Forum Activity for @Carlos Eichenberger

What do you make/grow/do by youself?

Posted in: Uncategorized

Living in Guatemala, I don't really have access to pre-made nut pastes and purees, hence the venture into making them myself. I don't really use any specialized equipment except for the initial grinding of nuts, and there I use something readily available: a Champion juicer with the solid plate in place of the screen.For my fruit purees it's even more lo-tech: a stick blender and a chinois! If I have way too much passion fruit to process, I do run the seeds once through the Champion with the screen in place to squeeze that last bit of juice/pulp from them.Since I only do single-plantation chocolate, I considered pressing my own CB an absolute must. And yes, definitely, compared to commercial CB I do notice an enormous difference in taste. I use exactly the same class of beans (not seconds or thirds) to press the butter as I use for the chocolate, and am very careful not to over roast. This assures purity of taste from one bean to the other.

What do you make/grow/do by youself?

Posted in: Uncategorized

Well, I personally make my own chocolate from the bean, and press my own cocoa butter. That's as far as I get down the production ladder. Upwards it goes all the way to boxed, finished bonbons and bars. I do make all my fruit purees and nut pastes.Your friend that says gianduja cannot be made at home is full of... hot air. Anyone with a stone grinder can turn out an excellent gianduja. I know I have many times.

Chopping Chocolate

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

Design et Realisation in Canada has several models, from hand-operated to fully automatic. Look in the "Chocolate Machine" section.

Decorating Chocolates

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

I only use EDIBLE luster dust. If it's not clearly marked edible I prefer not to use it.

Visiting London and Paris this week - which chocolate shops are must see?

Posted in: Opinion

Agreed on A l'Etoile d'Or... they are a "one-stop shop" of France's finest. I was just thinking more along the one brand shops and spaced that one completely!

Visiting London and Paris this week - which chocolate shops are must see?

Posted in: Opinion

Haven't done any chocolate tourism in London, but in Paris I can recommend:Jacques Genin (if you only go to one shop, this would be it... kind of out of the way in the 3rd Arr but well worth the trip)Patrick RogerJean Paul HevinChaponPierre Herme (for the most scrumptious macaroons ever)Also worth visiting, although not artisanal are Pierre Marcolini, Maison du Chocolat and Michel Cluizel.HTH

Is Chocolate Healthy? II

Posted in: Opinion

Sorry to say Frank, but this subject must be to Xocai spammers what a nice jar of red syrup is to hummingbirds: irresistible.I have to agree with Clay in that chocolate should not be viewed as THE path to a healthy life, but rather as an added benefit of eating something we all enjoy.

Is Chocolate Healthy?

Posted in: Opinion

Oh we're just a clever little spammer aren't we? NOT!

Has anyone heard of xocai the healthy chocolate

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

It may be just me, but the way this post is written reeks of disguised "spam."

Costa Rica cocoa plantations.

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

The largest and best-run (by far) is FINMAC, run by Hugo Hermelink. It's located near Guapiles.

How small can a small shop be?

Posted in: Opinion

Andre,I started out working from home in a converted spare room. When demand grew to where I just couldn't fit the equipment/utensils/materials to work comfortably (a friend said to me that I don't work from home, I live in my factory) I leased some space and began the conversion to a production and retail facility. The entire space is 410 sq ft with the retail area being a very tiny 110! Enough for a display counter, credenza, register and other necessities. The kitchen is divided into hot and cold zones for added energy and ventilation efficiency.I will be making my own chocolate and its related products at this facility, which should be complete in the next 2 months. Capacity will be ~100 lbs daily.I also visited a chocolatier in Madrid whose entire kitchen, both hot and cold, was the size of my retail area! Now that was impressive use of space!

custom made chocolate

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

Tomric will make the molds for you. If you want to print directly on the chocolate, try the equipment from Masterpiece Systems. although it is very expensive.Valrhona in France also has a custom mold program, but they are very, very expensive.

custom made chocolate

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

Tomric has a custom mold program. They have a selection of molds that can be quickly customized for a fast turnaround, or they can make a fully customized mold for you with a longer lead time. Either way, they're great to work with.

Getting customers in the door

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

Try not to limit your Facebook advertising only to fan pages. Facebook ads have very specific targeting options, but those limit the scope and reach of the ad.In my experience, the most successful Facebook campaigns have just targeted adults over 18 in the specific city or county I want to advertise in. I have had 0.2% click-through, and of that, 10% converts into a sale. By any measure this is quite good.Another cheap, effective way of making yourself known is flyers. They are very inexpensive to print and cheap (or free if you do it yourself) to distribute.

Chocolate Dude Tabletop Tempering Machine

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

It works (in theory) pretty much exactly as the ACMC does. I own a unit, but it sits gathering dust in my storage room, because as it is, I can't use it. The machine has several glaring design flaws. The main one being the baffle and bowl combination: The bowl was attached to the rotator axle by screws (as opposed to welded), whose heads protrude into the chocolate side of the bowl. Additionally, the baffle does not fit properly and so does not scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. This causes a lot of chocolate to solidify on the sides and bottom of the bowl during the cooling cycle. The baffle has notches cut into it to accommodate the passage of the screws, but again, the needed scraping action does not happen.These problems were encountered while trying to use the machine ACMC-style, decrystallizing, lowering the temps to the necessary low point, then raising to working temp. I have not attempted to use it with the seeding method.Another huge problem is that the temp probe is very difficult to keep in place and can't reach all the way to the bottom of the bowl, so when you get to the last 1/4 of the chocolate, the probe sits in mid-air.I replaced the dinky stock fan with two units identical to those the ACMC comes with, as the stock one took FOREVER to cool the chocolate when the machine was at capacity.Hopefully when I have some free time I can address these flaws and put it to work.

Air Brushing & Table Top Depositor

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

Hi Lana,I have since moved up in the world LOL! My "booth" is now made of plastic storage containers and has a powerful 115v fan instead of the dinky 12v one. As filtration material I'm using 4 3M scrubbies, stacked and held down with -- what else? -- duct tape.

Air Brushing & Table Top Depositor

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

I use almost exclusively the stuff from Tomric and Chef Rubber. I suspect they are one and the same.
updated by @Carlos Eichenberger: 06/15/15 05:10:22

Air Brushing & Table Top Depositor

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

I'm spraying tempered colored cocoa butter, at working temp (31-33 dec C). If sprayed correctly it sets almost immediately. If sprayed too heavily, just like car paint, it runs.
updated by @Carlos Eichenberger: 01/24/15 16:01:38

Air Brushing & Table Top Depositor

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

Here we go. Please don't fall off your chair laughing.

Air Brushing & Table Top Depositor

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

That's better than the $8000 I was quoted at Tomric sometime in December, but it's still tough for a small chocolatier to justify the expense.

Air Brushing & Table Top Depositor

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

Can't help on the depositor part as I still use squeeze bottles for filling centers. I can't wrap my head around paying $8k+ for that thing.For the airbrush, I bought a standard "home" type air compressor and air dryer attachment (under $250 for both), and purchased a bunch of $15 Badger 250 airbrushes (Tower Hobbies). The only additional purchase is the reduction adapter to connect the compressor's quick-release mechanism to the Badger's air hose. Easily found on ebay.I have the compressor set for 25 psi, which is ideal for the Badger, and have had very nice results. As a poor man's paint booth, I rigged a shipping carton with a suction fan and some air filtration material and it works a treat. Beats hand-painting molds!

Total Travesty

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

It's just not wrong and misleading in every aspect, it's very insulting to anyone born in the Mesoamerican region.

Ghana Roasting?

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

From what I've read (I'm in Guatemala so I have no reason to import cacao) the Ghana Forastero likes a high roast. Are you using an oven or a drum roaster? IIRC John had it at a final temp of about 290 for 20 mins or so.

Madame Cocoa's Adventures in Paris - Top Paris Chocolate Spots

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

How timely! I'm doing the Ecole Chocolat/Valrhona trip next month so this list will come in very handy for my extra days in Paris. I guess I'll be able to add a few of my own in a month.

Chocolatiers = Re-melters?

Posted in: Opinion

I think that by accident people have been referring to the original "bad-mouther" as THEO, when in actuality it is TCHO. I know some of the folks from Theo and I really doubt they would ever be this disrespectful to chocolatiers.

HEALING WOUNDED CHOCOLATE MOLDS

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

This may seem weird, and I must clarify that I have NOT tried this out; but for another purpose altogether, a company called Mapleshade Records makes a product called Mikro-Smooth. It is used for polishing CDs. I have brought back to life a few with scratches, and regularly polish any new CD that I buy. Since CDs are made from polycarbonate I figured Mikro-Smooth could also be used to re-smooth a mold's dull/scratched finish. A bottle of the stuff is $20 and lasts a long long time. They sell some pretty interesting CDs as well.

Growing Cacao Trees

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

Cacao requires a very moist and warm climate to thrive. In Arizona it would be quite the endeavor because of your extremely dry climate. It would certainly mean having the tree(s) in a climate-controlled greenhouse with misting and other humidity enhancers.

chocolate tempering machines

Posted in: Opinion

LOL you're SO right Clay, on both counts.

chocolate tempering machines

Posted in: Opinion

I use both a Chocovision Rev1 and an ACMC Table Top Temperer. Love 'em both, but the Rev1 is NOISY!

Where to Buy Tools for Working with Chocolate

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

I know I should have, but at the time it just didn't occur to me (although I've done it before, just spaced it this time) and now too much time has passed. So, what I did was vote with my feet and never bought from them again.Good advice John, thanks.

Where to Buy Tools for Working with Chocolate

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

Sugarcraft has decent pricing, lots of ingredients like invert sugar, glucose, invertase, etc. They carry a very good selection of packaging materials in retail or wholesale quantities. They also have an extensive section of chocolate and candymaking equipment. Kitchen Krafts is another outfit I've used occasionally. Albert Uster Imports has a lot of hard-to-find stuff too. I bought some Beta6 cocoa butter from them. Chocovision and ACMC make good, but expensive, home size tempering machines.Bought some great lustre sprays from baker's nook , don't think I've seen them at other stores.I had a pretty ugly experience with pastrychefcentral, order came incomplete and they (very rudely) refused to replace missing items, out over $100

What are your favorite adult beverages to pair with chocolates?

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I like to enjoy my 70% or 75% Guatemalan bars with Zacapa Centenario 23-y/o rum. It has been selected as the world's best rum more times than I can remember.