We did a couple of batches of chocolate in the machine returned and we could not reproduce the rubber smell. We even tried using the machine in a closed room for 24 hours. We also talked to few of our customers and they do not recall having such a problem. One possibility we can think of is that the recipe you are using may be more viscous than normal and strains the belt.
Do you want to start from couverture or from beans?
Dear Friends,
I have a personal request to all of you. We have applied for Chase small business grant for our cocoatown business. Chase is giving $250,000 grants to selected businesses. This will help us grow our business and help more customers to grow their business in turn.
For qualifying for the grant, we need to get 250 votes by June 30 th , 2012. Please vote for cocoatown and encourage your friends to vote too. Log in at www.missionsmallbusiness.com (you can log in with facebook account) and type in cocoatown in the business name. The whole process takes less than a minute but it will bring big results for our small business. I thank you for taking time to read this and voting.
Andal Balu
HI all,
Is anybody from TCL exhibiting at NY chocolate show?
Thanks!
Andal Balu
cocoatown.com
Your point is correct. That grinding and conching has to be decoupled.
Has anybody used the chocokneader attachment provided with the deluxe melanger? It is a simplified conching tool for the deluxe melanger. Can anyone test it and post the results?
When you use the choco kneader attachment, it just mixes the chocolate liquor around and there is no grinding action.
Hi,
Our CocoaTown equipment like ECGC-12SL melangers and ECGC-65A Grindeurs have been used bychocolatiers around the world to grind almonds, pistachios, cashews, macadamia nuts, walnuts etc. (except peanut butter) into nut butters, and to grind raw or roasted cocoa nibs into cocoa liquor.You canfind more information atcocoatown.com
Hi Yvonne,
Our customers are using the ECGC-65-A Grindeurs and Deluxe melangers for nut butters and are happy with the results. ECGC -65-A Grindeurs are easier to use and clean. They also have built in systems to prevent the motor from overheating. There is no need for external fan.
Indian wetgrinders look similar to the melangers. The similarity ends with appearance. Indian wetgrinders are made for making idli dosa, and each batch of rice or lentil takes only 30 minutes. For chocolate, cocoa nibs have to be ground for 48 hours or more to get the 15 micron size. Melangers are modified to keep the motor from heating up and to keep the cocoa beans from overheating. There are lot of design and engineering improvements in melangers to make them suitable for grinding cocoa nibs.
We at Cocoatown.com sell melangers for small scale - 8-10 lbs of cocoa nibs and Grindeurs for medium scale -to grind up to 65lbs of cocoa nibs. We ship them worldwide and in the voltage you need.
Our customers have used these melangers and Grindeurs to grind raw or roasted cocoa nibs for more than five years.
Hi Joseph,
I want to clarify a few things.
Perfect+ is made for grinding grains and lentils where each batch of grinding is under 30 minutes. For grinding cocoa nibs into chocolate liquor, it takes more than 24 hours and sometimes even 48 hours depending on the process and the material used. We give only 90 day warranty for Perfect+ for chocolate grinding. also the price is $399.99 (F.O.B. Atlanta).
We developed ECGC-12 SS mini Grindeur because our customers wanted machines without the belts. also this unit is completely made of Stainless steel for hygiene and durability.
Regarding the pregrinder other pregrinders in the market have too many parts and the cleaning is harder. In CocoaT mini Pregrinder, it takes less than 30 seconds to grind one cup of cocoa nibs. Cleaning is very easy. Price is just $149.99 within Continental USA for 110V machine. In addition to cocoa nibs, it can also chop the nuts, grind the nuts into nut butters, grind coconut into coconut paste and more.
I have put a small video on youtube -cocoaT pregrinder.AVI - demonstrating the cocoa nibs grinding.
Hi Joseph,
The ECGC-12 SS melanger has not been sold yet. We have used the machine for testing purposes and demonstration purposes.
The refurbished motors are for 110V users. For 220V unit, we can send it with the new gear motor and the unit will carry a limited one year warranty against any manufacturing defect. The C.I.F. Price for the ECGC-12 SS mini Grindeur will be $1230 (we accept funds in US$).
ECGC-12 SS mini Grindeur grinds the cocoa nibs. Some customers warm the cocoa nibs in the oven slightly and then add it to the mini Grindeur.
If you pregrind it in the mini pregrinder (which powders the cocoa nibs), the grinding time in the mini Grindeur is significantly reduced.
Please let us know if you need more information.
Andal BaluHi Nat,
We are working on adding all these products in our website.
In the meantime, I have given some details on these products. If you need any specific information, please feel free to contact us.
CocoaT Cracker is ideal to crack the cocoa beans. CocoaT Crackers come in two models - Manual hand crank model and powered model. Both the models have stainless steel rollers.
CocoaT power cracker can crack 30 lbs of cocoa nibs in an hour. Stainless steel hopper. Cost $799.99 + S&H.
CocoaT manual cracker costs $249.99 + S&H.
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CocoaT Mini PREGRINDER
Want to enjoy the experience of making your own chocolate from the comfort of your home? How about making fresh cocoa powder, nut butters, or coconut butter in minutes? The CocoaT Mini Pregrinder is ideal for bringing your cocoa fantasies to life and creating your own unique recipes. Our machine is perfect for making chocolate components like nut pastes, cocoa powder, coconut butter, and many more!
CocoaT Mini Pregrinder fulfills your chocolate cravings. Two stainless steel jars are designed to handle any volume from a teaspoon to a cup of ingredients. Highly efficient and durable grinding blades grind and pulverize the ingredients in a jiffy.
The piano-key style buttons provide the user with ease and the flexibility to vary operating speeds efficiently and effectively. A handy compartment at the back of the unit stores the wire cord and keeps the area clutter-free. As a safety measure, the unit will start only if the jars are locked in position.
Specifications:
Motor - 550W, 110V
Jars - Stainless steel
Motor housing - ABS Plastic
Speeds - 3 plus a pulse
Foot Print - 12 x 6
Weight - 10 lbs with box
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CocoaT Roasters are ideal for roasting cocoa beans, the precursors of the best chocolate. Roasting at right temperature for the right duration results in better quality nibs and in turn better tasting chocolate. All CocoaT roasters are equipped with removable stainless steel roasting baskets.
Our CocoaT Roasters are equipped with temperature control. Cocoa beans are constantly tumbled at a slow speed for even roasting.
We have three different models to handle different volumes for small scale roasting.
Our CocoaT mini roasters can roast 2 lbs of cocoa beans. The unit comes with fixed temperature setting. The CocoaT mini roaster has a timer. Cost - $249.99 (F.O.B. Atlanta)
Our CocoaT Junior roaster can roast 5-6 lbs of cocoa beans. The CocoaT junior roaster has manual temperature and timer controls. Cost - $499.99 (F.O.B. Atlanta)
CocoaT Jumbo Roaster can roast 10-12 lbs of cocoa beans. The CocoaT Jumbo roaster comes with temperature and timer controls. Cost - $749.99 (F.O.B. Atlanta)
Hi Deborah & Benoit,
Here is the information on the ECGC-12 SS melanger / mini Grindeur.
This unit is the miniature version of our bigger commercial Grindeurs. All the parts except the stone bottom and roller stones are made of high quality stainless steel. The gear motor directly drives the grinding vessel. There is no belt and as a result less maintenance. The unit can grind 8 - 10 lbs of cocoa nibs.
The tension adjustor lets you control the tension of the grinding stones for grinding and conching functions.
Specifications:
Foot print - 15" x 12"
Weight - 70 lbs with packing materials
Motor - 1/3 Hp, 110V
Price - $970 + S&H.
Currently we could get hold of only the refurbished motors. So we are selling them for an initial offering of $770 + S&H. We are working on sourcing the correct motors and will update once we find the motors.
Hi This is Andal Balu from Inno Concepts.
We thank you for acknowledging that we make high quality equipment. We try our best to make sure our customers are happy with the products they buy from us.
We now have a separate website cocoatown.com that sells all the equipments for making chocolate. The Grindeurs have been improved Based on the chocolatiers' feedback. As Duffy mentioned, our prices are very affordable. We ship them to anywhere in the world. For small scale, We have a new product - ECGC-12 SS melanger. This is complete stainless steel unit with gear motor. It is the miniature version of our Big Grindeurs.
Regarding out of the country warranty, we send few spare parts that might be needed by the customer with the shipment. Also we can ship the parts to anywhere in the world.
Perfect+ is extremely well designed machine but is designed forgrinding30 minute batches of Indian food. In our lab studies, we have noticed that the motor temperature exceeded the maximum allowable temperature when used for more than 30 minute batches. We are currently making air flow design changes with active forced air flow to keep the motor cooler and make the unit suitable for chocolate grinding use. We plan to have the unit ready in couple of months.
Meanwhile, if you need it immediately, you can buy our deluxe melanger.
We have the complete train of small scale chocolate processing equipments such as CocoaT Roaster, CocoaT Cracker, CocoaT mini pregrinder,melanger / grinder/ concher (Grindeur)etc.
We are also looking for distributors in UK as we are getting more enquiries from there. Please let us know if anybody is interested.
We at cocoatown.com are working on a panning attachment for the small melangers to be used by scale chocolatiers. We are testing the attachment and will send you more information soon.
