How long do you grind your chocolate?

Hi,

I'm started to use now the Santha 11 after I used the Primier grinder for non-commercial purposes.

I guess in the Santha it will be around 15 (4-4.5 kg) hours for chocolate and 20 per thick spreads (30-31% fat, 3-3.5 kg).

The Santha seems to work in low RPM and grind slowly easpecialy thick spreads (similar to Nutella for example) compared to Primier.

How many hours do you find it optimum to reach to smoothness? How many kg in total?

I ponder if the grinding in larger machines like Santha 20 or bigger takes even days?

Last questions about the life time of the motors: it takes couple of years until you see change in RPM or power?

Thank you

While many people fill the bowl above the axle, that's not a good idea, as it reduces the efficiency of the machine.

Sure, you are processing more product at the same time, but the extra processing time does not seem to be linear: overfilling by 10% increases processing time by greater than 10%.

Viscosity is what is going to affect the longevity of the grinder. The thicker the chocolate the greater the strain on the motor at any given level of pressure.

The belts are likely to go before the motor. Routine maintenance, including changing belts, is an important part of getting the most out of any grinder.

Viscosity is not just a matter of temperature (but that's part of it) - mostly a matter of fat percentage: the lower the fat content the higher the viscosity at any given temperature.

1200 RPM? 120, you mean. Why is 116F too hot?

Even with a chain drive it makes a lot of sense to schedule one weekend a month for maintenance. Take off the covers, look closely, vacuum out any dust that may have accumulated, etc. If you don't want to do it monthly, then do it before you enter into critical production periods. If the summer is slow and you start holiday production in September, schedule the maintenance for August so you can take care of it before it becomes an issue that interrupts production. Same for between Christmas and Valentine's Day, etc. It's only a few hours but it can save major frustration and downtime during key periods.

hi Clay and other chocolatiers ,  I am reading this thread about maintenance of melangers and curious if you can suggest what else to do for a chain drive besides cleaning?  I have a Santha 40 and have been using it 2 years not realizing I should do anything.  I also wonder if anyone has ever experienced their plastic washers wearing away into the chocolate during the grind?   

Also  I have been experimenting with the capacity of the machine, as it states that it can do 40 kg, but I do not find this is the case at all.  Like you mentioned, the axle and stones would be completely covered.  And in regards to viscosity I usually grind just paste and sugar for up to 10-15 hrs before adding other ingredients (ie cacao butter), in order to decrease the time it takes, but it seems very thick and I may begin adding butter sooner to reduce wear on the machine.  What is the typical way to do this? 

I have been experimenting with not powdering the sugar before hand (because of the dust) to see if it takes longer.  So far it seems to take longer, but I'll need more tests.  I am also very curious how long to grind for. I usually leave my grinder going overnight and it seems to take up to 24 hrs to achieve optimum smoothness, but I still haven't figured out a specific amount of time and speed for consistency. Can anyone point me to some guidelines on this?

I apologize as this has gotten very long, I suppose I have many questions and I am open to any feedback from others.

Beth -

Every machine in your workshop should have some sort of preventive maintenance schedule. What that schedule looks like, and what it entails, depends on what kinds of components the machine has. For example, in a machine with a compressor for cooling (refrigerator, some tempering machines), you will want to check the refrigerant level on at least an annual basis and vacuum the heat exchanger (radiator) on at least a quarterly basis if not more often. I recommend scheduling the maintenance 3-4 weeks before heading into a busy production period. August for Christmas, early-January for Valentine's Day, etc. This means you have time to address issues before downtime becomes critical. I have one customer who schedules preventive maintenance on a monthly basis, taking all of his machines out of production over a weekend. They produce over 10,000 bars/day and there has never been an interruption during a critical production period.

Motors something to look closely at and clean, as are critical wear parts such as bearings and seals.

DO NOT overfill the machine. The stated capacity is the entire bowl. The actual capacity is under the axles when working with chocolate. Overfilling will increase processing times, in part because mixing is less efficient.

There is no typical order for adding ingredients - except that the order and timing of adding and the length of processing has an effect on the flavor. Both sugar and cocoa butter absorb aroma and flavor, so adding them in early in the process makes it more difficult to get rid of undesirable aromas and flavors. It's worth experimenting to see what your results are and what you like. But, given the small machine, I would put work just the liquor until it was very fluid and then add the sugar in in one-third or one-fourth portions and give each portion time to grind before adding the next. If you add the chocolate in all at once you're likely to cool the chocolate down too much and the wheels will seize. And yes, I know this because it has happened to me.

Powdered sugar, when added to chocolate, will immediately suck up any moisture in the chocolate and make the chocolate very thick. In addition, it changes the taste of the chocolate, in part because of the way the sugar absorbs aroma and flavor, which are different than with large-crystal sugar. So, that's something to consider.

thank you so much Clay for your knowledge.  I will take all that into account and adjust my processes for efficiency and flavor. 

Hi Beth,
the Santa C40 is made to fill up to 40lbs, not 40kg...