Forum Activity for @Daniel Haran

Daniel Haran
@Daniel Haran
01/26/16 12:36:25PM
49 posts

Cocoa butter infusion


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

On wikihow they suggest 2-5 hours at 100-120F, so it may simply be that you need to infuse it longer. I recently infused some annatto and chile using my Anova circulator, which makes that type of task much easier.

Have you tried powdering the flowers and adding them into the conche? I was only infusing the annatto because it's a pain to grind down, and chili... well, it can stay in flakes but more importantly pre-grinding means running the risk of inhaling it. You shouldn't need the same hazmat precautions when handling lavender :)

Daniel Haran
@Daniel Haran
10/29/15 12:01:25AM
49 posts

Oko Caribe sample roasts


Posted in: Recipes

I've just started roasting new samples of Oko Caribe, trying a total of 8 combinations described below. Hopefully some of you will have suggestions for things to try.

First, about the equipment: I use perforated cheats in a commercial convection oven with excellent air flow, a single layer of beans on each pan. Prior to this I had used a Gene Roaster, a Behmor and a home oven. The Gene Cafe and oven get similar results at equivalent temperatures, often 20% below the reading needed for a similar roast profile on a conventional oven.

On to the specifics: in previous experiments I found that some cocoas do better with a drying / pre-heat phase. I use 20 minutes at 65C, the lowest available setting for my oven. For each temperature I have two sheets, one that goes through the pre-heating phase and one that does not. This time beans were removed at 18 and 20 minutes.

For the roast tests I was joined by a friend with a great palate. We hand-shelled beans from each sample and mixed nibs (I'm thinking of using a mortal & pestle next time) to get a representative sample without getting too wired.

 

Results:

pre-heated, 100C:

  18m: floral notes with peanut, coffee, fudge and brownie

  20m: more chocolate flavour, notes of espresso

100C:

  18m: sticky shells, beans still hard. Peanut, strong acid, green banana

  20m: brazil nuts (!?). fairly astringent but with a nice bourbon / malt, a slight smoke.

pre-heated, 110C:

  18m: nutty. spice notes: nutmeg, clove. some harsh acids. "warm"

  20m: minty, pepper aftertaste, less acidic, not very astringent.

110C:

  18m: pretzel (!?). Fruity acids, a favourite.

  20m: coconut. astringent; spice and espresso.

 

The next tests will be "no pre-heating, 22 minutes @ 100C" and "10m pre-heat, 12m @ 118C".

Is there anything else you would try for roast profiles or to change my protocol? Thanks in advance.

Daniel Haran
@Daniel Haran
03/12/15 11:54:43AM
49 posts

Wrapping Chocolate Bars... We've been doing it wrong???


Posted in: Opinion

I've never understood why almost everyone does this. Utterly weird.

Daniel Haran
@Daniel Haran
02/20/15 12:59:02AM
49 posts

Rapadura sugar? Unrefined, evaporated cane juice?


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

Every professional I asked to taste my chocolate told me they tasted raisins and dates. I tried different beans, roasts and conche times and I could never, ever get it out.

Then one day I was making a simple syrup for some cocktails and when I tasted it I could taste that raisin and date. Hopefully my misfortune here gives you a tool to help you choose the sugars you want to try making chocolate with Happy

Like Sebastian I want to highlight the chocolate, so I bought every sugar I could get and tasted them to find the one with the least added taste. Wholesome Sweeteners organic sugar was the best compromise until I found out about Native sugar in one of Taza's transparency reports. It's organic, available white, and has very good pricing for bulk orders.

Wholesalers should have spec sheets that indicate moisture and ICUMSA colour. Useful to make sure you're clear on what you're ordering.

If you find a darker sugar and chocolate combination you enjoy, please do post about it.

Daniel Haran
@Daniel Haran
11/06/14 10:29:39AM
49 posts

Chocolate Vendors


Posted in: Uncategorized

Where are you located, what's your usage, volume, and budget?

The two big couverture players in my area are Barry and Valrhona. Some use Belcolade because it's cheaper and "Belgian", but it's nowhere near as good.

Real chocolate that tastes great is expensive. A tastier but more expensive option is to contact a bean-to-bar manufacturer whose chocolate you like and inquire about bulk pricing.

Daniel Haran
@Daniel Haran
09/29/14 01:21:56PM
49 posts

Roaster review


Posted in: Opinion

25% increments sound like too little control. I get very different roasts with each 10-20 degree difference, which is trivial to accomplish with the Gene Cafe. Are you supposed to cycle up and down between 50-75% to get a desired temp between those 2 points? How do you then map that to a convection oven?

Makes me want to shake the Behmor makers until they promise to learn about PID controls. No one really cares about *power in*, we only care about *temperature out*.

Daniel Haran
@Daniel Haran
09/28/14 05:31:25PM
49 posts

Roaster review


Posted in: Opinion

I've used a Behmor for a while - what's frustrating is the lack of control. I'd read about roast profiles in forums or books and be unable to apply it, so Iresold mine to a friend and got a Gene Cafe. It's a lower capacity but much higher control, ideal for nailing down roast profiles before going bigger.

Dedicated roasters resell well since there are a lot of coffee enthusiasts; you can try that option and resell if you don't like or outgrow it.

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