Hello from a new member
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Junior:
If you are selling the equipment you cannot do so without contacting me first. I see you've posted two other discussions on this.
It's NOT cool.
:: Clay
Forum Activity for @Clay
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Any experience with the Gami s.r.l. T240 Tempering Machine?
Posted in: Opinion
Ernesto:
Do you already own the machine or are thinking of buying one?
I have been working with FBM on making sure that their machines are suitable for working with craft chocolate, which has a tendency to have a higher viscosity (is much thicker) than commercial couverture chocolates.Among other things, the geometry of the tempering auger in the FBM machines makes them well-suited to working with craft chocolates.
There is now a Craft Chocolate Upgrade for two of FBM's machines (the new ProXima and Unica, both with 25kg working bowls) for volume production. This upgrade was created in direct response to the experiences of one particular customer who pushed us and pushed us to solve his problems. He does not add any cocoa butter to his recipes -- something FBM had never run across before. The upgrade consists of a more powerful motor that delivers extra lower-RPM torque, a gearbox with a different ratio, and heavy-duty bearing seals for the auger.
Even the smaller FBM machines -- 4kg, 7kg, and 12kg working bowls have features that make them suitable for working with thicker chocolates. Yes, there have been some issues with some users who've been having troubles finding the proper tempering points, but I've been working with FBM over the past six months to find a solution and we've found the answers.
Right now some of the US's most demanding craft chocolate makers are buying - and switching to - FBM for this reason. As near as I know (and I follow this topic closely), FBM is the only company that's listening closely to the needs of craft chocolate makers.
Also -- ChocolateLife members get a 10% discount of list prices.
Chocolate Courses - any updates?
Posted in: Chocolate Education
Dorothy -
I think the summary of options is a great idea! I am looking forward to hearing about them.
Chocolate Courses - any updates?
Posted in: Chocolate Education
Dorothy:
Jean-Marie Auboine runs a school in Las Vegas, NV. I am not sure if he offers anything at this level, but I would check to see.
Whats a good source for chocolate?
Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted
Juliana:
Thanks for the kind words about the community and the book. I am privileged to be able to work with so many people around the world who share a passion for chocolate.
I think your best bet is going to start working with an online store/distributor like ChocoSphere.com. They carry many brands and many different varieties from those brands. You can purchase in small quantities to start with, and larger quantities if you need to. I don't think that sourcing direct from the manufacturers makes much sense at this level.
Whats a good source for chocolate?
Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted
Juliana:
Two questions before we can answer this question for you:
1) How much chocolate do you want to buy? 10 pounds? 100 pounds? More?
2) What's your price range? $4-5/pound? $5-9/lb? $10 or more/pound?
Superheated steam roasters
Posted in: Opinion
Ash -
I contacted Roastech and the prices of the ovens are very good. However, they really are continuous ovens and they want to be run all day long (24/7 would be better). The smallest one does up to 50kg per hour, and based on what I heard I would not try to run it for less than 6 hours at a stretch and 8-12 would probably be better for consistency ... as the roast is not entirely even with the drum has different amounts of product in it.
The temperature range is quite large and there is a VFD on the drum so you can select how long the product is in the roaster. This gives you some fine control over the roast. They also claim (but I have no way to verify), that the moisture coming out of the product is turned into steam and so does perform a sanitary kill step.
There's no one using one of them for cocoa in the US.
For small batch production I don't know that one of these makes sense. But I could easily see production situations where a 50kg machine (about US$6500) could be very useful.
That said, fine-tuning variables to get the roast you want might involve a lot of time and beans and there is no way to inspect the beans mid-roast that I know of.
:: Clay
Superheated steam roasters
Posted in: Opinion
Ash -
I imagine that the flavanols would fall into the category of bitter flavors.
Superheated steam roasters
Posted in: Opinion
This is a very small (consumer) version of what is often referred to as a "combi" oven and that is often found in commercial kitchens. What makes the Sharp a little different from most combis is that it also includes a microwave cooking option, something that is not found in most commercial combis.
You can achieve an improved level of microbial kill by using a combi oven with steam for a portion of the roasting cycle. You can get the oven quite hot, add the beans on trays, start the steam, and roast for a relatively short time. At which point you can remove the beans to let them cool and turn the oven down to a much lower temperature for the remainder of the roasting cycle. This way you can effectively achieve a lower roast profile while getting the benefit of the microbial kill step.
One thing to consider is that once the beans are cooled you could crack and winnow them before putting the nib back in the roaster. This could mean much shorter roast times as well as more even roasts.
If you want a larger oven, something like a Moffatt E32D5 will give you the steam option with a five full-size sheet pan capacity.
Starter cultures for fermentation
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Sebastian:
I will check into the pH levels with our master distiller when I am in Peru in July and get back to you.
Solbeso is now available in the US. We're registered for sale in New York and Florida and I think we can ship to 48 of the 50 states if you're not in NY or FL. LMK and I can send you the names of our retail partners who ship.
It's an interesting liquid. It has no taste of cacao/chocolate, but is reminiscent of pulp. 40% ABV, so it's formulated for use in cocktails but can be drunk neat or over ice (it behaves a lot like a brown spirit - water softens it and opens it up). Good cocktails are in the sours and international sours families. One of our signature cocktails is called a Beso Picante - hot kiss. Solbeso, lemon juice, orange liqueur, and heat -- cayenne pepper, habaero bitters, muddled jalapeo/cucumber ...
Solbeso also makes a great Michelada. We did one at Taproom 307 here in NYC during Beer Week -- the Midnight Sun Michelada -- that was lime juice, Solbeso, spicy tomato water (from pico de gallo), and a splash of Worcestershire. Shake, pour into a pint glass (salt-rimmed if desired), fill with a black IPA, and garnish with a pickled jalapeo slice and a lime wedge.
It also goes great as a beer shot/boilermaker with Cusquea lager.
:: Clay
Starter cultures for fermentation
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Sebastian:
T0 is when the pod is opened?
In our experience in fermenting juice for Solbeso, by the time it arrives at the collection center between 4 and 8 hours later, pH of the juice has dropped considerably into the range I mentioned.
Starter cultures for fermentation
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Tibor -
Vicente Norero in Ecuador -- Camino Verde -- is offering several different fermentations from the same beans so I know that there is someone doing this on production scale and you can buy the beans and taste the differences.
Also, I have heard that the Rizeks in the Dominican Republic have been doing the same for some of their clients. I have not visited either facility so I don't know any of the specifics.
There are commercial sources for yeasts for the various alcohol industries - beer, wine, and spirits. Wyeast Labs is one source I know that several of my beer, wine, and mead friends use. If you wanna go all serious and stuff on this project, Lallemand may be a place to try.
One thing to consider when sourcing yeast for fermenting cacao pulp is that the pulp has a pH in the 3.5 range so you're going to want a yeast that is comfortable working at this level of acidity -- not all yeasts are.
Whats going on with my chocolates?? Quality Control-Appearance concerns
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Jennifer -
If Sebastian is right, then one step would be to install a dehumidifier in the room and also to install some sort of humidity sensor so you can discover the environmental conditions that lead up to this. This will help you understand the sugar bloom issues. (I often notice a textural change in chocolate that has sugar bloomed - it can taste sandy and granular.)
As for the swirls appearing in the chocolate. Get a good fast-reading digital probe thermometer and check to make sure that the thermocouple in the Rev is actually reading properly. Replacing the probe (by replacing the baffle) could help solve that problem.
Celebrating upcoming US Holidays: National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and National Donut Day
Posted in: Opinion
May 15th, 2014 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day here in the US.
What are your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes, pairings, and or experiences? Most unusual chocolate chip cookie or the most unusual place you've eaten a chocolate chip cookie?
On a related note, June 6th is National Donut Day. What's your favorite donut/chocolate pairing? Who makes the best chocolate donuts? What's the must unusual chocolate/donut mashup you've ever had?
updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/14/15 05:42:23
? I have a Hillard's Dipper
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Maggie -
We are going to need a little more detail than this to help you out. What kind of chocolate? What temperatures ... also in the room you're working in. How you're cooling, and more.
Have you been in touch with their technical support?
New category suggestion: "Science"
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
There is already a group called The Science of Chocolate. I think it makes sense if everything get posted there (updates get listed in the Activity list). If you like I can give you some admin rights in the group that you can use to help members more aware of what's going on and we can send general emails to all members about the groups.
One a more prosaic note, if you can help me find a sponsor for the group we can share the revenue.
belgian endives filling
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Rotovaps are certainly one way to do it, and you can often find used ones on eBay for a lot less than the new list price.
Another way is to simply macerate (soak) measured amounts of material in measured amounts of solvents for measured amounts of time (for repeatability) - then filter off the material (e.g., grated endive). As long as the solvents are edible you should not have any issues. You may find that a water extraction is useless, for example, but that alcohol pulls out interesting flavors. You can also play with techniques to prepare the material. You could chop the endive with a knife or shred with a microplane grater.
belgian endives filling
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Have you tried making extracts/tinctures?
I know that some companies are doing three extractions (water, alcohol, and oil) of some flavorings and then combing them. The result is stronger and more complex than when using the food on its own.
What is the true melting temperature for tempering?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
To follow on with what Sebastian has said, there is no "one, true" temperature for dark chocolate, one for milk chocolate, and one or white chocolate. Every chocolate will have its own set of working temperatures ... but those may change depending on the ambient temperature and humidity and the method of tempering being used. In large industrial processing situations they can control these variables very closely, but in the average small chocolate kitchen it's a different story.
In my experience, there is no substitute for being able to hand temper and to know what tempered chocolate looks like and how it behaves. You use that experience to help you arrive at the temperatures that work for you.
Bean to Bar Medium Scale Jafinox
Posted in: Opinion
Without revealing the price of the machines, can you provide links to pages where the equipment that has been quoted to you can be seen for us to evaluate?
Bean to Bar Medium Scale Jafinox
Posted in: Opinion
Semira -
I have seen quotes of US$500,000 to over US$1,000,000 for complete lines from European manufacturers for production in this daily amount.
On the other hand, I have seen workshops with 500kg/day production where the investment in equipment is under $300,000 - so we're talking a lot more than a couple of thousands of dollars.
Bean to Bar Medium Scale Jafinox
Posted in: Opinion
JAF Inox is a Brazilian company that was recently purchased by Duyvis-Wiener, as Sebastian pointed out.
One of the things that this has done is to increase the price of the machines significantly, at least outside of Brazil - the other thing it has done is extended the delivery times as well.
There are many ways to produce chocolate in the 300-500kg per day range you mention. There are big differences in price as well as the amount of integration (materials handling) that is and can be done. So, Sebastian is right - we need to know more about what you want to do, the equipment you are looking at, and your budget, to be able to offer more informed opinions.
savage bros Tempering & Molding Workstation vs the selmi top ex
Posted in: Opinion
Ash:
To be able to answer this question it would be helpful to know what kind of work you're producing - and how much.
The Savage is a batch melter/temperer and the most common size is 50 lbs, though the molding workstations are larger. In a batch temperer you temper a batch of chocolate and when you're done you temper another, a process that can easily take 30-90 minutes. Depending on the work you're doing you might do TWO batches of chocolate per day - up to about 550 pounds per day.
The TOP on the other hand is a continuous temperer with a working bowl capacity of 60kg and a nominal sustained throughput of ~180kg (400 pounds) per hour.
On the surface, there is no comparison between the two - they are very different beasts for very different applications.
As a ChocolateLife member I can offer you 10% discounts on FBM continuous tempering machines. The sheet metal is not as pretty as Selmi, but the engineering is superior and they tend to cost less Selmi.
If you can give us an idea of what you're producing and how much you produce (peak and off-peak), we can help you better understand the differences.
How to calculate how much chocolate enrobing for each bonbon?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
There is not nearly enough information here to answer your question.
FIRST: What are the dimensions of each piece? Something that is 25mm x 25mm by 5mm is going to take a different amount of chocolate than ones with different dimensions. Also, there is the viscosity and specific density of the chocolate to consider. All of these variables will have an effect on the amount of chocolate used to enrobe each piece.
Because of this, when I have done these exercises I have always worked backwards.
Start off with a known weight of centers, cover (hand dip, enrobe, what/however) them, and then weigh the finished pieces after they are fully crystallized. You probably want to cover 100 pieces to average out small differences. Weigh the finished pieces. Subtract the starting weight from the finished weight to get the amount of chocolate used and then divide y the number of pieces to get the average weight of chocolate on each piece..
Temper Machine and Chocolate Melter?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Melters can be used to increase the throughput of most tempering machines, so having a supply of melted chocolate on hand is a good thing, especially if the capacity of the tempering machine is less than the amount of chocolate you are using in a day.
You don't need to spend thousands on a melter. Just yesterday I say a home sous-vide machine that can be used to precisely control a water bath to within .1F. If you put a plexiglass cover over the top of the water bath with holes cut out for the chocolate, you can easily create an inexpensive melter. Temperature control might even be precise enough to melt the chocolate without taking it out of temper.
Maybe.
However, it could be used to temper chocolate using the seed method and replace a Mol d'Art costing $1000 or more.
Initial Thoughts: CHOCOA 2014
Posted in: Opinion
Links to copies of the presentations can be found here .
Note that the proposed title of the Unilever presentation is Climate Impact and Biodiversity . When you actually load the PDF you can read the infomercial for the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan . They are not synonymous.
Initial Thoughts: CHOCOA 2014
Posted in: Opinion
Thomas:
I will see if I can get Frank Homann to share his assumptions and worksheet with us.
Initial Thoughts: CHOCOA 2014
Posted in: Opinion
Chocoa Trade Fair, Conference, and Festival
March 27-31, 2014
Amsterdam
The program for the 2nd CHOCOA Conference was and is ambitious. The first CHOCOA in 2013 was more modest in scope but no less ambitious in its own way: the Dutch government has made a commitment to 100% sustainable chocolate by 2025 and CHOCOA is a part of the effort to help Dutch consumers understand why sustainable cocoa and chocolate are important.
An important part of this endeavor is to communicate what the word sustainable actually means to find ways to convey what are very complex global socio-economic issues in simple, powerful ways that can affect behavior meaningfully.
The first day of CHOCOA 2014 was dedicated to an experimental trade fair. The concept for the trade fair was to provide a means to introduce small cocoa producers and craft chocolate makers to each other. The stretch goal for the trade fair, which was not reached, was to provide a platform for a live auction of cocoa beans that the producers brought with them.
It was very fitting, then, that the CHOCOA conference program was held in the Beurs van Berlage, home to the world's first stock and commodities exchanges - the trading platform that funded the exploration and exploitation of the New World and the African colonies. (Ghana was a Dutch colony.)
The interior of the Beurs in trade fair mode.
In the end, there was not enough time to arrange the shipment of more than sample quantities of beans, though the auction component is still very much in the organizers' sights for 2015 and beyond. Bringing sample quantities proved to be more than enough as one key goal of the trade fair was achieved - introducing small chocolate makers to small cocoa producers for the purpose of buying beans directly. While I don't know of any committed transactions that took place during the trade fair itself, I do know that many chocolate makers left happy to have made direct personal contact with producers from new origins and that these introductions will lead to a lot of very good new chocolates being produced over the coming years.
For me, personally, the trade fair day meant finally getting to meet long-time ChocolateLife members and contributors Juan Pablo Buchert (Nahua Chocolate, Costa Rica) and Carlos Eichenberger (Danta Chocolate, Guatemala) as well as many old - and new - friends and colleagues.
Carlos Eichenberger. (Sorry, JP - the photo was too blurry to use!)
The second day of CHOCOA was filled with a conference program presentations from "leaders" in the sustainable cocoa and chocolate industry and learn what progress has been made toward sustainable cocoa with the theme of what the mainstream cocoa market could learn from the fine-flavor specialty market.
It is here that the complete and total disconnect between the specialty market and the mass market becomes clear.
If there is one takeaway, for me, from the conference program, it is that the specialty fine-flavor market needs to be very careful talking to the mass market companies because the mass market companies will co-op and subvert the language of specialty cocoa, emptying it of value and meaning. The case in point was an extended infomercial for Unilever given by their Director of Corporate Sustainability, Anneik Mauser, where the word sustainability was stripped of all credible meaning in the pursuit of globalization and corporate profiteering.
Most damning in Ms Mauser's presentation was the admission that nearly 70% of the potential impact of sustainability (and that word was not defined clearly even when asked directly) is in the hands of consumers. Unilever - who as a company consumes about 1.5% of the world's cocoa crop - is working hard to wring the benefits of "sustainability" over less than one-third of their global footprint. The other two-thirds can only be influenced through big-brother marketing designed to modify consumer thinking and behavior; i.e., control consumer thinking and behavor in a way that is designed to make people loyal consumers of Unilever products. That might be sustainable for Unilever's bottom line, but it's not clear that it means that people toiling at the bottom of the supply chain - for example, cocoa farmers - can earn a decent living.
There is a total of about 15 companies that effectively control the global cocoa industry, and therefore the market price of cocoa. There is a tendency to lay blame at the feet of these companies for all that is wrong in the world of cocoa. However, the world is a far more complex place than this and it is important to also recognize the consumer's role, especially through the proxy of global retailers such as Wal Mart. Companies like Mars and Nestle might not actually have much wiggle room in their cost structures as long as behemoths like Wal Mart wield huge influence through setting consumer prices. Wal Mart and their competitors are putting constant pressure on suppliers to reduce costs - placing the blame on the consumer and not inexorable pressure bottom line returns to outperform competitors that Wall Street investors demand. Wal Mart and their ilk are just as much to blame (or more) as any.
During one the afternoon breakout sessions, Frank Homann of Xoco (Honduras) presented an economic analysis of what the price for cocoa would have to be in order for cocoa farmers to be profitable. His calculations start out with saying that it basically impossible for the smallholder farmer to be profitable on the 2.5-5 Ha of land that is typical. Instead, farmer co-operatives of at least 100 Ha and a farm gate price of over $8.30 per kilo ($8300/MT) is the baseline and that profitability can't be achieved in the short run - timelines of five and ten years are needed because of the need to replace bulk cocoa varieties with specialty beans.
Frank also calculates that the market for high-end specialty cocoa is probably smaller than most people think: Specialty cocoa in the up to $8-9/kg range could be only a few tenths of 1% of the market; the very high end of the market might be less than 100 MT.
Jos Harmsen of Max Havelaar drove the point home that certifications - all certifications, not just Fair Trade - are not the answer to the problems of creating sustainable livelihoods for cocoa farmers. The reasons are complex, of course, but some aspects stand out.
One is that the certification industry has done a much better job of creating supply than demand. By one estimate, at some certified co-ops the percentage of the crop sold on Fairtrade terms may be only 10-20% of what's grown. The co-op pays for certifying 100% of what they grow, but can only recoup the cost of certification from the part they sell as certified. It doesn't take much (or too deep) thinking to realize that certification can actually be a money-losing proposition for many, if not most, co-ops. One chilling side effect of this is that few new co-ops are becoming certified as there is no demand for their cocoa. I was in a shop selling Fair Trade certified coffee drinks that proudly posted "Fair Trade guarantees a better deal for farmers" on one of its signboards.
Guarantees? Really? I mean, Really?
Another reason comes from examining how the Fair Trade floor price (currently US$2000/MT) is calculated. We are told that the starting point is the cost of sustainable production, but that is just the starting point of negotiations. Apparently, the buyers get to weigh in on this price and it is in their best interests to make the price as low as possible. With Frank Homann saying that the cost of sustainable production on a 100Ha farm is $8300/MT and Fair Trade saying it's less than one-quarter of that, there is some work that needs to be done in order to arrive at a figure that resembles ground truth. From my perspective, the Fair Trade figure is immediately (more) suspect for at least two reasons: a) the buyers get to "help" determine what it is -- and these discussions, like the TTIP negotiations, are not public; and b) it's the same price for every producing country, which implies that the cost of living and other factors are the same everywhere in the world, which makes no sense at all.
At this point it becomes clear that there is little that the bulk market can learn from the specialty market that can have any meaningful return to the cocoa farmer. The mass market for cheap and cheerful chocolate is just simply not going to absorb a permanent 300-400% price increase for its basic raw material.
What is clear is that the economic interests of the large cocoa and chocolate companies are diametrically opposed to the basic needs of cacao farmers. As the largest cacao-producing country in the world, the Ivory Coast (and West Africa in general) basically get to dictate the positions that ICCO will take on matters - and these are the interests of bulk cocoa. As long as the purpose of a public company is to maximize return to shareholders then farmers everywhere will be hammered on pricing and their livelihoods will suffer.
What's needed, I think, is a different pricing model. And this is someplace where the specialty market (perhaps spearheaded by the organization Direct Cacao) can innovate. For about five years I've been an advocate of a VAT model in conjunction with traceable supply chains. Rather than trying to recoup 100% of the cost of production on the first sale, the idea of the VAT model is to enable the farmer to participate in the transformation of cocoa to chocolate and to the point of sale to the consumer. I called it 5 Percent 4 Farmers (5%4F).
The concept is simple, every time the cocoa changes hands, a 5% tax is charged on the differential between the buying price and the selling price and all that money goes to the farmer because the supply chain is traceable. No mass balance equivalence, no tricks. Decentralized accounting and accountability that is fully transparent. In order for a retailer to sell 5%4F products, they must agree to the 5% as well in order to be able to display the logo in the store.
Interestingly, Antonie Fountain (Voice Network), one of the speakers at the conference, said that the idea had been brought up and actually made it a long way through the negotiation process at the international level. In the end it was tabled in committee for the reason of in-fighting: Who would get to control the pot of money and decide where it got spent? I suspect this is in part because complete traceability is not really possible in most bulk supply chains and so there is money that can't be traced to particular farmers or co-ops. What is done with this money and who gets to decide the projects on which it gets spent?
Another issue is the actual process of delivering the money to the farmer. What is the mechanism to ensure that the money actually gets into the right hands, especially in places where not everyone has access to banking services? I suspect that the answer is obvious and that the cacao community wants to make it more complicated than it needs to be: controlling the issue through FUD - fear, uncertainty, and doubt. While I don't know that it is a solution, the mobile payment system M-Pesa, branchless banking system originally set up to allow microfinance borrowers to repay their loans offers a model for implementation.
What I now sense is that the specialty cocoa sector has the opportunity to lead the rest of the world in these matters. But in order to do so it needs to stop paying so much attention to the bulk cocoa sector and to stop feeding them ideas that can be used to misconfuse the market and the public.
updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/09/15 16:41:29
transfer sheet process
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Cindy:
Here's the direct link to the eGullet article(s) that Jonathan is referring to.
transfer sheet process
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Cindy -
The process that most large commercial producers use to make transfer sheets is like conventional screen printing.
How to prevent chocolate from melting in oven
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Itziar:
Basically, you can't.
The formula for chocolate chips is different from the formula for regular chocolate which is why it holds its shape during baking. If you are using a regular chocolate then it has high amounts of cocoa butter and it's going to melt in the oven. Many people who use regular chocolate use rather large chunks or pieces because they find lots of small pieces don't give the right look or texture.
Bean to bar viscosity after adding sugar
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Okay - so it may look thin to you but if you had experience working with beans from 10 different origins you don't know where it fits relative to others.
Sugar doesn't dissolve, you're grinding the particles down. Yes, in a wet-mill style grinder pre-refining the sugar should reduce the amount of time required to finish grinding. If you purchase pre-refined sugar you must be sure that it contains no anti-caking agent; commercial confectionery sugar often has up to 3% corn or other starch in it and that's a no go when it comes to making chocolate.
Bean to bar viscosity after adding sugar
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Yes, cocoa butter will thin it back down. When you say "quite a bit of cocoa butter in them naturally" do you know what the fat level is? Beans can range for 45-55% fat and the fat can have different hardnesses (melting points) so two beans with the same fat content might have different viscosities at different temperatures.
Limiting the number of variables makes sense to some extent but if, by eliminating a variable, you make the basic process much more difficult then I would add in the other variable - the added cocoa butter - so that at least processing and molding can proceed.
You might also check to make sure that the sugar is absolutely dry. One way to do that is to prerefine it in a food processor. If moisture starts to form on the lid then the sugar is not dry and the small amount of moisture in it could be binding with the chocolate, thickening it up.
Bean to bar viscosity after adding sugar
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Why don't you want to add cocoa butter?
As I see it, it's a huge mistake that most people make when starting out. Learn how to make chocolate "the proper way" and then, when you have experience making it - and making it consistently, especially at this small scale when the machines are really underpowered - you can start to back out on other ingredients.
Enrobing question
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Another thing you can do is to encapsulate the pieces by spraying them with tempered cocoa butter before enrobing.
I learned this technique from someone who was filling shells with fruit preserves - the chocolate bottom would not stick to the preserves, leading to all sorts of problems. Spraying the exposed surface of the preserves with the cocoa butter and letting them sit for a few minutes solved all of the production problems.
I can imagine it being used to keep powders and very small bits stuck to the surface of what's being enrobed.
"Whole Bean Chocolate"
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
I was in London last week and picked up two bars of Paul A Young's whole bean chocolate.
I brought it back to NY and tasted one of the two bars (the 64%) with a number of friends and colleagues who are professional and semi-professional/trained chocolate tasters and the most flattering comment was,
"It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be."
Sorry, Paul.
First off, the texture is all wrong. And it's not different like the Sicilian chocolates that are crunchy or chocolate that is under-refined and gritty, it's just wrong. Chewy kind of.
The 64% is surprisingly very sweet, and this may be because the sugar can't be refined smaller than the shell fragments which means the sweetness is more present than it would be if it were refined and conched (properly) into the chocolate. A low roast may also be a part of the reason.
There is a very unpleasant aftertaste on the bar that kind of gets stuck in the back of the throat and lingers there, menacingly demanding that it be washed away by something stronger than water.
One of the reviews mentioned something about the taste of parmesan cheese, which might come partly from lactic acid. That said, if I want my chocolate to taste like parmesan I want it to taste like parmesan because someone added parmesan to the chocolate. David Briggs at Xocolatl de David in Portland, OR does this and it's quite nice, actually.
The Brits can have it as far as I am concerned, but it's a huge step backwards for the craft chocolate world in general and I hope that someone in the UK wakes up and recognizes that this emperor is not wearing any new clothes and tells Paul that while it may be a decent marketing stunt that's all it is.
It's not bloody brilliant and it's not more wholesome. It's stupid and a real potential health hazard if it's actually being made as described in the articles and reviews.
I am very glad that it's actually illegal to sell this in the US as chocolate because of the high shell content. It's a chocolate-like substance.
"Whole Bean Chocolate"
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
Tom -
The beans are roasted. They should be free of pathogens to 99.999%. As for the possibility of heavy metal and other contamination, I would imagine that there is a certificate of analysis on each origin at least once a year to let them know about other forms of contamination.
updated by @Clay Gordon: 09/10/15 09:07:54
"Whole Bean Chocolate"
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
From the article in Confectionery News referenced above:
The cocoa shells need to then be washed to remove sand, off-flavor notes and undesired components such as mycotoxins or pesticides. The shell fractions may be washed by aqueous buffer solutions at a temperature between 15C and 100C for between one and 12 hours.
The washing step can be repeated up to five times and must be followed by a drying process like heat convection, head conduction, steam and vacuum or counter current heater air.
The shells then need to be alkalized, and this can be achieved by standard processes, Barry Callebaut said. After being cooled, the alkalized cocoa shell powder then needs to dry for 35-85 minutes before being ground, it added.
It's not a trivial process to make the shell safe to eat.
"Whole Bean Chocolate"
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
I went by the Wardour Street store in SoHo yesterday and picked up samples of both the 64% and 73% whole bean chocolates - both made with Madagascan beans.
I have never faced the opening of a bar of chocolate with more trepidation than I feel with these two. Unusual texture, indeed.
I am flying back to NYC from London today and don't want to get sick, so I will get to these at some point this weekend. Maybe. I hope?
Oh - and 6.95 ($11.50) for a 50gr bar - that's $100/lb for those of us who keep track of such things.
"Whole Bean Chocolate"
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
This is such a bad idea from a health perspective. Worse than "raw" chocolate.
Still, I will be in London in about 10 days and will stop by and buy a bar or three.
Scott- Want one?
:: Clay
Peanut Butter Cups
Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted
CW -What kinds of production volume are you looking to do?FYI, generically, you can do these with what's called a "one shot" machine. Which one-shot machine is right for you depends on a number of factors - volume is one, the viscosity of the filling could be another, putting candy cups in the molds before filling might be the most challenging.