hi to everybody i am very new here and it is the first time i am writing something but i have been reading the discussions for sometime now. I am a little artisan chocolatier and i am a self made women in this field. I have a very little shop where i sell my chocolates. I live in a hot country and during the summer it is very very difficult to make chocolate (hot, hmidity and so on) of course i have ac in my shop but i can't leaveworking non stop day and night. I have a little counter refrigerator desktop that, according to the man who sold it to me was specially made for chocolate display (14 - 18C). In fact it seems it only suits for cakes and i have a very serious problem with cold qnd of course condesnsation. My question is : is there any possibility to transform this desktop in something suitable for chocolates, may be somethihng to do in the refrigerating system, i's just that it is very expensive and i don't think i will be able to buy another one so i would have to shut my little shop during the summer. Please help!

updated by @corinne-mendelson: 04/27/15 00:15:18

Shalom! Your problem, if i understand correctly, is that when you cycle your small display case on/off, it forms condensation. 14C is pretty cold if all you're trying to do is prevent bloom. One possible way to rethink this is to set it to a higher setting - say 25C - would that enable you to leave it on longer?

Of energy usage is your concern, you may wish to consider a peltier chiller for those times when you can't run your conventional air conditioning unit - i've never tried this, but perhaps get someone to modify your AC unit to switch back and forth between AC and Peltier heat removal? Thinking out loud here - i know both approach on their own will work, but require transferring of good from one to another. A hybrid unit may eliminate that - would need to test it to see if condensation is still a concern or not...

Thank you so much yesm sugar bloo; is exactly my problem ! a higher temperature won't work since it's very hot and humid outside. In fact i tried the higher temperature the problem is that this stupid little desktop is n ot able to keep any tmeperature for too long it has to cool down and then to refrgerate therfore the difference between temperature "kills" my pralines and truffles. I mus t say i am considering closing my little shop for the summer and concentrate on workshop for children and teen agers. Trouble is i don't know what desktop to buy, i mean from what company that will assure me, this time, a real desktop for pralines and not for cakes!

Corinne,

UGH! I just happened upon this post. I totally know what your dealing with! I had installed HVAC in my tiny shop which was 650ft but between customers opening the door (even though my ac guy factored inthat and the sun hitting my shop) in Chicago it would get soooo hot!

I had a dog groomer two doors down and the hair blowing out would sufficate my unit. Then, the cases would over work so I would call a refrigeration guy to refill the freonand cleanthe ac unitsjust because it was overworked.

I had 2 federal chocolate cases and the heat and humidity would still cause condensation on the front of the cases and we left our ac units on 24/7.

If you keep the chocolate in the fridge long term your screwed, or in that "chocolate display" your still faced with condensation which sucks when you are trying to control quality of the product.

When we were faced with the electricity going out we left them in our bun racks that had covers sealed and didn't touch them! The ones in the case we tried not to open the doors and yes, there would be casualties but there is always someone willing to eat free ugly chocolate.

You may have to look in your area and get a regular climate controlled chocolate case which as I stated the exterior will have condensation but the product will be fine. I know, probably doesn't help your situation but I know what your dealing with!

Good luck and hang in there!

I have seen modified cooling tunnels which use the type of air conditioner that fits in a regular window (Hilliards comes to mind). Hot air rises and cool air drops, so why not use one of those, and tastefully duct it over top of your confections when you are not in the shop? They often run 24/7, can cool a 700 square foot room easily. You could have it built into a box on wheels, and then using flexible ductwork vent the cold air output over your confections. Heck, you could even build it right into your cabinet! For cooling such a long time and a small space you wouldn't even need to run the air conditioner on "super cold" setting. This could be a great, portable, and economical solution, and like I said, if done tastefully, will not detract from the aesthetic appearance of your shop.

Cheers.

Brad

if i set the ac on 18c i think i will have a general temperature in the room of 20C, is it ok - i willjust have to plug out my display case and leave it...open or closed what do you say? thank you so much! it's so reassuring to see that i am not the only one to have a littke budget et problems. The real light at the tunnel end is that my chocolates are ok, tempering is good,i do it all by hand with the marble tempering method and i learn everyday, i am sorry if my english is not always very good, i leave in Israel but i am french and sometimes i write english but i think in french though i am also a diplomed translator! thank you all very much i appreciate your tips and i will try to ask our electrician if it's possible

cheers corinne

hi to everybody i hope that you will help me here to ! does everebody know something about the Pavoni mini temper (little but sophisticated tempering machine) i would like to buy one b ecause i think it suits me very well for the moment et later it can be of help for little quantities, but it is very expensive so i will like to know if soimebody has any experience with this machine?

I have 4 of them.

There are flaws in the design of the machine which I have notified the manufacturer about and will share here:

1. The control board (circuit board) is in the same compartment as the heat and fan. My staff use the machines 8 hours per day, every day. As a result they are subject to very significant heat fluctuations, and EVERY control board in EVERY machine has failed due to lack of protection. I have modified one of our machines to include a barrier between the heating compartment and the control board, and then added a cooling fan and vent opening to the bottom of the machine in the cooling board area. The fan turns on every time the light bulbs turn on to heat the machine. I have done this just a few weeks ago, so it will take 3-4 months to find out if the consistent temperature now maintained is going to save the new control board.

2. The machine has 5 program cycles, which are very helpful in managing the viscosity of the chocolate throughout the day. We start with one "temper" cycle, and then throughout the day as we work with the chocolate it continues tothicken (crystalize). We then have 3 other programs which increase the working temperature of the chocolate by one degree at a time. My staff can very easily control the viscosity of the chocolate as they work with it. However, there is a significant problem with the programming: Every program has a heat/cool/reheat cycle. The minutea newprogram starts, the bowl stops spinning regardless of whether the chocolate is too warm to start with, or needs heating to reach the first temperature mark. REALLY REALLY BAD DESIGN. Our chocolate is already thick and crystalized!!! Having it sit there motionless for a few minutes will cause it to solidify in the bowl. The heat created by the light bulbs on the paused bowl of chocolate takes the chocolate out of temper. Yes... There is a motor "over-ride" button on the side of the machine which allows an operator to press it and start the bowl turning. HOWEVER the switch doesn't lock down. The operator has to stand there, with their finger on the button until all the chocolate heats up! Are you kidding me???? I have swapped that stupidbutton out with one that actually turns on and off. My staff have better things to do than stand there several times a day for up to 15 minutes at atimeholding a button down!

3. Chocolate gets into the inner workings of the machine and into the motor. We have had to replace several destroyed motors as they aren't sealed, such as with the design of the Savage machines (which I also own two of and have been running 24/7 for 4 years without a single issue!).

There are also positives that I will share:

1. The overall construction is solid. ROCK solid. The case is polished stainless steeland easy to clean. I also have 6 ACMC machines and their plastic construction pales in comparison.

2. The ability to define your own pre-set programs is fabulous. If you are working with a consistent product, it takes all the guess work out of tempering and an unskilled worker can make properly tempered chocolate confections with very little instruction.

If I were to purchase more Pavoni's I would stipulate that the design flaws be rectified before I spent the money.

Hope that provides you with some insight.

Brad

Thank you very much for your help! I am a very little artisan ans i don't need the machine to work for 8 hours a day i envy you a little to read that you have so much work in chocolate making but i am not sur i really want to become so big. My problem is that i can"t seem to be able to have tempered chocolate long enough to enable me to work and fill enough moulds and then to cover the ones i filled the day before, it is very difficult to temper by hand 4 to 5 times a day and it is very frustrating. Don't misunderstand me i love making this tempering it really soothes me but well, it is a little difficult. I am not sure i need a Pavoni because it is expensive in comparison to others machines and now you told me there is problems with their motors... though I am very far from your quantities i don't want to make a mistake and throw away my money.

Good day to you.

I am in the process of setting up a cocoa beans processing plant of 1000 mt per year.

kindly advise me the plant cost and the availability. I am a small scale enterprenuer.

our farmers gather beans and we intend buy from them for processing till powder/butter stage and then sell the chocolate companies who will assess the quality by deputing their personnel in the plant.

reagrds

Mohiddin/Hyderabad/India - e mail: ghouse8@gmail.com