Post by Alchemist on Jun 4, 2007 14:32:34 GMT -5
As more and more Melangers are getting put into use, I am finally putting together a manual for the Melanger. Input, suggestions, and words of wisdom, etc would be appreciated.
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Your Alchemist's Stone Melanger can refine anywhere from 1 lb to 10 lbs. of chocolate in 12-36 hours depending on your particular conditions and desires.
When you Melanger arrives it needs to be cleaned of manufacturing dust. You have a couple options.
1) Wipe out the bowl and granite stones with a clean cloth.
Add 1 lb of sugar to the bowl, assemble the unit (as described below) and run for about an hour.
Alternately, you can also run a couple cups of vegetable oil for about an hour.
2) If you feel more comfortable washing it, feel free. Hot soap and water are fine. Note: The Melanger parts are NOT dishwasher safe. Wash by hand.
Let COMPLETELY dry before using for chocolate. You can speed the drying by placing your bowl and rollers in a warm (no more than 140 F) for an hour or so.
Refining Chocolate with your Melanger
Make sure your Wet Grinder is ABSOLUTELY DRY when you start.
Just a touch of water can seize the entire batch
Place your melted cocoa liqueur into the stainless steel, granite bottomed bowl. It is often convenient to add it directly from your Champion Juicer session.
Attach the rollers (if the rollers spin free, the rollers are upside down), place the spring on the shaft and tighten down with the cap. Tension is not a particular issue - just screw it all the way down.
Turn on the Melanger and slowly add whatever sugar (and milk solids) and melted cocoa butter your recipe calls for.
The sugar you add should be regular white cane sugar. Do not use "powdered" sugar, this contains cornstarch. If you wish to reduce your refining time a couple hours, a small "whirly blade" coffee grinder or blender works nicely to "powder" your own sugar. 2 minutes pre-grinding the sugar will save you 2 or more hours in the Melanger. If you don't wish to bother, that is fine to - the Melanger will handle crystals of sugar just fine.
You may need to add a little heat to the chocolate during the first 1/2 hour or so if you notice that it cools too much and starts to thicken. A standard blow drier (for hair drying) works very well for adding heat.
Alternately, you can pre-heat all of your ingredients in a warm over to about 140 F. This will allow the Melanger to work easier.
Other sugars may or may not work due to their moisture content. Brown sugar for instance needs to be dried before it can be used. Malt powder is notorious for holding enough moisture to cause your batch of chocolate to seize.
We specifically DO NOT RECOMMEND the following sweeteners and ingredients:
Honey
Agave syrup
Any syrup
Liquid milk or cream
Water
Unroasted nuts or cocoa nibs
The use of any of these will most likely cause the chocolate to seize and may damage the equipment. Melangers damaged by the use of any liquid based ingredient is NOT covered by warranty. Use at your own risk.
Your chocolate should be "flowing" smoothly over and under the rollers like a liquid. If not, something is not right. Check the Troubleshooting section at the end. It may be as simple as needing to add a little heat or not adding your ingredients so fast.
The Alchemist's Stone Melanger is meant to be run continuously. This does not mean something can't go wrong, especially when you first get it. In general, we recommend keeping a close eye on it for the first few hours you use it make sure it is running properly. And although people do we never really recommend leaving it completely unattended.
Once your chocolate has attained the level of refining that you desire (taste it - it is your best tool), turn off the Melanger and pour your chocolate into chocolate molds for storage or proceed directly to tempering and finish molding.
Clean the Wet Grinder with hot water, soap and a scrub brush. Make sure you rinse away ALL the soap. Soap is not desirable in chocolate. Again, the Melanger parts are NOT dishwasher safe.
Troubleshooting and Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Q: The cocoa nibs and sugar are just packing down and the rollers are just running on top.
A: You can not just dump roasted nibs and sugar together in the Melanger and expect it to make chocolate. See above for how to add ingredients.
Q: Can the Melanger make liquor out of nibs.
A: Yes it can, but we often find it is more work than it is worth. If you want to try, pre-heat your nibs and refiner bowl to about 140 F in an oven. Assemble the Melanger and start it running (it will be LOUD). Slowly add a 4 ozs of nibs. Slow add another pound over the next hour as the nibs start to liquefy. If the nibs start packing down, you are probably adding them too fast. You will probably need to turn off the unit, remove some, and start it again.
Q: I added just a tiny amount of honey to my recipe (maybe a teaspoon), but now my chocolate is this thick fudge like mess.
A: Go read the directions again - you can not add ANY water based ingredient or your chocolate will seize.
Q: I mixed up one of your recipes for milk chocolate. It was dry and crumbly. I added it to the Melanger but it just stuck to everything and clumped up until the motor stopped.
A: Go read again how to add ingredients. The Melanger can do many things and is quite up to the task of refining chocolate, but you can not just throw everything in and walk away. In general, if your mixture is crumbly or too thick, you either need to add more cocoa butter (melted), less sugar or maybe just a little heat to melt the cocoa butter that is present (cocoa liquor is 50% cocoa butter).
In general, if you refining mixture isn't "flowing" then something is wrong and needs to be addressed.
------------------
Your Alchemist's Stone Melanger can refine anywhere from 1 lb to 10 lbs. of chocolate in 12-36 hours depending on your particular conditions and desires.
When you Melanger arrives it needs to be cleaned of manufacturing dust. You have a couple options.
1) Wipe out the bowl and granite stones with a clean cloth.
Add 1 lb of sugar to the bowl, assemble the unit (as described below) and run for about an hour.
Alternately, you can also run a couple cups of vegetable oil for about an hour.
2) If you feel more comfortable washing it, feel free. Hot soap and water are fine. Note: The Melanger parts are NOT dishwasher safe. Wash by hand.
Let COMPLETELY dry before using for chocolate. You can speed the drying by placing your bowl and rollers in a warm (no more than 140 F) for an hour or so.
Refining Chocolate with your Melanger
Make sure your Wet Grinder is ABSOLUTELY DRY when you start.
Just a touch of water can seize the entire batch
Place your melted cocoa liqueur into the stainless steel, granite bottomed bowl. It is often convenient to add it directly from your Champion Juicer session.
Attach the rollers (if the rollers spin free, the rollers are upside down), place the spring on the shaft and tighten down with the cap. Tension is not a particular issue - just screw it all the way down.
Turn on the Melanger and slowly add whatever sugar (and milk solids) and melted cocoa butter your recipe calls for.
The sugar you add should be regular white cane sugar. Do not use "powdered" sugar, this contains cornstarch. If you wish to reduce your refining time a couple hours, a small "whirly blade" coffee grinder or blender works nicely to "powder" your own sugar. 2 minutes pre-grinding the sugar will save you 2 or more hours in the Melanger. If you don't wish to bother, that is fine to - the Melanger will handle crystals of sugar just fine.
You may need to add a little heat to the chocolate during the first 1/2 hour or so if you notice that it cools too much and starts to thicken. A standard blow drier (for hair drying) works very well for adding heat.
Alternately, you can pre-heat all of your ingredients in a warm over to about 140 F. This will allow the Melanger to work easier.
Other sugars may or may not work due to their moisture content. Brown sugar for instance needs to be dried before it can be used. Malt powder is notorious for holding enough moisture to cause your batch of chocolate to seize.
We specifically DO NOT RECOMMEND the following sweeteners and ingredients:
Honey
Agave syrup
Any syrup
Liquid milk or cream
Water
Unroasted nuts or cocoa nibs
The use of any of these will most likely cause the chocolate to seize and may damage the equipment. Melangers damaged by the use of any liquid based ingredient is NOT covered by warranty. Use at your own risk.
Your chocolate should be "flowing" smoothly over and under the rollers like a liquid. If not, something is not right. Check the Troubleshooting section at the end. It may be as simple as needing to add a little heat or not adding your ingredients so fast.
The Alchemist's Stone Melanger is meant to be run continuously. This does not mean something can't go wrong, especially when you first get it. In general, we recommend keeping a close eye on it for the first few hours you use it make sure it is running properly. And although people do we never really recommend leaving it completely unattended.
Once your chocolate has attained the level of refining that you desire (taste it - it is your best tool), turn off the Melanger and pour your chocolate into chocolate molds for storage or proceed directly to tempering and finish molding.
Clean the Wet Grinder with hot water, soap and a scrub brush. Make sure you rinse away ALL the soap. Soap is not desirable in chocolate. Again, the Melanger parts are NOT dishwasher safe.
Troubleshooting and Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Q: The cocoa nibs and sugar are just packing down and the rollers are just running on top.
A: You can not just dump roasted nibs and sugar together in the Melanger and expect it to make chocolate. See above for how to add ingredients.
Q: Can the Melanger make liquor out of nibs.
A: Yes it can, but we often find it is more work than it is worth. If you want to try, pre-heat your nibs and refiner bowl to about 140 F in an oven. Assemble the Melanger and start it running (it will be LOUD). Slowly add a 4 ozs of nibs. Slow add another pound over the next hour as the nibs start to liquefy. If the nibs start packing down, you are probably adding them too fast. You will probably need to turn off the unit, remove some, and start it again.
Q: I added just a tiny amount of honey to my recipe (maybe a teaspoon), but now my chocolate is this thick fudge like mess.
A: Go read the directions again - you can not add ANY water based ingredient or your chocolate will seize.
Q: I mixed up one of your recipes for milk chocolate. It was dry and crumbly. I added it to the Melanger but it just stuck to everything and clumped up until the motor stopped.
A: Go read again how to add ingredients. The Melanger can do many things and is quite up to the task of refining chocolate, but you can not just throw everything in and walk away. In general, if your mixture is crumbly or too thick, you either need to add more cocoa butter (melted), less sugar or maybe just a little heat to melt the cocoa butter that is present (cocoa liquor is 50% cocoa butter).
In general, if you refining mixture isn't "flowing" then something is wrong and needs to be addressed.