Forum Activity for @Channy

What to do about To'ak Chocolate?

Posted in: Opinion

On the plus side, at least consumers are getting used to the idea that the price of 'fine chocolate' should be more than what is currently the price at your local supermarket. While I haven't seen or tasted the chocolate, if I made a bar worthy of charging that much I would be quite chuffed with myself. That said, I agree with Sebastian. Marketing, love it or hate it; it can really influence customers.

I hope to learn something from what they've done (even though I dont think i'll be selling bars for even half of that much). I also think that fine chocolate has a long way to go in terms of the way we look at pricing. I think that so much lack of customer knowledge means that what david-menkes mentioned is going to happen for a while. Which is a real shame. 

 

 

updated by @Channy: 05/28/15 22:45:07

Temper Machine and Chocolate Melter?

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

When we are in production mode and are running low on chocolate (in our large tempering machine) we sometimes use a large container/bucket to melt about 5-7kg in a microwave. If you want to keep running without restarting the tempering process then just microwave out the chocolate to about the same temperature as the tempering machine runs at- for us its around 29-30c. We then add it in to the machine and retest to make sure its still crystallised (tempered).The stuff from the microwave will quickly crystallise with the rest of the chocolate in the machine.

If you start doing this before you run out of chocolate then you can re-fill seamlessly without losing much time.

It really helps when you are burning through your chocolate- like before easter! I would much rather have a melter/hot box, but that's just more money to spend!

Hands-on Bean-to-bar Chocolate School: Curriculum, Cost, and more

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Would anyone in North America (or elsewhere but preferably in English), be willing to run a course, or know of a course or place for training in Bean to Bar? I am applying for funding to attend training. I am also happy to Stage somewhere to learn too.

Any info would be fantastic.

P.s in regards to what I would pay- between $3000 and $5000 for a course which covers everything from understanding beans, selecting, roasting and everything to final product- hopefully also covers which machinery is best suited but happy to pay someone separately for that information.

Cheers

Examining a Mast Brothers Assertion

Posted in: Opinion

Brad anyone might think my reply was a slight to your company and chocolate- and it wasn't. I have never tried your product, and I wasn't even comparing you Mast Brothers at all. I actually think most of their chocolates are grainy and inconsistent. That brings me back to the point of this whole conversation. Clay brought this up to make a point of the possible unrealistic claims they make as bean to bar producers, regarding their purchasing bean price. What I am saying is that this is a valuable conversation that must be had- not just because there needs to be more transparency in modern companies but also that if you are staking a big claim about potentially 'doing good for society' then your peers must not openly disagree. Secondly, and more personally, I truly want to look into bean to bar, and I want to know what other people think of what is a legitimate price to pay for good beans (and what is too high). In summary that is two reasons this conversation must be had. I'm glad It has been had

Examining a Mast Brothers Assertion

Posted in: Opinion

I have to put my two cents in here. I am from Adelaide, South Australia, and while I have never heard or seen anything to do with Choklat outside of these forums, I have heard and seen Mast Brothers Chocolate everywhere. Even in Adelaide it's not uncommon for people to know them and any serious chocolate lover will know them. Their chocolate is stocked in at least two- three places here in South Austrlaia and countless more in Sydney and Melbourne. I have to say I really agree with Clay as I am actually considering starting my own experiments with producing chocolate and the price I should pay for Cocoa beans is very relevant. This whole discussion is very relevant, hence me sitting here reading through anything and everything about chocolate and what people think of other craft chocolate producers.

Freezing Chocolates

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

Hey guys,We have been planning on doing this process for a while now. We just need a freezer that doesn't get opened much. Another chocolatier said that it would be detrimental to the finished product. I'm curious to see how big the boxes are that people have been using? Have you been vacuum sealing the whole box? What kind of vacuum sealer do you have? It would need to be fairly large? Do any of you layer the chocolates inside the boxes?

Chocolate Drinking Machine Recommendations

Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools (Read-Only)

Thanks Brad.

I figured that something was turning rancid. We had the machines turned to 60 degrees C. Not sure what it is in Fahrenheit.. So should we have turned them up higher? I figured above 65c would be too high. What I didn't like about the steaming was the foamy textures. I might try adjust the recipe again. Also hoping to use this at a stall without any kind of coffee machine (only a chocolate machine). Has anyone else ever had their mix turn rancid so quickly?

Cheers

Chocolate Drinking Machine Recommendations

Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools (Read-Only)

Great recommendations people!

Instead of starting a new thread, (which I might do later anyway) I thought I would ask all of you experts here. We have a small chocolate & patisserie boutique. We make everything there from scratch. Anyway, we originally made our hot chocolate by making a ganache and then steaming it with a little exta milk added. We weren't keen on doing this so we decided to get a continuos hot chocolate machine. The first one we boght was kind of cheap, around $300 Aus $. After having the machine on for a few hours we noticed the flavour would change and then eventually turn rancid and off smelling. It seemed to be happening sooner and sooner and so we thought we'd bought a dudd machine that maybe was only good for powder mixes etc. So eventually we invested in a better machine. it was around $700, and it heats via a baine marie. We thought this would be a lot better, and it was for a little while but eventually it has started to do the same thing. Yesterday it went bad after only 5-6 hours of putting the fresh batch in.

The weird thing is, it seems to happen a lot less if I change the recipe to have no cream in it, only milk. (not a fan of this either). I have eventually tried modifying the recipes a lot, but my favourite recipe which is a modification from a very skilled French chocolatier, seems to go bad every time. Anyone know if it could be that certain creams have fats that go off quicker?

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Chantelle

Has anyone used the NETZSCH chocolate machines?

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

Thanks Clay,Has anyone ever used any of Cocoa Town's products? I'm really keen to get started. I was going to go with Santha but if anyone can recommend me something to start off with, that'd be great. I think in the future I would need something something bigger than the 10 lbs melangeurs but I do need to start somewhere.Cheers

Has anyone used the NETZSCH chocolate machines?

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

Hello everyone,I am very grateful of all the knowledge on these forums that people willingly share, I think it's fantastic. I have so far just been perusing all the forums and trying to get an understanding of what people are using and the kinds of outputs that people can achieve from cost effective set ups. I would like to be able to set up to make small batches of chocolate for sale, with an artisan approach not dissimilar to the Mast Brothers of Brooklyn.I have been looking at the Mast Brothers set up, they seem to have 4 grinders that they use to grind down and conche their roasted nibs. They say they run them for something like 72 hours I think. Does anyone know what kind of grinders they use? I know they also have a Spectra Melangeur there too but it seems it might be for test batches. If anyone knows of any other machinery out there that is for the small/artisan approach I'd be grateful to hear of it.Thank you to all,Chantelle

How to grow cacao at home

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

I also have a little cacao tree. I haven't had it long- probably 2 months. We haven't really given it enough attention and it's not going so well. It's about to get really cold here in South Australia- was wondering if anyone has any tips to keeping it at the right temperatures and humidity Should I just buy or build something to house it in and keep it at the right conditions?