Forum Activity for @Evan Langendorf

Cocoatown ECGC-12SLTA Issues

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello Chocolatelifers!

We have now been working with the cocoatown unit for about 8 months and as production increased we have recently run into some problems. I am wondering if these are common and if they have been experienced by anyone else or if we are potentially using same mal-ingredient that might be making the friction increase.

About 2 months ago we showed up to our shop to find out the delrin inserts had ground off into the chocolate, making a whole batch (8lbs) of chocolate go to waste. We contacted cocoatown and they shipped up a new pair of stones.

We carefully watched the following batches with the new stones and saw the same wear pattern developing on the delrin inserts. We also have been noticing that the underside of the metal axle has been slowly wearing away as well. This means we have both plastic and metal grinding into our chocolate.

Now after getting in contact with the company we have been told that we need to pay to ship the parts affected back to the company for them to test them and then they will see if they want to cover them under warranty. Not so good for a new company just getting off the ground...

So has anyone had an issue like this with cocoatown?? We are now going to do what we can to continue producing but it looks like we might be looking into the Santha machines.

If anyone has any advice that would be highly appreciated.

Evan and Brianna

updated by @Evan Langendorf: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Yabisi Kakaw : Helping bring back Puerto Rico's fine cacao production. [Crowd funding]

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Hello!

We've made a new campaign available at Antrocket.com , a local crowdfunding service, and is live today.

You can reach it at : http://www.antrocket.com/yabisikakaw

If you have any suggestion, or want to include areward, feel welcome to post it on the comment section or post to the discussion.

Have a great weekend!

-Yabisi Kakaw Team

updated by @José Crespo: 12/13/24 12:16:07

Bougainville

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Great news!, we launched our kickstarter voyage today and thanks for those who have backed us so far...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wellingtonchocolate/the-wellington-chocolate-voyage

Bougainville

Posted in: Tasting Notes

updated by @Rochelle: 04/10/15 17:54:54

Irinox Nice vs Friulinox

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi All,

I know there have been countless discussions on this topic, but I am in the process of finalising my list of equipment, and am now in a dilemma re my chocolate holding cabinet, and could really do with some advice.

I am setting up a small chocolate production facility in Singapore. The size of my kitchen is appx 350sf. The room will be air-conditioned, and I will try and maintain a temperature of 22 degrees centigrade. Humidity is a real issue here, and I have quite a high rate of rejects, on account of humidity. I currently use a wine chiller for crystallisation and storage, and now find that the recovery rate is quite slow, which affects the crystallisation of my chocolate.

I have been talking to Irinox here - but apparently they have stopped producing their TP-20 and TP-30 Holding Cabinets. They recommend NICE, which is not specifically designed for chocolate, which has a minimum humidity setting of 50%.

The other cabinet, that my equipment supplier has recommended is a Friulinox Engold machine (Power 0.6kw), which has the appropriate temperature and humidity range, but I am not able to gauge or get answers for the recovery time.

Any views / comments would be really appreciated.

Anjali

updated by @Anjali Gupta: 04/11/25 09:27:36

FOR SALE Mol d'Art 50 kg chocolate moulding machine

Posted in: Uncategorized

Helen (and all other ChocolateLife members):

Posts such as these belong in Classifieds.

Thanks,
:: Clay

FOR SALE Mol d'Art 50 kg chocolate moulding machine

Posted in: Uncategorized

Sorry, I missed this! Messaged you here.

FOR SALE Mol d'Art 50 kg chocolate moulding machine

Posted in: Uncategorized

feel free to email me at helen@greatbeanchocolate.com

FOR SALE Mol d'Art 50 kg chocolate moulding machine

Posted in: Uncategorized

interested. how to contact you?

FOR SALE Mol d'Art 50 kg chocolate moulding machine

Posted in: Uncategorized

6500

FOR SALE Mol d'Art 50 kg chocolate moulding machine

Posted in: Uncategorized

Price?

FOR SALE Mol d'Art 50 kg chocolate moulding machine

Posted in: Uncategorized

Selling our Mol d'Art machine- great for making truffles, or anything with inclusions! Easy to clean and reliable, handles our high viscosity chocolate beautifully. Tempers through ambient air temperature, easy to accelerate with a fan. Please contact with any questions! Located in Texas.

updated by @Helen Benton: 04/11/15 23:53:00

which is the best chocolate slab in india?

Posted in: Uncategorized

Which is the best chocolate slab in India?
updated by @Aarti: 04/12/15 09:07:29

Fudge recipes

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hello All. I'm just getting into making fudge and with the exception of Greweling's commercial recipes, I'm having difficulty locating additional recipes. Any suggestions on good sites / books for commercial fudge recipes? Thanks, John

updated by @John Duxbury: 04/23/15 21:49:38

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Just out of curiosity, do you know what the humidity % is in the room you're working out of? We had some issues with streakiness as well and we're able to solve it by bringing in a dehumidifier.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks so much for this, I've bought an electric blanket and we will be experimenting with heating the moulds prior to pouring and will then sit in a wire rack to allow cooling underneath as well on in the surface via a fan. Really useful info, thanks so much for your advice.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Do you have airflow under the moulds? It is possible you could be trapping the heat given out as the chocolate sets. If not you could try putting them on wire racks whilst cooling and still use the fan, this applies if your fridge has glass or solid shelves rather than wire ones too.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

12C? That is probably way too cold for your chocolate. Try getting them to within a few degrees of your chocolate temp. It might help to get an IR thermometer to check the mould temp just prior to moulding.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

We are talking 12 degrees Centigrade?

This would be a problem.

On industrial moulding lines moulds (cavity side) are beingheated up to 26-29C prior to pouring in tempered chocolate.

Reason:

Tempered chocolate will contain a certain quantity of desired cocoa butter crystals. This quantity will be sufficient to act as seeds for the crystailsation of the rest of the chocolate when cooled at the correct speed. Rest of the cocoa butter is still liquid

If you pour tempered chocolate into mould that is too cold liquid cocoa butter forms unstable crystal forms on the mould surface resulting in white areas, streaks and othe bloom.

On a more technical level following happens: when chocolate (containing liquid cocoa butter) contacts cold mould surface heat (energy) flows from chocolate into the mould. This results in the formation of cocoa butter crystals that have a melting point close to the mould surface temperature. Crystals that are formed at teperatures below 28-29C are not stable. Because this process happens very fast there is no time for the correct seed crystals created during tempering to grow and correctly crystalise the whole chocolate bar.

I would suggest warming your moulds up to 26-28C and trying again.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I tested with parchment paper dipped into the chocolate, if it sets hard within three minutes I usually take take that as tempered. I use a chocovision rev v machine. The temper on the bars are fine, it's just the surface of the mould sued that is streaked.The moulds were at room temperature, which was about 12 degrees yesterday. Should the moulds be warmed or cooled prior to pouring? I've read different thinks. Any help appreciated.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

How did you temper and how did you test the temper prior to pouring?

What was the the temperature of moulds before you poured your chocolate in?

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

They are good quality polycarbonate moulds which might make a difference?

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

It's the mould side, the air side is absolutely fine. They are large bar moulds (95g) and I've been wondering if they aren't cooling quickly enough, hence blowing air across them and putting them on a cool surface. I've been through all possibilities and close to giving up! I have pictures but no idea how to post them on here. Any advice appreciated.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Can you clarify---is it the air side or the mold side that gets streaks? If its the air side it might be too much air flow/turbulence.

Streaked bars

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I'm so frustrated! The last four batches of chocolate I've made have been streaked, the temper is good but the face of the bars are streaked in yellow. I've tried everything. Initially I thought it was poorly tempered, but I've mixed the chocolate really well and tested for temper prior to pouring, I'm certain the temper is fine. I've scrupulously cleaned my chocolate moulds and polished with cotton wool so that isn't the problem. I've bought a fan to blow cool air across the moulds as they are cooling, and they are also cooled on a cool stainless steel surface, I previously used a fridge with the same streaked result. Can anyone shed any light on this, it's so frustrating!Katie
updated by @Katie Partington: 04/11/25 09:27:36

what did I do to my chocolate?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thank you Mark. Will try that out.

Cheers!

Alan

what did I do to my chocolate?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

At 50C your cocoa butter is melted, but you have small agglomerates formed when your "leftover" cooled uncontrolled. If you smear the warm chocolate between your fingers or on your tongue and feel nothing more than soft clotted texture this may be all it is. Try an immersion blender in the chocolate while hot and they should disappear as they're broken up by the high shear.

what did I do to my chocolate?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Ive been dabbling a bit lately with making bonbons.

I have used a friends tempering machine to get the temper right. For the first batch of bonbons

Ive had a few bonbons stick, but thats a different post.

Ive gotten a bit of "leftover" choc. Its from when I empty the molds. Ive tried to reheat the choc to retemper it. I put the choc into a small plastic container, into the water bath of my thermocirculator. 48C till its all melted, and I checked the temp. It was kind of lumpy, small sand grain sized "lumps". They are barely perceptible on your palate, but you definitely see it.

I bumped the temp upto 50C, and let it sit for 45 min. No better. I have attached a pic of the choc, at 50C after I tried to blend out the lumps with a stick blender.

Whats going on?

-choc; is callebaut callet c811

Cheers

Alan

updated by @Alan Caldwell: 04/11/25 09:27:36

hot chocolate dispenser

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I don't own one myself, but I've talked with numerous people who do and the only real negative feedback I get is that the bowl is made from plastic. As such, over time it can get scratched and even "cloudy" looking. I would recommend that when you clean the bowl you do it by hand, avoid harsh detergents, and use a soft scrubber.

The other issue is that they only hold about 5 liters, so if you are serving 6-8 oz portions you're only going to get 20-25 servings before the unit is empty. Depending on the foot traffic in your shop you might go through that pretty quick. And that, as you might imagine, can create operational difficulties on a busy day. As long as you keep issues like this in mind, the feedback I have gotten is that they work as advertised.

hot chocolate dispenser

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Does anyone have thoughts on a hot chocolate dispenser? We are making our hot chocolate with ganache, and wonder if you can help us anticipate any problems. This machine

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/cecilware-choco-1-delice-countertop-hot-chocolate-dispenser-120v/385CHOCO1.html

is what we are thinking about getting.

Thanks

updated by @Nicole5: 04/10/15 08:31:12

Need a details of manufacturer of transfer sheet,edible confetti,wrapping foil in India

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hello friends,

Can anyone tell me the manufacturer of transfer sheet,edible confetti,wrapping foil in India?

I want to be a supplier of chocolate material.How is the scope?

updated by @Aarti: 04/07/25 13:00:14

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If you are in Adelaide you are welcome to come and see how do we make our chocolate and the rest of processing.

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I think next time I am in Australia I would love to pop over .. I'll call you before hand .. do you know any good place here in NZ that might be able to lend me a hand ??? I am eger to learn and vedios on the internet give a bot of help but does not really make you feel the exsperince and most are so diffrent than what I need to do .. I really really apprciate you taking the time to reply to me .. its indeed very kind of you.

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

A bit too far for a drive to Adelaide in South Australia to see how we are doing it.

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

i live in Hamilton, Waikato in New Zealand

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I would suggest that you:

a. Do a lot more reading about chocolate tempering.

b. Find a method that would be suitable to your situation.

c. Practice with chocolate to learn how to achieve the correct temper (this you can do with normal chocolate from the supermarket). Remember that you canmelt and temper again and again so there is no waste. There are a few methods of tempering that work on the small scale beside seed tempering.

d.Once you have agood feel for this you can practice with your chocolate till you find the best way of doing it.

There are polish and varnish products that are used for panned goods (made with untempered chocolate) but this is a very complex application process.

If your chocolate will be well tempered it will be nice and shiny without any need for spraying.

Where abouts are you?

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thank you so much for that .. my next step now is that I need the choclate to be warm enough to cut !! that mean leaving it in a room of 16-18 dergee or sometime I put it in a cold low heat oven for few seconds just to give me enough time to make the product possible to cut in shapes with a cookie cutter tyep. is that again going to damage my Choclate!!

Also is there is any product out there that I can spray my choclate to make it more shiny ??

much apprciate your kind attention and time to reply. this is a very important subject for me and we dont have anyone near by that I can go for advice.

Thanks

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I'm afraid that you may need to do a bit more reading on the subject of chocolate tempering.

Putting things in a really simplified way:

1. In hot (over 40-45C) chocolateall the cocoa butter present will bemelted, no crystals present.

2. Such chocolate needs to be cooled to around 25-28C so some of the cocoa butter present will crystalize. This crystalization will produce a variety of crystal forms (cocoa butter is polymorphic which means that it can crystalize in many different types of crystal forms).

3. Chocolate cooled in previous step with different forms of crystals is warmed up to 29-31C which melts the unstable crystals leaving only stable ones. This is tempered chocolate and can be used to form products that will not bloom and look good.

This is a very general process description and temperatures are just for indication.

In your case if you take the tempered chocolate and melt it at 40C you effectively melt all the cocoa butter crystals making chocolate untempered.

If you make product with such chocolate it will bloom.

If you have your bought chocolate already tempered you may try seed tempering where you add some solid tempered chocolate to liquid chocolate. Something along these lines:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-temper-chocolate

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

thanks for your kind attention .. the chocolatethat I buy is pre-tempered so i just melt theboth type of chocolate in around 40Cin my Choclate machine :

http://www.roband.com.au/roband/bainmain/Chocolate%20Tempering%20Bain%20Maries/Chocolate%20tempering%20bain%20marie.htm

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

You have not mentioned tempering your chocolate.

How do you temper?

Blooming and white spot on my Slabs!!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi, I melt high quality belgium white chocolate then I mix peanut butter into it, I put it on a tray then I swirl pure 70% chocolate through it .. This has to set as after that i need to cut it in squares for serving!!

I do that at Home but I use a melting machine to melt my chocolate, then I put the tray in a chillier to cool down some time over night!! i take the tray out to warm the chocolate to a room tempture so I can cut the size i want.

some days the chocolate is looking super!! other time the chocolate get those little tiny white spots and blooming happen.

I am so disparate to know why some time its ok an other time its not .. some times even half the tray is good and the other is not. the ecstatic look of my chocolate as the taste is very important to me, so Please help with any advice out there.

also is there s anyting I can spray to make the chocolate look shiny without effecting the taste??

much apprciate any help.

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

Vanilla Bean

Posted in: Tasting Notes

For a patch of dark chocolate I'm working on and I want to add vanilla to it. What form of vanilla should I use while conching? ( whole vanilla pod/bean or vanilla powder) And at what stage is the proper stage should I add sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla into my chocolate?

Thank you

Terry

updated by @TerryHo: 04/09/15 09:20:17