Forum Activity for @Alek Dabo

Thank you very much Sebastian and Larry. I understand very well.

So, this is closer to lying that advertising since they do not mention "compound" or the fact that this is not a 100% cacao product. At $139 for 25 Pounds I should have guested something was wrong compared to Valrhona or Tcho's prices. I did not know Santa Barbara chocolates at all before I stumbled on this ad. I will not buy from a company that "omits" to describe the truth about their product.

Thanks again for the explaination

The difference between "Chocolate" and "Compound Coating" is the fat used. Chocolate is made with Cocoa Butter which is why it must be tempered. - to get the proper crystal form of the cocoa butter.

Some other fats i.e. coconut oil are easier to work with in that tempering is not needed, but you give up some flavor and satisfaction.

from countrykitchenusa.com

The main difference between chocolate candy coating and real chocolate is the oil based used. Candy coating has palm kernel oil or other fats while real chocolate has a cocoa butter base. Real chocolate is a bit more expensive and more difficult to work with than candy coating, but nothing beats the flavor. Good quality candy coating is easy to use, delicious in taste and is an excellent alternative to real chocolate. Beginners will enjoy the ease of working with candy coating while advanced candy makers may want to tray working with real chocolate. Real chocolate must be tempered when dipping or molding. That means it needs to be a certain temperature (generally 86-89 degrees) when working with it, or your chocolates will not come out as desired. Candy coating is available in milk, dark or white flavored chocolate as well as a variety of colors. It is easy to use. Candy coating does not have to be tempered. Simply melt and it is ready to use.

Candy coating is sometimes called almond bark, summer coating, Candy Kote wafers or Candy Melts. Chocolate-flavored candy coating is much easier than real chocolate to use, and the results are more likely to be successful for the novice. Candy coating is available in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white, peanut butter, butterscotch, mint, and a variety of colors. Candy coating is also available in tubes called candy writers. Candy writers are ideal for detailing on finished candy pieces or painting details in candy molds. You may also add an oil-based food color to achieve colors not commercially available. High quality candy coating is delicious; high quality real chocolate is superb. Real chocolate is available in milk, dark or white. All real chocolate contains cocoa butter.

Information and image taken with permission from Autumn Carpenter's Book, All About Candy Making. All rights reserved.

It's a compound coating, it's not chocolate.

Hello,

Santa Barbara Chocolate sells Brazilian and other origin chocolates and claims it does not need to be tempered. What process or ingredient can acheive that?

What are the draw back?

Although I occassionally fail the tempering process, I do find it that complex.

Thank you.

http://www.santabarbarachocolate.com/wholesale-bulk-chocolate-brazil-dark-dipping-chocolate-melting-chocolate-25lb-p-186.html?osCsid=3191015b776c997a1fedb96b0dda4df4

Thanks Brad. Very helpful! i live in Pennsylvania where wine is sold in State Stores and the staff is not very knowledgeable. Delaware (neighboring state) does have Wine stores with very knowledgeable staff. I'll take a ride to Wilmington and talk to them about the pairings. Thanks again for the help. John

John, that was a tough one for me because I don't drink.

What I did was poll a series of local wine merchants who were willing to work with my company, and then sit down for a couple of hours with their sommeliers, various beverages, and my various chocolate bars and figure out what works and what doesn't.

The wine merchant who seemed most amenable to working with me got my business, and their referral information on our "official" Choklat wine pairing list that I posted on my website.

I hope that helps.

As always, thanks for the great advice, Brad. I always find your posts most useful. Knowing a fair amount about chocolate but very little about wine, how did you initially determine the pairings? Do you know of any short video clips that could be shown during the party that help explain the relationship between the wine / chocolate? Also, are there any regulatory concerns about serving wine to paying participants (I'm in the US)? Thanks again, John

I started the events about 6 months after I opened my doors. I used an existing email list of clients for the first few, and also dedicated one event per month to a local charity whereby I would give the charity tickets to a single event. They would sell the tickets, keep the proceeds from the ticket sales, and I would host the event. Usually those events proved very fruitful, as the attendees were appreciative of my company's donation, and they would make signifiant purchases at the end of the evening.

The events are a huge win/win. The organization gets funds. The donor has an entertaining and unique evening, and Choklat gets new customers and great good will in the community.

Krista;

I have a fabulous marketing plan in place whereby people pay $50 per person to attend a tour and wine pairing at my shop. They are a captive audience for at least two hours, and the events themselves have become so popular, that my staff now host them 4 evenings a week, and they are sold out until the end of April. Each event hosts 10 people.

With this program in place I have had to spend ZERO on marketing in the past 5 years, and now have 2 corporate stores doing great, as well as a new dealership (like a franchise)in another city.

One word of advice: DO NOT SPEND A SINGLE DIME ON ANY TYPE OF ADVERTISING/MARKETING WHERE THE RESULTS CANNOT BE QUANTIFIABLY MEASURED!!!

Cheers

Brad

I would get the Delta or the x3210 and if I can get it at the price that Paul John Kearins did.

If they are priced evenly, then which one to pic?

I think someone on one of the forums made their own holey baffle for one of the smaller machines by just drilling some holes in one of the regular baffles.

I got mine a couple years ago for about $1800 including extra bowl and the holey baffle. Clay here at the Chocolate Life offers some discounts on some of the Chocovision machines.

No, a larger bowl would not fit into the machine. One can purchase extra bowls (which I have done) from Chocovision, but they are just for convenience, not for quantity. The "holey" baffle gives the larger machine more effective capacity, but although I read that Chocovision was developing such a baffle for the Rev 2, that never came to be. So to get more capacity, the user can either (1) heat more chocolate separately and pour a little of it into the tempered batch--but I found it a nuisance to try to estimate how much was not too much to add or (2) heat more chocolate separately to the start point for tempering (113 F. for the dark I use), use what is tempered in the machine until the level is low, then turn the machine off and back on to start the melt cycle again, and add the extra melted chocolate to fill the bowl-it sounds ridiculous, but since the extra chocolate is quite warm, the Chocovision goes into the temper cycle right away. Obviously a larger machine would be great, but I just don't do batches large enough to make good use of it.

Is there a larger bowl that can be purchased separately for the smaller $500 range temperers like one can do for the larger ones?

Priceless advice, thank you! . . . although I look on their site just now and the price is $2099:(

How long ago did you get yours?

Having experience with the smaller Chocovision Rev 2, I can say that having the chocolate stirred and kept at a certain temp automatically is a great convenience. Of course, it is necessary to adjust the temp as time goes on; otherwise the chocolate just keeps getting thicker. The reason I have been considering the purchase of a melter, however, is the big disadvantage of any machine with a round bowl: it is almost impossible to empty the contents of a mold back into the tempering machine without making a serious mess. I am forced to empty molds onto parchment--which also causes a mess and takes counter space. I saw a video of someone dumping molds into a Delta or an X3210, and the machine was just about covered in chocolate. If only someone could invent a reasonably priced melter with an agitator of some sort....

What Ben said... I have a Revolation X3210 which is almost indistinguishable from the more expensive Delta... I got mine, brand new, from Sarah's Sweet Fountains for a very reasonable $1,585 . It works great .

Thanks Ben!

Yep, with just melter, you're going to have to keep stirring it manually. One of the Chocovisions would do that for you, as well as temper the chocolate, too.

The Delta was my first pic, but then I thought about just having a melter that would keep it at specific temperature, the issue would be that I still would have to agitate the chocolate with the melter I am guessing? It would defeat the purpose if that is the case. Currently I can get the chocolate to 88f and keep it in temp. then do what I need to do fine, but I am tired of the stirring and the time it takes, with pouring into molds I can keep stirring while doing it, but with truffles and enrobing it gets too messy.

At that size, you probably want to take a look at a Chocovision X3210 or Delta with a holey baffle. With the holey baffle, you can do up to 17 lbs.

Hello,

I am curious about opinions when it comes to temperers/melters.

My need is melting/agitating to a specific temperature and then keep it there until/during molding/enrobing.

A melter not agitating the chocolate will make it set unwillingly no? I am trying to get something that will relieve me from stirring my tempered chocolate while I am molding/enrobing. the size for each batch would be under 12lb.

Thank you.

Hi Ben, thank you so much for the information. I will read 'em all

Hi Miguel. There's several discussions here on the Chocolate Life that may be of help to you. Here are a couple of them:

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/selling-at-farmers-markets-in

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/group/startupcentral/forum/topics/chocolate-in-the-summertime

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/outdoor-market

Try searching for 'summer market' or 'outdoor market' or similar.

Hope this helps!

-Ben

Hello, at the beggining of January I stated my interest in creating chocolate at home, I was given a lot of information and advice from some great members in this website. I've been able to make some improvements to the point that I can make acceptable chocolate and people likes it.

I will be participating in a small fair for Valentine's day, however I'm really concerned about the chocolate temperature and preventing it melts, because the fair is outdoors.

Do you guys know of any cheap, effective way to keep chocolate cool without causing too much humidity?

Hi all, I ordered some Airbrush colours from chocolate world (see link below) thinking they were coloured cocoa butter but they are not. The product is in liquid form, no need to temper and can be sprayed straight away on any mould. It dries quickly and are so easy to use.

First off I'm interested to know if anyone is using the product and secondly even though it is labelled food safe, the product contains ethanol - should I be concerned?

FYI I have attached an image of a sprayed chocolate using this product.

Thanks for your help.

http://www.chocolateworld.be/fotos/COL3803AF.jpg

Stephen:

Is that 100-200kg per hour? 100-200kg per day? 100-200kg per week? And this is for installation in Uganda?

Hello Friends, Happy new year. I have not contributed a post this year.
Am looking for a new or used bean to bar production line ( 100kg-200kg) please send me a quote and pictures to steve@pinkfoodsindustries.com
Regards,

Stephen Sembuya

Oh would like I to be able to go just to learn and understand more and this will be a future goal

Yes I am putting it out there

This is an archive copy of the email newsletter for those who do not get the newsletters. For comments and questions, contact the organizers directly or post on the Event Listing on TheChocolateLife .

Hello from the depths of Winter here in the New York area:

I am excited to be able to share with ChocolateLife members some advance program details for the upcoming Chocoa Trade Fair, Conference, and Festival in Amsterdam at the end of March, 2014. News that warms me up - and that I hope will warm you up, as well.

Chocoa was founded in 2013 to promote sustainable cacao and chocolate. They have set the goal that all chocolate in the country will be sustainable by the year 2025. But the cacao and chocolate trade is larger than any one country , even though Holland plays a central role as a major producer of semi-finished and finished products as well as serving as one of the largest ports of entry for cocoa beans from around the world.

That's why, for Chocoa 2014, we have organized programs for the international community during the first Chocoa Trade Fair and Conference (to be held March 27-28). One of the features of the Trade Fair that I am especially excited about is the focus on connecting chocolate makers - especially craft producers - directly with growers, and vice versa.

We are looking for your support and participation:

IF you are a chocolate maker who is looking to connect directly with growers , then Chocoa 2014 provides you the opportunity to meet one-on-one (with translation support)with growers. You will be able tosample beans and ask questions of the farmers about their trees, farms, post-harvest processing practices and more. Over the course of the Trade Fair you can meet many growers from many different parts of the world. While you may not wish to conduct business or place orders during Chocoa, you will have made connections that will guide your trips to origin making them more productive and fruitful.

IF you are a grower (or broker working with small farms) who is looking to connect directly with chocolate makers and other processors of cocoa , then Chocoa 2014 provides you the opportunity to meet one-on-one with chocolate makers from around the world. You will be able to share your beans, cocoa liquor, and your story with them and get them to come and visit the farm and factory so they can gain the first-hand knowledge they seek about their sources.

IF you are a chocolate maker or grower looking to connect with importers, distributor, brokers, and agents ,then Chocoa 2014 provides you the opportunity to meet one-on-one with key contacts from around the world.

If you are a company that provides products or services to chocolate makers or growers , then you can have a stand and have a presence at the Fair as well. Chocoa is actively looking for Sponsors to help support all of the events being organized for Chocoa this year. Sponsors will be able to raise their profile to a targeted professional audience not just at the Trade Fair, but also the Conference for professionals, the Festival that is open to the public and to the participants of an exclusive master class for chefs. Sponsorship rates are very reasonable for the value and exposure provided.

For chocolate makers, growers, and sponsors alike, the Chocoa Conference program offers the opportunity to meet and learn from stakeholders involved in all aspects of the cacao to chocolate supply chain. There will be representatives of banks, logistical firms, and more to help you meet the challenges you face growing your business, especially with respect to securing your cocoa bean supply. The Chocoa Festival provides the occasion to share your work and your passion with thousands of chocolate lovers from around Holland and Europe.

If you are a chocolate maker, grower, or a potential sponsor interested in participating in Chocoa 2014 , contact the organizers at tradefair@chocoa.nl for more information as well as to ask for registration forms. The organizers are working with Dutch government and private organizations to provide assistance to get Visas (where necessary) and expedite the shipping and customs clearance of bean samples to make participating in Chocoa 2014 as easy as possible.

I hope to see many of you in Amsterdam at the end of March,
:: Clay

I've had good luck by just mixing a little vegetable oil into the melted chocolate. I've used this for a stracciatella gelato. Try playing with that.

Does anyone have an idea on how to make chocolate toppings for soft serve ice cream? We would like to include a chocolate dip on our menu, and perhaps maple, caramel, vanilla, etc., but we don't want the hard waxy shell from the paraffin wax. The chocolate/chocolate compound needs to go on the ice cream between 70-75 degrees (we want to use real chocolate, but can't figure out how), leave a thin coat and firm up enough for a coating, but not a hard shell.

I've got thoughts running around in my head of how this can be accomplished, but I keep coming up with glitches. We don't want to have to buy it.

Thanks!

No slack. Link belt should be tight.

So I reattached the stem to the bowl, its a wee bit of a wobble, but its not like it didnt have one before...

I ended up using a poly-urethane adhesive used in the construction industry, called PL Premium.

I first tried it on a rock and piece of scarp steel. Be darned if I had to chisel it off.

Next i let a small blob cure for 14 days... then heated it in some hot water and chewed it..... I wanted to know if it had flavor or off gassing.....

Seemed not to,,, so I glued the stem/stalk back in, waited 14 days, and gave it a few cleanes with some sugar and a cycle in the oven.

All seems ok.

But now Im trying to figure out the tension with the Link-V belt.... the crappy belt I got from the auto store self destructed before one batch was out. <12hours. I think it was a) too wide 1/2" vs 3/8", b) too short (33") and it was tight!!!!

Before I put the Santha back together, can some one tell me how much slack should be on the the Link V belt?

At the area between the pulleys, how many inches slack should I see?

Cheers

Alan

Alan -

There is a distributor for Santha in the USA now - they are in California in the SF Bay area. (Even though their site is named SanthaUSA,com you're dealing with the company in India.) They are offering spare parts and technical support over the phone.

The site is called HotDishes and they sell a range of products including the Santhas. Their Customer Service page.

:: Clay

Adam,

Thanks for the pic.

I guess I need to know at this point, what kind of adhesive to use for reattaching the stalk to the bowl. I think Im partial to a latex (think liquid nails type). Thoughts anyone?

It does seem the stalk is adhered to the bowl/stone top and bottom, and I melted the bottom...we'll see if I can "git'er dun".

Cheers

Alan

Here you are. Hope this helps.

A few weeks ago I was asking about alternatives to the Champion juicer. One of the suggestions that was given was to preheat the bowl/rollers.....

Well in a plan that wasnt quite as well thought out, I left the bowl ontop of a coffee pot warmer for far too long. It melted the base of the main stalk that is in the middle of the bowl. Not a big deal I can gently carve the melted plastic away. It still fits onto the melangeur.

But the stalk stem, what ever its called has come out. Any idea what kind of adhesive its set with? Could someone take a pic of the bottom of their bowl and show me a pic, so I know just how much I melted? Im hoping theres a chance its only the adhesive that bubbled out and smells like a$$, it doesnt smell like a plastic to me, but when its been on the heat for x hours.....you never know.

On a side note, I was looking at the Santha USA site. It looks like the center stalk is now steel, vs the plastic mine has. Any idea when that change happened? I got mine in may and it was sold as a Model 11 (part #9 drum with base , http://www.santhausa.com/MelangerPartsAccessories.htm )

Cheers All!