Forum Activity for @Sebastian

Can you cut 50 of your beans in half and count how many are purplish tinted in color inside? Can you post your formula you're using, and are you using lecithin? If your recipe is simply 70% beans and 30% sugar, i'm guestimating your fat level is approximately 32% (but that's why i asked you to count purple beans, to help understand how fermented they are, which impacts fat level). At 32% fat - regardless of how well fermented your beans are - if you're not using an emulsifier - such as lecithin for example - i'm afraid your chocolate is going to be thick (viscous). If that's the case, i suggest adding 0.5% fluid lecithin a couple of hours after you've added the sugar.

Thanks Adrian!

I would suggest The Science of Chocolate by Stephen T Beckett. Ithas a lot of useful information at a decent price.

It is my understanding that the longer you grind, the more fat is released from cocoa particles, which will reduce viscosity.Whether that applies to your case I have no idea, but perhaps 24 hours with such a small batch is too long,but that also depends ongetting a good bean and hitting theroast right.

Oh it doesn't dissolve?? Is there a good chemistry book that discusses the molecular structure of cacao? And speaking of books, is there a good resource for bean-to-bar chocolate making?

I'd seen this book but that's a pretty hefty price - I'll buy it if it's worth it though.

http://www.amazon.com/Production-Processing-Technology-Emmanuel-Afoakwa/dp/1466598239/

I'd heard about confectionery sugar having corn starch so I'm glad I'm using regular granulated sugar.

Okay - so it may look thin to you but if you had experience working with beans from 10 different origins you don't know where it fits relative to others.

Sugar doesn't dissolve, you're grinding the particles down. Yes, in a wet-mill style grinder pre-refining the sugar should reduce the amount of time required to finish grinding. If you purchase pre-refined sugar you must be sure that it contains no anti-caking agent; commercial confectionery sugar often has up to 3% corn or other starch in it and that's a no go when it comes to making chocolate.

No, I'm not sure what the fat content is - I guess I'm going off of how thin the liquor is before I'm adding sugar. Thanks for the sugar tip and I'll take a look at buying cocoa butter to aid in the thickness problems I'm having. I'm also wondering if grinding with sugar included for less than 24 hours would help. Pre-ground sugar (like in a food processor like you suggested) shouldn't take all that long in the grinder to dissolve right?

Yes, cocoa butter will thin it back down. When you say "quite a bit of cocoa butter in them naturally" do you know what the fat level is? Beans can range for 45-55% fat and the fat can have different hardnesses (melting points) so two beans with the same fat content might have different viscosities at different temperatures.

Limiting the number of variables makes sense to some extent but if, by eliminating a variable, you make the basic process much more difficult then I would add in the other variable - the added cocoa butter - so that at least processing and molding can proceed.

You might also check to make sure that the sugar is absolutely dry. One way to do that is to prerefine it in a food processor. If moisture starts to form on the lid then the sugar is not dry and the small amount of moisture in it could be binding with the chocolate, thickening it up.

Thanks for responding! I guess at this stage I'm trying to mitigate the number of variables. I'm still trying to figure out the roast, let alone grinding times. I have found these beans to have quite a lot of cocoa butter in them naturally, and only after 24 hours with sugar added did it start to really thicken up. Cocoa butter would thin it back down, correct?

Why don't you want to add cocoa butter?

As I see it, it's a huge mistake that most people make when starting out. Learn how to make chocolate "the proper way" and then, when you have experience making it - and making it consistently, especially at this small scale when the machines are really underpowered - you can start to back out on other ingredients.

I'm experimenting with some conacado Dominican Republic at home, and after grinding for 24 hours I had super low viscosity (almost like water) with a super-small micron size. After adding sugar (30% to make a 70% bar) and grinding for another 24 hours, my micron size came back down to normal levels but my temp had shot up to 124F and the chocolate became super viscous and was pulling from the bottom of the grinder. I wanted to conch another day or so but I was worried the chocolate would seize up the machine, so I pulled it from the grinder and tempered and molded it. It has an astringent quality that I think conching for another day or so would've helped.

I was using a small batch (about 1.5lbs) in a tabletop grinder. Was I adding sugar too early? Is there anything I can do temperature-wise? I really don't want to add cocoa butter if I can avoid it. I can also provide pictures if that helps.

Another thing you can do is to encapsulate the pieces by spraying them with tempered cocoa butter before enrobing.

I learned this technique from someone who was filling shells with fruit preserves - the chocolate bottom would not stick to the preserves, leading to all sorts of problems. Spraying the exposed surface of the preserves with the cocoa butter and letting them sit for a few minutes solved all of the production problems.

I can imagine it being used to keep powders and very small bits stuck to the surface of what's being enrobed.

Brush, shake any foreign material off before sending down the belt.

That's a good point - I always chop mine before melting or use Mycryo which is in powdered form.

it has a melting point of 90 degrees. you can shave the desired amount from the block so it is very thin and will melt easily.

use a double boiler or a dehydrator

And this wont burn it? Just put it on the lowest setting like Adam said for in the oven? I am more or less looking for efficiency and this may be quicker? I will have to try both I suppose!

So let it melt half way then pult it off and let it finish so it doesnt burn on the lowest setting?

Yep, I put mine in a saucepan and melt over a gas cooker/flame.

Just curious what is the best way people have found to melt down the cacao butter without the use of water or a microwave?

Just looking to elongate the life of my grinders and I would rather it go in as a liquid than a solid!

Thank you so much!

Hi Shanta,

How long have you been making chocolate for.

I am emailing from NYC and I would be interested in tasting your bark or if you do any dark plain or blended bars

if you also need feed back,I can let you know.

I work in a retail area of a supermarket in their chocolate area but also do a lot of buying and tasting bars

Hi Again

This should have been posted first!

I am South African having recently seriously ventured into the fun world of chocolate. I love the fact that I am learning new things everyday. Experimenting with flavours and textures is such a creative field and so very uplifting.

I have made bark in various flavours, ganache from home made coffee liqueur (how simple!); lavender ganache, blue cheese ganache and lots of others with herbs form my garden. I also made gianduja, nougat, caramel and mixed and matched these with other fillings.

I hope be able to share my knowledge with all of you and to learn. I am so excited about being part of a chocolate community.

Best

Shanta

Yeah if a kid is going to buy something you think they shouldn't first of all consult their parents or don't sell that to them in the first place

Thanks for the info. It probably will get to be a pain, asking if they have allergies, but I'll probably keep doing that. I also like the idea of selling skeptically to unaccompanied, younger kids.

We deal with a lot of families with a lot of sensitivities. Peanut, soy, gluten, dairy, egg, etc, etc.

A child who has a real allergy, who can buy something, is usually at a verbal age where they can tell you they have allergies. More than likely they have gone through a few painful moments that have brought this home.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. You can't protect the world. If you are concerned you can ask them but this will over time become laborious. You've done the best you can now continue on with your business and find ways of getting more of it.

If you think a child is buying something they shouldn't you can ask to speak to their parents. I won't sell direct to small children unaccompanied by a parent. An older child, say 10 or 12 should know thier allergies. Also ask the child directly if they have allergies.

Also carry insurance...

Hello All. I've asked this a few times (different verbiage), so sorry for repeating but this one keeps me up at nights. I've recently opened and I'm still concerned about allergic reactions happening (mostly to kids) when they buy from me. I have all of the required signage posted but I still get very concerned about someone (most likely a kid) buying something they shouldn't just because it looks so good. I guess I'm not asking for advice here, I'd just like some comments from anyone who has experienced this - or at least how to deal with the paranoia. Thanks, John

Hi Shanta,

Your equipment will depend on what you plan to make. Think of it like this - which task would you like to automate most? You have to be able to save time and increase your productivity.

Regards,

Anjali

Hello there

I live in South Africa and will be completing a chocolate course with Ecole Chocolat soon. I am really enjoying working with chocolate and have been encouraged by the knowledge I gained from the course to start my own business.

I would like to know what equipment I would need to start with that will get me up and running without me taking a second mortgage on my home. I can hand temper and am not sure whether a temepring machine is more useful than let's say a guitar.

From the numerous web sites I have seen equipment is very expensive and then to ship to SA is another costly exercise.

I would think I would need a guitar, a heating pot to hold temper, an industrial fridge (it is very warm here and humid - it's autumn and we still have temperaturs of 28 degrees Celsius. What else would i need and where would be a cost effecitve place to get these? Also what makes some equipment better than others. I have seen some posts about noisy heating pots.

Many thanks

Shanta

My question was actually to Mel 8-) but glad you asked anyway!

The way the moisture meters work that are above the one you linked to essentially look at the relative humidity that a bunch of beans create in a chamber. This is useful as you're interested in the aggregate humidity of a bunch of beans - not just a single one. Now, the unit you posted uses conductivity between the poles to calculate moisture - i have no idea if it'd work for beans or not - i suspect it'd not work so well for beans with shell on, but to be honest that's just a guess. If it did work, you'd want to perform that test on a hundred beans, and then take the average of them - as noted, knowing moisture of a single bean doesn't really help much. It might work - give it a shot and report back 8-) what you'd have to do is test it with the unit, then dry out each bean individually with an oven/weight loss method to assess how accurate your unit was reading. For $10 i'd say it's worth the trial. Heck, i might even try it (i'm not sure if i've got any cocoa beans around the house or not anymore tho).

The unit Michael linked to, while i have no direct experience with it, according to the video, reports with a +/-2% range - which is a huge range if you're looking to target 6-8% moisture (the vary range itself is 2%).

The best portable one I've ever used is the dickey john miniGAC plus. it comes with 2 calibration curves that are cocoa specific (you may have to download them, i don't recall any longer), and one of them is MUCH more accurate than the other. It's very durable, portable (I've carried one all over the world in conditions you couldn't imagine), and runs, from memory, about $500 USD.

Depends on what I'm purchasing, but for this, since its a new hobby I'd say $100 or less would be my max. I would hope to eventually learn how to tell moisture content from organoleptic methods, but a way to determine a control would help.

What do you think of that cheapy thing I posted the ebay link to?

Can you define what low cost means to you?

I was looking for a low cost solution.

I found these timber moisture meters on ebay, http://goo.gl/TlAHsX ,cheap. I was thinking I could re-position the terminals to cocoa bean size and get an idea of the level.

Anyone tried that?

COFFEE PRO MOISTURE MAC PLUS

$300

http://www.coffeelabequipment.com/BROCHURE.html

Hi from Peru Melanie! I use a Farmex (now rebranded as Agratronix) Mt-Pro and it works well. It doesn't have a native cacao setting so i use the spanish peanuts setting and calibrate it for my beans. its small and portable, not so cheap at around $250 but has proven durable and reliable in the harsh conditions here in Peru

Saludos, brian

Please help with this inquiry. I think this is the way?#1 wait til balls are slightly firm so they maintain shape #2 how long can they be frozed? #3 slowly thaw in refrig #4 slowly thaw at cold room temp.

How long can I keep them frozen? If the ganache contains wine,will the flavor remain good?

Thanks,

Cathy Locke

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it, Clay.

Another point with regard to sweetness. He's probably counting shell (erroneously) as a cocoa solid. Assuming 13% shell content, that means that the actual cocoa solids from mass are about 56%. But according to the ingredient list, he's also added cocoa butter. Assuming a typical 5-8% cocoa butter pad, that would give you a bar with more or less 50% cocoa solids from mass. But the assumed 5-8% cocoa butter supplement is based on what's typical from makers working with liquor. Even more cocoa butter would be necessary with the high content of shell particles. Sweetness!

Scott

Wow Clay.

That's the harshest I've yet tosee you write (except in private emails to me! haha!).

Thanks for keeping it real.

Brad