Forum Activity for @Andy Ciordia

We use pizza wheels and knives to cut ours. Coat them (the marshmallows) liberally in cornstarch or as an alternative powdered sugar and you shouldn't have a problem.

A friend who used to have a marshmallow business used drywall taping knives to cut hers.

I did take my guitar there one weekend they were producing and she found it useful to cut them.

When we are in production mode and are running low on chocolate (in our large tempering machine) we sometimes use a large container/bucket to melt about 5-7kg in a microwave. If you want to keep running without restarting the tempering process then just microwave out the chocolate to about the same temperature as the tempering machine runs at- for us its around 29-30c. We then add it in to the machine and retest to make sure its still crystallised (tempered).The stuff from the microwave will quickly crystallise with the rest of the chocolate in the machine.

If you start doing this before you run out of chocolate then you can re-fill seamlessly without losing much time.

It really helps when you are burning through your chocolate- like before easter! I would much rather have a melter/hot box, but that's just more money to spend!

How big is your tempering machine? -Which Model is it?If it issimilar to a Revolation Delta then adding a melter will really increase your capacity (as would a Holey Baffle)

If it is a larger machine, i.e. hilliards 80 lb/dayor a continuous tempering machine i.e. FBM Prima (7kg working bowl) or a FBM Chocolab (12 kg bowl) , I don't know if it would make much difference at your current level.

Have you checked out the DIY tab of this site? Clay referenced an inexpensive melter which can be built to expand your production. It may be well worth it to go ahead and build one nowfor the flexibility you'll need at peak seasons.

Melters can be used to increase the throughput of most tempering machines, so having a supply of melted chocolate on hand is a good thing, especially if the capacity of the tempering machine is less than the amount of chocolate you are using in a day.

You don't need to spend thousands on a melter. Just yesterday I say a home sous-vide machine that can be used to precisely control a water bath to within .1F. If you put a plexiglass cover over the top of the water bath with holes cut out for the chocolate, you can easily create an inexpensive melter. Temperature control might even be precise enough to melt the chocolate without taking it out of temper.

Maybe.

However, it could be used to temper chocolate using the seed method and replace a Mol d'Art costing $1000 or more.

Thank you Larry...we are molding. And we make about 30lb a day. Thanks!

Do you need both a chocolate melter machine and a temper machine? Or does the temper machine do the melting as well?

On it's own - no. It has the potential to, but only if your formulation is appropriate, and just as importantly, if you're materials handling procedures are appropriate. it's meant to minimize the amount of ambient air (and subsequently, ambient microbes) that encounter your product. You'll never eliminate them - that's impossible- but if your water activity is low, and you are careful not to re-introduce lots of ambient organisms post vacuum mixing, then the potential is there.

I'd say there are far more effective ways of helping increase shelf life - most notably via formulation.

Hi,

I am finalising my list of equipment for my new chocolate shop, and am looking at investing in a robot coupe with a vacuum attachment. I would be interested to know if anyone has any experience working with it and if it does in fact, increase the shelf life of cream filled bonbons?

Anjali

Good morning Filip,

Well, I can tell you from experience that finding a good grindeur/melanger in Europe is going to set you back a good amount of money because of the very incredibly little availability there isand the shocking monopoly that exists on this type of machinery. My advice is to check online for "wet grinders", normally built in India, and find one with a European warranty. Here are some links you might find helpfull: http://www.duffyschocolate.co.uk/shop/chocolate-making-machines/cocoa-town-ecgc-12sl-melanger , http://www.amazon.com/Premier-Wonder-Table-Grinder-110v/dp/B004OPIBV2 , http://alimentation-machines-equipements.europages.fr/entreprises/Cacao%20et%20chocolat%20-%20machines%20et%20mat%C3%A9riel.HTML .

Kind regards

Hi everyone,

I'm looking forGrindeurs/Melangers with maximum capacity 4kg. Do you know about any brands or any shops in Europe?

Thank you for answers.

Filip

Hello,

We are starting a project of bean to bar processing on farm in Costa Rica and currently looking for used equipment.

Any advice one where we might be able to find some used equipment (commercial)?

Thanks!

I recently purchased 50 lbs each of Van Leer Milk Chocolate and Semi-Sweet Chocolate plus a case of Callebaut Cara Crakine Caramel. The Cara Crakine has been unopened and I used about 5 lbs of the milk and semisweet chocolate. It turns out that I do not need what I ordered. Any suggestions for selling what I do not need? As it was a special order, the distributor will not take back the unopened Cara Crakine.

Hi All,

I am wondering if someone would be willing to share tips on roasting beans in a convection oven? Mostly wondering about a baseline temperature to start with, and do you start high for a period then lower or stick with one temperature throughout? I know there will be different profiles for different beans, but would love to know a good place to start and how to know when you've got it right.

I truly appreciate your help and expertise!

Nichole

Thank you for you help, will do:)

You could contact Dandelion Chocolate at info@dandelionchocolate.com

They were there pretty recently for a sourcing trip so may have suggestions for you.

Talofa, Hi, I was wondering if any of you wonderful chocolate gurus know where I can take my husband and 4 young children (who really want to see a 'chocolate tree'!) on a cocoa plantation tour on the island of Upolu, Samoa. I have been reading how Samoa used to grow the best cocoa beans in the world, yet I cant find any information at samoan tourism sites etc. Would greatly appreciate any knowledge on this, and we happy to pay for a tour. Thanks for any help in this matter,

Yours Kindly,

Anneke White

You haven't let enough crystals propagate at the time you started pouring. This is why the bars later on turn out ok.

Oh.... and STIR STIR STIR, then when you think you've stirred enough, STIR STIR STIR, some more.

Cheers.

Tempering problem!

Have a look at the formulations page over on Chocolate alchemy, there is a formulation for a 45 % milk chocolate.

I attended their French Ganache Course in Banbury, UK. I really enjoyed the course, and it gave me lots of useful tips on working with chocolate, flavour pairing etc. I would recommend it.

Anjali

Hi ,

I done a couple in England, i thought they were fantastic and its not just what you learn on the courses, whether its a professional chocolate course, Chocolate wedding cake course, sculpting course, its also the back up service you get from Callebaut that is invaluable. You can give them buzz and ask technical questions and get a professional answer. They are there to help in all aspects of chocolate and give you recipes and rough ideas on shelf life and how to extend shelf life.

Definitely worth it, if nothing else think of it as a learning and unique holiday

I took two courses in Montreal. I thought they were great. This was before they had the Chicago location.

I attended two courses at the Chocolate Academy, one in the Netherlands (Zundert) and one in Belgium (Wieze). Generally I was quite satisfied with the amound of techniques I learned during the short time of the course. I also wrote a blog post some time ago about the second course I followed. To avoid confusion: You won't learn how to make chocolate in those courses, but rather how to work with chocolate.

Has anyone ever attended the Callebaut Chocolate Academy Classes?? Any thoughts about your experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks...

Generally speaking, it's almost impossible for a single bar of chocolate to be 'defective' due to the way their processed.

Hi Nicole. Could be the same problem as I was having. I re-ran the batch, using the same bar of Peter's, and found that it was a tempering issue, although I've never seen un-tempered chocolate look that completely "gray"; usually it's streaky, similar to how yours turned out. Originally, I thought the problem was going to be defective chocolate, but now I'm pretty sure it was my problem of not adding enough seed to the chocolate during the tempering phase.

I've always had blooming issues when I try to produce anything thick, like eggs. I think it's caused by the latent heat not being able to escape. They've always been challanging to me. Thanks, John

Not sure if this is in the same category as your problem or not, but I took notice of your post. I'm using Peter's Broc as well. For my peanut butter eggs, I'm getting a "marbled" look on only some of the eggs in the tray, while most of them are just right. Does it sound the same to you?

Thanks Sebastian. I still have a piece of the bar left over so I'll try to re-temper it by hand. Maybe I didn't add enough seed to the machine the first time.

Nope, wouldn't be the salt. Pictures always help, but if the starting color of the bar was the same as the others, there's not much else i don't think that could have gone wrong. You can always get the lot number and call Cargill Chocolate, ask to speak to Kim or Josh, and they can verify it's not a problem with production (but again, if there was, all bars would be odd, not just one)

Thanks Sebastian. I did dip a few of the pretzels directly into the tempered machine - inside the Delta. Could the salt have altered the color significantly? John

Could be a few things. I'm assuming the tempered bar you started with was the same color as the rest of the bars in the batch. Temper is not a yes/no state of being - it's a range - quite a wide range, actually. Color of chocolate can vary significantly one one 'end' of the temper continuum vs the other end - so my suspicion is that you've simply got a significantly different degree of temper today vs yesterday.

Of course, it could be number of other things. If you're melting other ingredients (inadvertently) into the tempered chocolate, that'll obviously change things as well.

Hello All. I've been using Peters Broc milk chocolate for about a year with no problem. Today I pulled the third bar out of a box that I've been using this week. I tempered it and it remained in the machine (Delta) for about an hour before I use it to cover pretzels. When the chocolate dried it was considerably lighter than the bar I used yesterday. It was very milky and muddy colored - very noticeable. Even the leftover chocolate remaining in the Delta was the same milky color. Any thoughts as to what's happening with it? It tastes ok. Thanks, John

Ok, first of all, thanks for joining.

I am growing Organic chills and more with some sale of sauces and stuff. I have been trying for a while making hot chili chocolate for a while. I got the taste right, but it melts in room temperatures. Does anyone have a good advice for me his to make it stable?

I don't have a lot of fancy equipment, but after what i have understood its all about tempering? Or is it? Is there any organic approved additives to make it stable under room temperature?

Thanks Clay!

A Dutch (sorry! maybe Google Translate can help?)blog of the Trade Fair for KoffieTCacao magazine with a few pictures: http://www.koffietcacao.nl/tradefair2014/

Chocolove, Vera

Thanks a lot Clay, for sharing your impressions from Chocoa 2014!

I regularly spend time on thinking about 'sustainability', how to define it, and how to strengthen sustainable food production. I also had the strong impression that the big companies have a rapidly growing interest in being associated with sustainable products. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but -as you said- I also believe it will erode the current vague understanding of what is meant by the term. The food labels are a good indicator for me. At least in Europe my own perception is that the label "Fair Trade" had a very positive influence some 10 years ago. It might not always have done a good enough job in actually defining 'good'/'sustainale' working conditions or market prices, but it helpd raising the awareness of severe problems in food production. Unfortunately it seems to make very little sense for some sectors, including cocoa. One could argue that some 10-20 years ago it mainly served in distinguishing more committed from less committed companies (such as the big chocolate companies), which probably was OK. Now, however, such labels are increasingly used by the bigger companies at which points we clearly need to question it's rules and application much more critically.

I like what you had to say and this area can also be complicated but important to know and learn as to what is going on in the industry

Definitely the most interesting of the group on farmers. I am going to have to take some time to really look at this. Thanks.