Hello Giff,
Just visited your website- love it! what a great cacao story! Could you email me some info: cost? strains available? organic? FT?
madeleine@chocolatehollowvt.com
Thanks!
Thanks, Milford! I know chocolate alchemy well and it's a great site. I'm just trying to stay open to new sources if they are out there. If they are, they are hard to find!
Hello!
Can anyone recommend a good source for fine-flavor beans that are organic and fair-trade (or similar)?
I'm looking to buy a couple hundred pounds at a time. I live in Vermont, USA.
Any tips would be much appreciated!
Madeleine
Thanks Ben! I appreciate it.
Thanks, Clay. Awesome.
Thank-you both!
Ben- Do you know if the newer model is called PN2? If so, I will probably do that- there's one on craigslist in my area.
Clay- very interesting about vertical cutter mixers- I had never heard of them. If the meat-grinder machines are in between peanut butter machines and vertical cutters price-wise I would love any other info that you already know. Otherwise, I'll call some meat grinder companies later today and ask around.
Thanks very much!
I think the realistic next step will be a chocolate batch size of 60 pounds. As for budget, at this point I'm a bit flexible. I want to know some options so I can figure out what makes sense.
I guess I'm interested in learning about the smaller possible steps up first. Maybe <5k for a grinding solution. But if it made sense longer term to invest in something more expensive, I'd like to be aware of that.
I'd like grinding to take less time than it does now. Again, I'm not sure what a reasonable expectation here is.
Thanks Clay!
Madeleine
Hello fellow chocolate-lovers.
I'm wondering if anyone could offer guidance on which machine/ system to use as a step up from grinding clean cocoa nibs into cocoa liquor with a Champion Juicer.
I have a (very) small from-the-bean choco business and my current system for getting from nibs to liquor seems like it would be untenable on a larger scale.
Thanks!
Madeleine
Hey Tao,
Their # is(828) 855-1895. (The first bad sign is that the number's hard to find!) I've never removed the bowl before-it would involve quite a bit of disassembly! The hair dryer's the way to go. I've been there! No fun, I know. I'd guess the motor's ok if it's still making noise. The bowl can't spin just while it's firmly attached (by solid chocolate) to the wheels, since they spin in place.
Good luck! Hopefully you're unstuck by now!
Hi Tao,
The same happened with my Santha when I bought it a year ago. The sound was from the motor. I exchanged it and the replacement machine was slightly better. Took it to a machine shop and was told that it was just a really cheapo motor. Turned out to not be worth it to replace the motor because of the speed controller. I kept it, and miraculously the noise went away after a few months.
I spoke to Santha on the phone and got the impression that this happens with some of their machines though they wouldn't really give me a straight answer.
They only exchanged the machine very grudgingly and didn't offer any help with the second machine.
Good luck!!
Hi Ben!
I have replaced the belt once. Next time I'll go for fiberglass- thanks!
I don't think that the belt is the problem, but I'll check just in case. When I first got the machine, the motor made a really high pitched (bad) sound. I took the santha to a machine shop and they pretty much diagnosed the motor as a low-quality cheapo. (They improved the noise a tiny bit by doing something with the bearings, and then one day months later the noise pretty much evaporated. But at the same time I noticed the drum rotating more slowly. (speed control still says 1500)
Because of the conversation with the mechanic, I just assumed it was time for a motor replacement.
Thanks, Madeleine
Hi Brad,
(If you're still there!)
Do you have any recommendations for a replacement motor for the santha 20? The machine is less than 6 months old but I've noticed that the drum has been spinning more slowly..
Thanks! Madeleine
