Forum Activity for @Olivier L

hello from french guiana

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Hi Angenieux,

I am in Chile so on the other side of South America but I just wanted to let you know there are members from South America. Je parle franais y tambien castellano.

Chocolate oxidation

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

Ok I am going to test it . How does it affect the taste?

Thank you

Chocolate oxidation

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

Great Tom and Sebastian. THanks to both of you. It makes a lot more sense now and indeed photooxidation or degredation would be a better term. I was just curious to understand how that exposition to light can degrade chocolate. I know what sugar and fat blooms look like and I was wondering what oxidation could do.

Chocolate oxidation

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

THank you Tom and Larry,

Larry, very interesting read However I think oxidation isn't about heating chocolate or that would just be the "fat bloom" problem we encounter with chocolate. Or is it that when people talk about the oxidation of chocolate by light they mean the infrareds heating up chocolate?

I guess I am more looking for a description of what happens in the oxidation process of chocolate by LIGHT.

Thanks to anyone who could have such a description of the process

Chocolate oxidation

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

Hi all,

I keep on reading that chocolate's fats can oxidate when in contact with light... I can't make sense of it. Oxidation is a transformation process due to oxigen (air) so why do they always refer to the oxidation of cocoa's fats by light?

If anyone has a scientific explanation, I am eally interested.

Thanks for your lights.

Olivier

updated by @Olivier L: 04/11/15 06:51:32AM

Chocolate materials for window display

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

Hi,

I am not sure it will help you a lot but for fake food products I'd look at Japanese companies as there it is extensively used. There it is called: sampuru ( ) ... they use the English word "sample" but turn it Japanese

Here is a website that might help you: http://fake-food.net/

Good luck.

Drink: Cold chocolate for a hot summer

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

I think the best way to answer this question is to try it. Do you have a friend who has access to a steam wand? I don't know the density of your mix so it's hard to say. What I can say is that i get my best results (better than full fat milk) with what we call here "semi descremada" milk (1.5% fat). I am not sure the wand's heat is designed to texturize dense liquids but give it a try and share your finding with us.

Drink: Cold chocolate for a hot summer

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

Hi Jason,

That sounds similar to what is done in Latin America ( at least Peru and Mexico). Probably a something the Philippines have inheritaded.

When you cool it down you don't have a separation from the cocoa butter and the water?

Drink: Cold chocolate for a hot summer

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

Have you tried using only frozen milk, no water? I guess the more you can emulsify it the better as well.

Drink: Cold chocolate for a hot summer

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

Hi Louise,

I use different chocolates for my hot chocolates and so the ratio varies. In my case I don't premix so my customer can choose any type of milk (full, skim,...) and then the chocolate they want. I then use a steam wand as you do in the same manner as a barista would. I get a great texture and it's a very quick way to make hot chocolate.

If you have electricity at your market and can invest I'd recommend something like that: http://www.astramfr.com/steamers.html . Without electricity you could use a "Mexican molinillo" but it is a tiring task

I hope it helps.

Olivier

Drink: Cold chocolate for a hot summer

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

Hi Everyone,

I am offering chocolate drinks and I am struggling with the cold versions so I wanted to know if some of you have some good learnings to share.

For all my drinks I work from chocolate, not from cocoa powder (I want to keep that great cocoa butter). Now, to make a hot chocolate I have found a great way to do it (fast and sublime texture) but the cold chocolate is a bit trickier as chocolate doesn't melt at low temperature .

RIght now I am melting my chocolate in a bit of hot milk and then I use milk ice cubes in a blender to bring the drink to a cold enough temperature. However I am not fully satisfied with this process. Any better ideas?

Thanks for your input and ideas.

Olivier

updated by @Olivier L: 04/11/15 02:05:40PM

Single Origin Chocolate - Standards?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Hi Anne,

I can only agree with the previous comments, single origin is a marketing tool. I doubt any chocolate maker will go through a genetic testing session before using this "single origin" term to scientifically validate the premise.

In the end, I feel nowadays it comes to trusting the chocolate makers you deal with. I have moved to Chile and I work with various chocolate makers from South America that I believe trustworthy. If you want some names, just send me a private message asking what chocolate "origins" you're looking for and I'll send you what I have.

In addition, if you don't know it yet, you'll find some rich information around chocolate strains on Mark's website: www.c-spot.com

Cheers

Olivier

Hot chocolate transfer tool

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

Hi Brad, hi Clay,

Yes indeed I wanted something different that would add a little "chemistry touch" or so to the process of making hot chocolate. However finding that with sufficient volume capacity turns out to be way more complicated than I'd have guessed.

I thank you both for your replies and I wish you a great day.

Olivier

Hot chocolate transfer tool

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

Hi Clay,

Thanks for the great idea. As I am in Chile I'll try to get one shipped down here. I have already looked into veterinarian tools, "car oil" pumps and other interesting tools but none have been satisfying up until now so I'll try yours and see how it goes.

If anyone thinks of something else, I am all ears.

Olivier

Hot chocolate transfer tool

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

Hi everyone,

I am making hot/cold chocolate out of a large pot (bain marie) and I am looking for a creative way to transfer the milk/hot chocolate from the pot to the cup. Using a ladle is not so convenient and I have been investigating the following leads:

- Bulbs with a pipette as used for chemistry experiment. Picture here: http://www.ibotz.com/pipette-bulbs-pvc-pearp-shape.html

- A syringe

My main issue in both cases has been to find equipment that could handle 350+ ml. I thought of these equipements as they are easy to clean and fun to use. It add a little fun factor to the hot chocolate making in front of your customers.

How do you guys handle it? Using a standard dispenser? isn't it a bit risky with milk as it might be hard to clean well and then with milk germs proliferate fast.

If you have any ingenious idea please share it here.

Thank you.

Olivier

updated by @Olivier L: 04/10/15 06:31:35AM