chocolate tempering machines

Hi, Ian.First, to address Clay's questions... I am a hobbyist, and bought a Rev 2 about 18 months ago. During the holidays, I make loads of caramels, nougats and chocolates to give away - this Christmas it was over 35 pounds (somehow my list of recipients just keeps growing...). While I've always been fascinated by candy making and confectionery science, the Rev 2 improved my efficiency so much that I got serious about learning and doing more. Now I seem to be making chocolates, thinking about making chocolates, or taking pictures of chocolates... ALL THE TIME. It's been a great machine for me.Or, at least, it WAS... until this morning. I put the baffle in, added the chocolate, turned on the machine, and everything seemed to be operating normally, except there is no heat coming from the element. Very strange, since the machine was working perfectly when I used it two days ago. I will call the technical service number you mentioned to Andy above - thanks for being so available to us.I really do love the machine. My only real quibble with it to this point has been the noise, and I am delighted to hear about ChocoVision's efforts to address that. As for the baffle clip issue (with chocolate wafers climbing up out of the bowl), I've found that the spatula that came with my Cuisinart solved the problem for me - I just lay it across the top of the machine with the blade of the spatula resting right under the clip, curved side against the bowl. It fits the contours of the bowl very nicely, and the "climbing" chocolate wafers hold it in place until they're melted enough to stop trying to escape.Finally, I would very much LOVE to test one of the Holey Baffles for you, if they are still available.
updated by @laurie-bergren: 09/09/15 12:02:28

I have a Hillard's little dipper, the Hillard's 240lb temperer and the Delta. You can't beat the Hillard 240 for when you need to really kick out the chocolate but you need to be comfortable with tempering. The delta usually produces a well tempered chocolate and my helper prefers using as it's more automated. I find that it's capacity is small and sometimes it tells you you are in temper and it's not. My baffle broke a couple of weeks ago but they replaced it for free (it was within warantee)I like the idea of the baffle and would love to try it sometime.I would love to hear if someone has a temperer that will be about the size of my big hillard yet has an auto-temperer and is not crazy expensive.

Hi Ian,I would love to try the holey baffle. I have the Delta, and it's been a great machine. I was surprised after hearing the complaints about noise on the smaller models, this one is extremely quiet.Thanks so much.Robyn

Funny you say that....the engineers are also working on enlarging the baffle clip size, but so far only for the larger units. Until we possibly redesign the smaller units' baffle clip, your best bet may be to premelt in order to to avoid escapage, or melt a bit at a time rather than the full batch at once. The coins/discs are tougher to ocontain than block or chunk chocolate.I can definitelty send you a small Holey Baffle, just email your address to: ian@chocovision.com. You can be one of our first guinea pigs.

Ian, I would love to try the holey baffle. Do you have one available for the Rev 2 that you could send me? Also, one more product suggestion while we're on the subject. I've started using the valrhona and cacao noel disks and they tend to jump out of the tempering machine while they're behind the baffle waiting to be melted. Perhaps making the piece of plastic that attaches to the top of the baffle (not sure what the official name of this piece is) would solve the jumping disk problem?

Hello fellow Chocolate Lifers.I work for ChocoVision and would like to address some of your collective concerns.The noise level of our tabletop Revolation 1 and 2 machines have always been a source of concern for many of our customers. The reverberation of the motor and fan off of the plastic casing seemed to be a consequence of a smaller, relatively inexpensive (plastic) unit. That said, our engineering team has been hard at work for the past few months modifying specifications of the tabletop machines in order to muffle the noise. This will be an uphill climb that may prove fruitless, but stay tuned.As for the capacitywe have recently introduced what we are calling the Holey Baffle which vastly increases the maximum capacity of our larger (Revolation X 3210 and Delta) machines from 10 Lbs. to roughly 18.5 Lbs. A smaller version of this Holey Baffle is being manufactured for evaluation in limited quantity for our tabletop units, and will increase the tabletop units from a 1.5 Lb. capacity to between 2 and 2.2 Lbs.If you would like to give a Holey Baffle a whirl, please contact me and I will send one to help you get more out of your unit.There are other techniques to be employed for more efficiency from our units. Feel free to contact me regarding that as well.As for Andys wifes machinefan problems are not the norm for Rev2s, let alone having two failures in just over a year. Please contact me and/or ChocoVisions technical team at (845) 473-4970 for further instruction or service.Thank you!Ian

My wife has the ChocoVision Revolation 2.The fan broke again last night, leaving her with a large number of Christmas chocolate orders to be tempered using a porringer with boiling water. Not an enjoyable evening.The fan has now broken twice in 14 months. We are buying a different brand.@Kelli - what brand do you use for larger orders?

I just bought the Rev 2 (my last machine was the sinsation) and I love it. It's good for small batches, with a 1.5 half pound capacity. Like others have said it's really loud, but it's the right capacity for me so I make due with the noise. I've also used one of the more professional grade chocovision machines which is also great, much quieter, but it's a minimum capacity of 3 pounds which is usually way more than I'm working with in the small batches I produce.

I have a HIlliard's Little Dipper as well as two Mol'D'Art melters and I like all of them. The Hilliards is a little noisy with the fan and the motor, but built like a tank. It will run you about $1200 new last I checked. Great for a small operation. We also use a Prefamac with enrober (30Kg model)-great machine too for larger but still small-scale production. Can easily do 25-50 pounds daily or more on it depending on staffing and prep.

I use the ACMC for personal use, holds a nice charge of chocolate. Oh, it does have a fan for the cooling stage. And 2 100w bulbs for heat. Simple, and stands up to a good bit of abuse.

Has this landscape changed any in the last year? Any new reviews or ideas? I was watching our process last night and we're losing a bit too much time getting chocolates setup for dipping etc.

I wonder whether I can add my experience with Mol d`Art melter. I simply love its work.6 Kg capacity. I put the chocolate in the melter setting temp at 43degrees the previous night. Start my work in the morning after setting temp at 31 degrees and seeding it . Takes a little time. Looks like a simple box, quiet. liked it so much that thinking to buy one more for melting milk chocolate.I wonder whether melters are considered as tempering machines!!

LOL you're SO right Clay, on both counts.

Both of the small Chocovision machines (Rev1 and 2) are noisy. The ACMC machine is quieter because it doesn't have a fan. However, I don't see how they can charge so much for something that uses the same technological approach as an Easy-Bake oven.Unfortunately, there really isn't anything else in the under 10-pound range or for under $1500.


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@DiscoverChoc

Debra:There is nothing special about the chocolate that Lake Champlain uses. It's standard stuff from Barry Callebaut, and made in the St Albans, VT factory. You can get many Callebaut chocolates in bulk from Chocosphere.com and ChocolateSource.comThe Sinsation is the same thing as a Chocovision Rev1 or 2 - it's just an old name.:: Clay


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@DiscoverChoc

I use both a Chocovision Rev1 and an ACMC Table Top Temperer. Love 'em both, but the Rev1 is NOISY!

Hi Kelli,Thanks, I have the sinsation and it has a small capacity also. I am wondering do you blend your own chocolates together to arrive at a taste that you like? Where is a good place to buy bulk chocolate? I really like Lake Champlain chocolate have you ever tried or used it. I don't know if they sell in bulk.Debra

I own the Rev 2. I really do like it, except during the holidays. I find for large production or large molds, it's just not quite enough tempered chocolate.

Hi Clay,I am just a hobbyist. I temper only around 2# at a time.Debra

Debra:To help set the stage for this discussion can you let everyone know something about what your requirements are?Are you a hobbyist so that you only need to work with a few pounds at a time, or are you producing hundreds of pounds of chocolate a day in a mix of dark, milk, and white and need something that can handle those demands? Or are you somewhere in between?This will help us know what kinds of machines to talk about.


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@DiscoverChoc

Does anyone own a tempering machine and if so which one?chefveggi
updated by @debra-kleiman-walter: 11/21/15 17:09:56