Forum Activity for @borncamp

Purchasing Direct on Vacation

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

Hey I was wondering if anybody has any experiences they can share regarding purchasing cacao beans direct from growers. Mostly I'm wondering about people who have purchased hobbyist quantities (20kg or less) direct from growers or grower co-ops while they are visiting another country. Are there generally opportunities for this, or is the volume so low as to be non-existent? Also what sort of constraints are there bringing beans back into the US? Are such small quantities negligible or do they require some sort of registration? Do people generally ship them back or do they take them on the plane? I wouldn't fly to another country simply to buy small quantities of beans. However, I occasionally have friends traveling that could be convinced to make a stop at a cacao farm here or there.

-Thanks!

updated by @borncamp: 04/21/15 16:40:09

Winnowing equipment for hobbyist

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

I've used a fan with a tarp and had good results. Place the fan on a chair with the cracked nibs/shell pieces in a bowl. Place the bowl in front of the fan and continuously lift the materials into the air and let them fall back into the bowl. The nibs will fall into the bowl whereas the shell will be blown away. You'll have to play with the fan speed and distances a bit. However, it works well for small batches.

Chocolate Bar Cardboard box

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

I don't know much about the packaging industry. However, my company has a client that does do work in that sort of thing.They call themselves a corrugated box company.

Question about chocolate molds

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

There may be some machine shops or maker spaces in your area with cnc machines or 3d printers. They may be able to mill out molds (in the case of a cnc) or build up a mold (in the case of a 3d printer). If you are design inclined you may be able to generate the cam files yourself. Otherwise most machine shops will be able to draft the cam files for a fee.