Cacao Field Testing Equipment Needed!

vincent mourou
@vincent-mourou
03/23/11 03:32:53
5 posts

I will soon be heading to some cacao growing areas in SE Asia, and would like to get some recommendations for good quality/price cacao testing equipment such as a guillotine cross-section cutter, moisture meter, ph meter, refractometers, etc. What are some cost-effective models?

Thanks in advance for your advice and feedback.

Vincent Mourou-Rochebois


updated by @vincent-mourou: 04/09/15 16:05:15
Sebastian
@sebastian
03/23/11 15:14:42
754 posts

Depends on what you want to test:

Guillotine - at the level you're at, you'd only really be able to use it to get a feel for degree of fermentation. It will be useless to determine insect damage or mold at this stage. It's more of a qualitative test for fermentation, and not a terribly accurate one at that.

Moisture meter - get a dickey john portable, or an aquaboy with a small sample adapter. Good for rapid, nondestructive testing for moistures < 20% (good to quickly determine if drying is sufficient or not). Be prepared to spend a few hundred bucks.

pH meter. Lots of small hand held devices available. Question would be why do you want it? What is it you're measuring - pulp pH? Whole bean? And what would you do with the results - how would you use them? <$200. Get calibration fluids for 1, 5, 7 pH. You won't need alkaline.

Refractometer - similar to the handheld pH meter. What would you do with it, how would you use the results? < $200.

I'd start with identifying what parameters you want to control / track, then determine what equipment you need to do so.

Sebastian
@sebastian
03/23/11 16:35:02
754 posts
sorry, i misread your original post - i thought you said you were going to do some growing - disregard my comments on the guillotine - if you're evaluating beans that have already been processed (fermented, dried, stored), it will do those things. That's what i get for reading in a hurry - i'm off to origin myself today, actually.. in a bit of a hurry given all the packing and logistics i'm afraid...
Samuel Maruta
@samuel-maruta
05/26/11 07:56:54
19 posts

You should ask Hans...

Orson V. Galvão
@orson-v-galvo
07/07/12 23:05:21
1 posts
plase, who is Mr. Hans?

Tags

Member Marketplace


Activity

kapil jain
 
kapil jain
 
kapil jain
 
@kapil-jain • 7 years ago

Chocolatevenue is an online chocolate store in India.We are specialized in customized chocolates  .Chocolates can be customized as chocolate message and chocolate bars.

You can get written your message on chocolates and can get customized your chocolate bars by selecting the desired ingredients.

for more details

 

colorchocolate
 
@colorchocolate • 7 years ago

FOR SALE / BARGAIN / FINE CACAO LIQUOR, COLOMBIA ORIGIN

Enjoy a delicious premium chocolate from the Boyacá region of Colombia, considered among the best in the world. We offer a 200 kilograms lot of pure origin cocoa liquor,  fair trade / ethically sourced. N o other ingredients added.

The price for this high quality product is as follows:

1 kg - US$ 13

100 kg - US$ 12 per kilo

200 kg - US$ 11 per kilo

Inquires: equalcolombia@gmail.com

- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/colorchocolate#sthash.JFDWYFuK.dpuf

- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/community/forums/my_posts/18453/fine-cacao-liquor-colombia-origin#sthash.2pUq4Eu3.dpuf

Clay Gordon
 
@clay • 7 years ago

FCIA Recognition of Excellence Nominations close in one week:

Clay Gordon
 
The 4 Chocolatiers
 
@the-4-chocolatiers • 7 years ago

Two changes we made with the chocolate is that this time we winnowed the chocolate. This time we didn't use a blow dryer to melt the chocolate. Two improvements with the chocolate is that the melanger didn't get clogged this time and everyone put in work.