....and consider also a melting bowl that would be less narrow but more deep! I mean same bowl capacity but designed less wide (diameter) but deeper...chocolate would be bettermelted and heated .
Completly agree to what Al wrote.
Dirke, small tempering machines with enrober are smaller capacity machines. And less expansive machines. Enrober width is 180 mm. Our competitor entrober, on bigger capacity machines, is 200 mm wide. What do you think? When you do enrobe is the machine or the enrober that gives the productivity rate?
I got some customers with small machines enrobers who can produce 300 pralines per hour working only 1 person and 600 units working one person loading and the other at the end of the enrober taking off the pralines.
With 7 kg bowl capacity you can produce up to 30 kg final product. Considering a pralines can have from 3 to 5 grams chocolate.
Sure, if you have to mould 1 kg mold.....not enough bowl capacity!
About upgradability. We do have 2 different capacity machines (7 and 12 kg) that can have same enrober. So, under an investment point of view: 2 machines and 1 accessory means: upgradable solution at the right price.
FBM is trying to care more of what the customer needs are. Maybe we will change our mind in the future 
I thought about a small tempering machine because you first asked for a Chocovision 3z!
Giuseppe
Dirke, what about having a look at the conotnuous tempering machine from FBM?
FBM has been manufacturing machines since 1977, and over the last years has been producing small tempering and enrobing machines.
From the 7 kg bowl capacity tempering machine upwards, all the temepring unit can use an enrober as accessory (including air blower, double veil box, detailerindependent motor).
Prima, Compatta, Chocolab are what we call small tempering and enrobing machines. You can visit website at www.boscolo.it and blog (with videos) at myblog.boscolo.it
Please ask if you need further help and informations.
Giuseppe
Siham,
unfortunatly I am not so experienced with batch tempering machines. I work in a company that can produce continuous tempering machines.
The main difference is that heating and cooling (in one word: tempering chocolate) are made contemporary, in a continuous temperer. While in a batch temperer you have to melt and then temper. For what I know (because till 2003 we used to produce one batch tempering unit), you have to use the tempered chocolate in a determined time to be able not to loose the tempering curve. While in conotuous system, chocolate that is not used go back into the melting bowl and it is heated again.
Batch tempering machine are, in general, less expansive than continuous. I am not sure this difference in price is kept if you start considering the enrobing features too.
Again, everything depends on you. Your production (continuous temperer are more productive) but budget too.
Giuseppe
Hi Siham,
the question is not which is the right tempering machine size but what are you planning to do. I mean: kind of product and/or productivity.
Every machine has its own price, for sure, but, if you want a continuous tempering machine you will find useful also the accessories that allow a good range of products. Normally the bigger is the machine the easier is to add new accessories. Furthermore different capcacity (machine size) different production rate.
I would say, first of all, do you want a continuous tempering machine or a batch machine?
Then: variaty of products (example:molding and enorbing / bars and pralines), and how many products and chocolate per day or month.
Giuseppe
Maya, I know you probably do want only user's opinion, but please let me explain why Chocolab is as it is.
First of all it was designed to face a huge variety of jobs. It is ergonomical in a sense that is not bulky and is made to give upgradable possibilities (mold loader, heated/cooled cabinet). Then operator has a bigger working room for molds, decorations and so on. You can even melt solid chocolate on the left room placed aside of the 12 kg melting bowl.
The difference in enrober's sizes is: - 13 cm for the loading and enrobing section and - 40 cm for take off section.
The question is: how long is the tray you will use to take the paper (and products) off the enrober? And where are you placing it to finish/cooling the product?
About your question "is a longer take off table a big advantage or not" consider that you will need more time to fill it completely.
Then you have also to consider if you are going to work on it with two people or only one!
Is it longer to temper chocolate (do you need more time for the whole cycle) or to enrobe?
The continuous tempering process allows you to keep on working without breaks (you can add liquid chocolate to the bowl while it is tempering and enrobing), the longer takeoff table allows you to put more products on the paper but it requires more time to do that.
That's why we made Chocolab as it is.
So it depends on how you are going to arrange your job and what is more important for you.
I posted this video for you: http://www.thechocolatelife.com/video/choco-lab-enrober
Hi Daniela,
I have been following your post for some days and I was not sure you needed a company representative opinion.
But...may I introduce you a 1977 company who has some experience in tempering chocolate?
Don't want to act as a sale man so, only if it helps, you could have a look at these posts in Chocolate Life itself.
http://www.thechocolatelife.com/photo/dscn5841?context=userrcommentId=1978963%3AComment%3A138087 (there is a old Fbm over there!)
http://www.thechocolatelife.com/page/fbm-chocolate-equipment
The main difference is a commercial/marketing issue!
Hi Laura, have you ever thought about a small continues tempering machine?
Please, have a look at this video http://myblog.boscolo.it/en/post/2012/05/29/enrobing-well-with-a-small-machine-is-possible/
As you can see this machine is working at the customer's lab (don't want to show you a commercial video). So the main point is to understand which are your requirements. How your products are (shape and size) and how many do you want to produce with the machine and its enrober. May I know something about your chocolate too?
Consider this is a tempering + enrobing machine.
Everything depends on how you want to arrange your work with chocolate (some time everyday or a couple of day per week and so on). Do you need tempered chocolate always at your disposal?
Do you want also some operative helps from the machine? Or does it have to be a well tempered chocolate source?
Do you have only chocolate products or other kind of product that you could vary throught chocolate use?
Your plans and habits and perspectives normally decide which is the most suitable machine (and kind of work)
Hi Sam,
I tried not to post up to now (neither when Tom entered the discussion) but after your question to him, I felt you changed your mind about the reps of the companies. Please forgive me if I am wrong.
Sam I believe you got reply from more than one company: Antonino Allegra, Ankur Bhargava and P. B. Marshall have been your references. Then, of course you have to read between the lines and this is not always easy.
FBM stopped producing water cooling system in 1997. Then started with gas. Our system used to heat an cool water around the augur and heat the water of the bowl. So we can really say which is the best solution.
The water cools the chocolate but it doesn't determine its own temperature, it is the compressor that makes 30,5 or 25,6 . Compressor cools (and determines the degrees) of water in the same way it does with gas.
Something about our electronical panel: it arranges the heating and the tempering process (to the decimal), dosing with repetitions, cooling, vibrating molds, and set the machine on night cycle. Than something more that the operator do not see.
Sam, sorry for the above technical boring issue. I know that in the major part of the cases this is something that bother the customer. But there are some customers (like Mr Allegra) who go crazy for this explanations and technical features (and of course we go crazy for these customers) who prefer to go deep into it because they want to know what they really buy (also under a technical point of view).
Maybe you have further , less technical, questions to do, feel free to dare. I am at your disposal.
Mr Allegra, thank you for your support in this discussion, I believe you are not used to buy a personal computer to a store but to assembly it by yourself! Am I right?
Hi Beth, how do you temper the chocolate? Manually? which are the temperatures you use?
