Tempering Machine

I'm thinking of buying a tempering machine, I like Pomati's T5 or Selmi, does anyone have any review on these tempering machines? What brand is your favorite? I need a small tempering machine, for maybe 7-10kilos of chocolate.

Hi Daniela,

A really good starting point is to read the recently re-ignited thread just below:

If Selmi is the Cadalac what is a JKV and why?

Lots of helpful advice there. General conclusion seems to be, as with much in life, you get what you pay for...

Nick.

Daniela-

If you are thinking about the Selmi, you would be looking at the Color or the One. I have put links to those two machines below. But I if I can help you directly or answer any additional questions please contact me my Chocolate Life page or by email at brian@thecriollogroup.com . I have worked extensively with the Selmi equipment and worked with the Pomati as well.

brian

http://selmi-chocolate.com/eng/tempering/color-ex.html

http://selmi-chocolate.com/eng/tempering/selmi-one.html

Omar.

You are absolutely correct but I also represent Selmi's US distributor from time to time and Clay has asked that those who represent companines try to not present wholly biased opinions and I am trying to respect that by providing where much of the information can be found hence the links to Selmi's website. Having said that, I trully enjoy working with Selmi equipment. They are reliable workhorses that have minimal problems. And I believe that if you were to contact Selmi owners, they are happy with their decision to purchase and to use in their envionments.

Thanks for the understanding!

brian

Hi Brian, got it.

Pomati seems to be more budget friendly than Selmi. How did you like it?

Thanks,

Omar

Omar.

I understand that the Pomati is less expensive than the Selmi. WhatI recommend to all my clients when they are looking at equipment is to work with it and to talk to people who have that identical machine in their shop. Try to find someone with a similar enviornment so that you can compare apples to apples. If we pick anything exclusively on price, we tend to get what we pay for.

Hope that helps.

brian

Hmm it's kind of difficult to find someone who works in a similiar environment and has the same machine. Since I live in Costa Rica, I had to equip our shop with dehumidifiers and stuff like that. But I've heard great things about both brands and they're kind of similar.

What's your favorite brand? outside Pomati and Selmi, is there any other worth looking at?

Hi Daniela,

I have been following your post for some days and I was not sure you needed a company representative opinion.

But...may I introduce you a 1977 company who has some experience in tempering chocolate?

Don't want to act as a sale man so, only if it helps, you could have a look at these posts in Chocolate Life itself.

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/which-tempering-machine-to-purchase-fbm-gami-selmi-or-wheel-type?

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/photo/dscn5841?context=userrcommentId=1978963%3AComment%3A138087 (there is a old Fbm over there!)

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/page/fbm-chocolate-equipment

The main difference is a commercial/marketing issue!

Brian:

Thanks for your nuanced approach to this issue.

Omar -

I think the better way to answer the question is, "You don't get what you don't pay for." While Pomati machines may be more budget-friendly than Selmi's (and FBM is in between) you need to ask why that is the case. What are the reasons for the differences in pricing?

Having looked closely at a T5 on a trip to Europe a while ago, one question I know to ask is about build quality. What are the materials used and how does the machine feel? This is far more important than how does the machine look. Many people buy the machine thinking that the looks are important ... but when the machine is in the kitchen and covered with chocolate during a long work day, looks actually are not that important!

Build quality also applies to what is inside the machine - the workmanship and materials and approach to the art and science of tempering. Here, the small details make a large difference. For example, where are the temperature sensors located? I can tell you that you want the sensor measuring the temperature of the tempered chocolate as close to the point that the chocolate is being used as possible. If the sensor is halfway up the cooling/tempering auger the machine is not measuring the temperature accurately.

Another example: I recently learned the importance of the relative size of the core of the screw pump auger to the size of the tempering pipe. If the diameter of the core is wide (compared with the diameter of the pipe) then the machine can do a better job of developing crystals in the chocolate because there is more contact between the chocolate and the cooled surface of the pipe. However, this reduces the volume of flow of chocolate. You can increase the flow by reducing the diameter of the core of the auger, but this reduces the quality of crystal formation - which is what tempering chocolate is all about.

I guess you just have to try and see how it works for you, choose one and jump right in. There are so many variables you have to consider, I'll discuss it with my pillow and think about it

Thanks for all the advices!