Forum Activity for @Thomas Snuggs

Hi Dominique,

Here's a link to my setup at home when I cool my chocolate bars. I use some small racks that will hold six molds. I've also put this rack in my refrigerator if it's too hot to let the bars cool on the counter. I thought this might help.

http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/thread/1733/small-scale-cooling-racks-chocolate

-Thomas

Looks like a tempering issue to me. The bar in the photo shows some bloom. If the chocolate is well tempered, it could be the ambient temperature where the molds are kept while the chocolate cools. This can cause a loss of temper.

Hi Rahman,

In case you don't already know, here are two sites that have lots of information about making chocolate:

http://www.chocolatealchemy.com (lots of helpful info in the forums)

http://www.bean-to-bar.co.uk/

There is an online chocolate makers program by http://www.ecolechocolat.com/en/chocolate-making-from-bean.html for $455 US. I do not know anyone who has taken the program.

There was also a bean to bar class here: https://www.jmauboinechocolates.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=10 earlier this year. I believe it was a theee day class.

- Thomas

I purchased some liquid sunflower lecithin to try in my chocolate. However, as soon as I tasted a small bit, it went into the trash. I was not going to even try it my chocolate. This is the one I purchased: https://www.mysunflowerlecithin.com/product/all-natural-liquid-sunflower-lecithin/

I have an update about my Organic Ingredients question. I contacted www.ccof.com to inquire about oOrganic certification and they told me I did not require certification for what I want to do. I quote from their email response:

"If all you want to do is list the organic ingredients in the FDA-required ingredient list, and not use the word organic anywhere else on your label, you do not need to be certified."

This is what I thought and was surprised by County Health Department when they told me I could not. 

Does one need to be Organic certified in order to note an ingredient as Organic? I know you have to be certified to say 'Organic' or 'Made with Organic Ingredients', or use the USDA Organic symbol on the front label. I thought anyone can list an ingedient as Organic if the ingredient is certified. I'm in California and have been told by someone at the health department that I can't unless I'm certified. Although I have seen other chocolates labeled this way and I do not think they were certified producers. I've read lots of info on the FDA website and it seems to me that I should be able to do so. However, California has its own Organic certification as well. Just thought I would post the question here in case anyone on this forum knows. Thanks.

I'm not an expert on food safe materials but my understanding is: A material is food safe if it does not react or leach unsafe chemicals, or unsafe levels, into the food. For example, Food cans are coated on the inside with a food safe material so that the contents do not react with the metal can. Otherwise, one would not only ingest the food, but also some of the elements of the can itself. Here's a link to some info by the FDA: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/ucm064166.htm.

Below is a link to Amazon for the belt I purchased and used on the Primier 1.5 L. It takes 23 links to make the right size belt and you will can make four belts from this length. I don't know if the 2L Primier uses the same size.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerTwist-V-Belt-Profile-Width-Length/dp/B00CLG38JQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445901088&sr=8-2&keywords=powertwist+v-belt

Hi Mark,

I built a vibrating table with a much smaller motor, a little too small, but my table is only for two molds. See here: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/thomas-snuggs/gallery/vibrating-table/all. I purchased the motor as listed in your post and I just tried it out tonight. It was quite comical. Something like trying to play whack-a-mole except I was chasing the mold around my small table to fill it with chocolate. I fill my molds using a 2oz scoop with chocolate from a melter. I even had the speed on the new motor as low as I could go without it stopping. I'm going to adjust the blades in the motor to calm it down a little. 

On a positive note, I don't think the chocolate that I just molded will have any air bubbles. 

-Thomas

I'm curious about cleaning equipment at chocolate factories. Assuming one is running the same type of chocolate in the equipment, how often is the equipment cleaned? What are the health requirements for cleaning? 

Everything you need to know about making bean to bar chocolate at home can be found here: www.chocolatealchemy.com. I'm not affiliated with the site, I just use it.

I use the Mol D'art 6Kg melter http://www.moldart.be/en/producten/chocolate-machinery/chocolate-melters/. It is not a tempering maching like the Mini Rev. I only use it to keep chocolate that I manually tempered at a constant temperature while I mold. Take a look at the www.chocolatealchemy.com for more information about making chocolate. There is also a forum on that site that has lots of info.

Hi Balpreet,

You probably just need to run the grinder longer. I make chocolate (bean to bar) using the Premier wet/dry grinder and it comes out very smooth. However, I run it at least 24 hours. You may want to look at www.chocolatealchemy.com. It's a great resource for making chocolate and the forum there has much discussion about equipment including wet/dry grinders. Most of the people there are home or small chcocolate makers.

Regards,

Thomas

Hi Jason,

You do not have to use seed chocolate when tempering. This is just one method usually used by people that melt tempered chocolate for making truffles and such. There are many YouTube videos on tempering chocolate. I would suggest watching some these and then giving it a try. You can always buy a bag of chocolate chips and practice. 

- Thomas

I use the Mol d'Art 6 Kg melter just for that purpose and it works great for me. They also make a 3Kg melter. I have no affiliation with the company.

http://www.moldart.be/en/producten/chocolate-machinery/chocolate-melters/

I temper chocolate, bean to bar that I make, in one stainless steel bowl. I use a double boiler to heat it, place it in a sink with a couple inches of cool water to cool it, and back on the double boiler to heat again. All while stirring with a spatula. I can do up to 6 pounds at a time. I would say this is about as low tech as one can get. I did buy a melter to pour the tempered chocolate into to maintain a working temperature. I started making bean to bar chocolate at home about a year ago and have made about 40 batches of different types. Although no white (yuck). 

Always test your chocolate for temper. Place a little on the back of a spoon or on a piece of wax paper. It should set in a few minutes and have a nice snap. If not, then it has not been tempered.

A room temperature of 72 F is on the high side for me. I prefer 68 F and I always have a fan blowing over my chocolate molds. I learned the hard way that tempered chocolate will produce bars just like your photos if the room temperature is too high.

I also use a double boiler to heat my dark chocolate to 120 F and then cool it in a 65 to 68 F water bath to 80 F, then back on the boiler to bring the temperature back up to 89/90 F. I am always stiring and allow some time at each temperature. One must take care if using a water bath as water in chocolate is bad.

I hope this helps.

The chocolate was either not tempered when it was molded or lost it in the mold. Did you test the chocolate prior to molding? If the test was ok, then your chocolate was not in a cool enough environment while it set. What was the ambient temp while in the molds? I usually cool my dark chocolate to 80 to 81 F in a cold water bath when tempering. 

I made my first dark milk a couple of months ago and it was great. The milk adds some richness. Several people that had it thought it was my best ever. I think they had never had a dark milk before or maybe they just wanted more free chocolate from me.  I've only made a 55% dark milk. I'm going to make some higher percentage dark milk for my next batch.

chocolatealchemy.com has organic whole milk powder.

Wow!! I need to put my chocolate in a wooden box and include a book so I can charge more. I have much to learn about marketing.

I just made some chocolate and then flavored it with some orange and peppermint oils. It was two different batches. I used about 15 to 20 drops per pound. This was the first time I used essential oils to flavor my chocolate. After I tempered my chocolate, I added drops of oil, stirred and then tasted it. I kept adding drops until I was happy with the taste.

How do you post an image? I can right-click and select insert image, but the image never displayed based on the source that I enter. It's not intutive on how to insert the image. I'm sure it is something I am doing wrong.