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Post by Adrian on Mar 19, 2013 18:55:29 GMT -5
Started my second batch in the premier wonder, this was a Nicaragua bean.
Issue is with the 'liquor' sticking and setting on the sides of the grinder.
I used 376g of nibs Roasted them at 300 degrees for a total of 40min including stirring every 5 min.
Ground for a total of 10 hours. I was checking it periodically for the first few hours and then I left it for the last 5 hours or so. I also added 4.5oz sugar soon after adding the nibs. The problem I have is that there was a considerable about of chocolate that had stuck to the sides of the grinder, at least 1/8 inch thick.
I was wondering if the stone rollers had taken in moisture from the batch I did the day before, as I had washed the rollers well in soapy water. Is it possible that moisture in the rollers had ceased some of the chocolate in the grinder? This is the only conclusion I came up with. Anybody have any thoughts on this? It is also quite cool in the area I am grinding, without any additional heat directed at the grinder tank (hot air gun, etc)
I am letting the grinder dry out a bit more before trying another batch. The chocolate turned out awesome flavor-wise. It has banana and fruit flavors.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Mar 19, 2013 22:13:10 GMT -5
The white scraper should be taking most of the chocolate off the side of the bowl. I also periodically hold a spatula against the side of the bowl to unstick any chocolate. Basically, by the end of the grinding, I only have a little liquid chocolate on the sides.
Glad your chocolate turned out well!! :-)
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Post by kevin on Mar 30, 2013 15:35:20 GMT -5
Greetings All,
First-time post.
I am also using a Premier Grinder. So far so good.
A prior post mentioned using the Premier as a refiner and a conch, switching from one to the other by loosening the tension. Would someone please explain how to do this on the Premier. I do not see any such feature on this unit.
Thanks for your help and thanks to John and everyone who has contributed to this forum. It is a great resource.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Mar 30, 2013 16:45:21 GMT -5
The tension is controlled by the "giant screw" on top of the tower in the middle that holds the two rotating stones in place (ie., the screw that holds everything in place)
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Post by kevin on Mar 31, 2013 10:57:26 GMT -5
Hi Gap,
Thanks for the guidance.
I see what you are talking about, the giant screw at the top.
Any advice on how loose you would loosen it? Should it be completely loose? When I unloosen all the way, the stones really spin freely. They almost wobble. Is that OK or am I somehow setting the unit up for future damage?
Also, any advice on the timing on when you like to loosen it? If you were to run it for a total of 48 hours, would you loosen it for the final 15 hours or 10 hours?
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Mar 31, 2013 21:45:22 GMT -5
I haven't actually done this before. I think the idea is to loosen to stop the refining but continue the conching. Given this, I would loosen when the particle size is to your liking - ie., when you test some and it seems smooth. Not sure how loose you want it.
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Post by kevin on Apr 1, 2013 11:58:18 GMT -5
I will experiment and report back on this.
Thank you.
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Post by jhoff on Apr 1, 2013 23:45:10 GMT -5
Interesting - why would you want to stop refining? Is it a problem if the particle size gets too small?
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Post by kevin on Apr 2, 2013 11:39:37 GMT -5
I think I have read somewhere that if particle size gets too small the texture turns kinda gummy.
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Post by jhoff on Apr 2, 2013 12:06:12 GMT -5
right, right. I recall reading that somewhere too.
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Post by cheebs on Apr 2, 2013 13:19:58 GMT -5
no real risk of a melangeur doing that... have run one for 5+ days without overrefining
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Post by kevin on Apr 3, 2013 13:20:01 GMT -5
Cheebs,
I think you are right about no real risk melanging for days. But is there any advantage to melanging for three days and then loosening the tension and conching for a couples days more?
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Post by kevin on Apr 5, 2013 11:22:43 GMT -5
60 hours in the Premier Grinder and it worked like a charm. A little noisy but not too bad at all.
I experimented by loosening the screw as Gap instructed. I do not think it slackens the tension enough on the rollers to create enough of a distinction between refining and conching. I tend to agree with Cheebs on this. Fasten the screw all the way leave it at that.
Before buying a tempering machine I want to try tempering chocolate by hand. I just went out and got a marble slab for that. Any recommendations for a digital thermometer for tempering chocolate by hand would be appreciated.
Thanks for all the help.
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Post by jhoff on Apr 5, 2013 12:41:23 GMT -5
I've been doing "Turbo Tempering" which works fairly well. There are a few posts in the "Finishing Techniques" section about it. Basically tho, you dump the chocolate from the premier into a glass bowl and put it in the freezer for short periods of time. Take it out, stir and check the temp. Once it gets below 80 degrees, stir some more then put it in your microwave and heat it in small bursts (5 seconds or so) until you get the temp up to 90 degrees but do NOT go over 92. Then I put the bowl in a water bath (bigger bowl with water in it) where the water is at 91 degrees which helps keep the chocolate in temper as you work with it. And stir stir stir as often as you can. And for a digital thermometer, I just went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought one of the ones they had there (I was going there for something else and they had 'em). Don't remember the name but there were several - not sure if what I chose was better than the others or not. Was fairly inexpensive. Took me about 4-5 tries to get it right (no or few streaks). I think the key was 1) the water bath and 2) being VERY careful not to go too hot and 3) at first I was trying to get colder in the freezer (around 70-75) and I changed to just getting to 79 and mainly 4) stir stir stir stir stir.
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Post by jhoff on Apr 5, 2013 12:42:34 GMT -5
I should also mention I first tried the "slab" method (just used the composite countertop in our kitchen) and found that to be messier and frankly harder. Worked OK tho. I didn't have a digital thermometer at that point tho.
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