Forum Activity for @antonino allegra

Me too! what can you do with?

a "RED-theobromine-BULL"

anti-depressant nasal spray?

anti oxidant body oils?

what else.... with 200 kg of shell per month it could be intersting....

Extraction: boil in water and then boil the water down? would it "kill" the theobromine?

Pleasure!

i have been very happy with them, hope you will too! My employees are begging me to get another one! As business owner and chocolate maker, i have less stress knowing that anytime during the day for any reason i always have perfectly tempered chocolate, it makes every one happy to produce and efficiency was better than what i could ever expect!

Cheers!

Nino

Hi,

the beauty of this forum is exactly this: helping each other in many ways!

The chocolab is their latest creation, Fbm i think made it for multifunctional small/medium businesses and you could have all in one spot. i don't believe you could find it used as it just came in to the market.

I have a Unica 25kg with pneumatic depositor and i'm in the process to get another one with enrober (12 or 25kg depending on budget)

The best part of FBM machine is that they are easy to maintain an repair: we had once an issue with cooling (too fast) and i did use just a screw driver and the help on the phone by their technician (i live in South Africa), my local engineer loves the machine because if something brakes is easy to find spare parts even here in SA. I guess only the computer board must come from FBM directly for obvious reason..

If i would be in Italy/france/Spain area i would maybe buy second hand, but if you can afford it, buy it new.

Comparison with Selmi: i did work with some of the Selmi machines and they are also good, maybe sexier looking but they cost much much more, if they break is gonna hurt you... and i had a very bad experience with customer service, i still haven't received a quote after 2 years of asking..

Best of luck!

Hi MAhmoud,

for 200kg a day, you could easily start with an FBM continuos tempering machine of 12 kg, but for personal experience i suggest to buy a slightly over-sized machine, just in case you grow fast!.

Of course you should also consider your production, meaning: if you produce only 1 "color" then buy a 25kg machine, but if you temper 2 or more color you should then maybe buy 2 smaller solution (i think is called compatta or something).

Depend on your budget you may opt for a big (25 kg Unica, like the one i have) and 1 small (12kg)

Also, buy it with the dedicated enrobing belt, you can always develop some products to coat!

If you let us (the forum) have more info on what you produce we might come up with more solutions.

BTW, i don't work for FBM, i'm just a big fan thanks to the great experience with it....

Thanks Brad... I haven't thought about this comparison...

Here in South Africa, Lindt is THE CHOCOLATE..... let's see what will happen next chocolate testing room!

What i find a bit "annoying" is that major company are now trying to "sell" the artisan feeling we (the real Artisan) give to our shops and clients.

Cheers

Nino

Yep, i think i s called as well Locust bean gum...

Carob powder is also one of the most ancient and best stabilizer for ice cream....

Hi There,

milk powder is already "cooked".. is made either by "rolling" milk into a big heated cylinder and then scraped off, or by spraying milk into a hot chamber to vaporize the water.

The differences between milk powders are generally : Fat content (use a 20%), what kind of cows, season, area of growth (fed with green grass, hay or whatever) ,production system.

What system of making chocolate you do use, what temperature, how do you grind/insert the milk powder to the chocolate and mailny what quality of milk you are using will affect the final taste of your product.

Do not compare to swiss milk chocolate (unless you live there), their cows make a very mild milk, and they add malt to the milk powder....

If you cook the milk powder in cocoa butter you will end up with caramel...... then we are in a different game...

HI There,

you cannot temper vegetable fat based "chocolate", it doesnt work.

to temper you don't need 10 kg chocolate, but as small as 100gr.... and even if ou mess up the tempering, you just need to re-melt and start again!

"experiment" with compound chocolate will not teach you anything....

best of luck!

Antonino

Edward,

i think at the moment you are on the top list for the "Wile E. Coyote/Mac Gyver" Award!!!

i will try to make one as well!

Hi Edward,

please share a couple of pics with us, it sounds like a cool idea.

Cheers

Nino

Hi Andy,

welding aluminum is matter of professionals, i built this frame when i just arrived in SA and i didn't know anyone. So i went the easier way to "rivet" (or bracketing) everything simply because was the only way i knew how to put it together.

Riveting is easy: drill a hole, put a rivet and with the right gun just close the rivet.

The bolts are the same as the one from the link, any engineering company is capable to drill a hole in it. Do not try at home, it will cost you so much on drill bits and time. Seriously i did all the rest of the job with the cheapest DIY tools i could find at a builder warehouse.

the frame has been put together almost 2 year ago and it hasn't yet broken into pieces... so i guess it works!

Next (just to consider it an evolution) i will buy a thick cutting block and cut the slots so it is easier /faster to cut and move the ganache.

looking forward to see yours!

Here a picture of mine!

DIY is very very cheap,i would say 2 hours for shopping and 2 hours to put it together (the first one i made took me a lot longer... trial and error) if you get someone to do it (unless is a friend) it will look better but cost also more.

i use an elevated cutting board so i can push it trough the ganache.

sometimes i use it just to score the marks on a soft caramel and then cut with the knife...

still, only ca $40...... i can live with that!

here we go: i found the link, hope i don't mess up with the T&C of the forum

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/89623-home-made-guitar-cutter/

Hi Andy,

i actually did! i found some details online (will try to remember and forward the links).

you will need:

a) being good as "MacGyver'

b) few tools

what i did: i bought some aluminum pipes of 25mmx25mm and cut to size to create a frame.

riveted all together. made holes for the right cut size ( 2.5cm )

Then i bought some high resistant bolts and got the holed by an engineer company ( in Cape Town we have a lot of them that work with marine items).

The wires are not from an electric guitar (too expensive) but is fishing rod for deep see fishing (sharks, tuna etc) that can hold pressure up to 300kg.

the next step would be to get a base cut from a piece of aluminum (like a real one) but i don't feel now to pay $$$ for it.

Now, it looks very "frankestein" BUT it works!

I will try to take some pics tomorrow.

BTW, a frame cost me about Zar 350 (ca $45)

H,

pricing is a big science, so many things to calculate: food cost, overheads, profit but also market related prices, high potential profit for once-off or lower price to create a long lasting client/business relationship!

So start to have your food cost (ingredients per portion) right: $2-3 is a very wide range!

THEN do this calculation: food cost (FD) X 65% = minimum selling price. (eg: $2X1.65=$3.30-min.selling price)

or: final price is equivalent to: FD +15% (oveheads)+55% (minimum profit) (considering your food cost being 35%)

Also remember to add to your costing any extra tool/trais, foil, petrol etc necessary to get the job done. ( let say 5-10% )

As well: do you need to hire extra people for the job? Add it on. Do you need to work extra hours for the job? if you will do it on your extra time, add it on: you could have been doing something else but you stuck at work till late night!

Then you will see, if this price isbelow your competitors or market related you can add as much as you feel :a) right; b) fair c) worth the effort d) try to cash up heavily to buy a new tool/ great dinner/a day at the SPA....

my suggestion? it should be worth the effort and the extra time without being to heavy on mark up..

Remember that unless you are happy at the end of hard work, you will feel very very bitter about it and you will not appreciate what you did.

My few rand (south african money..) worth of knowledge...

Hope it helps

contact chocolate form (chocolateform.com) they can assist you..Policarb mold are expensive BUT is an investment. they last forever.

Hi There,

no need for lacca of sort, just put a very thin layer of tempered chocolate, or cocoa butter (better if airbrushed) and then layered the second time as normal.

Of course chocolate quality, condition of tempering, storage and handling can destroy the 'shininess" easily.

Hi awriter,

thank you for the good update on sugar free! this global research is going well!

I'm not a scientist but i have spent 20 years in pastry kitchen, that is where my knowledge for ingredient come from.

The point of the research was to find out options for "sugar-free" chocolate bar (as i have a bean to bar business). Making desserts sugar free, low carb, gluten free, egg free etc.. based on chocolate that taste even better than regular is actually (for me...) the easy thing! i did it for the past 10 years.

The difficult part is to create a chocolate bar that is completely sugar (sucrose) free and still being of good taste and at least not more harmful than the one made with real sugar.

I haven't started yet with the physical testing, at the moment we are talking just theoretically. We still believe that our 85% dark chocolate and our 95% "40 hour conche" is still the best bet for our diabetic clients.

Ps: i going to have a look at your blog!

HI Thomas,

apparently what they call cactus "honey" is nothing else that crystallized agave syrup! It look like there is no bees involved into making "honey"=disinformation and using the word "honey" as marketing tool... i have found a couple of website that explain this in details.

i think the use of maltodextrin is for keeping it "dry" ( i have used in the past tapioca maltodextrin to turn olive oil into powder...)

I notice that from the list i made, except for the "Lakanto" (where to fid it?), it all goes back to Agave/cactus plants.

South Africa (where i live) is a big producer of agave syrup and powder, and the farming area is just about 2 hours drive from Cape Town. I'm actually in touch with a producer and i should ask them if i could visit the plantation and maybe have a talk with their lab-test people to clarify the myth of agave...

Hi Thomas,

i did some research not long time ago onhoney powder and it did look like that only 30% is actual honey and the rest is simply sugar (saccarose) so i gave up on using honey to make solid bars (although honey will be the best "sugar free" product! natural and depend on the flowers and area we could have an infinite number of combinations!).

Could you please check how is your honey powder made?

thanks!

Hi Omar,

a pesticide? really?!? hmmm maybe a good marketing tool: Eat this chocolate, not only is sugar free but also kill all the bacteria inside out! aha ha ahah just kidding, but i'm now curious!

So far we have:

Agave sugar (hi fructose)

Stevia (no calories but needs bulking fibers)

Erythritol and Maltitol (alchool sugar)

Splenda (sucralose/pesticide...)

Coconut sugar

Add on if you have ideas!

Hi Ernesto,

will have a look of what kind of coconut sugar i can get here in South Africa. In theory i shouldn't need to change much of a recipe if the coconut sugar has a similar structure.

thanks a lot!

Hi Andy,

thank you, what you say is what i actually think about the issue.... Still it is funny and interesting to do research!

i will keep posted!

Next try will be with Splenda.

Hi just an update on research,

and i make a point sayng that i am not a food scientist but just a chocolate maker that i very very curios!

Stevia chocolate is recently available on the market, with percentage between 55% and 80% something.

Stevia is 300 time sweeter than sugar and has not the same effect to chocolate as saccarose (sugar).

To "make up" for the missing sugary part, dietar fibers like inulin,dextrin, oligofructose (??) is added to ,in my word, to bulk up the bar.

Also Stevia alone wont make the chocolate sweet enough (and also costs a lot!) so another form of sugar substitute (sugar alchool?) such as Erythritol is added.

then of course there is the knowledge of how much of what!!

Now, as artisan chocolate maker is a lot to digest... i think Biiig Company have scientists and experts but im not giving up, i can get all those ingredient and play around, inviting a couple of food scientist for a glass of wine and after the second bottle hey should start to talk. eheheh....

Still, anyone any idea on sucralose (splenda) usage?

Hi All again,

anyone have tried "SPLENDA" (sucralose) on making chocolate?

Hi All,

we receive a lot of request of "sugar free" chocolate, most of them they refer to "use Agave syrup/crystals", but this is not what we think as "sugar free"!

Unfortunately here, miscommunication or false information make people believe that Agave "sugar" (!!!) is diabetic friendly...

We know that a 85%dark bar with sugar is better than a 55% dark made with agave, but it takes time to explainthatto every one!

Now, going to the point:

i'm capable of doing some research of real sugar free (sucrose) -chocolate maybe using stevia or other ingredients (Honey won't work). but i not really sure where to start..

Anyone any idea or suggestion?

Thanks in advance!

Antonino

here we go, extract from an email i sent to a The Chocolate Life memebr.:

Hi Clay,

i have pics and info about the Roaster, is it ok to post it?

Sorry, continued:

and unless you mess around with the setting you should have quite a even, consistent product.

we roast 15 kg beans at time and breakage is minimal (anyway, you need to winnow!!) with few tricks we manage to extract certain notes that we wish to have.. just a small change on the flame change the taste from hazelnutty to roast almond.

of course there is no limit to perfection and no limit to theoretical roasting and cost involved, but you are also in business to make money..

Hi Matthew, Colin,

we didn't modify the machine.

our roaster is equipped with digital drum speed control, an electronic/digital thermostat, and 3 point of gas/fire adjustment + ventilation valve that we can adjust as well.

we can accurately roast at temp of 120 or 140C quite accurately and unless you mess around with the settings.

Hi Yes you can, we do roast in a coffee roaster and we do 1 ton a month if not more.

DO NOT BUY AMBEX!!! we have been victim of a fraud directly from them and lost about $5000!!! unfortunately we are in South Africa and is very difficult to fight them. if you want i give you the contact details of the factory in Turkey that build the ambex roasters and get it for a 5th of the price...

the roaster is based on a italian made drum and system and the rest is build in Turkey. decent machine and with a 19kg gas bottle we roast at least 15 bags of beans.

Thanks a lot for the info ,Clay!

i'm already doing a design and i have pulled out my swiss knife to build one!!!

great, how much it cost? where can you buy something like that in EU? i live in South Africa and is gonna be hard to get one!

Hi, Wine cooler has a very "soft" fridge, remember that the higher the outside temp. the stronger your fridge needs to work to keep the product cool.

a sushi case i think is the best option. i was thinking about it when in the beginning there was plans of doing markets.

The temp is probably set-able up to +9C but with a good fridge technician you should be able to re-gas so that +14C are achievable.

you wont be able to stock a lot in it, so you need to replenish continuously.

also, you need to keep it away from the sun, as you know the sun light will damage your chocolate anyway..

Still is not cheap but is you do markets every day you could work the expense in short time.

I agree with Brad and i can tell you that after have tasted some raw cocoa beans out of excitement for our first shipment, i had to spend 2 weeks in bed with high fever, vomit, stomach problem and 2 kind of antibiotic. Lost 6 kg and the doctor wasn't sure what caused!

So roast the beans! you will gain on flavor and uniqueness of your own chocolate.

Wow! 1950 euro!! i paid 600 by FBM.... and it look the same.

I use this injection system (we call it shower) to make our 100gr bars, so it makes 3 bars in one shot.

as soon we can effort a tunnel we can use "the shower" to make callets automatically.

Anyway, going back to the original point of discussion from Kat:

see how much production you do and forecast what could be the next step and buy what you need towards that forecast. Otherwise you will spend $$$ and soon you will be short in production again. That's why we bought the "shower" with our tempering machine, we believe that soon will pay off.....

Ciao

Nino

simply put the mould on top of a scale (that most probably you have...) and just add till right measure.

Chocolate change its density depending on the temperature and always a good layer stay attached to the vessel.

the colder it gets the thicker it becomes.

We do our 1 kg blocks in this way and we use to do the bars with the same system..

Then we bought a continuos tempering machine with pneumatic valve that measures on the dot... and we smile ever since!

Hi All,

being absent for a while..busy re-locating my factory.

We buy SH directly from a chemical factory in liquid for (40% concentration), the crystals are just 100% pure so you need to be careful with the amount used and take enormous precautions while handling it!

We fill our sink with hot water and add SH, we soak for a while the molds and then rinse in hot water while gently scrubbing. Our results are not yet 100% but we are happy with it so far.

We are going to test a higher solution (till water turn pink as per Brad instruction)

Definitely is a matter of creating a "recipe":

X % SH @X% concentration for X amount of Liter of Hot water...

Let's see who can crack this mystery of cleaning!!!

Hi All, an update:

my friend (chemical engineer) says that 1 cup per 40 lit (S.H diluited at 40%) is safe (-ish) , just to be careful if in a concentrated form.

As for any "Hydroxide" chemical, there is risks of skin burn.

So if you get in contact with S.H., rinse your skin with running cold water for a good 5-10 min.

if it still burn after 1 hour or longer, just seek medical attention for precautions.

Take care!

Antonino

Thank Brad,

we buy it directly from a Chemical Company, and we are still trying to figure out how much

S.H. per liter of water.

we started with about 100 ml for ca 25 liter of water , and it works as quick degreaser but the molds have a thin layer of fat still on.

next we are going to try with 250ml and see what happen...