Forum Activity for @Thomas Forbes

Trip to the DR

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

If anyone is interested in visiting the Dominican Republic between May 2nd and the 12 or so, I would be happy to show you, who and what I know about cacao and chocolate in the country. Every trip I learn more and meet new people. Eventually I would like to organize small groups to take a chocolate trip to the DR and this could be sort of a test run. I would not charge anything except some help with gas in the rent a car.

My main contacts there are centered around CONACADO and some of the bloques. I also have some access to people at Munne, Rizek, Roig and Cortes Hermanos. The Sendero de Cacao run by the Rizek's is a must visit. There are also a number of rural based rural women associations who make drinking chocolate and some are getting financing and machines to to some decent processing and other products. These groups are a lot of fun to visit and always right in the middle of different cacao growing regions. I also work closely with the person who manufactures the machines locally. He has recently installed four new, small processing plants and he can't wait to show me.

I always stop by and visit my friends at the Red de Guaconejo, a small well run farmer cooperative. There are many other farmer type associations and cooperatives I have read about and will eventually make contact. It is always a delight to meet Orlando Rodriquez and tour the Insitutito at Mata Larga. I can not say enough about the respect I have for his contribution to improving cacao production in the DR at the small farm level. I spend as much time as I can there during my visits.

Diana Munne runs the best and only chocolate shop in the Capital. I can only really buy decent eating chocolate from Diana and at the Sendero while I am in the country. I have tasted really good liquor at CONACADO.

These are the things I do when I am in the Dominican Republic and would love to share this with others. I used to get around on a motorcycle but have moved up to renting a car. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the country 27 years ago and am married into a cacao growing family 24 years ago. I speak very good Dominican Spanish and know how to safely move around the country. Let me know.

updated by @Thomas Forbes: 04/18/15 05:10:39

Al -

The only reason I can see for their being an R200 Legend and an R200 is that they are NOT interchangeable. In fact, the prices are quite different.

Selmi is being smart at reusing the sheet metal for one machine on another and changing only the badging. However, there has to be something different between the Legend and the PLUS EX (probably internally) to account for the price difference.

If you really want to know the difference, contact Selmi. In the US that would be Tomric, but you are in the UK.

Ok, but i'm a bit confused..

Selmi currently sell:

Selmi Plus Ex: http://www.selmi-chocolate.it/en/prodotti.asp?id_categoria=1&id=4#specifiche

Selmi Legend: http://www.selmi-chocolate.it/en/prodotti.asp?id_categoria=1&id=36#specifiche

They used to also sell a Selmi Plus (no removable screw) - This has now disappeared from the site and there is now the Legend.

An old Selmi Plus has just been added for sale onto here, which looks just like the Legend.

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/group/classifiedsforsaleorwanted/forum/topics/selmi-plus

Surely the Ghana, old model Plus and now the Legend are the same machines, which would mean all but the newest Selmi Plus Ex would fit the R200 enrobing belts?

Hope all that makes sense!

Al -

The Legend is the old Selmi Ghana. The Plus is what replaced the Ghana. Both the Plus and the Legend are on the Selmi web site.

Is it the old Selmi Ghana, or the old Selmi Plus, or are they both the same thing?

Jonathan -

The "new" Selmi Legend is the old Selmi Ghana. It's been reintroduced as a low-cost alternative to the Plus. The Legend R200 may not the same as the R200 for the Plus, so I would be careful about ordering a used R200 and make sure it fits the Legend before you buy it.

1) The only way to make sure the R200 is in workable condition is to put it on a working machine. The only thing you may see that's visible that you want to check on is to make sure that there are no obvious kinks in the belt. Of course, the kinks may not be noticeable until the belt is in motion.

2) The EX refers to the fact that the auger is removable. The Color is the same price price as the Legend but has a working bowl capacity of 12kg versus 25kg. Also, the Color does not accept the standard R200 enrober attachment. Most continuous tempering machines will accept inclusions up to a particular size (about 3mm) and up to a certain percentage, by weight, with respect to the quantity of chocolate (usually no more than about 10%). I would check with Selmi to make sure what the max size of inclusions is, but that's what the FBM supports. The major disadvantage of the Legend over the Color is that the Legend does not have the removable auger. This will make changing over from one chocolate to another a more laborious and time-consuming process. Keep in mind that changing over chocolate is not something you want to do on a daily basis and especially not more than once per day.

3) The tempering times quoted are not from a cold start. They are from the moment you press the tempering button with a full bowl of chocolate at the set melting point. You need to be aware of this in your timing calculations.

I represent FBM to ChocolateLife members around the world and we have installed a decent number of machines in Australia in the past two years. The FBM Compatta is a 12kg working bowl machine similar to the Color at about the same price. A major difference is that the Compatta accepts an enrober attachment and the Compatta's enrober is more than 2000 less expensive than the R200.

FBM recently introduced ProXima, a new version of their flagship 25kg machine, Unica. One of the reasons I work with FBM over Selmi is that I feel that the important parts of the machines - the internal engineering of the tempering pipe, the tempering auger, and the rest of the tempering system - is superior to Selmi. Yeah, the Selmi has better-looking sheet metal, but in the end, I think most people need a machine that works more than they want a machine that looks good. Plus ChocolateLife members get 10% off list prices, making them even more price-competitive.

Contract Manufacturing Agreements

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi,

I am looking to get some of my chocolates co packed. I am not sure what my agreements can cover for recipe protection, direct sale of the same product to other customers etc. If anyone has experience or suggestions - any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Anjali

updated by @Anjali Gupta: 04/18/15 11:07:53

Molding Liquor

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Brad, thank you so much. You have provided me with more information than Savage has provided me. So far the liquor holds up well for me to fill molds, put in the refrigerator for an hour or so, and do another batch. If I try this the third time, it is thick and a little harder to work. I have read on another post about pouring more melted chocolate in the machine without having to run the tempering cycle again. I am purchasing a 19.7 cu ft. commercial Kelvinator refrigerator with 10 shelves and will be able to hold 40 molds. That will work well and pretty much empty out almost a full tank.

I was wondering if it is necessary to hold at the melting temperature set point for 40 minutes before it starts the cooling cycle.

I started at this point in the learning curve in order to get started and hopefully do some quality work. When I work with 70-80% chocolate and am still using a small chocovision or table tempering as we develop a bar down the road.

Again, your advise and sharing of information is greatly appreciated.

Molding Liquor

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thomas;

I have two Savage machines, and me and my staff use them to make literally thousands of chocolate bars regularly. In fact just today I molded up over 400 92g bars with them.

There are a couple of tricks you can use to "Fix" chocolate that you have over-tempered with them. Chocolate globbing up around the agitator is a sign of your water temperature being too low. It is cooling the chocolate too much, and causing it to solidify on the side of the machine. The scraper picks it up, and causes the big lump you are getting.

Trick 1: when cooling (tempering) your chocolate, don't have your water temp in the kettle so cold.

Trick 2:If the chocolate gets too thick in the machine, your working temperature is too low and the chocolate is over-crystalizing. You can thin it out by pouring 4-5 litres into 8 or 10 litre bowl, heating it to 45 degrees over a double boiler and then pouring it back into the machine. That much chocolate at that high of a temperature will not take over-crystalized chocolate out of temper. In fact it will probably only raise the overall temperature of the chocolate, maybe 1 degree F. I do it all the time if we need to temper chocolate quickly. You can do this as often as you like to get the viscosity you are looking for.

One other thing: Higher percentage chocolate (80% through to liquor) that has no lecithin in it will become VERY thick, and is difficult to work with even for someone experienced with those machines. You will find that as you work with chocolate like that, your water jacket temperature will have to be about 3 degrees F LOWER than your working temperature in order to keep your working temperature consistent. Chocolateasviscous as 80% +creates it's own friction and heat as it's being agitated. Having your kettle temperature and working temperature the same will almost always lead to overheated chocolate. Dark Chocolate of lower percentages generally doesn't behave this way at all (at least that's what I have found).

You have chosen to start at the top of the learning curve. Good luck with that. All I can tell you is to expect failure and be patient. I failed lots at first.

Cheers

Brad

Molding Liquor

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thank you Ruth, I have been working with the machine for 2 days now and will continue until I move it to a rented commercial kitchen. I am molding 3.4 oz. half cacao pod to be used for drinking. I first tried a bread proofer then table tempering and just didn't feel comfortable leaving it in the proofer overnight in the rented kitchen. I also thought the molds might set at room temperature but will need the help of a cooling unit for a short time. I am really only looking for a nice shine being you can not break it with your hand, it is too thick, so the snap is irreverent.

Molding Liquor

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Are you looking at the water temp or the chocolate temp? On the Savage, it takes a bit of practice. I don't drop the temp, but rather seed. I can hold temper for at least a day. I love my machines, but it does take a while to learn how to use them.

Molding Liquor

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks Clay, with the tank full, it is holding up fine after about 5 hours. I am only able to fit 6 molds at a time in the refrigerator (right now) to cool them down for about an hour. As long as I leave them in until they are completely separated from the molds, they are holding their shine. Doing some reading on the static cooling tunnels you have on the site.

Just filled some more molds and it is started to glob again and I caught it early. 87.5 is the holding temperature and it is still getting thick. Doing another reheat.

Molding Liquor

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thomas:

Every chocolate has its own tempering curve. The ones that Chocovision use are just guidelines and do not work for all chocolates.

Plus you are working with liquor that has no added cocoa butter? It's going to be a lot harder to find the proper temperatures to work with. It's an art, as much as it is a science.

The reasons you are getting different temperature readings between the infrared thermometer and the sensor inside the machine is that you're not measuring the temperature at the same place.

Molding Liquor

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello all and looking for a little advice on molding chocolate liquor. I recently purchased a 50 lbs. Savage Brothers melter-tempering machine. After running it, trying to learn how to use it. I was wondering if using 100%, ground (25 micons) liquor would need different temperature settings than I am used to with dark chocolate on the small chocovision tempering machine. The factory settings are melt to 110 F, drop to 82 F and rise to 88 F. I first used 115, 82, 88 and 110, 82, 88 and another at 110, 85.5 to 88.

When it cools down, I use a temperature gun and the top of chocolate is 2 degrees lower than the reading on the panel but evens out as it goes back up with the gun and the reading on the panel. It is thicker than I am used to working with and twice as seized as globs of chocolate built up around the agitators. The first time I thought maybe a little water was hidden after I washed, dried, and heat gun dried it, after it arrived. Cleaned it out again, dried and let sit over night and heat gun dried again. It did the same thing after it was sitting in temper for a couple of hours. The temperature on the panel said 87.8 but there were other globs of chocolate around the agitators. I remelted and seems just fine. When I molded a few test runs, a little thick, some globbing at the outlet. Not easy to work with and need to figure out how to use the machine efficiently. I will call the technicians at Savage Brothers again on Monday but wondered if any of you had any thoughts.

I am now melting a full tank and thank you in advance. I really appreciate it.

updated by @Thomas Forbes: 04/11/25 09:27:36

hollow chocolate molding

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Removing a percentage of the clips early in the cooling can help a lot with cracking.

hollow chocolate molding

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Nicole -

Clear photos would help!

hollow chocolate molding

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I'd also find out how he's cooling them. How big is the cooling environment? How cold? How are the molds spaced in the fridge? How long is he cooling for? Heat dispersal in chocolate molds can be very tricky. Knowing where cracks are forming would be useful.I still hope your your sake someone with experience with this kind of mold weighs in. I mold lots of chocolate every day but I don't work with this particular type of hollow mold. So my advice is fairly general.Best of luck!

hollow chocolate molding

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thank you, Lee, for your response! Your explanation could be the problem, and if I could inquire a little more, I'd be grateful. These molds are (big surprise!) bunnies. When you say uneven cooling, could it be that if our guy is putting more chocolate in the ears of the bunny mold, but less for the body, that that might be part of it? He hasn't told me where the molds are cracking, or if it's always in the same place, so I'll check on that. In the meantime, this is a major problem at this time of year!

hollow chocolate molding

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I have no experience with that type of mold but what I do know is thickness won't stop chocolate from cracking. The times I've seen cracking was with very thick chocolate, in fact. Due to uneven cooling, in that instance. So I'd be looking at cooling problems rather than viscosity. Molds can be really tricky and almost all the trouble comes from cooling and heat dispersal. Lots of folks will say to put a fan in your fridge haha.

Good on you for taking up your father's legacy!

hollow chocolate molding

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

In my family's shop a new employee is having trouble with our Easter hollow molds. Since my father's passing we are on a rapid learning curve since he knew everything and we just followed his instructions.

Anyway, as we are trying to do the hollow molds, the chocolate is cracking while setting up. It's is visible from the outside of the mold.

I'm thinking that it's too thin of a shell and/or the viscosity of the chocolate. We are using Broc 90 (?). Should we be using 125 for hollow molds?

Is this enough info for thoughts?

updated by @Nicole5: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Cocoatown Melanger - ECGC-12SLTA - Leaking Chocolate - Epoxy Glue Fail

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

We use our machine 1-4 times a month for 9 months now and e have had to replace the seal 2xs now (we used regular epoxy here in Costa Rica) the stones twice and now the wiper. The customer support at Cacaotown sucks an their machine is way too expensive. We just bought a premier machine which is more lie a santha and cost $250

Cocoatown Melanger - ECGC-12SLTA - Leaking Chocolate - Epoxy Glue Fail

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Wouter

I hate to say it but they are not the most helpful company when it comes to customer service. I have been using a company called Atom Adhesives . They have 24x7 customer service. I have been using 2 different glues for various components. I think I have had better luck when I use high heat to cure the epoxy. And make sure to clean and buff the granite before gluing to ensure a good seal.

Cocoatown Melanger - ECGC-12SLTA - Leaking Chocolate - Epoxy Glue Fail

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Dear Case

I bought two ECGC-12SLTA cocoatows a couple of months ago and i am facing this issue with both machines

I contacted Inno_Concepts and they advised food grade epoxy but after reglue-ing with multiple types of glue/epoxy etc this problem remains .

I used the machines twice a week at room temperatures of 25 degrees celsius but know they are out of running for 2 months yet

What type of glue did you use and where did you bought it?

looking forward to your reply

Cocoatown Melanger - ECGC-12SLTA - Leaking Chocolate - Epoxy Glue Fail

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Early this morning I discovered the machine rotating in a pool of chocolate at the base of the machine. After thorough cleaning, I discovered the plastic ring glued into the center of the granite base was turning freely. It appears the epoxy seal broke. I contacted Inno-Concepts and they recommended I use food grade epoxy to fix the problem. They also recommended I keep the machine in a warmer room or place a heating element near the machine to keep it in the 80's. The machine had been operating for 29 hours and no sugar was added. I have been using primarily only Dominican R. beans in the machine.

Machine age: 3months

Room operating temperature: low-mid 70's

Batches a week: average 2

If you own a Cocoatown Melanger have you fixed this part or what is the typical lifespan before having to reglue? Also, what type of glue would you recommend?

Thanks.

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

Suppliers and pricing

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Thanks sue! I'll have to check it out

Suppliers and pricing

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Btw I am new to this forum so if I am breaking any rules or doing anything wrong, please let me know. Thank you. Sue

Suppliers and pricing

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hello

I have been using Orchid - via Albert Uster Imports. Dark or Milk, White or Bittersweet all come in 11lb boxes - the cost is between $43-60 per box. Des Alpes between $74-90 in 11lb boxes. Albert Uster Imports require 2-day shipping and my cost has been $25.00 for shipping. The chocolate works wonderfully in my Rev 2 tempering machine as well. Melts easily when the chocolate is in a double boiler. Have you tried chocolateman.com? If you wished to buy in smaller quantities, he has Des Alpes bittersweet in a 5 lb bag for $40.90. When I first started, he often talked with on the phone regarding the various chocolates that he had -He has several product lines of chocolate if you wish to check his website. --good luck in your search.

Suppliers and pricing

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Thanks for the info guys/gals I too tried the icoa and while I actually liked the taste, it wasn't the flavor I was looking for for my truffles.

Suppliers and pricing

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

I am not in business but am a hobbyist, so my quantities are not huge. I also use Chocosphere. No one else (that I have found) has their broad selection. I am always looking for a chocolate I like better than the current one, but at the moment, I use:

For dark: Felchlin Maracaibo (previous choice was Valrhona Caraibe, before that, various Callebaut varieties)

For milk: E. Guittard Orinoco (previous choice was Valrhona Jivara). I am always looking for a milk that is darker than most are.

For white: I have been alternating between Valrhona's Opalys and their Ivoire. I did a little blind taste test recently with the two, and in two tests, Opalys won the first, and Ivoire the second. I have had problems with ganache made with Opalys separating more than with other chocolates, so I am now going back to Ivoire (it has slightly less fat than Opalys). I tried El Rey Icoa, but really disliked it. I also tried Cacao Barry's Zephyr, but it was very thin and did not coat molds well.

Suppliers and pricing

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hi! I really like the brand CasaLuker. I went to the Chicago chocolate show and tried a LOT of chocolate, I thought they were the best, and I like their business practices. I really like their Noche milk chocolate, it's a little darker than typical milk ch and had a really good flavor. They have a variety of dark single origin as well, I like the Acura it's 70% and has an herbal/fruity taste.They sell 22lb cases for around $100 depending on the type of couverture.Not sure where you are located you might use a different supplier. I'm in Michigan US, my supplier is IFI Gourmet. They are really great to work with, and ship via FedEx. They also carry a line of colored cocoa butters that are all natural. And they will send you samples of corse

Suppliers and pricing

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hi everyone! Are any of you willing to post which couverture a you use and approximate pricing you get? I'm currently going through chocosphere and am very happy with their service but am wondering if better pricing on some of the brands can be obtained (perhaps once I can purchase large quantities) and where. I'm wondering if it's competitive to what you are all paying. Also just curious which couvertures you picked to work with. Thanks
updated by @Krista2: 04/07/25 13:00:14

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I am adding a post to this thread on the over-crystallizing problem and ways to solve it. Today I was using Valrhona Opalys to line 8 molds. I have had problems with its thickening too much in the past, so was prepared--or so I thought. The first four molds went OK; in fact, the chocolate was a bit too thin for the first two. Then problems developed. I used Brad Churchill's suggestion (described in this thread) of melting additional chocolate, bringing it down to the working temp (84-86 F. in this case), then adding it to the over-crystallized chocolate. I was using a Chocovision Delta machine. I added half of the extra chocolate first, and that seemed to thin out the batch sufficiently for a couple more molds, but soon it thickened again. So I added the rest of the extra (still at the same temp), but this time it did very little good. I raised the temp several degrees and got the last two molds lined only by turning them upside down immediately after filling them and beating on them as hard as I could with the bottom of the scraper to make the chocolate fall out.

I am very discouraged as I thought I had conquered this problem. Does anyone have additional suggestions? I'm now thinking of thinning out the extra chocolate with cocoa butter, although I hate to tamper with the original manufacturer's recipe for the product. Another thought: would it make any difference if I tempered the original batch with Mycryo instead of chocolate from the bag? And still another idea: would stopping the rotation of the Delta bowl help with the problem? Any thoughts would be welcome.

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

That's why I like this site so much. The answers you get are always top-notch. Many of these participants have a wealth of knowledge that they're more than willing to share.

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

This is good information. I recently purchased a 50 lb. Savage Brothers melter with the tempering device and will be delivered today. So if I can melt additional chocolate, lower the temperature, add to the machine and keep it in temper without melting a full tank and doing an additional temper cycle, will be a big help. I hope to be able to mold 100 lbs in maybe 6 hours and will see.

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Savage and Hilliards machines are far superior to the others I have. Each has it's own use though.

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Thank Brad

Which machine do you find the best?

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Thanks All. I tried this today and the temper held just fine. Keeping dark chocolate melted at 90 degrees in the Bakon, I was able to add an equal amount of melted chocolate to my tempered chocolate with no problem. Thanks again for the help, John

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

We have several - Savage Bros, Pavoni, Hilliards, and ACMC

The process works for all of them, as the machine's primary function is to agitate the chocolate.

Cheers

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Brad

What machine do you use?

Louise.

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

My staff do this exact thing regularly. It's actually pretty simple.

Let's say you're down to 5lbs of well tempered chocolate, and you need to refill, but you don't want to retemper everything.

Chocolate A = working chocolate

Chocolate B = new chocolate.

Heat B to at least 120 degrees F and stir well to ensure any crystals are fully melted.

Now Cool B to 90 degrees f, and add it to A.

Stir lots for a couple of minutes for the crystals to propogate.

That's it! Super easy. You can add the same quantity of B to A as long as you don't change the temperature of the final product, and as long as A is properly tempered. In fact it even helps if A is over crystalized a bit.

Cheers

Brad

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Assuming that you are not working at the warmest of the range, for ex you can comfortably work with good dark at 29 C or at 31.5 C, deduct a degree for milks and whites. If you are working with dark at lets say 30-30.5 in a 67 degree room you should at the very least be able to add 2 lb of 40 C melted chocolate for every 10 that you have in. Give it an extra good stir for 7-8 seconds and check to make sure that it did not leave the acceptable working temperature range. Ultimately, it is going to take a little trial and error and then you should have no problem.

Adding melted chocolate to tempered chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Assuming your block chocolate is already in temper, the easiest thing to do is melt the already tempered chocolate carefully so as not to 'break' its temper - that is, melt it and maintain it at about 90F, then add it to your other batch of tempered chocolate. an accurate thermometer is a very useful tool for chocolate work.

Alternatively, if you melt it and break it's temper, you'll still be able to add it to your other batch of tempered chocolate, but in much smaller quantities as adding untempered chocolate essentially 'dilutes' the temper, and will require time for it to regain it's temper.