The cocoa's where all the money is anyway - the chocolate business was nice to have (who doesn't like to say they have a chocolate company), but the reality is the money maker was - and is - the cocoa side of the business.
I'll start a new business model around 'certified bean to bar' validation. I'll be the 3rd party voice of credibility 8-)
I find that preheating both the stone and the nibs (and keeping some heat on the bowl once in use) is very helpful. I've never used the Spectra 100, but suspect the easiest way to do so may be to build a frame around it, and place a small portable heater inside it.
Speed is going to be a function of the details of your environment (how warm it is), your ingredients (how much fat is in them), and your formulation (lower fat formulas or those w/o emulsifiers will require a different approach than high fat, emulsified formulations).
I got a series of 1/4" thick 24x24" plastic 'sheets' (squares), and cut out the inside of them until they looked like picture frames. Having multiples of them allows for them to be stacked so i can vary my thickness (each layer i add = 1/4" thicker ganache). Stack 'em up, pour the ganache, let it solidify, run a knife around the edges, and lift it up and cut.
Easy to clean, small footprint, inexpensive to build/replace.
Once you get it up and running i've love to come by and take a look at it if that's possible. I'm not all that terribly far away i suspect. Always fun to see operational stuff!
Lots of things you can do once you've got the ability to do that - industry uses it mainly to achieve better micro kills at lower temperatures/times (steaming it). You can also use it to modify flavors (both removing and creating new flavors). It opens up a level of control and flexability for formulation that you currently likely don't possess. Depending on how you use it (ie if you end up using it in a fashion where you create a lot of steam), you may need a pressure relief valve so you don't inadvertantly build a bomb.
Ben - just a suggestion, you might want to consider giving yourself the ability to inject liquids into your roaster, perhaps by running a pipe inside your frame, and drilling spray holes. The assembly is great to enable that.
Sorry guys, didn't see the updates until now. I can't for the life of me figure out how to send you a pm here, perhaps you could message me and i'll give you my thoughts.
Out of my scope there mate. I've actually seen the process that makes Bailey's (it's a robot, i forget her name...) that's very cool. I know that's not a particularly helpful bit of info for your question, it just sparked the memory 8-)
That should do the trick!
It's most likely just a solvent extracted product, with that solvent being ethanol, maybe a little color or top noting flavors added. A little heat, a little pressure, and ethanol's actually a pretty good extraction agent for many things. It's also quite flammable, and may require a governmental accounting of it's use (depending on the volume), so tread carefully.
Can you be more precise? Does over 100 degrees mean 101, or 199? I'd shoot for a chocolate mass temperature of 130-140. Depending on if you have well fermented nibs or not (well fermented nibs = higher cocoa butter) - you may need to add more cocoa butter and/or lecithin to help fluidize.
I assume the nibs have been roasted?
Temperature of the room and of the mass inside the bowl?
Generally speaking, the lower your humidity the better. I think you'll have troubles if you're moulding in a hot (35C) room. 20C might be a bit cool, so i'd shoot for something in between personally.
I've noticed folks using it for years, it's sort of a one stop shop app for message boards on mobile devices. I've just installed it a few weeks ago, and it does make board life easier when not at a desktop, but there must be an 'opt in' requirement from the board site itself to participate...
It could well be that as every iphone release marches boldly into a brave new technological world, i am slowly taking a step backwards until someday you'll hear me asking how to get the 12:00 to stop flashing on my iphone - but is it possible to configure the site to be readable via the tapatalk app? I'm using it for all my other board activity, but not seeing TCL on it...
Mark - it may be worthwhile to suggest a course on cocoa microbiological food safety for the artisinal bean to bar maker. If that emerging industry can't self regulate, the FDA will do it for them, which nobody wants.
May not be what you want to hear, but it's likely that until you condition your refining room, the problem will not go away. It's also possible that you're not tempering sufficiently. Could be a combination of the two. Best to get your RH down in the sub 70% range.
Rogerio - ah, cost is always an issue, no? if i can get the messaging system to work i'll send you the name of a company that makes good small sized z blade mixers, they're not as conventional as you might think, but work well.
Welcome Rogerio - you're right in the middle of Brazillian cocoa country! Lots of info here, i'm sure you'll find it helpful - good luck!
Stephen - i f you're looking at smaller volumes (ie not hundreds of lbs per day) - you might want to consider the EZ Temper. it's a pretty different approach from standard tempering machines, but works quite well.
it'll work ok, but there's simply not enough energy input for that to be of much use from a flavor modification or serious emsulsification standpoint. I've had many of these built, and they work alright, but certainly are not best in class.
Another alterantive you may wish to consider might be a z-blade mixer that's been jacketed for temperature control.
What quantities are you looking to make, and what characteristics are imprtant to you? (ie lower fat chocolates, dark chocolates, milk chocolates with flavor development, etc?)
a mold washer. or lots and lots and lots of hair dryers?
Not necessarily. That depends entirely on which acids were formed during fermentation and the type of equipment you have. Not all are volatile, and not all conching is created equal.
Adding any liquid oil will accomplish this for you - the exact amount of which will be up to you to decide in terms of achieving the right consistency. Note: liquid oils are typically more susceptable to oxidation than solid oils, and you'll want to watch that, especially in your hot environment. I might suggest a coconut or palm fraction to begin with.
There actually is - there're a number of patents on it, and major companies are using it in india as we speak. The issue for you is that, as a small buyer of chocolate, you're not going to have access to any of these. Appropriately packaged product will be your friend, but that's only half of your battle - for as you well know the thousands of shopes that your courrier will delivery to will also not be 'thermally attractive' to your chocolate - so ensuring it arrives to them in good condition will be your first (solvable) issue - the next(and harder one) will be what to do once it arrives to them....
Freddo i probably have some you could have, don't really need to sell them, perhaps we can work out a trade for a few chocolate bars once in a while as trade. Let me know what you're looking for, more precisely?
I've seen all the equipment above - it's all in great condition.
Just make sure you're not using water soluble flavors - sometimes folks get mixed up and use the two interchangably..
Actually, the alcohol is there because alcohol extracts flavors much differently than does water. It's a much more effective solvent, and as such the types of flavors you get with alcohol extractions are very different than what you find with water extractions.
You will need to decide for yourself which is better. Alcohol based flavors are used every day in large scale chocolate manufacture.
your alcohol based flavors will be fine. use oil soluable if you can find them, but if not, alcohol based will work just fine.
For some reason i'm not seeing the pictures....
Natural colors are almost always water soluable. Are yours suspended in fat, and if so, is that fat a soybean, coconut, or some other fat that's liquid at room temperature? If so, you've likely got an oil migration problem, which would be solved by dispersing those colorants in a solid fat - ideally cocoa butter.
It will absolutely work. There are a range of ingredients that are used specifically to help control Aw. The question often comes down to a philosophical one of do you want it in your ingredients list or not. Does it work? Absolutely.
Heavy metal soluability in water is very well understood. A few examples below. Remember heavy metals aren't your only concern. Note that heat is largely an ineffective treatment for aflatoxins as aflatoxins tend to recombine in acidic environments (such as with the acid in your stomach, for example)
My opinion only. Where i do see a benefit is the units with the vacuum capability tend to have MUCH better mixing capability, which results in a more physically stable emulsion. If you're not having textural or separation issues, i'd say the more advanced unit wouldn't hurt, but it may not necessarily help either...
That's great Christina - Costa Rica is one of my favorite places on Earth. I'm absolutely in love with it. I considered buying properety there at one point, however the squatters laws made that problematic for me in that i'd need to visit my property every 3 (or was it 6?) months to ensure no one had moved in. If they did, and i didn't remove them, they could claim the property as their own.
You may wish to connect with CATIE ( http://www.catie.ac.cr/) if you've not already as a local research connection. The watchout with clay is that it often doesn't contain much cadmium, but it can be very high in lead.
Cheers
Daniel - i've never done the study, so no data - but i don't believe a RC would result in longer microbial shelf life as a result of not incorporating ambient air. I know others believe otherwise.
Why do i think thusly? Your chocolate already has a micro load on it (meaning your chocolate, while likely food safe, is not sterile - it has more micro organisms on/in it than you think) - so they're already there. You can't load your RC in a vacuum, meaning that ambient micro organisma are going to be in your RC when you start it in addition to what went in with your ingredients. When you pull a vacuum, it's not going to pull those organisms out, and while the ganache may be mixed under a vacuum, when you open the unit you break the vacuum, and ambient air will rush back into the lower pressure areas of the ganace to equalize pressure.
My opinion only, no data to support it 8)
The theory behind the RC, so the story goes (at least that i've often heard suggested as it's major benefit) is that since it's a more sealed environment, it helps to increase shelf life by keeping microbes out. While it may be true that because it has a lid less ambient microbes settle in the product, it doesn't really make a difference due to the amount of microbes already present. So i'd say no advantage there. To Ruth's point, the RC is a very powerful high efficiency blender. A stick blender is fine, nothing wrong with it (it's what i have), but a RC will be better from the perspective of it will create a finer emulsion than the stick blender is capable of producing, which could result in an improved texture and reduced tendancy to separate.
it's a very useful overview. All i ask is for the opportunity to buy some caramels when you've reduced your learnings to practice 8-)
Gonna be tough to find at the moment i'm afraid - the organic dairy market is currently such that almost all of the producers are keeping the organic milk in a fluid form; very, very little is currently being converted to solids.
I wouldn't be so concerned about that actually. There will be some uptake of it by your plants to be sure, but most of it will simply wash away in the rain. I'd think the actual plant uptake would be small (but i've nothing but my opinion to support that).
