Dear Fellow Chocolate Folks

My brother and I are in the beginning phases of setting up a small chocolate business, initially focusing on created enrobed chocolate bars (ie candy bars). Does anyone have any relevant experience with the different selection of brands/machines available for small scale enrobing?

Top of the list at the moment is the ChocoMa E220, however I am aware that Prefamac, FBM, Hilliards and some others offer tempering and enrobing units for similar prices. (We're ideally looking for a machine which will enable us to make chocolate moulds as well). A machine which can keep chocolate at the right temper for prolonged periods which be an advantage I am imagining.

Anyway, I am really a bit of a novice, having no experience using any of these machines, so I wonder if there are any folks wiser than myself who could offer a few tips of wisdom!!

Many thanks

Marcus

updated by @marcus-rowe: 04/13/15 01:46:37

i have used chocoma andselmi i likeselmi's as they areportable and easy to workwith the chocoma i worked with was a very old one much older then the one you are looking at

Marcus

I would look at the Selmi equipment as well as some of the ones you have listed. They provide the versatility you discuss. Let me know if you have additional questions about Selmi.

brian

Marcus:

When you say "small scale" enrobing, what kind of throughput are you talking about? Some of the systems that support enrobing lines have large (25kg) work bowls with a nominal throughput of up to 100kg an hour (if you have a supply of melted chocolate on hand to re-fill the work bowl).

If you're only going through 50-60kg a day, 100kg per hr might be way more than you need to invest in right now.

So - knowing what "small scale" means (and what your budget is) will help us understand how to answer this question.

:: Clay

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

Hey guys - thanks so much for all the responses and info.

I had heard of Selmi before, and having looked at the website they look like a classy act! I am sure their machines must be some of the best. However, the price for a simple tempering and enrobing set up would be almost double that compared to some of the other options. Keeping initial investment costs down is definitely a requirement for me as it stands.

@ Clay - thanks for the question. I think initially 50-60kg a day is more realistic, although I would hope that we will be producing volumes more like 100kg an hour in the near future. Investing in a machine with a larger capacity which allows us to grow I imagine would be more sensible than having a smaller a machine that we may soon grow out of?? Maybe I wrong however. As far as I have seen also, most of the basic tempering and enrobing options, apart from FBM and Hilliards, only come with tempering bowls around the size of 25kg and above, and they cost the same as amount as the smaller machines offered by FBM and Hilliards.

In terms of price and size the Prefamac and Chocoma seem like the best options? However, as I mentioned, I have no experience with any of these machines so I could be making some very poor assumptions!!

Once again, many thanks for your help!!

Hi Marcus in previous threads, I have gone into detail about my enrobing system , Perfect Equipment's Compact Coater. I think this is a great system to get started with and at around $11-12k brand new, it is a very good deal. This machine works great for me and I am obsessive how my enrobed products turn out. The Prefamac and the Selmi are better machines; however, they are signifigantly more expensive. My plan is to continue using the Perfect Compact Coater and when I have the funds to upgrade, the Compact Coater will become a secondary machine. As for the Chocoma, I have not seen it in action so I cannot comment on it. Good luck!

Here is a link where I go in depth about the Perfect Enrober http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/what-s-your-dream-machine?commentId=1978963%3AComment%3A120724

HI Daniel

Thanks so much for the info - I had not come across Perfect Equipment before. It's definitely well priced. I can't seem to find a website for them although I imagine they are US based, which is a downside, as I am based in the UK. I am now looking at some second hand prefamac machinery which I think may be the best option, working out cheaper than a new compact coater, esp when shipping is included.

Thanks again

Marcus,

Perfect is Canadian. Not sure if they wire for Europe or not. There is a group buy in progress right now so you might want to look at the thread about that and contact Lana.

Here is a link to their website. Not easy to find!

http://www.perfectinc.com/

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