I have to advise the chocMELTER 6kg from KREA Swiss. I've been using their spray guns for a while and now they launched a chocolate melter unit in collaboration with barry callebaut.
https://www.kreaswiss.com/chocMELTER-6kg

Please check out my web site www.chocolatedude.net . I build a chocolate tempering machine at a reasonable price. Check out my web site and see if it will meet your needs.

Jim

I am a hobbyist contemplating home based on line shop. My focus is Truffles of which I have developed many of my own unique recipes. I am exploring the need for a tempering machine and where to buy good quality chocolate wholesale. I appreciate this forum to learn and grow my knowledge. I use a combination of milk, white and dark/bittersweet chocolate.

updated by @deborah-k-mestas: 09/12/15 14:12:29

i second that. i actually went on a factory tour of LCC and they stated they don't make their own chocolate and get it from Callebaut.

I know this post is quite old by now but which machine did you finish buying...

I also have the cacao liquid that comes right out the melanger...

I am thinking about buying a tempering machine but not sure still which one..

I will really appreciate your comments

I hope you can help me

Javier - Chaqchao PERU

updated by @chaqchao: 01/23/15 15:06:59

I know this post is quite old by now but which machine did you finish buying...

I also have the cacao liquid that comes right out the melanger...

I am thinking about buying a tempering machine but not sure still which one..

I hope you can help me

Javier - Chaqchao PERU

Hello Jeff, I'm interested in theHIlliard's Little Dipper and Mol'D'Art melters, could You tell me where can I buy these equipment?

The problem I see with the Hilliard's Little Dipper is if You want tochange from dark to white chocolate, for instance, it would be time consuming asyou have to dismantle and unscrew to remove the bowl and other components.

I'm considering as well the Matfer CHOCO 22T (20 kg capacity) but I don't know any seller.

Thanks for any help.

A few months ago I bought a used ACMC Tempering Machine for only $500. I like my Rev 2, which I paid almost as much for, but I needed a larger capacity.

I love my ACMC. It's not totally automatic but it's close enough.
There's an extra slot next to where the main thermometer goes and I slide in probe thermometer in to alert me when the chocolate reaches a certain temp. I hear they're super easy to fix. The only drawback is they use 100W light bulbs that are supposed to be discontinued due to some law. Companies like GE are now producing 95W light bulbs and I've read about people using ceramic heater bulbs.

I would love one of the bigger Chocovisions machines but it's 3x the price and they seem to have lots of issues. For the money, a used ACMC is the way to go. They're often on Ebay for around $500.

Hi Brad,

I was wondering how your modified Pavoni's have held up. We got ours a little over a year ago and it worked great until a few months ago when it started acting up. Pavoni convinced us to order a new probe, which has not fixed the problem. I've already wasted over a hundred hours unsuccessfully tempering with this goat, and don't want to waste any more of my scant resources on the machine if the problem will just recur. I know you added a heat shield and fan to one this summer; is it still going strong? What did the control boards do when they failed? Ours seems to work, but doesn't move through the cycles properly.

Thanks,

Eli

My first machine was a Rev2: after a little over a year of pretty heavy use the temperature gauge started malfunctioning. ChocoVision sent us a free baffle, but unfortunately this was not the problem. The capacity of the machine was so small and it was so loud that, in retrospect, I think I would have preferred to have started with a melting tank style machine.

Thanks.

thanks! i will give it a try!

You still put the seed behind the baffle. It's a little harder and messier to remove any unmelted seed at the end, but it's not too bad.

okay - sorry to be so dense, but if melted chocolate is on both sides of baffle, how do you temper it - where do you add seed?

I got the Revolation one and don't like it at all. I should have understood the capacity better, that's my fault. The parts I'm frustrated with are that is has a small transparent piece that's very easy to lose. It has a bar going across the top with two tiny pins that connect into the machine. They bend all the time and I suspect they will break soon. Beyond that, it's just flimsy. Thinking about the components of this machine, I'd have expected it to cost around $60 dollars.

You use it just like the normal baffle. It lets melted chocolate flow through to both sides, so it can hold almost double the chocolate.

how does the holey baffle work. i received one with m Delta machine, but am not sure how it works. thanks

I use the holey baffle with my X3210. It takes the capacity from about 10 lbs to 15 or 16 lbs. Due to comments I've read here and elsewhere about the possibility of broken baffles, I always melt most or all of the chocolate in a separate melter and then add it to the tempering machine. My understanding is that when the baffles break, it's due to the unmelted chocolate pressing against the back of the baffle.

I have 4 Pavoni's and have had to re-engineer ALL of them in order to stop burning out the control boards. The control boardis in the same compartment as the heat lamps and cooling fans, and is subject to extreme heat fluctuations, and eventually fails.

If you only use the machine once in a blue moon, It's pre programmed tempering cycles are handy. However we use the machines daily for 8-10 hours in our shop and the motors have failed on all of them, as well as the control boards.

Personally I wish Savage would make a smaller tempering machine. Their stuff is bomb proof.

Cheers

Brad

I started out with a rev 1 and it was noisy and the metal pegs on the baffle broke and had to be replaced twice. Then it just didn't heat anymore.

My husband talked with Ian at Chocolvision, sent my rev 1 in to be service and it was basically totally rebuilt except for the outer plastic casing. At that time, they had a Rev3210 that had been sent in for exchange. My husband paid for the repair, & got 3 bowls and 2 lids, all for about $900 or so. I am EXTREMELY happy with this machine! It is definitely a world apart from the little noisy REV1. Please do not write off Chocovision machines. You should call and talk to Ian about your machine and I imagine he would give you great service as he did for us.

Really, the 3210 has made my life so much easier, no problems and every time I use it I am just so thankful that I own that machine. I can obviously get a beautiful temper with high quality chocolate (I use El Rey) but I have also been able to temper the pound plus bars from Trader Joes and use it for molding.

Hi Krista,

I think the only options at $1500 or less are for mol d'art type tempering machines that don't stir the chocolate for you. I know that you're not interested in chocovision, but I think there's a big difference in quality between the smaller models and the larger, professional models. I've had no problems with my X3210 and would recommend it as probably the best option in the price range you're looking.

Ben

I have tried 3, yes 3 of the chocovision rev1 machines and so far they have caused me more headache then I care to relive. I contacted chocovision and after troubleshooting they sent me new baffles which seemed to work mediocrely for about 3-4 batches each. Contacted chocovision again, they sent out more baffles but if I want the machines looked overand serviced I have to pay to send the junk back and pay to have them fixed! They were possibly the worst kitchen appliance investment I've ever made!
Needless to say I am not interested in any chocovision models but would love advice on an inexpensive (1500 or less) tempering unit. Doesn't need to be fancy just get the job done. Thanks

hi every bodym

has anyone heard or used a pavoni mini temper? i don't live in the State and it is not eassy for me to buy a chocovision or a hilliard but we have here a sale representant of Pavoni so i am asking is it any good? I have a tiny chocolate shop and i do everything by hand, it's becoming a little difficult i would appreciate your input.

Thank you

updated by @corinne-mendelson: 09/07/15 21:36:18

Kia ora Debra,

We are in Aotearoa (New Zealand)making Raw Chocolate and we also do not buy seed chocolate. I am interested to find how you got on with your search for a tempering machine. They are expensive to import over here and want to make sure we are getting the best machine for the job, would appriate your findings if you had any.....

Nga mihi

Pixie

~ mahalo ~

Check out the Chocolate Dude machine at www.chocolatedude.net . 1 to 8 lb capacity and the price is good $525.00 plus shipping. It might meet your needs.

Thanks for your input! I jusst recently obtained a Revolation 3210 and I love it! Wow, it is great. I am not sure what the noise is for a new baffle and not sure what the cost would be, but I am very interested in the increasing of capacity. I make about 200 to 300 pounds of hand dipped chocolates from November to Easter, but much less during the rest of the year. The revolation beats anything I have ever tried in 30 years of making chocolates!George: Grobert740@aol.com

Depends on your quantity and your budget. Also depends on if you know how to temper, what it looks like, feels like etc. If you need the entire process to be automatic, you will still most probably need to adjust for your chocolates recipe. A melting kettle can be used as a temperer, but it is very slow if you can't change temperatures quickly. Seed can be made by hand tempering or even aging for a long enough time. Automatic temperers are pretty expensive new (prefamac, selmi, gami, etc)

aloha ~ for those novice/experts tempering chocolate WITHOUT SEED chocolate, what IS the best machine (or only machine?) that tempers the cacao liquid right out of the santha melanger? i do not use commercial cacao paste/solid liquid so i have no seeded chocolate to add to the machines which require seed and I AM interested in the machine that does all the tempering so i do not have to :D~ mahalo

They are not hard to clean.

would you say that it IS relatively easy to clean? ")

Yes. They are fairly quiet. Although one of our machines is louder than the other. The louder one we bought used, not sure how old it is. The quiter one we bought new and is only a year old.

greetings ~ is your ACMC machine relatively quiet while in use? mahalo!

aloha! can anyONE verify if the ACMC takes about 30-40 minutes to temper the chocolate (say at full 6lb capacity)? and can anyONE using the rev 1 say how long it takes to temper the full 10lb capacity (i thought i heard it was 60 minutes)???mahalo!

We use two ACMC machines. We usally have them running at the same time, one with milk chocolate and the other with dark chocolate. They work great, we have not had any problems with them.

Include me on trying the Holey Baffle - I have a Delta - also a couple Rev 2sJulie bolejackartisan@chocolateforthespirit.com

I love my Revolution 1 tempering machine. I use it regularly in my Dove Chocolate Discoveries business to teach about tempering a high quality chocolate and just how much fun playing in chocolate is!Unfortunatly, I haven't had time to do large quantities of chocolate "production" except maybe the time I make lots of chocolate bark with a Brownie Troop! There was chocolate every where. I will say the Revolution 1 is super easy to clean up and has been very durable as I haul it around from place to place on a frequent basis.I would use it at parties a lot more if it was quieter so I'm hopeful your engineers find a solution to the noise issue.

dear ONES ~aloha! so is there a performance preference between the Hilliard's "Little Dipper" and the chocovision revolationX3210 chocolate tempering machine?after reading this discussion, it seems that these are the two "mid sized capacity" tempering machines for home hobby fun (more than 2 lb / up to 10 lb) ...also, i posted on another post a question regarding turning nibs or beans into liquid for the melanger to refine before tempering ... anyONE have any experience with this as I AM excited to use my own cacao beans freshly harvested and fermented to make into RAW chocolate. LOVE ~ mahalo ~ LOVE

I thought I'd update my post. Ian from Chocovision has been fantastic. He posted a new baffle free of charge and it looks like the problem has been fixed.Here's an email from my wife:Hi Ian,I just want to say a big thank you for all your help. I received the baffle today and tested the machine. I must admit it smelled of smoke at first, but I thought it might have been down to the new fan. The smell went away after 2 min and I kept it running for an additional 2 min to make sure it wasn't a problem. Fingers crossed it won't give me a hard time anymore.Thanks again, I really appreciate it!Kindest regardsMaria MoorhouseCreative PartnerYummy Favours

I forgot--I also have an ACMC but never use it. It works fine, but is just too small.

Bud, I have a Hilliard 80#, and 3 Savage 50# semi-automatic tempering machines. I love all of them. I like the Hilliard for simplicity and for dipping. The Savage are great because I have dark, milk and white chocolate melted at all times and within 20 minutes, I have tempered chocolate. It will also hold temper (if I hit the right temp) for several days. With the Savage, I can open the gate and fill molds directly from the unit. Very simple. With that said, I don't trust anyone to temper but me I bought them used, but they have been trouble free.

Ian,I have a Rev 2 and would love to give the holey baffle a try. I am at the point of needing a larger tempering machine as well, and wanting to check out AMCM, etc...because the jump in price is quite a jump...but 1.5lbs at a time is just not enough for me...definitely interested in the holey baffle though.