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Post by jamescary on Dec 14, 2008 2:20:26 GMT -5
Could anyone who has the larger Santha comment on whether they are able to refine their chocolate faster than the Spectra 10s (ie Alchemist Stone / 2L)? Or just how long it takes to refine a particular batch size in one of them?
Also, what are the diameter of the rollers on the larger Spectras?
Thanks!
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Post by holycacao on Dec 14, 2008 6:20:41 GMT -5
Hi James, I have the Spectra 40, and never had the 10, so I can't tell you which is faster- I can only tell you that I have made chocolate in 12 hrs (a madagascar 77% with no added cocoa butter, that I left on the acidic side intentionally to see how it aged (I wrote a little about this on your question on Clay's site). In 12 hours the texture was fine. On other batches I have left the machine running for as long as 36 hours. The major difference in the conching action- not the refining.
In terms of the wheels, they measure 20 cm in diameter and have a width of 7.5 cm.
One thing to note on this model is that I, like others on this site, have had issues with the belt. This machine shaves the belt relatively quickly. After 2 runs my belt was rather thin, but did not break. I have bough replacements and will see how long the belts lasts. From my observation, my new belt probably won't break (it's wearing on one side where it seems to be in rubbing against the base stone. I suspect that once it is worn down enough it should get to an equilibrium point where the base may spin slower, but that is just a hypothesis-time will tell.
Depending how this week goes (I have 70kg to get through) I might looking into putting a spacer on the bowl to elevate it a few cm from the belt and see if that helps out. Hope that helps -Jo Zander
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Post by jamescary on Dec 14, 2008 15:26:02 GMT -5
Thanks, Jo. That's a bummer about the belt.
Just measured the Spectra 10 wheels: ~9.8cm diameter, ~6.2cm wide.
So, the Spectra 40s wheels are about 5 times the size of the 10s.
How large was your batch of Madagascar?
It takes around 12 hrs to refine 1 or 2 kg in the 10.
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Post by holycacao on Dec 15, 2008 1:44:29 GMT -5
It was 13 kg of madagascar and it was really good. Some people thought it was too acidic though. I considered conching for longer but decided that I liked it that way and wanted to see what would happen if aged. Its almost 4 months and I still like it. I'm trying to hold out and see after 6 months and then save some on the side for longer aging.
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