Forum Activity for @eg

iPhone 5 v 9.2 (up to date). Did you see the example I attached - screenshot of forum post.

Clay, 

So what you're saying then, is when a chocolatier out here lies for years about what they do, just like the Mast Brothers did, it doesn't matter, but when someone does it in YOUR neck of the woods it does?   My nemesis out here has made a hell of a lot more money (millions of dollars more) lying to people here in Western Canada than the Mast Brothers have, and it doesn't matter where the lies are propogated they are still lies, and they still affect EVERYONE in the industry.

You can continue to make theChocolateLife about you and your own personal agenda (just like you are doing above), or you can respect and recognize that there is a lot of deception in the industry regardless of where you go, even if it isn't in your back yard, and that the opinions of others (such as me) matter.

Will the expose bring the whole Brookly craft "movement" down?  Anyone who believes that is just plain foolish.  Not everyone reads the New York Times.  Not everyone reads Facebook.  Not everyone will read this forum or other articles on Mast.  

In my not so humble opinion (which is the topic of this forum), very little will happen.  Brooklyn isn't the center of the universe, and people will still buy their chocolate.  The only thing that will most likely happen is that the Mast brothers will no longer be the darlings of print and social media, and the demand for their wares will decrease to a point where they can actually make enough to keep up with demand, instead of buying someone else's.

What's most discouraging though, is that unless stiff penalties are legislated and imposed for lying to consumers, in a few years, someone else will step up to the plate and do it again.  Remember Noka?  Well.... Mast is the new Noka.

Best Regards

Brad Churchill

Choklat

Brad.

IMNSHO: Calgary is not Williamsburg, or even Manhattan.

It's not about you , so crowing about reflected sainthood is out of place and only reflects badly on you.

Why do I say this?

There are far larger issues at hand, especially with the media coverage on The Guardian and other outlets focusing on price and how $10 is too much to pay. Comparing Mast w/ Hershey and Green & Black's and not understanding why the comparison is ludicrous. One good question is whether or not this will have an impact on the sales of other craft chocolate makers. NYTimes even says that this could bring the whole Brooklyn craft food "movement" down. 

I know that the author of one of the follow-up articles is horrified at how the story has been twisted. Fact is, we are no longer in control of it and it may be impossible to put the genie back into the bottle. Will it destroy trust? Some chocolate makers think so.

I am not interested in starting a flame war here on TheChocolateLife. If you want to take up the issue in The Calgary Herald or The Calgary Sun, I think either or both are more appropriate outlets.

There are some very substantive issues at play here and I would really like the focus to stay on those issues. Here's just one of my takes .

:: Clay

iPhone 5 not 5S? What version of iOS? Safari, right? Does this also happen in any other browser? I can't test as I don't have an iPhone 5.

ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?????

In a letter posted on their website, Rick Mast writes, and I quote (pointing out highlights):

"Mast Brothers is a 100% bean to bar chocolate maker. Every chocolate bar made by our company that you have lovingly purchased since we opened our first factory, including those purchased for the coming holidays, was made "bean to bar". Any claim or insinuation otherwise is simply false."

THEN JUST TWO PARAGRAPHS LATER HE WRITES:

"And while we never claimed to make all our chocolate exclusively from bean to bar in those early days, we did describe ourselves as a bean-to-bar chocolate maker. Since we were in fact making chocolate from bean to bar, we honestly thought we could say as much. We sincerely apologize if you or any of our other loyal customers feel they were misled about the chocolate we made when our company was just getting off the ground."

THE LYING CONTINUES!!!!  

Literally, there may be some truth to it.  However, taken in the context that it's written... Well, here's the summary  "Look how stupid people are!  Every bar of chocolate we sold had our name on it and was represented as made by us - even the stuff we bought and melted into molds with our name on it.  You people are suckers!!!!"

I wish to personally thank the Mast Brothers Chocolate company for making Choklat look like a saint here in Calgary.

Cheers

Brad Churchill

Still can only read on iPhone 5 if I turn phone sideways. Vertical viewing cuts off right side. Also as I type the entire comment box is not visible, so difficult to check what I've typed here. The other updates are great.

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it's been a while since i've made toffee, and i didn't take the time to look over any of my notes for details, but it sounds like to me that you've got higher moistures than you'd like to have.  Without analytically measuring them, it's hard to confirm.  50% RH should be just fine.  Do you get the same negative results if you cook to a bit higher temp (your cook temp will be the easiest metric to use as a guage for water removal in your toffee - the higher your temp, the lower your resultant water content).  I'd be tempted to do a series of small batches (using the same lot of ingreidents, on the same day), and  prepare them back to back, looking at your current process as the control, then raise the cook temp in 5degree increments to see how they compare and if it resolves your problem or not.

I will try to answer from my experience. I use equal amounts of sugar and butter. I don't melt the butter first. I start out with 1/4 cup water per pound of butter. I put in the water and 2/3 of the salted grade AA butter, and the sugar. I stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved, then turn up heat and add remaining butter. I rinse the spatula (I prefer silicone to wood paddle) and conitnue stirring. Be sure all sugar is dissolved. Once temp is over 260, you are past the danger zone of separation. Cook as quickly as possible without burning. I take it to about 310 (5000 ft). I don't add more salt, or cook the nuts in the syrup. I do add a little lecithin. I pour the syrup over dry roasted almonds. After cooling and coating with chocolate and a sprinkle of salt and more nuts, I break up and put into air-tight packages. We normally have a very dry climate, but I have made it when it was raining and snowing with no problems. My batches are 12# of sugar and butter at a time. You are correct in assuming corn syrup will make the toffee more sticky. I think if you add more butter and cook a bit higher, you will be fine. Try a small batch and see. You might check the amount of water you are using. If it is more than 1/4 c. per pound, you might be inverting the sugar which would give the same effect of adding corn syrup, making it sticky. Good luck.

My response in a comment to an article posted on The Guardian about the Mast Bros: Mast Brothers: taste-testing $10 chocolate bars as controversy boils over .

What is a real shame about most of the media reporting that has occurred in reply to the series on  DallasFood.org  (including [the article on TheGuardian]) is that it has featured a sensationalized focus on price. And that is not what the series is about at all. It's about transparency and deliberate, systematic, misrepresentation, which can happen at any price level.

It is an indisputable fact that the overwhelming majority of chocolate—whether sold as solid bars, candy bars, or confections—is sold at a price that means that the cocoa farmer was not paid a living wage for their work.

One thing that most craft chocolate makers strive for is equitable relationships with the farmers they buy their cocoa from. And an aspect of that equitable relationship is that the farmer gets paid a fair price for their labor. A price that enables them to have pride in their work, feed and clothe and send their children to school, and all of the other things we strive for for ourselves, families, and communities.

We all have our taste preferences, but this is not about what's better - Cadbury, Ritter Sport, Lindt, et al. What it is about is knowing that, when you buy any chocolate where one factor in your purchase decision process is how cheap it is, is that one of the consequences of that decision is the perpetuation of a cycle of poverty of heart-breaking, gargantuan, proportions. The fact is, virtually all chocolate is too cheap, yet most people are unaware of the fact that their perceived "right" to enjoy inexpensive chocolate is a major driver behind children laboring in cocoa farms.

Having blind faith in certification schemes is not *the* answer. Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz, et al, can only do so much; you as a consumer and large companies use those labels to avoid having to truly confront the reality of the situation.

Small chocolate makers who go to great lengths to source their beans provide one key to solving the problem. They confront the reality and work very hard to address it within the context of their own businesses.

Because craft chocolate makers cannot afford to buy hundreds of tonnes of beans at a time and don't have expensive automated plants, the price they *willingly* pay for high–quality cocoa beans and their costs of production are much, much higher than those of industrial producers who use their size and buying power to get the cocoa they buy at the lowest possible prices - not caring about the impact on the farmer.

In this context, what's important is not the price of the chocolate bar, it's the price the farmer receives for the cocoa beans - called the farm gate price. The higher the price paid to the farmer, the more expensive the chocolate is going to be. If you're buying a mass-market bar, most of the profits go to the manufacturers and retailers as well as to advertising and promoting the products - many of which actually have very little cocoa in them because cocoa is the most expensive ingredient!

And this is where the small chocolate maker strives to make a difference. Source the beans as closely as possible to the farmer, reduce the number of intermediaries who handle the beans - which increases their already high cost, and then work very hard to craft a product that people will like and buy more than once. Most of these small chocolate makers are self-funded startups who barely break even, let alone generate a profit.

And that's the source, I think, of much of the indignation surrounding The Mast Brothers. Their claim to being one of this amazing group of makers is on very shaky ground as the  DallasFood.org  series reveals. Most of the press surrounding the Brothers is about their beards, or about the paper used to wrap the bars, or about the design of their shops. And that's messed up. We were being lied to. It's not about the prices, it's about what appears to be systematic deception. That's why the chocolate community is up in arms. It is not a good thing for craft chocolate.

We can agree or not on whether we like a chocolate the Mast Brothers makes. That's partly a discussion of value: is the money I paid worth it, to me? In the case of the Mast Brothers - for me - the case is usually no: I did not get good value for money, but then I am focused on what's inside the wrapper, knowing that the wrapper is a not-insignificant reason for the price being what it is.

You may think I am an idiot to pay $10 for a bar of chocolate - but I have willingly paid much more. And I will continue to do so. I will do so because I want to see smiles on the faces of cocoa farming families when I travel at origin. I will do so because I believe in supporting honest, dedicated, craftspeople who work extremely hard to produce products they believe in and that they hope customers will buy and like.

What I try to avoid is purchasing chocolate where I know the farmer was not paid well or where the marketing is less than genuine.

And that's what this story is really about . It's not about a tenner.
###

Hello Georg,

I would like some details about your Kleego 100 for sale. How long have you had it? Dis you use it for concging or only melting? What are you using instead? Where will it be shipped from? I am interested for a project in Haiti. (I 'll have it shipped to Miami where the equipment is centralized) and of course the price. I'm reachable at aboville@gmail.com I'm looking forward to reading your answer.

Alek

Hi there,

I am currently in Toffee Hell and I am hoping that I can get out with your help. The toffee I make sticks to peoples' teeth and I have received some complaints about it. I am committed to changing this situation. Ideally toffee has a nice snap when you bite into it, but then it gives way to a tender texture that immedietly crumbles and dissolves in your mouth. Even though I add a tremendous amount of butter to my recipe, the texture I end up with is more like a hard candy that ultimately sticks to your teeth. I am hoping some of you can help me understand the finer points of making delicious toffee with a very pleasing texture. Here are some questions I have.

1. Currently, I use standard American salted butter. Does the quality of the butter make a difference? If I used Plugra or an European style butter with a lower water content -- would that make a difference?

2. What temperature should I be cooking the toffee to? I currently stop at 295-300 degrees Farenhite. Should I be going for a higher temperature?

3. My current recipe does not use corn syrup. I thought by not using corn syrup I would have a less sticky texture. That is not the case? Would corn syrup help me on my quest to a tender texture?

4. What should the relative humidity of my room be? I make everything in Northern Wisconsin. These days the RH is around 50%. I use a dehumidifier, but We have had a humid and warmer than usual autumn. Does my relative humidity of my room need to be lower? I noticed that excellent toffee comes from arid climates such as Colorado. I've also had excellent toffee that comes from the Midwest.

5. What about stirring? We cook the batch in a big copper kettle. We stir with a paddle to prevent scorching. Does the stirring or lack of stirring effect the texture of the toffee? Honestly, we have to stir as we don't want a scorched pot.

6. What about storage? Can I store at room temp just fine?

For your reference Here is my recipe and my process...

Salted Butter: 9080 grams

Water: 2270 grams

Sugar, White Granulated: 11,350grams

Salt: 71 grams

Soy Lecithin: 28 grams

Almonds: 2270

Melt the butter in the copper kettle. Add the water, salt, sugar, and lecithin. Cook until 295-300 degrees. Stir in Toasted Almonds. Pour on Marble Table. Let cool. Coat with chocolate and add Crushed almonds.

Thank you for your help. I can really use it!

Daniel

We are selling our new FBM Kleego 100 for melting and conching chocolate.
The machine works perfectly and is only sold for space reasons.
Please email to georg@georgia-ramon.com for more information.

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You're too kind Ruth - one of the fascinating things about this category is theres ALWAYS something new to learn - which makes it a ton of fun!

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

You are way too modest!!!

 No.  But some might say I dabble

Sebastian,

       Do you have a chocolate shop ?

Great would you accept $1300 packed for shipment to NY? Thanks kindly. If you want to speak see my info below.

Jim Greenberg 203.913.9656 mobile 

Austin, Texas

Hi where are you located thanks?

Jim Greenberg

The price is $1700.

Temper problems are ALWAYS due to:

1) Time

2) Temperature

3) Contamination

Sometimes folks overcomplicate the troubleshooting - just keep those 3 tenets in mind and it helps weed out the background noise so you can ID the issue more quickly.  That's the Sebastian Principle I.

Also, for some strange reason, these things never seem to pop up during slow times.  They always present during peak season.  That's the Sebastian Principle II. 8-)

[Edited by Clay to correct a typo for clarity.]

It looks like the login issue is fixed with the latest site update. My login has been remembered for the past several days. Thanks!

Hello Nat,

I am interested in the ECGC-65 because we want to start producing chocolate in Haiti. However we are centralizing the equipment in Miami, so the shipping would be to Miami. How many of these did you / do yo have? Does you mdel have a chain ( what type) or a belt? You say you've change the stones already. Does the bottom stone slab get thinner as well? What model are you buying to replace that one?

Could you contact me at alek@donalek.com for further details. Thank you very much

I think we got it. I had to get involved more. Hard to gauge how things are going on through people explaining. Just gotta do it yourself and see to build a good troubleshooting matrix.

What I found through observation and tale--

First I had the molds cleaned with white vinegar and polished all nice. Gotta start off with a clean slate right?

Then the chocolate, it was always being used soon after temper bells--we let it rest/integrate more. I've seen issues before when the temper is rushed into use. That got rid of the blooming.

Then the molds themselves were not being heated and being that they are rather deep...so we preheated them some like we've done for other more sturdy polycarbs and viola they no longer stick.

I knew if we stopped and thought the actions through we'd nail it out. I just figured a lot of what I'd consider good mold handling would have been thought of. Another rule of thumb, not everyone thinks like you do. lol.

Here I thought we were in some weird new territory of mold bizzare natures and lo and behold, it's still the most basic elements stacking on top of each other.

Thank you for your time, considerations, and commentary. It is always appreciated.

Couple followup questions - are you warming the molds? Are you measuring the temperature of them? Are you chilling them after adding chocolate into them?

Have you ever wanted to become a pro chocolate maker or are you already running a craft bean-to-bar chocolate factory regularly roasting, winnowing, conching, & tempering chocolate bars? This machine will handle 20-65 lbs of cacao nibs or chocolate at a time. This unit grinds or conches from nibs to chocolate liquor, and then with the addition of sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla, it'll continue to turn it into full fledged chocolate couverture in 2-5 days, depending on the exact recipe and volume. 

This machine is currently sold for over $11,000 new so this is a bargain to get going in craft chocolate making. 

See a video of the Cocoatown ECGC65A in operation

The machine is alternatively called a refiner conch or grinder/melangeur since it refines or grinds the sugar and chocolate particles down to the necessary 20 microns while mixing or melanging the ingredients together into a coherent chocolate whole. This is the machine used by almost all craft bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the US. Join the chocolate making revolution!

This machine is 4 years old, but with a new drum and rollers, the part that determine the quality of the chocolate. It can grind cacao nibs, sugar and optionally cocoa butter and vanilla to finished chocolate in the standard 2-5 days depending on batch size and cocoa butter content. We are selling this unit as we've outgrown it.

The unit is 240 V 3-phase but comes with a 240 V 1-phase to 3-phase frequency converter to change the motor speed for best chocolate grinding. So the machine requires a 240 V 1-phase 8 amp power to run. The machine is all stainless steel & stone externally.

Included in the shipment are:
• Tilting grinder base with motor, gearbox, and belts.
• New grinder drum and stone rollers.
• Frequency converter for variable speed operation with multiple displays of speed (Hz), power draw (amps), and runtime.
• Dongle on 6-ft cord with start, stop, and emergency stop buttons.

Shipping from Oahu, Hawaii to other islands is around $100 and the US mainland can range from $500-900 depending on location. This machine weighs 600 lbs and is 36" x 36" x 61".

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I agree. I also feel it's thermal instability in the setting up, but when they are again set right next to other molds and the other ones come out fine. These are by far the most eggregious pictures. Others have a little peeling and some slight temper break on them, these were just frighteningly so.

We tried half filled molds and they set better but still not releasing well or bloom free.

I'm wondering if someone washed these funny but I've just never seen this to this extent before and while I'm no old hat we've been doing this around 8 years... Just.. Bizzare! If it weren't the season I'd undertake a full matrix experiment like I did toffee ages ago but I just have no time to slow up and be thoughtful, lol!

Interested as long as the class is in the US. 

Hi,Ryan, how are you? - call me anytime. I have a 100lb ss unit.

Jim Greenberg

Is it possible they're being stored on a heated surface, raising the temperature of locallized areas in the molds?  Looks very much like thermal abuse to me.

      Dear Ryan,

This is Tony from Chinese YOQ Group Co., Ltd.  

We have produced chocolate machinery over 20 years , with the customers of NESTLE, KRAFT, MEIJI, etc. 

I will send quotation of 100l chocolate melting amd mixing machine to you by email. or you can visit our website www.chocolate-machines.com with detailed information of various machines.

  Best regards!
Tony

YOQ Group Ltd.

what'up/Tel: +86 15150501878

Email: cleopatra.tony@gmail.com

Skype: yoqtony

Website: www.chocolate-machines.com

Sculpting and modeling are very different. Sculpting you make blocks and carve, modeling is more like clay where you can shape it, ply it, mold it, and then have it set. Like a salt-dough.

We use a lot of modeling chocolate throughout the year. It's just chocolate + a ratio of corn syrup. As it cools it hardens and is pliable, over a few days it gets harder and harder almost like curing the more water that is freed the more rigid it becomes. If you have mass left over you can always reheat it later and knead it back into use.

We do a lot of molds for different occaassions and have used these santa ones for a year. We pulled them out of our seasonal storage and went to work like we do on others. However what we're getting is stuck chocolate. Doesn't matter the grade, the temper style, a layer is sticking to the mold and then the bloom that happens is just incredible.

We've used the same batch of chocolate in other molds to perfect release. BIZZARE.

We've tried a thin layer of added cocoa butter, no real help. A really thick one helps but its so thick you have to do a lot of post-cleanup which doesn't help.

We don't use dishwashers so I can't think it was a washing situation. While these aren't our premium polycarbonate they aren't the cheapest ones you can pick up either.

Anyone got some clues or ideas we can throw into the matrix of problemsolving?

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I think I had some chocolate stuck inside one of the bearings and it made a terrible noise and wouldn't turn. I cleaned it out and haven't had that problem since. Yes, I agree about Hilliard. Great people and products. I always say that the Perfect is far from perfect It just takes a long learning curve and customer service is never in! Good luck.

@Ruth we've been lubricating it as well. Helps a bit but not for long. It's a design flaw if you ask me. My machine is brand new and this has been giving us fits from the beginning. Tried the rubber band thing and broke fairly quick...but.going to try again because of course 1. I'm swamped and cant afford down time. 2. So far Perfect Equipment is not real great at customer service or parts. Pretty frustrated w that. I used to deal w Hilliard and very much miss their outstanding products and service. Id love to get back into a Hilliard but love the small footprint of this enro.  Thanks for the tips!! 

I had my detailer stop at times. I used vegetable oil and lubricated the bearings. Also, the black belt broke and I didn't have a replacement. I used a rubber band. Worked great until I got a replacement. Probably didn't need the belt:).

We did shorten the longet belt. But the small black belt isnt one we can shorten.  It's a brand new machine so hard to believe it's stretched already but anything is possible...we think it's more poor bearing quality. They seem to stick. But I'll look into replacing smaller belt. US Perfect equipment pretty good about speedy part replacement???

are your belts loose? It may be a bit too large. You can shorten the belt by cutting the tubing at the union, then trimming a small piece of belt and re-inserting the union. I had to shorten the belts to get enough tension for the belt to grip.

How much play is in your belt? Pictures would be good.

David,

Need to respond to original post, I'm not the seller

I'm having issues w the detailèr. It stops spinning all the time and doesn't seem to be doing its job..choc on paper etc. Seems the detailèr can't handle the weight of candy on it and bogs down. Any suggestions for tweaking this? It's giving me fits. Other than that I'm enjoying the machine. Vibrator/shaker belts slip alot too....

Hi Preston,

I am interested in the candy/caramel cutter. Do you have more information on it?

Thank you,

David