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Post by Fat Rabbit Coffee on Dec 28, 2022 2:02:19 GMT -5
I have a Spectra 11 and have always used it as a melanger with the nut tightened down all the way (backed off just a smidge). I happened to read the manual tonight and there's a section that says it can be used as a conch by loosening the nut.
I was under the impression that conching further refines the chocolate and a separate machine would be needed to take it to that level.
Anyone here conching with the Spectra 11 after melanging? I'm missing the point of conching if it can actually be used this way and would love an explanation.
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Post by Ben on Jan 2, 2023 12:26:53 GMT -5
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Post by Fat Rabbit Coffee on Jan 2, 2023 13:01:15 GMT -5
Lots of great info there - thanks for the links.
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Post by Fat Rabbit Coffee on Jan 9, 2023 12:34:39 GMT -5
I had the distinct honor of meeting the Chocolate Alchemist when I was in Oregon this past week. I asked him about this topic and he basically said that the Spectra 11 (and similar melangers) refine and conch and there's no real need to consider a separate conching step beyond melanging. This is different than using a refiner and then a conche but I think that's more at industrial scale.
He also ran me through an interesting experiment in which I first tried chocolate melanged for 24 hours. The next two samples were the same chocolate melanged for 72 hours with the knob tightened down and a separate batch of the same chocolate also run for 72 hours but with the knob removed.
With the knob tightened, the sample was noticeably smoother, creamier, and snappier. The sample with the knob removed tasted basically the same as the original baseline sample.
That indicates that there's basically no advantage whatsoever to running the melanger without tension on the wheels.
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Post by Ben on Jan 9, 2023 14:08:38 GMT -5
When I switched from a stone grinder-only process to one using a separate conche that I built, there was a huge difference in viscosity and mouthfeel. This is the part of conching that stone grinders fail particularly bad at. Since they don't really subject the chocolate to any shear stress, and they don't create a lot of surface area in the chocolate in order to aid evaporation of moisture, etc., they don't do much to lower the viscosity. That first conche I built was not particularly efficient or effective when compared to other true conches, but the improvement in viscosity and mouthfeel was so noticeable that I'd never consider going back to a stone grinder-only process.
Regarding the experiment of tasting the various chocolates, that result mirrors what Alan said near the end of the first discussion I linked above. Basically, he said that you should keep it tightened to get the most benefit out of the smaller machines.
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Post by mark on Jan 9, 2023 21:16:16 GMT -5
Hi Ben, what do you currently use for refining? Still the universal or something else?
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Post by Ben on Jan 10, 2023 9:59:17 GMT -5
Hi Mark. Yep, I'm still using the universal. I'd love to switch to separate refining and conching steps, but am not there yet.
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