Forum Activity for @Gap

Here is another quote from Mark in another thread:

06/17/14 12:00:03PM  @Mark-Allan :

The screw press is not as effective as the conventional butter press. A bit, maybe 20%, of the solid is still in the butter. It's not cost effective for someone in the USA to use, because your beans are so expensive there. However here in Honduras, where they don't even sell cocoa butter, it's the cheapest way to enable bean to bar. It's also more time consuming, requiring about an hour of hands on labor, to make 2 kg of butter. On the bright side, you don't feed this machine heated chocolate liqueur as you would a butter press, you just feed it room temperature cocoa nibs.

A local machinist wanted $700 to make a conventional butter press powered by a hydraulic car jack, but he had never made that type of machine before, so it was risky.

The screw press machine itself, ordered from Alibaba, was delivered to me for a total of $230.

- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/group_discuss/955/new-to-the-chocolate-life#sthash.tSfrrXML.dpuf

This is a post from this link: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/group_discuss/966/longlasting-machines

07/08/14 09:49:22AM  @Mark-Allan :

Good morning again,

This is the press I bought:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-quality-DL-ZYJ02-Traditi...

If you end up getting it, let me know and I can give you some operating tips that will save you time. Also, let the heating element warm up the drive shaft for a good 10 minutes and your output will be much more pure. I found that out on my last run. I tend to grind out enough for 3-4 batches of chocolate at once so that I don't have to run and clean the machine that often.

If I were going for higher output than 1-2kg/hour, I would look at this one:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Condition-and-Cold-Hot-Pressing_1922574051.html

I have used the machine in the first link a few times and I think it looks similar to yours. I've had similar experience to what Mark mentions above but have only used it a few times. Maybe Mark can chime in or your can send him a message through Chocolate Life for more information.

 It is worth adding you wont get pure cocoa butter. There will be some cocoa solids left in it and it will be black (not clear/yellowish colour). But it can be used to make chocolate.

these Chinese machines are good extraction of cocoa butter?

 Automatic_Stainless_steel_small_home_peanut_oil.jpg - 129KB

Kind of like bankers and lawyers today.....  Oh...and real estate sales people, and credit card companies.... Haha!

I think 500 to 500 mesh powder should be fine with icecream.

As far as the hammer mill, find the one that has the largest screen as possible.  It is critical to mix with lots of air during grinding process to keep the powder form getting hot and melt inside the mill.  Perhaps mix the feed with dryice could keep it from melting during grinding.

Just curious if these mini enrobers are ever seen used for sale out there by anyone...I've been looking forever and never seem to run across any.  Any small enrobers for that matter.  Thoughts?

I can make the cocoa beans taste like almost anything, depending on how they're grown, fermented, and dried.  Best thing to do is get a sample and taste them to see how that particular grower's beans taste.

I've just recived an email with this:

http://www.unionmachinery.com/Product.asp?Number=78136

Glad it was helpful - good luck!

The competition will be accepting submissions until April 24. Judging will be held in the New York City area shortly thereafter. For information on eligibility, how to enter the competition and critical dates. visit the International Chocolate Awards website .  The competition admission fee is USD $65 plus USD $40 for each entry.

And this year there are new categories for micro-batch chocolate makers. The categories were added to recognize the leading role that the U.S. craft chocolate scene has played in this world-wide movement.

The Americas Competition is one of 11 competitions taking place in 2015, with other regional rounds for France, Italy/Mediterranean, Belgium, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

The World's Final judging will be in London in October.

Maricel Presilla, the awards co-founder and grand jury member, says in the four years since starting the Americas competition, the number of entries has continued to grow in number and quality. "The competition showcases the widespread revolutionary changes that have transformed the chocolate industry in the last two decades," Presilla says.

Judging for the Americas round takes place in NYC on April 28th and 29th. If would like to be considered to be a judge, please go to the judge registration page for more information and to sign up.

 international-chocolate-awards_422x2811.png - 69KB

Hi there, were you able to find the enrober you were looking for? I've been looking for over a year now and can't find one reasonably priced.  Was just curious.  Can't believe the prices of these things. 

Hi Sebastian,

thanks for the info. on tasting the different coloured beans i was getting the flavours exactly as you describe. I have made a few batches, and have been pretty happy with the outcomes so far, so with that in mind, and the fact that i am just starting out so very small productions at the moment i will just carry on, using your advice. However as demand seems to be growing i may have a bit more leverage with my supplier to do like you suggest and send a small test batch before I bulk buy.

Thanks for the help

Lightly sweetened, indulgently buttery. This cake has just enough sea salt to give you that 'salted caramel' taste. With home-roasted pecans and a caramel-ganache, it is the perfect dessert for any kind of chocolate lover: http://ultimatelychocolatecakes.blogspot.ca/2015/04/sea-salted-butter-pecan-caramel.html  Oh, and it's flourless too!

 Butter Pecan Caramel Chocolate Cake (2).JPG.jpg - 117KB

I am usung a 1/2 shell mold . Dollop of jelly then peanut butter ganache. I've been making them for 3 years now & suddenly the top where the jelly is collaspes in . also the face/inside curve of the shell starts to bloom. I do other chocolates in the same mold but no bloom. This bloom is also happening on the sides of a fleur d lis mold I use.

That is really great to hear! Way to go on selling & getting things rolling.

It's been awhile since this was updated. I was able to find a quality supplier of cocoa, one with properly fermented beans. I have been selling 70% dark bars, amont many other chocolate covered things, for about eight months now. I also bought a cocoa pulverizer that hits about 24000 RPM's. Machine costs about $200. It does a good job of making the powder fine, but it lacks a screen so some of the particles don't get as fine as I would like them. The local dairy is going to try the powder tomorrow.

I've also cracked the recipe/code of a very popular, fairly expensive, brownie mix maker. That is how I've been getting rid of the coarser cocoa powder so far and the brownie mix is selling well.

It should help, but it'll still take a long time. Making the room cooler, or pointing an a/c unit at the tank would help, too. Adding seed or tabling would be much quicker, though.

Hi ben, no it does have any active cooling. And I think there are just heating wire wrapping under the tank. Ok will try to see if it works. Thank you 

Hey Ruth, just wanted to let you know that I spoke with Decagon on the phone this morning after chatting with Kerry on egullet about them selling refurbished/used units and doesn't sound like they do that anymore unfortunately, so I'm guessing the best way to find one used is to continue to search for them on Craigslist/ebay.  The quote I got from Decagon for the paWkit was $1998 for the unit, then $388 in accessories.  They do offer a payment plan though, where you put 20% down, then pay the balance over the next 9 months interest free.  Something to think about @elephant if it's something you're serious about.  I'm definitely going to keep looking for a used unit, but if I can't find one by the time I set up shop then I might consider taking advantage of the payment plan option.

The process you describe should work fine, but it will probably take a long time to cool. I don't believe the jkv-30 has any active cooling, right? Does it just circulate air around the tank? You could probably speed it up some by adding a fan on the chocolate.

Ghent University's Cocoa and Chocolate Bean-to-Bar Workshop will be from August 26th to September 10, 2015 in Ghent, Belgium: http://www.cacaolab.be/workshop . Everyone is eligible to attend, although it is preferred that you have a Bachelor's degree in agriculture. Applications are due the 15th of May and for those from eligible countries, http://www.vliruos.be/en/countries/overview/ , scholarship applications are due in one week on April 15, 2015!

Please feel free to contact me for more details!

I have JKV 30 tempering machine with rectangular tank and revolving disk. Can someone tell me how to use the machine without seeding or using table slabs methods?

Do I just heat up my dark chocolate to 131F, turn on the revolving disk and wait until the chocolate to cool down to 81F and then re heated to 88F?

Also, if I want to add untemper melted chocolate to my tempered chocolate. What temperature should the melted chocolate be before adding it to my tempered chocolate?

Thank you

Look at a Stephan mixer.  Work very well, and they have a bowl scraper you use while grinding. 

I had a robot coupe (industrial size) that could have hours long run cycles.  The larger ones are more versatile.

de nada!

People also swore for centuries that using leeches to suck out the bad blood would heal their ailments, when in fact it simply made it worse.  Simply because someone beleives something is good for them when all the evidence points to the contrary doesn't mean we should embrace it.

Following this logic of prioritising antioxidants, would consuming fresh cocoa bean be superior to raw chocolate? I'm asking because the fermentation process and taking the beans out of the pod, in contact with the atmosphere reasonably has the same effect on the beans as cutting apples. This is not discussion just for discussion sake but would really alter my ideas about what I can do with fresh pods.

My take on the feasibility of a $100 bar is from the perspective of the market. More people need to geek out (be educated) on chocolate like they do on coffee and wine. When there are sufficient flavor junkies looking for the next chocolate high, the chocolate makers that gets a loyal following will naturally be forced to raise prices for not being able to meet all demand. In the mean time, I'm grateful for all the sharing and community spirit that is taking us there... :D

To me the whole bean chocolate marketing and to some extend the raw chocolate marketing are NOT targetting the flavor-centric audience like me (and you?). I have an aunt that swears by the benefits of raw food, and naturally would grab for the raw chocolate on the shelf, despite its flavor, or lack-of. The motivation here is one that is emotional, and no amount of rationalizing against whole bean / raw choc would change any minds... For the record, I made a chocolate with extra shells that were winnowed, just for kicks, and I really don't taste any merits in terms of flavor. I first hoped that the sugars from the pulp may come through slightly but after the fermentation and roasting, only the cardboard profile is dominant. I've since moved on.

thankss Sebastiann!

My Robot Coupe only has a 5 minute duty cycle. How are you able to make a oaste in that much time?

A colloid mill could easily handle that.  search JKV colloid mill, but be prepared to clean the living daylights out of it.

I am currently making a lot of almond praline paste in my robot coupe. It does a good job, but it can only handle small batches and it does take quite a while to get a nice paste.  I think I will need to upgrade to a bigger machine. Does anyone have any reccomendations on what to buy. I am looking at making about 30 pounds of praline paste in a day.  Thanks in advance!

Daniel

Wow!  Just re-read this whole thing and to be honest I'm frustrated as all hell.  I tried to get a case made up just like Carlos up there but my Wood working friend went bigger.  But it's an eye catcher.  

 https://www.facebook.com/488149624570362/photos/a.812392278812760.1073741827.488149624570362/818352691550052/?type=3&theater

(hope that link works...)   It is a wood and plexiglass tabletop case 35"x26"x25" with sliding glass doors in the back.

It's big and bad ass...but the Thermal Electric never worked.  He Macgyvered it using XBox powersupply to power most of it.  

After the show I cracked it open and replaced and rewired everything.

 I got 2 PSP's  ( http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Regulated-Switching-Computer-Project/dp/B00D7CWSCG/ref=pd_cp_hi_0?tag=vglnkc4130-20 )

A Temp Control Unit  ( http://www.amazon.com/Elitech-All-Purpose-Temperature-Controller-Thermostat/dp/B008KVGWT4/ref=pd_sim_lg_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0N16Q2Z9B58JMHBBHR0Z&tag=vglnkc4130-20 ) 

Two TEC1-12726 Peltiers  

I wired everything the way I THOUGHT it should go, tested full flow with a meter- got lots of juice but I'm not getting any Temp Diference.  

I was hoping to have 2 smaller display units built and working by now but I can't get a temp difference.  

Anyone have any suggestions...good grief- it's been almost 4 years already?  

Sorry for all the links...it's been such a long time since I posted on a bbcode board.  :/ 

yes.  lecithin makes the chocolate 'thinner' (more like water when you pour it - less viscuous) - it's a way to use less cocoa butter and make the chocolate easier to work with.  It's an emulsifier.

if two wheels mill stone.

process lasts 12 hours, I would add the crushed cocoa butter and then sugar and milk. but especially at the beginning. this also correct?

Lecithin is it for?

thanks Sebastian!

It is Chinese.  I've had very good luck with it, but it will arrive very dirty.

Order of ingredients can vary greatly depending on what equipment you have and what you're trying to do.  If you're using a wet grinder (the stone mill), add your liquor, dry ingredients, and perhaps some cocoa butter (it's difficult for me to say w/o knowing the exact formulation - youll need enough cocoa butter to keep it fluid during mixing).  Always add lecithing if you choose to use it towards the end of the process.

Thanks sebastian, this mill is Chinese?

I see you know a lot of chocolate, I started with this issue about 7 months ago.

I can ask you a question?

I have doubts at the time of placement of the ingredients, Nibs, cocoa butter, sugar and milk.

You know the order and times?

sebastian many thanks and sorry so many questions!

You might want to consider a JML colloid mill (JML 65 is the smaller one, JML 120 is the larger). Both will require EXTENSIVE cleaning when you recieve them, but are quite effective at a lower cost than $5k ($1.5-3.0k).

The water cooling will be important to ensure you don't burn your liquor during grinding.

Hello Sebastian, I recommended a colloid mill but the price is 5000 dollars.

I need to grind 40 kilos per day

Can you give a sense of what you consider to be 'not too expensive' and the quantities that you're looking to mill?

Youngs Double Chocolate Stout - you should be abvle to get this anywhere

Boatswain Chocolate Stout - I get mine at Trader Joes

and my favorite beer of all: Gearys Winter Ale - the brewery is a mile from home.