Forum Activity for @Mike3

Cacao Pods Picture

Posted in: Uncategorized

Have you tried doing a google image search for "cacao pods?" I just did one and set the results to "large images" and saw a few "pile" pictures. I don't know if you have to worry about copyright issues though, since google returns all images, copyrighted or not.good luck!-mike

Revolution x3210 Temperer

Posted in: News & New Product Press

Hi Cathy, I honestly don't know what caused the problem (Chocovision tech support doesn't know either). I had a new board put in, and we still had the problem, then one day it stopped. I have used it probably a hundred times since with no problem. My only guess is that you shouldn't press any more buttons than necessary while its running its cycle, I think its easy to confuse the machine's logic board. I haven't dared try to recreate the problem for fear it would be back to stay if I managed to.

Hope this helps, and sorry I don't have a more definitive answer.

-Mike

Revolution x3210 Temperer

Posted in: News & New Product Press

Hi, has anyone had a problem with their x3210 software freezing during a tempering cycle? Mine seems to do it all the time such that I've only got 2 successful batches run all the way through a cycle. I have talked to tech support and even replaced the main board, and it still has the problem. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

updated by @Mike3: 04/12/15 01:24:52

Small-scale (under 100kg) chocolate making equipment

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

there are plans online if you search for home made winnower. there are pictures of some homemade ones on this site as well.good luck!

Small-scale (under 100kg) chocolate making equipment

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Well, as a total beginner, it seems that one of the hardest steps to streamline in a cost efficient way is winnowing. I know that John at Chocolate Alchemy is designing a small scale winnower, and Brooklyn Cacao has one now as well, but outside of that there seems to be nothing unless it is homemade.I have made a few different versions of winnowers, each a little better than the last, but none are perfect, but then again, altogether they cost less than $100 to build. Brooklyn Cacao's looks awesome, especially with the built in cracker, but the price tag is a bit prohibitive to people just starting (correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard it was $30k).If someone made a winnower that was in the $5000 or less category, i'd be in the market for one, but otherwise, my cheapo version although a bit tedious, will do just fine.

Antique equipment

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

I think there is one for sale in the classifieds here, but its pretty large.

Heading to Guatemala next week

Posted in: News & New Product Press

There are cacao plantations in Guatemala. I believe in the Coban region, but there may be more that I didn't see.

Favorite Chocolate Bar Retailers

Posted in: Opinion

Chocolate Maya in Santa Barbara has a good selection

Chocolate Panning, process and equipment

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Wondering if you can offer some advice---I just started playing around with panning, and I am not able to get the coated centers (coffee beans, in my case) to polish. I'm using the kitchen aid attachment, and each half has two metal ribs welded in---do i need to add more for polishing or is that what those are for? I'm also trying to avoid any coatings for polishing, which i understand is possible, though I don't believe it yet

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Just following up....got my injection molded molds from chocolat chocolat on monday. i molded a few test bars, and was very happy to see the release marks were gone, but i was even happier that over the course of molding we were able to produce the shiniest bars i've ever made.thanks again everyone for the tips, now i can sleep at night

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

In my most recent trial, I warmed the molds on a wire rack on a heating pad prior to filling, and i still got the same result (whether cooled at room temp for 10 mins then into the fridge to fully set, or cooled in front of a fan blowing around around the top and bottom of the mold). I feel like there is a way to get it to work under the conditions i have available, but with the amount of time i've already spent, i think the new mold solution sounds just right (worst case is i end up with a higher quality mold in my collection

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

i tried a fan a few nights ago, still got the release marks, but i feel like its a more gentle and even cooling than throwing then in the fridge or freezer. my plans, after getting new molds, is to build a simple cooling cabinet with a few fans so i can standardize the cooling.

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

thanks brad...will look into the brands you've suggested. i think the whole time (over on chocolate alchemy) you were helping me work out my tempering problems, the whole second half of my problems were these release marks that i though was bloom. at least now i can temper by hand with my eyes closed

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

thanks for the tip. I will look into the molds from chocolateworld. hopefully they will have a 1 oz bar similar to the one i'm using now.in thinking about cooling, do i need to cool more from the bottom than the top to ensure even cooling and a clean release? out of probably 100+ bars, i've had maybe 5 or less come out with no mark (but bars in the next compartment over come out with a mark), but i didn't do anything special to cool those (left them on a wire rack for a few minutes, then into the fridge to complete the set up).-mike

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

I'm in the process of looking for higher quality molds now---are the rigid poly carbonate molds the quality i should be looking into, or is there higher quality?

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Alan, I'm using these molds: http://www.tomric.com/ItemDetail.aspx?cmd=local&item=1955 They are thin and flexible.In retrieving that link, I noticed many of the Tomric stock photos show bars with the same type of release mark I'm getting (its easily seen on bars with smooth and flat areas).Mike

Dealing with mold release marks

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

I'm finding that all of my 1 oz bars are getting mold release marks once they are set up. I'm positive they are the artifact of slow/uneven cooling (as per some good tips/advice from a member here), but it seems that no cooling method I try gets rid of the marks.

What is the preferred method of cooling solid bars in the absence of a cooling tunnel/cabinet?

Thanks in advance
Mike

updated by @Mike3: 04/10/15 14:40:15

Chocovision vs. Melter

Posted in: Opinion

i'm just barely getting a grip on tempering by hand, and can attest to the quality of results that are possible (not that i get them every time yet i just bought a chocovision x and while i'm glad to have it stirring for me and controlling everything, i'm confident that if and when it breaks, i can get the job done by hand. the way i see it is that you have a lot to gain by doing both--getting the machine AND learning by hand (plus, you can learn by hand while the machine is working for you good luck!

First time tempering with the Revolation X3210

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Alright, second time around, I set the low end temp to 80.9F and it didn't recognize the set point at all and just kept dropping. Again it wouldn't let me adjust any settings at all. I put it in sleep mode, then re-started and set the high melt temp to 91F to salvage my temper.Am I experiencing a software glitch with not being able to adjust the low temp set point? My instructions don't really elaborate on the steps.

First time tempering with the Revolation X3210

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

So, just picked up a Revolation x3210 and am in theprocess of testing it on my first batch. Knowing that the low end waspossibly not low enough for the batch i'm using, I set the machine to go down to 80F (thelowest possible). Everything was fine until it got to 80.7F and thechocolate mass started thickening and raising higher and higher out ofthe bowl. It didn't want to go lower than 80.7F (according to the display), so I attempted to justraise the low end temp up to 80.8F to get the machine to kick on to thenext phase of tempering. For some reason it wouldn't let me adjust thetemp (higher or lower). I hit the pause button, then tried to restart about 10 secs later, but the chocolatehad thickened enough to stop the bowl from rotating and it gave me anerror. At this point, the only button that worked was "Reset" and I ended up starting over (and as of writing this, am still in the process of restarting
)
my questions: why couldn't i adjust the lower end temp when it seemed to stall (temp wise)?

once i get the error message, is the only choice left to start the whole process over?

thanks,
mike
updated by @Mike3: 04/22/15 10:11:20

General Tempering Question

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Brian, i have been battling with tempering and cooling, and i noticed yesterday that the blotch i've been getting on every bar, on the side touching the mold CAN be wiped off. Perhaps you can shed some light on my problem and a possible solution?After a full day of tempering and molding under all sorts of different conditions, i suspected that maybe there was too much residual cocoa butter in my molds and that was causing the problem (even though i clean them out with cotton balls before use), so i washed one with soap for the first time to test my hypothesis today. (by the way, i'm using a revolation x as of yesterday, but was getting this when i'd temper by hand prior to this)thanks in advance-mike