Hi. I know this was several months ago but did you use your Buffalo Chopper to chop chocolate? I'm looking for the right processor to chop/grate large quantities to use for drinking chocolate. If you did, I'd love to hear how it worked for you. Thanks!
David
Does anyone have any opinions about the Diamond Custom Machines melangers (70 lb or 100 lb)? Many thanks.
David
Thanks, Clay and Ben, for the responses. I'm feeling a couple of late nights down in the basement with some pvc and a drill are in my future. It's all quite achievable, though.
It's really like the "Wild West of the Winnowers" out there, isn't it?!
I'm also intrigued by the Kudvic design... and it seems rather possible to recreate from the video (though exact measurements would have to be figured out):
Cocoa bean cracker and winnower Cocoa breaker, Cocoa bean crusher and separator Kudvic
Any thoughts about (or experience with) this design?
David
All of the winnowers out there seem to be either very expensive (for a relatively small producer) or a homemade series of tubes and a shop-vac. Even John Nancy's Aether (and I am a fan of his) is a bit costly for a series of pvc pipes, poly-carbonate, and aluminum. I'm wondering if anyone might have drawn out plans for a winnower that they have created that I can use to build my own? I would, of course, be willing to pay for these plans (providing they are a proven design, are written clearly and can winnow, EFFECTIVELY, 50-75 lbs an hour).
Thanks!
David
Thanks for the responses and thoughts.
Chae, I have heard about infusing cocoa butter and adding. As this is specifically for drinking chocolate I'd rather not add any more cb. I'm making (at least) 72% chocolate so I'm happy with the amount of cb in there.
Lyndon, there are so many possibilities for additions!... I'm also tempted to just throw some unique and delicious things in the grinder.
Alas, I fear Sebastian is probably right that the stones will absorb some of these flavors/oils. Especially, the stronger ones (i.e., chiles and florals). I wonder if I can't get the result I want by first grinding (in a dry grinder) any additions and then adding to my chocolate at the end of its grind and let the two combine for a while in a separate mixer just with paddles... thereby furthering the conching process, as well.
I apologize if this has been specifically addressed... I looked for posts.
I'm wondering what issues I might deal with if I add some dried herbs or spices or chiles to the melanger while grinding my liquor? My final product will be drinking chocolate so texture is not really an issue since I will not be tempering. My goal is to create, on a larger scale, infused chocolate without having to infuse the milk every time I want to make a flavored drinking chocolate. (e.g., a lavender infused drinking chocolate without the step of milk infusion or adding crushed lavender).
Any reason to think such spices would become infused in the stones in my grinder? (That wouldn't be so nice.)
Many thanks,
David
