gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Jul 1, 2013 6:46:49 GMT -5
Hi All, just thought I would share a recent idea I had for conching in my wet grinder. Conching is often done at temperatures higher than that reached by a wet grinder. So I borrowed my father-in-law's sous vide temperature control unit and came up with the setup in this video (I'm sure it could be setup neater, but this was just to see if it worked). vimeo.com/69460142Basically the sous vide machine measures the chocolate temperature. I enter the temperature I want the chocolate to be at and the machine switches a heat gun (pointed into the grinder bowl) on and off to achieve that temperature. I refined the nibs for 6 hours, added the sugar and refined for another 9 hours. I then switched on the temperature control unit and "conched" for 15 hours at 60.5C. I added the additional cocoa butter 8 hours into that conching period. The machine I used was a Sous Vide Magic, but there may be others that do something similar. The final chocolate seemed to have a better mouthfeel and flavour, so I think it worked as a conch. The next step is to try a longer conching period and maybe increase the temperature (especially for milk chocolate). The only thing I am weary of is I don't know the maximum temperature the expoxies/glues used in the wet grinder can withstand. Anyway, I've only tried this once for now. Let me know if you have any questions about my setup or any improvements/alternatives I could try.
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Post by feedme on Jul 1, 2013 7:05:39 GMT -5
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Post by Freddo on Jul 1, 2013 15:21:24 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing this, I have been using a 1600w hairdryer to maintain temperature but the addition of the sous vide magic is an excellent idea.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Jul 1, 2013 16:19:14 GMT -5
Hi feedme - I've seen the Kleego, but its a bit out of my price range (and production size as well)
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Post by feedme on Jul 1, 2013 17:23:34 GMT -5
yeh i think its about 10000us, something to look forward too....
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Post by caitlync on Oct 2, 2014 20:13:55 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing this, I have been using a 1600w hairdryer to maintain temperature but the addition of the sous vide magic is an excellent idea. Do you leave the hair dryer running for hours at a time?
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Post by Freddo on Apr 14, 2015 14:11:13 GMT -5
Yes i do. overnight quite regularly
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