Forum Activity for @Clay

You don't actually create the classified in this post. You create a separate post.

**THIS ITEM IS NOW SOLD**

I have a Design & Realisation confectionary guitar (7.5mm base) available for sale. It comes with the following cutting frame sizes: 15mm, 22.5mm, 30mm, and 37.5mm. 

All tools, extra wire, and two pick-up trays included.

Retails for $3,400 CDN. Asking $1,500 CDN + shipping.

I am based in British Columbia, Canada

 DY701600-guitare-chocolate-confectionery-guitar-cutter13793731075237903381a6f.jpg - 63KB

For Sale - W.C.Smith Chocolate Enrober 7' - South Jersey

Thanks Clay for the information. 

New - Never Used.

Purchased from Chocolat-Chocolat.

Mold design: cacao pod .

Size 4 15/16 x 2 3/8 x 3/8

4 cavity 2 ounce.

Cost new is listed as $18.54 per mold.

Sell for $8.00 a mold.

All sales final with no returns.

 P1011121.JPG.jpg - 4KB

In my experience, coconut sugar in dark chocolate has an unpleasant aftertaste..

I am trying to create a few non raw bars but am having trouble finding decent suppliers in Canada. Our low dollar value and shipping costs makes it really hard to use any suppliers outside the country until I am able to order pallet quantities.  All the suppliers I currently use carry only raw cacao products. I do prefer to use organic and fair trade products but if none are available then would be willing to settle. I need somewhere that can do decent prices on 55 or 66 pound blocks. I'd rather mix everything from scratch rather than using couverture so finding cocoa liquor and butter would be great. Thanks for anyone who can help out.

Hard to argue with that.  I am also looking for the best alternative to step out of the "hobby" melangers and into a real machine.  Then on to the tempering machine. In answer to your question, I have no idea.

I mean Santha 11,20 and bigger..

There is no point to purchase belt when it can fit just to small malengers. I aim to enlarge my business

Not sure what you mean by "bigger machines" but they work well on the 1.5L and 2 L premier wonder wet grinders.

Thank you!

Anyone knows if the 3/8'' will fit also bigeer machines? The shipping is not cheap..

Below is a link to Amazon for the belt I purchased and used on the Primier 1.5 L. It takes 23 links to make the right size belt and you will can make four belts from this length. I don't know if the 2L Primier uses the same size.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerTwist-V-Belt-Profile-Width-Length/dp/B00CLG38JQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445901088&sr=8-2&keywords=powertwist+v-belt

Coconut sugar in dark chocolate?

In my experience even 15% of sugar has a really bad taste and strong aftertaste.

However, in milk/white chocolate you don't feel the aftertaste, it's like the milk powder "engulf" the coconut sugar taste.

I'm now tring to make chocolate and spread using coconut sugar or xylitol, as I suspect dark chocolate is unfit to coconut sugar while in spreads and milk/white chocolates it can be replaced (in white chocolate the color is very strong so I will try the xylitol)

Hi,

heard already on the Power Twist.

What is the width that I need to Premier Grinder? Approximate length of the belt?

In case that I will expand my business I will purchase bigger grinders like the Santha 11 or 20. The belts will fit to all sizes of grinders?

I ponder if to buy regular belt or PowerTwist, and if so what will be the length?

Thank's

I'm going to Majorca/Mallorca next week, and I was seeing if anyone could recommend different types of chocolate brands that I could buy in the supermarkerts there, also wanted to see if there was any local chocolate makers there, that I could maybe visit, if anyone knows of.

krista@stilettochocolate.com

Del:

You need to turn off the machine (from the control panel on/off and the master Schneider switch on the back) and then unplug it for five minutes. The master Schneider switch is thermo-magneto-resistive and it needs to be unplugged in order to reset itself.

While you are waiting for the reset you will also need to open up the machine and press the blue stop/reset button on the Schneider LR2K0306 module(s) on the electrical panel. Depending on the electrical configuration there may be 0, 1, or 2 of them.

Close up the machine, plug it back in, and then go through the turn-on order. Everything should be okay. 

If not, empty the machine - especially the tempering pipe - and contact FBM on Skype at FBMSRL. They are closed now, but they will see the request for tech support when they arrive in the morning. You should also send an email to Carlo Roveda at fbm@boscolo.it explaining the issue. They'll get back to you when they arrive in the morning.

:: Clay

My prima just started beeping and flasshed the following. ALL rot A.05

I shut it down and restarted it and get the same result. Can anyone assist?

Thanks!

Del

I will be giving an AMA - Ask Me Anything - at 2:00. Hope to see some of you there!

I do.  What is the best email and I can send you photos and all the details?

Thanks,

AJ

As far as I can see in tempermeters we use:

1. Aluminium cup is filled with sample chocolate, this is placed in "cup holder", covered, temperature probe is inserted in the centre of the sample and test is started.

2. Tempermeter provides consistent cooling (by controlling the temperature of "cup holder" at +8C).

3. Temperature recorded by the probe is recorded as it the sample is cooled and solidified.

4. This data is plotted and analysed.

5. If chocolate is perfectly tempered and monocrystaline structure is formend during crystalisation time temperature curve will be: down, stay at constant temperature and down again (close to how it would look for freezeing water) and temper index will be calculated as 5.

6. Undertempered and overtempered chocolates produce different time temperature curves (there is no "stay at constant temperature" part of the curve).

7. We agree on acceptable temper index range and if sample tests show that chocolate is within the range we start production, keep testing through the day and adjust tempering settings (on tempering machine) if needed.

Making one yourself could be done. As the whole test takes 8 minutes no more than 3-5 recordings per second would be needed (maybe even less). Containers are aluminium coffe capsule cups. Consistent "cup holder" temperature can be achieved by flowing constant temperature water through the coil), large tank and basic cooling control system will achieve this. Probes, hardware and software can be easily done as Kevlarcoated above stated.

For somebody with knowledge and time this is not so complex.  

Hi, how old is it? Do you have any pics?

Hey Krista,

If you are still looking for a little dipper, I'm selling ours as well.  $1000

Let me know. 

Thanks.

Hello! We are selling a gently used Savage Bros. table top tempering unit, with depositor included.  This unit is in great condition. We are asking $7500 + shipping.  I can email you photos.

Call or email  

cell: 435.313.3519   shop: 385.212.4474   email: aj@eatchocolateconspiracy.com

Thanks!

Selling a used Chocovision X3210 tempering machine in excellent condition. Includes bowl, baffle, and cover. Asking $1100 or best offer. Shipping included. If interested, please email qbautista@gmail.com. Thanks. 

CATIE is always a good resource

It seems like recording the exact temperature and time would be a trivial matter, all you need is a small micro controller and a thermocouple, logging at 1KHz with sub millisecond timing accuracy would be easy to do.

It looks like the commercial ones have a temperature controlled environment to measure the change in which again shouldnt be too hard to achieve using a PID controller and heating element.

One place you can go is Chocolates Nahua. If I recall correctly, Juan Pablo Buchert is a member here on TheChocolateLife.

I will be heading to Costa Rica next month, and wondering if anyone had any recommendations on cacao farms to visit? Would love to see the full process of harvest, through fermentation. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Used ACMC Table Top Tempering Unit. $750 or best offer.

Functioning, all original parts.

If interested contact miles@perfectfuel.com

Features

• Molded ABS Housing
• Injection moulded polyethylene scraper (dishwasher safe)
• Removable 5-Quart stainless steel bowl
• Uses 2-100 watt lamps as heat source
• Cooling fan is rated for continous use
• Clear Lexan night/dust cover
• Front panel with controls & digital display

• Minimum Capacity: 1 lb.
• Maximum Capacity: 6 lbs.
• Dimensions: 12 1/2"H x 14 1/4"W
• Electrics: 110/120v, standard US plug

 ACMC-whiteback.jpg - 26KB

I also was thinking about why these tempermeters are that expensive. After some research i found this page a few years ago: soncodipaul.weebly.com/tempermeter.html
It shows a cheap build tempermeter, but no description. After I sent him an email he replied with some info. He mentioned that the biggest problem is in recording the exact temperature at the exact time. But he also mentioned that this could be fixed with the right equipment and coding (or "just" some detailed temperature/time measering equipment?)

It was two years ago and I lost the interest in building such thing..  But maybe you are interested in it, would be happy to see some plans of building a tempermeter buy yourself )

A few thoughts:

1. Why take the chocolate out of the machine to mix the oils? (In order to create smaller flavored batches?) It may be that the choc is falling out of temper when put in the bowl. Also, Lorann oils are alcohol based... I believe. So in addition to being kind of cheap nasty oils (no offense), they are alcohol based, which choc does not like. You need an oil based flavoring oil. Either make your own or source one. 

2. Why do you need to add coconut oil? Cannabis is fat soluble and will join with the cocoa butter in the choc - assuming you're using couverture.

3. Ambient temp should be about 70 degrees with an optimal humidity of 50. 

4. Make sure your molds are near to temp as choc as possible. And, finally cooling the choc in a fridge for a sec or with a fan can help the set up. Finally, perhaps you have dirty molds? Though, based on the pics, looks like temp bloom to me as oppossed to sugar bloom. 

Good luck!

it measures the latent heat of crystallization - when liquids crystallize, or when crystals "melt" they either absorb or release heat.  A tempermeter measures the amount and time of this heat over a very specific cooling scenario, and then does some math for you to make the results usable.

I'd be the very first to sign up for 10 of these from you if you built one for $100 8-)

Chris -

I agree with you totally. However, I have been involved in many discussions with chocolate makers where the idea of spending $15k as a CapEx for a butter press is way out of their budget.

I think one of the challenges is that many chocolate makers self–identify as "bean–to–bar" and their thinking ends at bars. There are a lot more things you can do with chocolate than just bars.

Looking for a used machine. I've got quotes for new, but wanted to see if there was anything out there in Chocoland.

Are you looking for new or used?

Hello - Interested in the Selmi One, Color Ex, or Plus Ex and attachments if there. Would have to pay by credit card, some cash down possible dependent on price. Prefer single phase. 

Please email me: bunkburger@yahoo.com

Clay:

If a chocolate maker is only interested in making truly single origin chocolates, then obviously that's a superfluous acquisition, but what if the producer is also making milk and white chocolate, various couvertures and selling the cocoa powder and cocoa butter (ie, for beauty products)? Ethically sourced cocoa butter is not that cheap, is it? Stretched over the life of the machine, is more than $15k worth of cocoa butter (and "powder" - yes, I'm aware the fat content will be higher than the typical 10-12%) not produced? Do these machines not last that long? Please, feel free to play devil's advocate ...  

Was coming to a similar conclusion, but couldn't find any good info online. I appreciate the help all!

There is no water in chocolate, so no emulsification is going on.

What could be happening is bad mixing, so I would try a couple of experiments.

1. Don't add any coconut oil to the chocolate as it's melting. (You are using seed chocolate during the cool-down phase, right?) Take some chocolate out and mix in the flavored oils. Do you still get the blooming?
2. Same as 1) but instead of adding the flavoring oil add the coconut oil and stir.
3. Same as 1) but mix the flavoring oil into the coconut oil and mix that into the tempered chocolate.

You want to make sure that you do a good job of mixing everything together so you don't get streaking, which is different from blooming.

I don't know if that will solve your problem - but we will know if the problem is that the coconut oil you're adding during the melting phase is what's getting in the way of proper tempering. 

Sebastian is right.

There is no way that I know of to know what the variety of cacao is just by looking at it. Size is not an indicator - either very large or very small.

Color doesn't say anything as there are "Trinitario-hybrid" varieties (I am thinking of the acriollados in Nicaragua) that can be 10-30% white or pale (lila).

Aroma and taste are no help either.

That said, if you have been working with the same beans from multiple origins for a long period of time you can learn to distinguish between those reliably. However that won't help you when it comes to other sources.

Chocolate makers don't normally refine what's left over after pressing the oil out of it - it get ground into cocoa powder!

If you added it back in to a chocolate recipe it would be the same as not removing the fat to begin with.

Melangeurs don't have the same physical limitations as ball mills. You might be able to refine what's left over after pressing the butter out of it. What you'd have is a low-fat cocoa mass that could be mixed with sugar and, instead of refining it, mold it, and use it for making hot chocolate.