jmm
Neophyte
Posts: 46
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Post by jmm on Apr 4, 2019 14:22:29 GMT -5
Hi Ive been getting interested in making chocolate from bean... However im wondering what the best equipment is to use. What equipment would be better to use and is worth the money. Im looking for machinery that can hold enough as the hobby progresses Example: I bought the chocovision mini machine...Liked it and QUICKLY (VERY!) outgrew it. (does that have it or used it know exactly what im talking about.. lol ) So what kind of machinery should i be looking into that doesnt break the bank BUT also does the job to a excellent degree. Sorry if this is kind of a dumb question Thanks
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Post by Chip on Apr 4, 2019 14:39:36 GMT -5
I have been doing this for over two years now. Here is what I have and it is quite good and I don’t foresee needing to upgrade unless I want to go semi-commercial: 2 Priemier tilting chocolate melangers Behmor 1600+ roaster Kitchen aid mixer Good candy thermometer Various scales for weighing out ingredients Many silicone spatulas Molds, molds, molds Measuring cups x 3 Storage containers for beans, nibs, liquor, sugar, nuts, vanilla, corn syrup (for caramel, etc.) Spare drums for melanges Spare wheels for melanges
That a partial list not including ingredients.
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Post by Chip on Apr 4, 2019 14:43:19 GMT -5
Oh yeah, a microwave, small 18 cu. ft. refrigerator, two stainless steel tables, 3 hot air guns, 5 sets of shelves, a two burner nice hot plate. I’m sure there’s more I’m missing.
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Post by jacobk on Apr 5, 2019 2:10:23 GMT -5
Hi chip Could you maybe elaborate what you wanted to upgrade and purchase if you wanted to go semi-pro? Thanks!
Jacob
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Post by Ben on Apr 5, 2019 8:01:33 GMT -5
It really just depends on how big you want to go. You could go 'semi-pro' with the equipment Chip has already. Next pieces of equipment could include a Chocovision Delta (or other) tempering machine, larger stone grinders (or other style grinders), pre-refiners, vibrating tables, cooling cabinets, etc.
There's a ton of discussion about most (all, maybe) of this equipment here in the forums, but you'll need to decide how much chocolate you want to make before finding the right equipment.
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jmm
Neophyte
Posts: 46
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Post by jmm on Apr 6, 2019 6:38:48 GMT -5
What would the benefit be to having a tilting melanger?
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Post by Chip on Apr 6, 2019 8:28:29 GMT -5
First, the other piece of equipment I have and you will need to effectively go "bean to bar" is a winnower, the machine that removes the husk from the nibs. I use John's Sylph Winnower and it was a good investment (see below). If I were to go with more/different, my wishes would be: First, to do this I would have to win the lottery or something!
A larger melange or two. Brad has a video on what he uses and it is really, really cool. The small ones definitely have their quirks and limitations. I would go with a 20 pound at the least. Premier makes them as does Spectra. I have found that the customer service at Diamond Custom Machines, the main provider and manufacturer of the Premier, is absolutely fantastic. Bhavani from Diamond is just a super, super guy and so very helpful. I can't praise him enough for all of the help he has given me. A nice tempering machine like a Chocovision! Ben is right on A vibrating table Ben has posted a link to a nice smaller table that looks really nice a small enrobing deviceCooling cabinetsAutomatic Roaster and Automatic Winnower I now use the sylph winnower from Chocolate Alchemy John, and it is a fine piece of equipment, just slow and labor intensive. I also use the Behmor 1600+ which roasts up to 2 lbs. of beans at a time very, very effectively, and their customer service is the best you will run into in this lifetime. I would just like to do larger batches. Now as far as your question on the tilting melange: from Premier it is one the entry level melanges. It is the larger of the two, so it makes sense to go with it. It does tilt but IMHO that is not as useful as it may sound. As a matter of fact, until they get the problem of making it more stable in the "non-tilt" position it sometimes is a PITA. The entry level machines are "rated" at 8 pound and 10 pounds respectively. I have never been able to effectively make a batch that large. As Ben has stated, once the scrapers/stones are covered the melange really loses a lot of its effectiveness. Therefore a large melange would be nice. However, the next step up is a $2,000 machine and the tilting melange goes for $260 for the small, $310 for the larger (tilt). There is also the Spectra 11 refiner that John sells for $479 and that is a good machine as well, with its own set of quirks. Stay away from Santha. Start reading the "Small Scale Chocolate Business" section on this forum for more fantastic ideas and advice.
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jmm
Neophyte
Posts: 46
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Post by jmm on Apr 7, 2019 16:32:59 GMT -5
I've been looking some online at what you suggested (almost bought a santha melanger 2 untill i realised it sounded familiar and looked back ) The capacities are all pretty lowish...BUT the jump higher would be 10x the money... I'm hoping on getting a hang of things with a small setup and then eventually SLOWLY go commercially and try and sell different flavors.. Maybe stupid questions! but ! How fast is the roaster ? As its 1lb capacity the "speed" might make up for it. Also im getting the vibe that you've used many grinders before.. Which one would you say is the all out go to! (i'm guessing the one you're using now but i figured i'd still ask) And i found the DIY winnower on this page....But i gotta admit..when it comes to those kind of things i really got 2 left hands...put me in a kitchen or behind a desk and i'll rock your world lol but ask me to DIY those kind of things...and i'll go full retard...Is there anything there you'd recommend ? (ive been googling but im not satisfied with the information im finding :/ ) Thanks
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Post by Chip on Apr 7, 2019 17:29:52 GMT -5
I guess I would start out small. The Premier tilt, for me is the best bang for the buck for a novice.
The Behmor1600+ takes anywhere from 18 to 23 minutes to roast 2 pounds, then another 12 minutes to cool. So you are looking at approximately 30 plus minutes for every two pounds of raw beans. I just ordered 66 pounds! Lol You can always buy roasted beans from John and then crack/winnow them to start. You could also get started by ordering roasted nibs and just trying different formulations to see what you like as far as taste goes, how the whole melange thing works.
I’ll be upfront with you, one of the concepts most people seem to have a harder time getting down is tempering. I personally use the silk method of tempering and it works great, every time, for me. I make my own silk but that too can be ordered from John.
So, to sum up. I’d get s melange, some molds, silk, cocoa butter, roasted nibs and some good sugar and have a go at making some chocolate. Get some whole milk powder if you want to make milk chocolate. Get some pans, spatulas, scrapers and some parchment paper. Go for it and expand as your skills increase.
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jmm
Neophyte
Posts: 46
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Post by jmm on Apr 7, 2019 18:47:17 GMT -5
i was just thinking the same thing..I figured i'd start with the melanger and go from there..(probably start with just the nibs aswell) and work my way down to go to scratch.. I do have experience in tempering...HOWEVER thats with using callebaut chocolate and doing the seeding or tabling method... I havent given it thought yet on how to temper the chocolate that is made lol..So im going to have to look into this a bit more...As the silk you mentioned kinda blinds me as what that means lol... So i got the melanger...I got molds already.(ill order more bars tho) I've just discovered johns youtube channel so ill be stalking that for a little while... and just a little side note Where do you order the beans ? (ive been looking this up aswell but figured i'd ask just to see if its one of the pages ive came across...) Very excited about this thanks for your help so far (im still scouring the forum aswell...but theres so much information lol )
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Post by Chip on Apr 7, 2019 18:53:23 GMT -5
I get my beans wholesale through John.
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jmm
Neophyte
Posts: 46
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Post by jmm on Apr 7, 2019 19:42:24 GMT -5
I just found the store section on this site lol. I’ll try the nibs from here.. the butter is a bit to expensive for me at the moment ( because it’s only available in high volume) so I’ll get that off of amazon or maybe thru work( I’m a baker so shouldn’t be a problem) But! Holy cannoli 66lbs is a lot ! Lol. Can I ask how much lbs chocolate would ROUGHLY come out if that?
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Post by Chip on Apr 7, 2019 19:52:03 GMT -5
I just found the store section on this site lol. I’ll try the nibs from here.. the butter is a bit to expensive for me at the moment ( because it’s only available in high volume) so I’ll get that off of amazon or maybe thru work( I’m a baker so shouldn’t be a problem) But! Holy cannoli 66lbs is a lot ! Lol. Can I ask how much lbs chocolate would ROUGHLY come out if that? You can reasonably expect to get about 80% nibs after roasting and winnowing. Then the poundage of chocolate depends of the percentage of nibs/cocoa butter/sugar. The darker the chocolate, the more liquor I use. I don't do what a lot of folk on this site do and use the nibs directly in the melange. I always, always run my nibs through the Champion grinder first and make cocoa liquor. Then I chop that up and make my chocolate from there. It is an added step for sure, and somewhat time consuming, but I feel I get a much smoother end product that needs no filtering/straining. John has both a wholesale and a retail site on here. You can get 5 pounds of butter from him really reasonably, and it's a high quality butter.
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