Forum Activity for @Isabella Geddes

I am making a dairy free ganache, replacing the cream with coconut cream and the butter with coconut oil. Will this make my ganache have a shorter shelf life? Any idea of what the shelf life will be? Also, I'm using agave syrup as my sweetner- will this alter the shelf life since it is a wet sugar, so in turn adding more liquid to teh recipe?

Thanks!

I'll be doing tests tomorrow with the coconut cream and let you know. At the moment, the recipe is only cocoa with coconut milk and agave syrup. It definitely has a melt away mouth feel and I believe that if we can get a bit more strenght from the coconut cream, then we can have something that won't collapse or melt as easily, but still keep the texture in our mouths. Got my fingers crossed!

Would the ratios of chocolate to coconut oil be the same as chocolate to cream to achieve a meltaway?  I currenly pipe my meltaways into a shell and they are very popular, but I'd like to try some that are not shelled.  I don't know how to get that meltaway texture without it being too soft.

I am working with a chocolatier who makes a ganache using coconut oil. They have a great "melting" mouth feel, but the ganache melts when it is hot and causes the bonbon to collapse. I am considering using coconut ceam to make it have a slightly harder consistency. Any idea how this will affect shelf life? Has anyone tried this combination of coconut oil and coconut cream/milk?

@daniel-herskovic 

Where are you located? I'm interested in contract manufacturing on the East Coast.

Hi!

I've been lately interested on buying a melanger, after searching for a while, I've seen that besides for grounding cocoa beans into chocolate, you can also use it to make nut butters, tahini etc..

Yet what caught my attention is the Cocoatown melanger. Also heard of santha but this ones seems to me easier to handle and afford for some reason.

Has anyone tried making nut butters / tahini etc with their melanger (any kind)?

I'd be happy if anyone who own the cocoaT melanger can post some feedback and tips regarding it.

Thanks

Thanks Jayne, I will give it another go using this technique. 

Bump

I love that cutter I have two.  It may depend on the amount of fat your recipe has in it.  You could certainly oil the blades.  I cut toffee with it too.  When I cut caramel I roll it over the caramel with a bit of pressure and continue rolling it back and forth until it is all the way through.  Then I turn and go the opposite way.  My caramel is almost 1" thick.  I have also cut marshmallows with it, however with these I do oil the blades.  Hope this helps.

I bought a multi wheel caramel cutter from Tomric and am having a heck of a time using it. Either the caramel sticks to it and then rolls up with the cutter or if I make a stiffer caramel it doesn't cut through it? AM I doing something wrong or is there a trick to it? I have watched a few youtube videos and it look so easy...

Caramel is 3/4 inch thick and a medium bite. Does the cutter need to be lubricated? Any suggestions would be appreciated.   

I bought a multi wheel caramel cutter from Tomric and am having a heck of a time using it. Either the caramel sticks to it and then rolls up with the cutter or if I make a stiffer caramel it doesn't cut through it? AM I doing something wrong or is there a trick to it? I have watched a few youtube videos and it look so easy...

Caramel is 3/4 inch thick and a medium bite. Does the cutter need to be lubricated? Any suggestions would be appreciated.   

Hi Brad,

Sounds like a nice machine. Just what I'm looking for. Could you send me some more information ?  

Thanks

Olivier

Thanks Clay, i must confess i hadnt actually heard of them before so was curious to see if anyone had used them on here. I am meeting with a Casa Franceshi representative, Juan Diego Franceshi, on tuesday in London so sounds promising that they have either warehoused it in the UK or in Europe.

hi, brandon, i need your help

I was offered this same machine that you have, I want to ask if it works well, you who think, should I buy !?

thnks 

Can you get back to me I really am interested in the machine

wilma@chocolatefx.ca

18663601660

Hello,

I will travel to Tanzania in October 2015, with the aim to visit cocoa farmers and learn more about cocoa plantations and post-harvest. Any suggestions of contacts would be most welcome. You can contact me by email gmetz@ecacaos.com.

Thanks.

I have finally gotten around to finalizing the design of my own tempering machine, and have written a wireless interface which allows me to control all aspects of the machine from my phone (or computer).  The cool thing though is that the application steps through the ENTIRE tempering process - heating, cooling, and reheating. No need to worry about seed. No need to worry about chocolate crawling out of the machine.  Etc.  Even if the chocolate is solid in the bowl, the application controls the motor and will turn it on only after some of it has melted.

It also has the built in functionality of simply heating and holding the chocolate at whatever temperature you want (such as overnight heating), so that all you need to do is push the button in the morning to start the tempering cycle. 

No more seeding

No more lightbulbs

"Smart" completely automated tempering cycle

super easy to clean

much larger bowl (about twice that of hilliards)

smaller paddle (allows for more working area)

Runs on a phone, computer, or tablet and controls the machine from anywhere in the shop (not necessary, but definitely a cool thing!  LOL)

No tempering experience needed.  The application even has voice commands and suggestions.

Priced about $500 less than a Lil Dipper (which only costs about $500 to build in the first place)

A prototype has been running in my shop now for a couple of weeks.  I turn it on in the morning and more or less forget about it for the rest of the day.

My staff now want me to change over all of my machines in the shop to work the same as this one!  Haha!

Kickstarter to take it to CSA-UL approval is coming soon.

Photo of the user interface is attached.

...I guess now the cat's out of the bag

 GUIBackgroundV2.jpg - 61KB

Hello,

Thanks Larry!  That's just what I was looking for.

By the way, when you reference the "new" style of hilliards machine (digital), are there any other changes, such as different heat source than a light bulb, or any automated functions?

We are located in Athens, GA.

Nick

Hilliard 6inch temperer with longer style belt 

Metering pump for molds  

Hilliard shaker table

All in fine shape.

$12k obo  

Delivery within 1000mi of NH possible

In person instructions possible

Alan - 603-661-2377

Hi.

Can anyone out there who has a Hilliards Little Dipper tempering machine take a look and let me know what the motor brand and model number is?

Thanks!

Brad

Where are you located? Robert

Like new Savage Bros 50lb tempering machine with pneumatic depositor. Purchased last fall and only used 5 or 6 times. $7500 OBO.

James -

I've known Alberto Franceschi for about five years now, and Domori has used beans grown by Franceschi on the Hacienda San Jose for their origin and varietal bars. So I think that those beans can be used to make very good chocolates. I am not sure which beans you are looking to purchase, but they do know what they are doing.

Getting the export permits could be challenging, but perhaps the beans are already in a warehouse outside Venezuela.

Looking to buy a Savage portable agitator. 20x11.  Need asap.

hi Clay, yes, the machine is more small now!

you can recommend a some good machine used or new?

which would not be a good machine to buy, chocvision is very small for me!

iu need help jeje!

Mariano -

Is this the same request you made a couple of days ago or a different machine?

:: Clay

Hi everyone,

I recently got into contact with someone from Franceshi Chocolate about buying some of their cocoa beans, has anyone used them for their bean to bar chocolate, or anyone had any experience with them?

Hi everyone hi really need a tempering machine ,                                                                               

Tank capacity 12 to 30 kg whith heated vibrating table,

please contact. me to marianohonduras@yahoo.com.ar

thanks

im interesting!

Nah - using the chocolate was basically a bust! I did try it with commercial coverature as well - didn't really work any better.

Awesome.  I guess I meant by using the chocolate as a seed silk. Using the bean-to-bar, the experiments showed that it was very thick and difficult to mix in, and tempering was less than stellar.  I was curious if you'd tried that with a higher cb content chocolate.  I figure once I get my machine (I'll be placing an order towards the end of the month) I can try that with a smaller batch size and see how it works out but was curious to know if it was the cocoa solids causing the thickness or if it was just the lower cb content of the bean to bar chocolate you were using. Hence the asking about commercial couvertures - which will typically have a much higher cb content than some eating chocolates.

has this been sold?

Hi Sebastian, (sorry for the late response, I was at a entrepeneurship training, and was really not available)

I am actually looking exactly for second hand machines, and even considering cosmetics/farmaceutical ones. Unfortunatelly, importing to Brazil right now is hardly an option. The currency lost almost 50% of its value to the US$ (and thus to every important currency) the last 18 months, making imports virtually impossible.

On the other hand, I did research some machine suppliers here, and found a couple who can build a 50-100kg Z-blade conche. I am waiting for the quotes. What these companies should do is to take advantage of the currancy situation and try to export FROM Brazil...

And about the lecithin, one of my sales argument will be a two ingredient chocolate, so I have to deliver a recipe without it. But I am not closed to use it, depending on the response of my public. What I definately do not want to use is PGPR, since at least an "all natural" argument would be lost.

Best regards,

Rogerio.

This is being sold in the UK.

Demonstration hotCHOC LM3 Spray Gun - Food Safe Certified

Excellent condition, has only been used twice for demonstration purposes.

Designed in collaboration with the industry experts at Barry Callebaut Chocolate Academy UK, this specialist spray gun is heated and insulated meaning you can spray warm chocolate for upto an hour. They recommend using a 50/50 chocolate/cocoa butter blend, however this is only a guideline and some users spray 70/30.

Applications: Create the perfect Velvet Effect on frozen deserts, prep moulds, speckle pralines, layer cakes, final coverings, etc. 

Features:

- Heating element ensuring the nozzle stays warm when spraying, so clogging doesn't occur.

- Insulation covers for both the heating element and the container ensuring the choclate stays warmer for longer.

- Dishwasher and microwave safe.

- Super easy to take apart for cleaning, just soak in hot water or pop in the dishwasher.

- Adjustable power setting.

-Hand-held and electric, no compressed air, just plug and play.

- Swiss quality machinery, food safe plastics and components.

More information and photos avaialable here...

https://www.kreaswiss.com/LM3-hotchoc

Comes with a 4 month guarantee (new is 6 months)

RRP £295 +vat          Selling for £195 +vat

Postage is £12+vat (1-2 day tracked and insured).

Tim - for your own as you suggest just decrease your added cocoa butter by 1% and add 1% silk.

Using commercial couverture I just add the 1% at the tail end - not worrying about the additional cocoa butter. If I've put aside a little bit of dark chocolate for painting eyes on bunnies I have often added a whole lot of 1%'s when I reheat and temper over and over and sometimes end up with pretty thin chocolate! But it still works fine on the eyes!

Today I tempered a batch of bean to bar that isn't two ingredient by just adding the 1% - here's a picture of it.

Wow, it's taken a few days to go over all the info in this and the egullet threads.  This sounds like it is exactly what I'm looking for as a tempering solution. 

I'm curious now, I'm a bean to bar maker that is just starting out. Cocoa butter is added to all of my chocolate bars, largely so that it has the consistency that I like when eating and working with to mold and dip.  So from this standpoint, it sounds like if I had the eztemper I'd just subtract the cocoa butter on the front end, and add the amount subtracted in the form of silk once I'm done, so it wouldnt alter my recipe at all.

The reason I'm posting though, is the trials of using chocolate in the eztemper seems to be using the 2 ingredient bean-to-bar chocolate for the trials. Have any tests been done to use anything with a higher cocoa butter content, such as using a commercial couverture?   Based on what I've read I'm already sold, so I guess it'd be more of a trial and error sort of thing, no?

hi, have the tempering machine available!?

I can vouch for the Chocolate Covered store in San Francisco.  Jack Epstein is the owner and he seems to know everything about every bar he carries.  I travel to SF once monthly and he always seems to have a bar I haven't  tried.  If I told you what I spend on chocolate in that shop you'd have a heart attack.

The silk is indeed just cocoa butter with no additional ingredients - in a form that will provide a sufficient amount of form V crystals to almost instantly temper your chocolate. If you are making bean to bar with lecithin you would add it whenever you normally add it to your chocolate under construction. The 'silk' is added at the very end when you are ready to mold your product.