

Love this site,

Teresa

updated by @Teresa Craig: 04/11/25 09:27:36

The Atlantic City 2012 Candy Show

Posted in: Opinion

Greetings Chocolatiers.......it was so good to get home with all this great info from the show. I always come home so motivated & excited from these wonderful shows. The classes offered were very informative & the demonstrations were very good. There were some new companies at this show and of course a lot of the regulars.

I got permission from the Assoc. to shoot some photos for a trip report I am doing for the Road Food website. As soon as I get unpacked I'll get my notes together and tell you a little bit more about the show.

There were quite a few people there that are getting started in the candy business, it was nice to see that they were not scared off by the still existing economical problems. I spent time with 2 gals just getting into it and for 2 days at the show they took numerous notes on everything from insurance to distributors to dealing with new accounts. Overall it was a great show!

updated by @Debbie Collins: 04/20/15 17:48:24

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Cool stuff Edward J - thanks for sharing.

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Here is the completed santa.

I'm quite happy with my modifications, it cuts down on assembly time dramatically--pour into the open bottom instead of casting two halves and "glueing" them together.

About 20 minutes time was needed to convert the mold and no materials. I did need access to a woodworker's bandsaw, but it is a very common machine, and I don't see why a butcher's bandsaw couldn't be used.

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Here you can see the mold filled with couverture, The locating satay sticks are in place and the mold clips are on

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Next comes sanding the bottom of the mold flush. First I use very rough grit (80 grit) sandpaper on a flat surface and rub the mold until all the bottom edges are flush and smooth. Then I switch over to 180 grit paper and smooth off the roughness from the 80 grit. The edges don't have to be very smooth or polished, as this doesn't come in contact with chocolate.

After that, the mold is taken apart, the rough edges of the perimeter of mold are smoothed off with a file, and any flash from the bottom (from sanding) is removed as well.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the finished molded piece

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Once I have the two sides of mold perfectly aligned and firmly clamped, I drill two "locating" holes on either side of the mold. The holes are 1/8th inch dia holes. This is important, because when I assemble the mold with couverture I will use a small piece of bamboo skewer (a.k.a Satay stick) that is 1/8" dia. to keep the mold aligned.

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Now I've removed the protective masking tape and temporary clamped both sides of the mold together. This has to be done very carefully, both sides have to match as closely as possible. Not an easy thing to do with opaque molds. I have had decent success "feeling" both sides of the mold to see if they match up with my finger

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

And now the bottoms are sliced off from the mold. You can see a bit of the bottom still on the mold, I try and cut as little of it off as possible.

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

And now we cut straight down the middle......

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Using a bandsaw with a fine toothed blade the sides of the mold are cut off. I see no reason why a butcher's bandsaw can't be used either. I have done this with a tablesaw, but it is kind of frightening--a bandsaw is much safer.

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

The first step is to mask off the entire cavity of the mold, so it doesn't get scratched

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I am curios!

Modifying molds....

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

a picture of a cacoabarry mold being modified

Starting to gear up for Christmas, and last year two molds really started to irritate me, both CacaoBarry molds, of Santas.

I never understood the logic (or lack thereof) of the molds. They are framed, with bottoms. In order to assemble one half has to be removed and glued on to it's opposite with a bead of couverture.

I found this messy, and the "weld" usually breaks during shipping or packaging. Plus the seam on the bottom has to be removed in order for the figure to stand in it's packaging.

O.T.O.H I'm IN LOVE with clear molds with open bottoms that can be clipped together. By the second week of December last year, I knew what I was going to do with the molds, but I never got around to it.

So I have a series of about 18 photos sowing how I modified the this mold. I don't know how many pics I can display per post, so if Chris can tell me how to proceed, I'd be more than happy to oblige.

Edward

updated by @Edward J: 04/11/25 09:27:36

truffles-- making in advance

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Katie,First, congratulations on your order! That's great. . I store my product in a wine cooler at 65 degrees and have not had a problem with shelf life for a week or two. I do not use invertase or other preservatives. I personally draw the line at about two weeks for storing because my customers may not eat the product for a week or two and I want it to still taste fresh. I recommend that you not store your finished truffles in the regular fridge as it is too cold and chocolate will pick up other favors that are in there. Dip your ganache within 24 hours, so long as it has crystallized. That seals out oxygen, which promotes spoilage. I too have had issues with salt melting on finished product. It is the result of humidity. If you have a lot of humidity in your area then dip the salt garnished truffles last and use a dehumidifier in the room. I store them in a wine cooler, but if that isn't an option, then keep them on a counter in a cold dry room and cover them. And despite your best efforts, they may melt once you leave to deliver them if it's warmer or more humid than where you store them. I have pitched more than one batch because of this. Good luck!

truffles-- making in advance

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks Linda -- my Peter Greweling book says never to refrigerate ganache in a standard fridge, but it is unclear if he means you shouldn't do that to force crystalization or if you should just never do it, ever. I was also worried about any weird sort of humidity things that may happen in the fridge. I guess I will play it better safe than sorry though and get the uncoated ganache and finished truffles in the regular fridge. What is your advice on storing the finished truffles? Something air tight? I find that is fine for my chocolate with transfers, but I have had issues with the ones I garnish in sea salt (the salt liquified!).

truffles-- making in advance

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

In my humble opinion, I don't think the wine fridge will be safe to store your truffles. I have dipped and held truffles for over a week, in a 40degree fridge and have been safe with them. I think if you look into invertase or some other mold inhibitors you might be able to increase your safety margin. I of course, defer to other experts who will hopefully be able to help you!

truffles-- making in advance

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

OK -- I have figured out that I can get all of the truffles made and dipped within 4 or 5 days. I think that should be fine in terms of shelf life (please shout if you disagree!). I still have the other question though: how long can I leave the ganache undipped without degrading the quality? Also, when I am storing it in its undipped form, should it be stored in the regular fridge or can I keep it in my wine fridge (62 degrees)?

I know that the truffles garnished with transfers will hold up fine if they are dipped several days in advance. My concern are the others -- one garnished with a nut, the other with sea salt. I don't know how those will behave if they are dipped ahead of time and sit in the fridge for more than a day or so. Please help

truffles-- making in advance

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello -- I am a hobbyist, but have been contracted to make 300 truffles for a corporate party. Because of time and equipment limitations, I will have to spread out the production. I am wondering:

1) how far in advance I can make a complete product (ganache dipped and garnished)?

2) how long the ganache will remain in optimum condition undipped?

A few details: all are sliced slabs and the majority will be garnished with transfers. Some dark chocolate, some milk chocolate.

Thanks in advance!

Kate

updated by @Katie Perry: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Thanks Mark! I will definitely try that.

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

You might want to try making a basic praline. Take 50:50 sugar and hazelnuts, you can caramelize the sugar with them, like a croquant, or partially, or just a blend depending on your target flavor profile. Grind them to a nut butter and refine. You can then add cocoa butter or some dark chocolate to make a finished praline or gianduja. As mentioned above the quality of the nuts and the roast technique are the most significant factor.

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Exactly. Unfortunately, it's tough to get the best hazelnut cultivars outside of Europe. Even when you can get them, they're more expensive to begin with, and with higher transportation costs to get them to the US, they can be cost prohibitive.

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

aha! That might be the ticket. I have noticed the nuts themselves really don't seem that"nutty" by themselves. Thanks again.

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

The secret to getting pronounced hazelnut flavor and aroma is to start with the best hazelnuts (especially cv. Tonda Gentile delle Langhe, though Tonda di Giffoni and Tonda Gentile Romana are also very good). Nothing you can do to kernels from a lesser cultivar (e.g., Barcelona from Oregon or Tombul from Turkey) will close that gap in quality and intensity.

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Excellent tip, Tom! Thank you.

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

thank you for the salt tip tom. Never thought salt would make such impact nuts. I'll try it out for sure

Best hazelnut flavor

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Try adding a little salt, salt makes nuts taste nuttier. You don't need much but the change is remarkable.