Forum Activity for @Mark Allan

Wrapping Solutions

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

We have access to some very fine cacao now, some that a certain US artisan company is able to sell for $45/lb., after they convert it to bar.

Our process is complete, but improving.

I would like to find an economical, yet elegant solution for wrapping bars that we can sell to tourists and the locals. There is the traditional, label over foil wrapping that commercial bars used to use. Then there are the artisanal, wax lined bags such as:

Does anyone know if these types of bags are available "off the shelf"? Do they require custom printing and hand sealing?

I'm open to any wrapping solutions, but we really want to brand our chocolate and give it an earthy look, such as the wrapper above.

updated by @Mark Allan: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Small/Mini Enrober

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and pretty new to the chocolate world altogether. I just purchased the Revolution Delta and am looking for an enrober to go with it [a local Chocolate 'maker' advised me to purchase the Revolution). From the limited research I've done online, I have not been successful in finding a "small" enrober that would work with the Revolution Delta. I was wondering whether you can provide some advice where I can pick up an enrober similar to Chocovison's version (the enrober by Chocovision will not work with the Revolution (link to Chocovision enrober: http://www.chocovision.com/index.php?cPath=37&id=384&name=E ...). I'm not limited to the Revolution, it's just that I need a tempering machine that's somewhat mobile..

Feel free to message me directly: levi@jcrafts.org

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Levi

updated by @Levi: 04/23/15 06:42:04

Melting Machine & Warm Milk

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I'm only guessing here, I don't have any scientific basis for saying this, but:

- milk is stored in a fridge at 4C - I assume this is to help prevent bacterial growth

- chocolate has an incredibly long shelf life (relative to milk) if it remains unmixed with anything

I would have thought it best to (1) keep the milk in the fridge as long as possible for bacterial reasons and (2) not mix the chocolate with anything else, so that if you don't use it all, you can let it set and reuse it later.

Melting Machine & Warm Milk

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi,

I'm trying to create an awesome drinking chocolate. I have a chocolate melting machine and I was wondering if adding warm milk in the melting machine would be advisable, or would you add it later (i.e. keeping the chocolate separate in the melting machine).

Your feedback would be highly appreciated. This forum is a ton of help, thanks guys.

M.

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

Is Ecole Chocolate online program for me?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Andrea thanks for the great info and advice!

It is great help.

Is Ecole Chocolate online program for me?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Since the course is self-directed it is mostly reading and then practicing. It is well organized information, which is why the course is good for someone with no other experience. Plus there is a lot of good information regarding the history of chocolate.Based on your experience you could do just fine continuing on your own. It sounds like you are already developing an understanding of how to temper chocolate. It is a continual learning process anyway with success and failure along the way.One thing that might benefit you is to find someone locally who is a chocolate maker or has experience who you can hire for some hands on training. Maybe an hour or so to see how someone else tempers chocolates. We learn not just by reading but by modeling what we see as well.Once you have a handle on tempering then you might want to consider spending time learning (either through Ecole or in you own) about how to avoid contamination, mold growth and the best ways to extend shelf life.I took the Ecole class you discuss and enjoyed it. I also did some professional-level classes and continue to develop my skills on my own. I do think its possible for you to do it on you own but it will probably just take longer.Andrea

Is Ecole Chocolate online program for me?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

I know that a few questions about Ecole Chocolate has been asked before in the forum, and I did read good reviews, however I didn't find enough information for me to decide.

The first question is how does it work? Is it something like - "here is your reading about the subject, study then do the exercise"? I got general information about this program but I don't understand how the learning is actually done.

Second question - can't you get the same training from books, online reading and videos + this forum?

I completed a professional pastry training, purchased "Chocolates and Confections" and I already practice. So I do have some skills and knowledge, but I want to learn it more thoroughly. Also my results are not satisfactory in my opinion.

So I really think about it and I am not sure if I need this program or can continue to learn and practice on my own and get to the same results.

Any thoughts from people who did this program will be appreciated!

Thanks,

Or

updated by @Or M: 04/10/15 09:43:32

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Thanks, I'm in oregon. I'm not a member but maybe ill try searching.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Krista,

Not sure where you are located but I have used brokers in the NY metro area. The average is 10-15%

You can get a list of Brokers from Specialty Food Association, if you are a member. if not a member, I am not sure if the list is available but you could always try to google it

Diane

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Its helpful & appreciated

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Industry Average

Broker 2-5%

Distributor 15-15%

As far as a salesperson is concerned, unless you have a well established mix of product/pricing/historicals, it will be difficult to obtain a qualified person, even if on a part time basis.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Thanks for responding. I was more just wondering if there was an industry average percentage that a rep would be expecting and if I could even come close to.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

A good way to decide is to figure out A) if sales for you is their only gig, and B) if so, what would be a decent monthly "salary" to make it worth it for them. From there, figure out what % of your sales gets them to that point. For example, if the sales person wanted to make $5000 a month, and you offered 10%, they'd need to sell $50,000 a month. If they have other sources of income, then less might be acceptable to them. It will also depend on how much responsibility you want to give them and what your production capacity is (if you can't produce $50,000 worth of chocolate, then recalculate based on what you can make).

Ultimately you will have to just put an offer out there and negotiate based on individual needs.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

This is a really good question and I too would love to hear from other members, especially those with sales experience. I wonder what kind of arrangement sales people are looking for? If sales people are open to commission only what percentage makes it worth theie time? If sales people need some type of base payment, I would really like to know what they require? what kind of arrangement keeps a sales person motivated to sell?

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Hi, has anyone here ever hired an outside salesperson? I'm considering it on commission only. Any idea what the normal percentage is for this industry? I have no idea what is an acceptable percentage
updated by @Krista2: 04/09/15 15:03:12

Group Review #2 - The Mast Brothers (any and all)

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I tasted 9 different plain dark bars of them in 2010, 2011 and the last ones in December 2012. Sorry to say this but overall I didn't like them. In my opinion the texture is terrible, no good melt and no delicate flavours. Two bars were even disgusting: San Martin and Papua New Guinea. San Martin was very bitter like aspirin and the Papua had very heavy smoke flavours. I spew them out and throw the bars away I hope they improved their production style since then....

Group Review #2 - The Mast Brothers (any and all)

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Mast Brothers were one of the first companies that I can think of who realized that beautiful packaging will entice people to buy chocolate. Their high quality, artistic, multi-colored wrapping papers draw many people to buy their bars. Right or wrong, an inescapable fact is that marketing has an incredible influence on buying. I have been in chocolate stores observing uninformed people make decisions. The majority of the time, when faced with a wall of many bars, uninformed people will just choose the one that looks best without knowing anything about the maker. Since the vast majority of Americans know very, very little about artisan chocolate this is how many people decide which bars to buy.

I think that Mast Brothers also influenced other companies to use high quality artistic wrapping paper as well. I imagine that makes production costs higher, though, thus decreasing the profit margin.

Sadly, the converse is also true-- some very high quality makers are often overlooked only because the packaging was not as attractive as other bars.

Group Review #2 - The Mast Brothers (any and all)

Posted in: Tasting Notes

This is the second in a regular series (ultimately at least quarterly) of Group Reviews , a new feature for 2014 here on TheChocolateLife.

The idea behind the reviews is to get members to contribute their opinions about chocolates that are either very popular, have been heavily hyped, and/or that have received strong positive reviews from rating and reviewing web sites and/or awards programs.

The inspiration for the feature comes from Jos Ortega y Gassets 1929 book, The Revolt of the Masses [ Amazon affiliate link ]. In this book, Gasset predicts that future generations will come to rely more heavily on the recommendations of friends, colleagues, and even strangers over those of experts. If asked to choose between the advice of "experts" and the impressions of "regular" people, the majority will turn to the latter. This helps explain why many people tend to trust crowd-sourced aggregate reviews over those from reviewers in established media outlets.

For this Group Review - Anything made by the Mast Bros

Think about your response in three parts.

Part 1 :: Present your sensory impressions - Aroma, Taste, and Texture -of one or more of the chocolates.

Part 2 :: Give a rating of the chocolate on whatever scale you want (or that you use for your own purposes) - 1 (low) through 10 (high), 1 through 100, or an impressionistic scale from low (This chocolate is so bad that if I were gifted it I would not even regift it to someone I did not care about); to high (This chocolate is so good that I would have to think three times before sharing any, or This is a desert island chocolate).

Part 3 :: This part is optional but is very important for this review and can include a discussion about other aspects of the chocolate - including your thoughts on packaging, marketing -- topics that are not central to the chocolate itself.

updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/20/15 15:13:36

Using cacao butter as seed AND What temperature to add seed

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

As I mentioned, I have used 'mycryo' as seed. Mycryo is pure powdered cocoa butter. This has worked quite well for me.

To expand on what I do: I generally use it in a non-stirred melter, but have used it in my small chocovision. I just need to ignore/bypass the built in tempering routine. What I do is let the machine melt the chocolate, then press the 'seed' button without adding anything. I wait until the temperature has dropped to 94F, and _then_ I add the mycryo seed. In this way I can control the amount added. Because it is a powder, _all_ of it goes under the baffle and into the melt.

Mycryo is recommended for use in 1% levels, but you could add 1% at higher temperature to simply be fully melted, and use 1% as seed.

-Jon

Using cacao butter as seed AND What temperature to add seed

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Jon, thank you for helping me understand how the tempering machine works. I get it that the machine uses the block in the back of the baffle until the temp drops to its target working zone, thus the amount of chocolate used will vary on conditions. So, I will have to use chocolate to seed with, rather than the cacao butter. If I can't control how much butter the temperer uses, I won't have the control I need to keep my recipe intact.

Thank you again!

Using cacao butter as seed AND What temperature to add seed

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Above the melting point of the seed, the seed crystals will simply melt.

I have used the smaller chocovision machines, and they first melt the chocolate, and reach a temperature where all of the cocoa butter crystals melt. At this point they have you add an excess of seed 'behind the baffle', and the machine lets the temperature stop dropping. The excess remaining seed is not removed until the bowl and melt are just below working temperature. All this time the bowl is spinning, rubbing a layer of chocolate off of the seed block.

I am sure that this process path causes some of the desired seed crystals to melt, but apparently allows sufficient seed crystals to mix in to the melt for tempering. Because the bulk chocolate is used as the seed, any fully melted chocolate is simply part of your mix.

I have never tried bulk cocoa butter as a seed in the chocovision, but I expect that it would work just fine. The biggest issue is that your cocoa butter will change the composition of your chocolate (I presume that you want this, otherwise you wouldn't be using the cocoa butter in the first place), but the method of using an excess and then removing the remainder would mean that you no longer have control over exactly how much cocoa butter gets added.

I have used 'mycryo' for tempering in a chocovision. In this case I let the machine melt the chocolate, hit the temper button and let the melt cool down, and then add the mycryo after the bowl temperature hits 94F. This method has worked quite well for me.

-Jon

Using cacao butter as seed AND What temperature to add seed

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Forum Friends,

I have two tempering questions:

1) Is cacao butter just as effective as chocolate for seed? I have used both and I can't see a difference. But one may be better than another? The cacao butter is at room temp which is approx 74F. I grind it into shavings with a cheese grinder and add about 2% of the total mass.

2) I was reading the instruction manual online for the Revolation V I just ordered (through Clay). I noted that it said to add seed at the high point of the melting cycle, 115 F in my case. This is quite different from how I have been tempering by hand where I add the seed at 95F and then cool to 90F. After reading the instructions, I now wonder if I should add the seed at 115F and then cool to 90F and check for temper?

The way I currently temper is I have a stainless mixing bowl that I cool by having a fan blow on it to cool it. I bring the mixture up to 115F, then place the bowl in front of the fan, and let cool to 95F at which point I add seed and let cool to 90F while stirring. I get a good snap, the bars hold temper. I would like more shine to my chocolate, and I hope to get that with the Rev V.

In thanking you in advance,

Mack

updated by @Mack Ransom: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Tempered Chocolate After drying question

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I hear you, but the machine could have a miscalibrated thermometer, or something else going on. I'd still use the machine, but check the temps to be sure they are correct.

Tempered Chocolate After drying question

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Yeah it seems like the chocolate is hardening as I give it a day or two.When I temper I am using a machine so I figured the temps should be fine. At least I thought so.

Tempered Chocolate After drying question

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

It sounds like your chocolate is not tempered well. Please check your process with a thermometer with known accuracy. Take the chocolate to 115(f) let it stir there for awhile. Think of it as melting ice cubes in boiling water. Even though the water is boiling, it will take some time to melt the ice. It will take some time to melt the crystals. 5-10 mins. Take your temperature down with seed chocolate to the manufacturer's recommended temperature. It will vary based on the chocolate white, milk, dark... Let the chocolate stir at that temperature for a few minutes. - you are recreating the proper crystals and evenly distributing them.

Regarding your questions:

1. The fridge for a few minutes will be fine. - Please read about temperature shocks though.

2. The chocolate is 'dry' to start with. It is a dry liquid when melted. Think of it like molten metal. What the chocolate is doing is crystallizing as it cools down. The lack of a crisp break is an indicator of the temper of the chocolate. Also, chocolate will continue to crystallize for 24-48 hours after dipping. Is your snap getting better after a day?

3. Re shine: Again, this is an indication of incorrect temper. there are MANY different things that will affect this. - temperature of your dipping room, how quickly the chocolate cools, temper of your chocolate, temperature of your fondant, temperature of storage, humidity, .... and the list goes on.

Hang in there! Keep at it and it will come and get easier. I'd suggest searching TheChocolateLife and ChocolateAlchemy for more help on tempering. There is a wealth of information on here.

Tempered Chocolate After drying question

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I made some candy today with a fondant center and tempered milk chocolate. Well I have a few questions about tempering chocolate and drying it. I am using a Revolation 1 to temper.

1. Is it ok to put the chocolate in the refrigerator to help the chocolate cool faster? Will that hurt the temper and final product in anyway?

2. Even though my chocolate is dry on the outside it still seems to not have that crisp break like it almost hasnt dried below the top layer. Is that possible?

3. Even after the chocolate feels dry to the touch is does not shine. It has a look as if it has just started to melt. Why is that? I thought it was suppose to be shiny after tempering.

Thanks in advance.

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

Truffles Cracking!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Sounds like you have a problem with your center temperature, I agree with what Jonathan recommended.

Truffles Cracking!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Try letting your ganache sit at in the molds are room temperature for 4-12 hours ('overnight') prior to chilling.

I find that the ganache needs to 'set up' and this happens while warm.

-Jon

Truffles Cracking!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

So I've read just about every internet site that I can, and I've tried just about everything, but my truffles just keep cracking. My method: My ganache is 12 oz. of chocolate to 1 cup of cream, and I really like the texture. I then use silicon molds to shape and portion the ganache balls. I freeze the molds with the ganache, then take the ganache balls out and let them rest in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Sometime in this time I roll them quickly by hand to eliminate the flat bottom. I then take them out of the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for at least 4 hours, then I dip them in chocolate tempered with a Rev. x3210 machine by chocovision. When I dip them, almost every truffle cracks. I have tried first hand-rolling the truffles with a small amount of tempered chocolate, then dipping them. They still cracked. Many even crack when double dipped! Any ideas/help?

Thanks!

updated by @Trula R: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Airbrush

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hi Omar,

If a thinner viscosity then the KREBS oilSPRAY will be better than the multiSPRAY as you will get minimal over spray. You might want to try the R8 nozzle also. Off course, there is no heating on the oilSPRAY gun.

KREBS Guns

Airbrush

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

If I needed a food gun to just spray coloured cocoa butter (without chocolate)on molds, would the oilSPRAY (LM2) work for this purpose?

Thanks,

Omar

Airbrush

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Generally, the larger the nozzle number, the wider the pattern. But nozzle hole size can also be matched the the viscosity (thickness) of your materials being sprayed. Thicker viscosity will need larger nozzles.

In general, if you are working with 50% cocoa butter 50% chocolate mix at 29C-34C using a standard compressor on half power, then a medium nozzle should give you a nice mix of fine and wide.

Happy spraying.

Airbrush

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hi all,I'm trying to buy airbrush to spray cocoa butter into molds.When I looked on line I found the airbrush come with different noodles nozzle from 2mm 5mm........Which air brush should I buy.Any advice.Thank you
updated by @Ismael Neggaz: 04/07/25 13:00:14

Chocolate Ganache question

Posted in: Chocolate Education

See I was not checking the temp of the cream when I poured it over the chocolate so I melt the chocolate at a temp that won't lose the temper then mix the cream in ?

Chocolate Ganache question

Posted in: Chocolate Education

4 to 1 ratio for dark chocolate is overkill. 2 to 1 is more realistic. Are you adding other ingredients? What is the temp of your ganache? Putting in fridge temporarily helps, but it will soften more when you bring it to room temp. Try to not get your chocolate out of temper and it will set up nicely at room temp. White chocolate is a bit trickier. 3 or 4 to 1 is normal. I start with melted white chocolate and pour the cream over it at about 115F. What is the cocoa butter content of your chocolate? It is the CB that sets the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache question

Posted in: Chocolate Education

I recently tried to make two different ganaches one with dark and one with white chocolate. I did a 4 to 1 ratio chocolate to cream into order to make the ganache stuff so I can cut it with a knife into squares and did them. My problems1. The white chocolate ganache wouldn't harden unless I put it in the fridge and when I took it out it went soft again. How do I make it stiffen at room temperature?2. I had the exact same problem with the dark chocolate but it was a tiny bit stiffer but still I had to chill it to make it stiff.The way I made these is I boiled the cream and poured it over the chocolate pieces. When melted I stirred and poured into a pan and let cool. How do I fix these problems? I want to be able to handle the ganache and work with it.
updated by @Bryan: 04/10/15 09:43:37

Bloom "stripes" on dipped chocolates

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Maybe you have to re-check you tempering curve, go a degree lower or higher and do temper tests all the time, it could also be your room temp as mentioned above. They look beautiful though I love the patterns bloom creates.

Bloom "stripes" on dipped chocolates

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks Victor!

Bloom "stripes" on dipped chocolates

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Refrigerator is a humid place, I think it COULD hurt (but in a totally different way*), depending on how long you leave them there but could help you test if it is indeed the hot room what is breaking the temper or is something else. Try leaving them there for just some minutes.

*Too much humidity can produce sugar bloom but it would look completely different. So as a test to see if it is indeed the room temperature, it could work.

Bloom "stripes" on dipped chocolates

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

If leaving the AC on is not an option for now, is it okay to put it immediately in the refrigerator? (my refrigerator is set at the highest temp 8c) Or it may harm the temper?

Bloom "stripes" on dipped chocolates

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I would leave the AC at least until it cristalizes, it seems way too hot for me, I work at approx 21C.

Even after that and even if you succeed in making them look OK, you will need to store them in a cooler place, AFAIK chocolate continues it's cristalizing process for days and if you leave them in a place that is too hot they could lose snap.

Bloom "stripes" on dipped chocolates

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

The room is pretty hot... When I temper I turn on the AC (25c) but then I let it sit for the night and the temp is 28-29c.

Can it create bloom?