Forum Activity for @Brad Churchill

Your working temperature is too low and/or your chocolate is far too crystalized when you start working with it (it will be very thick).

Use your ACMC to temper the chocolate, and find a working temperature where the chocolate stays fluid in the machine for a period of time.  I have 6 ACMC machines and I work in lower temperatures than you do, so I know they will hold the chocolate in temper and in a fluid state for a long time.

Once you know what your acceptable working temperature is, then you can take chocolate out of the machine and mold it any time you like without issue.

Cheers

Brad

Where the beans come from is not quite as important as their acidity before the roast, and as well, guaging their acidity while roasting.  

I have beans that I only roast for 30 min, and others (such as my Brazilian beans) that go as long as an hour in the oven.

What you need to pay close attention to is the smell.  They start as brownies baking, then become very vinegary, and then go back to rich brownies and light acidity.

I have standardized a roasting temperature in my shop, of 300 degrees F in a convection oven (equates to 325 in a standard oven), and then just vary the time.

That seems to work pretty well for me.

Hope that helps.

Brad

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 image.jpg - 503KB

James - thermoformed molds are known for this, and the problem is exacerbated if your mold has long, flat surfaces. I have both types of molds (those and poly), and as far as I can tell it's just about impossible not to get release marks with the thermoformed molds. If you figure out a fix for this I would be fascinated to hear it, but I suspect the only realistic solution is the obvious one.

I agree about the roasting times/temps. That seems like an unusually low temp and a really fast roast. 16 minutes is more like a coffee bean cycle, except of course the temps would be much, much higher.  In my experience you want most cacao bean temps, depending of course on the bean, to rise up into the 260º to 290º range. And you want them at that temp, again depending on the bean, for 20-40 minutes. Yes, that's a wide range of times and temps, but your own efforts fall outside of anything I've generally see work well. 

As for Brazilian beans I don't know if the ones I've worked with are the same as the ones you have, but I would consider starting at a much higher temp (300º with hi fan if you're using a convection oven), leaving it there for 5-8 minutes, and then dropping the temp to somewhere in the 270º-280º range for another 25 minutes or so. If you find that you are losing too much of the bean's "personality", then lower than second phase by 10º or so and try again. With really bright beans (Madagascar, etc) you have to tread more carefully with the heat, but I find that the beans with less bright and/or citrusy attributes can often handle a fuller roast without losing their unique notes. 

Also, I've found that while many beans conch out well within 24 hours, there are others that really benefit from a second day in the grinder. A small number even require a third, but in my opinion that's rare. (Tip: conching/grinding temps will often increase significantly in small grinders as you add more nibs. In my Premiers I've seen differences of as much as 25º with 6lbs vs. 3lbs. So if you're testing a bean keep those grind quanitities the same to decrease your conching variables.)

That having been said, a problem with astringency might also suggest a chalkiness, because the two are somewhat similar. That can sometimes occurs when the grind is not quite right. As those of us who use them know, stone grinders (especially the small ones) do have their limitations. Although there seems to be an increasing trend to forgo pre-grinding, I still think it helps, especially with smaller grinders. And of course you'll want to make sure that your stones are not sitting too loosely on their grinding plate. 

OK, that's what I've got. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Thanks guys I will go back to the drawing board with my roasting and see what comes of it. Just needed some encouragement and a light at the end of the tunnel. 

No, the original extraction might have been by steam distillation or expression. While things like vanilla will often be extracted by alcohol or Co2.

I am currently having the same issue with my chocolate bar moulds, temperature of the tempered chocolate is correct, tested it on back of palette knife and the chocolate sets hard with no streaks, yet when it comes out of the mould I get these light swirls just on the centre of the bars. After reading this I warmed the moulds before pouring, and also increased airflow with use of a fan and some cooling racks for setting, room temp is about 20degrees C so not too cold, yet I am still having the exact same issue. Also tried various cooling methods such as total set in fridge, total set at room temp, mix of fridge and room temp setting but still same outcome. So I now agree with Larry and think it could be because unlike poly moulds, my thermoformed moulds are more flexible and so are actually flexing with the contracting chocolate and leaving this middle circle bit (that doesn't flex) to set differently. Will try strengthening the moulds today and will report back with my findings.

Hi Larry, thanks for the link. It does sound very similar to the issue I am having, I tend to agree with your theory that the light thermoformed plastic mould is flexing with the chocolate as it contracts and then leaving this middle circle area. Going to try and strengthen moulds today and see how it goes, will also post in other thread my findings.

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Three tiers of glass shelves, each with its own fluorescent bulb for great visibility of product. Price includes acrylic trays.

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 IMG_20150626_113012_burst_02.jpg - 505KB

Hi all,

I've been making chocolate for about 9 months without much problem. However, since I've moved my production into a shared kitchen space held at 68F, I can't seem to mold fast enough. 

I'm using:

- ACMC temperer

- 72% Ecuador chocolate, 28% sugar

-  Dental Vibrator 

I heat to 120F, cool to 92F; add seed; stir like a bandit, and mold immediately. I spend most of my time stirring the chocolate and do all the shaking and banging of my trays to get the chocolate to set evenly. I fail every time. 

Any advice?

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Just make sure you're not using water soluble flavors - sometimes folks get mixed up and use the two interchangably..

The roast time seems very short. When we do a low roast (as your temps seem to indicate) we often do 1kg roasting for an hour. Also, Forastero beans can often take a higher degree of roasting (closer to 300F) - but obviously I wouldn't roast at that temp for an hour. I'd try experimenting with your roasting times and temperatures.

It looks like you are using a light plastic mold (as opposed to a stiff polycarbonate mold). If so, here is a link to a good discussion we had about that issue. https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/forums/my_posts/12032/mold-release-ring-formation-issue-in-mold

Take a look at the linked discussion & see if it answers some questions.

My quick thoughts:

Swirls in your chocolate are caused by unevely tempered chocolate or the light molds flexing as the chocolate cools. I have some light molds and haven't figured out how to get perfect release every time.

That is really neat. I had always heard to use oil based flavorings/colorings for chocolate. I'll play with alcohol flavorings. This will be fun. Thanks for the insight Sebastian.

Actually, the alcohol is there because alcohol extracts flavors much differently than does water.  It's a much more effective solvent, and as such the types of flavors you get with alcohol extractions are very different than what you find with water extractions.

You will need to decide for yourself which is better.  Alcohol based flavors are used every day in large scale chocolate manufacture.

Hi there,

I couldnt claim to know much of anything really but as some smaller grinders dont heat up much, which helps burn off the acids a bit, you may need to run your grinder anywhere from 1-4 days to mellow the acids you have in there. You could also try adding some heat with a heat gun as well but would want to be sure you dont burn the chocolate. Above 140f for an hour or two would help. Beyond that you could try lifting your time and temp on the roast and see about burning out more of the acids in the begining.  

Hi everyone, been having some tempering issues with my chocolate. I melt using a mol d'art chocolate melter, temper everything by hand using a marble slab etc then put into another mol d'art melter at the tempered temperature to hold it while i use it. However i keep getting these odd light swirls just around the centre of my bars. The rest of the bar turns out nice with a decent gloss finish and good snap. I always check the chocolate temp before use, and always do a back of palette knife test, and that alwasy sets hard with no streaks. yet when i de-mould the bars they all have these swirls, any suggestions? really want an even gloss finish.

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I finally got round to ordering these powertwist belts, difficult to find here in the UK so unfortunately had to import them but hopefully will be worh the extra cost. The instructions are very over simplified, so will soon be creating a step by step photo guide to fitting the new belts which hopefully people will find useful. So far they are working great. they look like this when fitted:

Hi,

I am sorry if this is in the wrong category, but I am looking for some help on my roasting of an Organic Brazil bean. It is an organic Forastero Bean which has good flavor but I am still upable to kick this annoying astrigency. My most successful roast is 8 Mins 250F and then 8 Mins 200F. After a 24 hour grind in a small CocoaTown I am still finding it to contain some undesirable astringency at 50-70% Sugar. So I am looking for roasting suggestions or anything really. I feel I may have hit a wall with these beans and looking for a little guiding light. Any help? I can provide more information if that would help just let me know! Thank you in advance.   

You don't need to use the alcohol ones. The alcohol is added to make the essential oil water soluble when used in other cooking applications.

Chocolate is a fat mass which means the flavoring doesn't need to be soluble.

your alcohol based flavors will be fine.  use oil soluable if you can find them, but if not, alcohol based will work just fine.

if you use Organic essential oils you can be confident they will be food safe, with no traces of pesticides or chemicals. 

I use Immersion blender but have seem Thermomix work beautifully

Hi Neha dont know if you are still looking for course. There is an amazing one in Melbourne run by Kristen Tibballs. They do Chocolate Praline, Panning and lot of other stuff. Have done the Chocolate and Praline classes myself. Their website is http://www.savourschool.com.au/ you can look up the classes available and the class calender too.

My mixers (both the 8 quart and 20quart) with the whip attachment work great.  They add a bit of air to the ganache, but it seems that customers really like the light and fluffy texture, so what the heck!  Mix On!

Water ganache using the EZtemper silk - http://forums.egullet.org/topic/151287-eztemper-the-help-you-need-to-achieve-perfectly-tempered-chocolate-fast/?p=2022800

When People say raw chocolate. it would mean they are looking for the health benefits present in the cocoa beans before Roasting.

So in oder to classify it. one could call it raw if the nutritional value hadn't been cooked of in the processing of the chocolate.

A similar food market to compare it with would be nut butters. 

Roasted nuts taste so much better, but roasting changes the nut-butter fat.

I make nut butter in my chocolate melanger with a mix of roasted and unroasted nuts

Hi guys we are also interested in the mill would you please send us more information? is it a three phase? or single?  Where is the machine located?

Please send us more info to chaqchao@gmail.com

Now that is really challenging.  is the beet blend in the same oil? Could it be the particle size?

I googled annato coloring and found a website which mentions using norbixin to prevent annato bleeding , but the chemical is not mentioned on the   beet page.

I don't know much about norbixin yet. Have you bounced the question off the annato manufacturer?

here is the same item using just red beet blend, also suspended in oil. The item in this pic is about a year old there is no migration ( made thousands of them )

https://www.thechocolatelife.com/chocotoymaker/gallery/9867/img-6901#gallery_img

Could there be some form of osmosis (but in oil). i.e. the annato suspension migrates along with the oil from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. As the canola oil isn't crystalline at room temperature, it could flow.

Here is something to try. Add some of the same oil (canola) in the same proportion as the oil in your color to the white chocolate.

This would theoretically make the concentration of oil the same, thus mitigating the area of high oil concentration and the oil migration/color bleeding.

As far as why the annato is the only one to do it.... I'm not sure. Could it have something to do with particle size?

are other colors next to white chocolate?

 Link to your picture https://www.thechocolatelife.com/chocotoymaker/gallery/9866/img-6900#gallery_img

(Edited to add link)

I have no idea why the pics are not posting. I have added them to my gallery page under " Natural Colors" you should be able to see them there.

I understand what you are saying about liquid fat. My colors arrive to me already suspended in canola oil. I receive three; Red Beet, Tumeric, Annatto. For soem reason it is only the Annatto that migrates. The other two remain stable ( with the exception of tumeric fading ( another headache)

For some reason i'm not seeing the pictures....

Natural colors are almost always water soluable.  Are yours suspended in fat, and if so, is that fat a soybean, coconut, or some other fat that's liquid at room temperature?  If so, you've likely got an oil migration problem, which would be solved by dispersing those colorants in a solid fat - ideally cocoa butter.

I have been using different combinations of red beet, tumeric and annatto for a while now and have been getting some really great results. One problem I have is the visual shelf life. When ever annatto borders white chocolate ( see attached pics) it tends to migrate into the nearby area affecting my product's appearance enough to be a problem as far as longer shelf life is concerned. Any thoughs on the reasons for migration as well as ideas on how I can slow the migration down ?

30 - 60 days later

I phoned the Coop that process Goats milk but they said it all gets exported as Goats milk Infant formula.

You should contact Fonterra Ingredients Devision instead they produce organic milk powders. and if they don’t sell goats milk as well, they could tell you who does.

The University of Wisconsin - Madison offers six different self-study food engineering courses. Four of the classes are for sugar confections and two for chocolates. The prices are reasonable and it appears anybody can enroll as they are for professional development. Just thought I would share. Here is the link:

http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/Courses/index.lasso?myRegion=Chemical%20and%20Biomedical&myRegionHead=R-03&#FoodEngineering

Hi there, We might be interested in the three roll... If you could message me at info@stachildchococlate.com that would be geat. Thanks

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Three rolls mill.pdf - 39KB

Could you spill the beans.

what would one of these cost

Thanks, Please e-mail me details at: tony.najjar@xocolla.com