As a beginner you would want to start using premade chocolate.Simply because your chocolate consumption in the beginning (assuming you will be opening a chocolate shop) will not be as high.
To make chocolate with raw materials you will need a machine to cook your recipe, which involves high cost in buying, maintaining the machine, energy bill etc...
I would taste and decide based on that.they all have a wide range of products.It all depends on your customers, what they like and how much they are willing to pay. We cannot really generalize and say callebaut is better than Belcolade for example, the dark chocolate might be better at Belcolade where milk might be better at Callebaut. It is also important to make sure the brand you choose is available in your area.Check with suppliers and compare prices. Good luck!
Hi there,
There are chocolate makers and chocolate "fondeurs" Chocolate makers produce their own chocolate recipe.it can either be from bean to bar or by mixing raw ingredients (cocoa mass,butter,sugar etc..) while "fondeurs" buy the chocolate from the list you mentioned, melt it and work their magic.
I would consider enrobing with chocolate twice. first time before cutting and second after. The chocolate creates a thin layer making it easier to cut. Otherwise, your marshmallow recipe might need to be firmer.(more gelatin perhaps)
Hey Goran,
Are you refering to production management? Because this is a topic I am really interested in discussing.
Hi stephane,
I use excel to manage my orders but like you I always wonder wether there is something more efficient. What I do is I put all the orders together and add the number of every type of chocolate. for example let's say you have 5 places who asked for dark 70% chocolate, I make sure I make all the quantity at the same time to avoid changes and as a result saving time. I also make sure I produce a little extra knowing that this chocolate is ordered alot and future orders are coming the next day/week etc.. This also depends on the shelf life of your products. I usually start producing the chocolate that has the longer shelf life and move down the list.
Also comparing your sales is crucial. I look at last year's sale of each kind I produced. It gives me an idea how much I should expect to produce this month.
Hey Edward,
You can avoid "Bleeding" by thickening the chocolate you are brushing especially over the edges and at the borders between two different colours. (it happens with small moulds as well) I would also thicken the layer of white chocolate just to make sure santa's beard is fully white.
Cool stache by the way 
Movembering are we?
my pleasure. let me know how it goes
I would either reduce the percentage of cream or increase chocolate in my ganache. Sounds like you need a firmer filling. Also I would make a thiker chocolate shell to prevent the cream from escaping.
Thank you Rifat. Please message me your email address for me to contact you in person regarding quotes.
Thanks!
Thank you Michael! TOPER looks amazing. exactly what I'm looking for. hope its not too expensive tho.I'm sending a quotation request today..
Michael thanks for the feedback, I checked the 428 roasters website, I will contact them for customized machines if I do not find any other alternative.
Clay thank you for the feedback, the thing is I am located in Dubai and I am pretty sure the relationship between israel and the UAE does not allow me to purchase anything from them. The machine I am looking for is for roasting hazelnuts and almonds. I found http://www.nutsroastingmachine.com/eng/index.php?urunler/71-94/
a turkish manufacturer, I will do some more research and let you guys know what I'll finally get.
cheers,
Omar
I was wondering If anyone can recommend a good Hot air roasting machine for nuts, with a capacity of 60 - 120 KGS per batch. I checked SELMI but I am looking for a bigger machine.
Thanks,
O
thank you for the salt tip tom. Never thought salt would make such impact nuts. I'll try it out for sure
thanks for sharing Clay. Interesting!
Hey Antonio,
Thank you very much for your input. I as well have contacted Goin Organic, Pronatec and Mapryser last week. Goin Organic were the first to reply actually. It's good to know you are happy with their products especially that they provide all necessary ingredients for chocolate(i.e organic milk,sugar...) so i'm guessing it is easier to deal with one supplier hence one shipment/one person to harrass or to be harrassed...
Are you happy with Tradin Organic? Anything to look out for?
Thanks again,
Omar
Good Day,
I've been doing some research on organicsemi finished products. Organic cocoa liquor, butter,sugar and milk.Because I am located in the middle east, I have contacted European suppliers: Pronatec and tradin organic. Still waiting for their answer to provide mewith the cost of each ingredient. What I'd love to know from the experts in this field is, what is on average the cost of organic cocoa butter/liquor and what/who do you prefer working with? I'd love to hear your opinionabout this and perhaps anyone can recommend a different supplier I do not know about.
Thank you,
O
Can an enrobing machine cause air bubbles? or is it the chocolate itself? I only notice it slightly when any product goes through the machine. And it's always with milk chocolate, dark and whiteseem to work perfectly fine so common sense tells me its milk chocolate. I will add some cocoa butter today and see if this works.Meanwhile any thoughts?
Hi Sadruddin,
To answer your question about sorbitol addition in ganaches, Ewald Notter mentions in his book that sorbitol should represent 5 to 7% of the total weight of the ganache. More will affect the taste of thte filling.
Hope this helps
Omar
Hi Arthur,
Do you know if the humidity meter is ISO certified?
Thanks
Omar
Hi Sebastian,
With my experience, H2O2 is still used in processing milk powder at least for warm climate countries like here in the middle east(Im assuming india as well)Every batch we receive from our supplier gets tested for percentage of peroxidemaking sure it does not excees 0.04%. When it does exceed, the taste gets affected leaving a slight old cheese after taste..I wish I know how to better describe it. So, to answer your question, peroxide is still in business.
Hi Chirag,
Milk powder contains a chemical called hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). H2O2 is an oxidizing,bleaching and germicidal agent used to preserve milk. The percentage of peroxide in milk powder can vary from one brand to another and because its presence in milk affects the taste, it might be the challenge you are facing with your chocolate today.
Attached is a study made on hydrogen peroxide and milk powder. On page 427 You can find a detailed description onthe effects of H2O2 on the taste of milk powder.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/monograph/WHO_MONO_48_(p423).pdf" target="_blank"> http://whqlibdoc.who.int/monograph/WHO_MONO_48_(p423).pdf
hope this helps..
Omar
Good day friends!
I am looking for a personalized hands on chocolate couverture training in Europe withan experienced master chocolatier. I would like to extend my knowledge in making [Ed: working with] chocolate couverture (not bean to bar). I am mainly interested in learning the science behind it all, and how each and every ingredient interacts with the others. Why use this and not that? How the addition of a certain percentage of a certain ingredient affects the chocolate (i.e., flavour, texture, aroma, shelf life...)
Any recommendations other than the renowned Callebaut academy?
Thank you,
Omar
scary indeed. I just don't understand how something like this can get FDA approved.Good luck antonio!i'd love to know what you will settle for eventually.
happy cooking
Eventho we use maltitol here, I couldnt agree more with Andy. Moderation is the key.
Antonio, before doing tests with Splenda, did you know that the scientists who invented Splenda, were originally working on creating apesticide? Someone was mad enough to tasteit, andhere's the result...
hey virginia,
How hard is the consistency of your caramel? the harder it is the lesschances for it to pop.
I am looking at getting a chocolate decorator and was wondering if anyone can recommend a good one. So far I like the woody stringer decorator. Has anyone used it? Here's the link..
http://woody-decorators.com/PRODUCTS/PRODUCTSStringer/tabid/55/Default.aspx
Thanks,
O
Hey Felipe,
What Brands of Vanillin do you recommend?
Cant wait to try it out. Thanks Felipe
very interesting conversation guys.I have two questions here please:
what flavor does malt give to the chocolate? and what is the approximate percentage to use?
What brand of Vanillin do you guys recommend?
Thanks!
I had this issue last year making pate de fruit.Eitherway, pressure builds up on the strings like you mentioned at the end of your slab.What I do now is I cut the slab in half andplace each oneat the beginning of the strings. I make sure Iapply as less pressure as possible when pressing down.
Hope this helps
Thank you Ruth,
Lebanon can get really humid especially during summer.I have humidity removing machines installed in almost every room. That's why Inever knew if itaffects the product..until now. Thanks again!
Hey Guys,
Most of us know that moisture is an important factor in controlling quality and that it should not exceed 50% where chocolate is stored.
My question however is how low can the moisture in the room drop down to without affecting the product(if it does affect it at all) For example, what happens if the moisture goes below 30% or even less?
Thanks,
Omar
hey Jacob,
I recommend ecole chocolat's online course. Very useful in depth info and will for sure help you start up your business.
Thank you Brad and Happy holidays to you too!
Hi Jasmine,
Did you check your fridge? maybe the humidity is high in there, or the temperature is too low.
Another thing to look for is the temperature of your chocolate moulds, theymight be too cold when you pour into them.Another possible temperature shock scenario.
Good luck,
O
Hi Nigel,
It sounds like your business is gorwing andthat's fantastic. What youneed in this case is a tempering machine. You just need to feed the machine the chocolate you use, set the right temperatures and you'll get excellent tempered chocolate. Plus think about all the time saved on tempering, re-tempering,cleaning...
Omar
Hey Adam,
I Never looked at the science behind hot chocolate making like yourself, thanks for the detailed input.I drink my Chocolat chaud like the mayans. I like to include Cinnamon and Cayenne Pepper in mine. I do not see how the taste gets harsh when you infuse it in milk or cream, you just need the right amount of spices.
Cheers,
Omar
Saw the video Clay. I also noticed a huge moulding machine in the link I posted. In any case, I would never rely on my Iphone to mouldridiculous amount of chocolate, Without having the human eye/tonguechecking the end product.Price aside,i think it would be useful to operate SOME machineries i.e: temperatures on tanks, cameras, lights, tempering machine...Leave therest to us humans.
Now that Bradunfolded the wraps on the cost of such project,I find it ridiculous to invest in such a thing. My god! 7 figures?! I'd rather hire exotic scandinavian models to operate my factory.Hahaha!
Thanksguys!
Omar
I am not sureto what extent we can rely on an application like this and I do not know if its cost is worth it, however,I think the point is more control over your machines. When you have lots of machine to operate, it's useful to have alook at themin one organised screen.For example, instead of walking around checkingthe temperature of eachtank, you can instead be in one place. How much time will this save you?The principle is similar to installing cameras in your factory. You can evenmake sure everything is under control while having dinner at home with friends. Instead of hiring someone,I'd rather save my money. How many times did anyone of us forget the lights of his kitchen on?
