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Post by beanless on Mar 12, 2009 16:46:41 GMT -5
First timer so excuse my ignorance. I am following alchemy's recipe for 60% but only making 1lb which may be my issue. Roasting went ok I think although I have nothing to compare it to. Cracking/winnowing and then jucing again ok - so far so good! I put my sugar through a food processor before adding it to the chocolate liquor and cocoa butter in the santha and there it has been grinding for 23 hours but is still grainy. The texture improved noticeably after 5 hours but doesn't seem to have improved much since. Any suggestions? Also I didn't put in any lecithin - would this help and if so can I add it so late?
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Post by redstar on Mar 12, 2009 17:27:01 GMT -5
Hi Beanless, I have an Ultra not a Santha but I think the Santha has a nut that you can use to adjust the tension onto the rollers - could that be the problem? Maybe the tension needs to be increased. Adding Lecithin will make the mix a little thinner but won't affect the graininess that you have. Good luck - let us know how it works out. Duffy
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Post by beanless on Mar 12, 2009 17:54:54 GMT -5
Hi Duffy thanks for your reply. I thought of that and checked the spring nut was tightened fully down, there didn't seem to be much resistance - but would that be because the spring is warm? I also checked that I had the rollers up the right way!!! Maybe I am too impatient! Cheers Ali
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Post by cheebs on Mar 13, 2009 12:37:28 GMT -5
Hi Ali,
Be patient. Some Santhas are slower than others, and may take a full 3 days to completely refine the chocolate.
In this forum, there are a couple of tricks mentioned to increase the roller pressure. YMMV and of course, you try this at your own risk. If you have one of the newer Santhas with the metal block and cap, it's definitely less risky.
Also, the Santha has a sort of break-in period. As the rollers and slab smooth down it seems to gain some efficiency. A good practice is running a couple pounds of sugar in the grinder for an hour or two, which will aid in achieving this smoothness more rapidly.
HTH
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Post by beanless on Mar 13, 2009 21:16:15 GMT -5
Not sure what YMMV means and my santha doesn't have the metal block and cap, but I have noticed that the base granite on my santha has rounded humps so I'll try the 2 lbs of sugar for a few hours as you suggest. Many thanks Ali
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Post by cheebs on Mar 14, 2009 7:47:32 GMT -5
Not sure what YMMV means and my santha doesn't have the metal block and cap, but I have noticed that the base granite on my santha has rounded humps so I'll try the 2 lbs of sugar for a few hours as you suggest. Many thanks Ali Haha sorry... all these acronyms can be confusing at times. YMMV= Your Mileage May Vary. Standard internet disclaimer in case a recommended procedure doesn't work or doesn't work as expected If you have the plastic block and cap you just need to be careful not to apply too much pressure, as the cap tends to shatter if overtightened.
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Post by chocogeek on Mar 14, 2009 15:44:46 GMT -5
Hmmm. Something does not seem right here. You should get sugar refined after 24 hrs to the point where you can't feel it on your tongue.
Could this be the problem: you did not put the screen on the Champion juicer, instead you used the solid blank. That would allow a lot of un-winnowed husk to pass through into the liquor. That might be what you are feeling as 'gritty'.
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Post by beanless on Mar 15, 2009 16:04:20 GMT -5
OK.... I gave in after 53 hrs and tempered and finished the choc. It is still a little gritty and after trying a couple of pieces I got a feeling (and maybe an after taste) that I had eaten some of my santha!! I can see where the ridges on the base have been ground down - although they are far from flat so I have now put oil and salt in the grinder and I have been running it for a few hours. I actually have 2 santha bowls (one broken in transport) and the bases are very different, the broken one has a smooth base and the one I am using has quite big ridges/humps on the base. Can anyone tell me what their bases are like? In reply to above - yes I did put the screen in the juicer but many thanks for the suggestion.
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Post by kellymon on Mar 19, 2009 18:04:56 GMT -5
Hi beanless, wow, I have used my santha from John for about a year, never had the trouble you are describing though........ I don't have a champion juicer.... I just make sure I winnow well and then heat the nibs with cacao butter in the oven (115f)..... use the food processor to make a paste and then that goes into the (pre-warmed) santha. Slowly, with the nut backed off for a few hours. Gradually I increase pressure, keep the temperature above 110f and below 140f. 24 hrs and it is pretty smooth, I just ran a batch 42 hours and it was REALLY smooth...... I don't know where you live or what the temperature of your santha/chocolate is.... maybe that is part of the problem? In the summer in N Calif it is a lot easier to keep the santha temp up and make those nibs give up their butter to the cause In the winter here, it takes extra measures to keep it all warm enough. namaste, robert
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Post by beanless on Mar 21, 2009 15:21:35 GMT -5
Hi Robert Yesterday I just finished my 2nd batch of chocolate (milk choc this time) which I refined/conched for only 23 hrs and yay it tastes great!! Celebrated with way too much wine tho!! I even managed to temper it properly following the instructions for tempering using the santha - so much easier for me than tabling and way less mess!!! I live in New Zealand and we are just in autumn and the mornings are cool so I did heat both the liquor and the bowl before starting. I also used my broken bowl with the flat base this time and the difference in time was huge whether it made a difference making milk choc - I don't know. Cheers A very happy Ali .
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Post by kellymon on Mar 22, 2009 17:20:56 GMT -5
Congratulations Ali Glad to hear this one worked out for you. An easy way to do quick checks on temperature is by using an infrared thermoter like this one: www.amazon.com/Fluke-62-Mini-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B000MX5Y9CWe use one a lot for our solar cooking, and depending on the color of the object, reflectivity/emissivity etc it works pretty well. I wouldn't rely on it for final tempering accuracy, but for quick checks it beats sticking a thermometer in and out of a spinning machine full of chocolate liquid. robert
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Post by caitlync on Sept 29, 2014 17:14:46 GMT -5
Hi Robert Yesterday I just finished my 2nd batch of chocolate (milk choc this time) which I refined/conched for only 23 hrs and yay it tastes great!! Celebrated with way too much wine tho!! I even managed to temper it properly following the instructions for tempering using the santha - so much easier for me than tabling and way less mess!!! I live in New Zealand and we are just in autumn and the mornings are cool so I did heat both the liquor and the bowl before starting. I also used my broken bowl with the flat base this time and the difference in time was huge whether it made a difference making milk choc - I don't know. Cheers A very happy Ali . That is awesome! Congrats. Which temper method is the one for using the santha?
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Post by Ben on Sept 30, 2014 10:40:10 GMT -5
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Post by caitlync on Sept 30, 2014 13:05:06 GMT -5
Hi Ben, Thank you so much . It doesn't really state in that thread HOW to do it in a melanger. Do you treat it sort of like a tempering machine and add seed to it (removing the stones first)? Or do you take the chocolate out once it is done conching and let it cool down outside of the machine and become the "seed" and then put it back in after? I am curious because right now I use the slab method but if I can do larger quantites in the melanger that would be awesome!
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Post by Ben on Sept 30, 2014 14:35:43 GMT -5
When I was doing it, I would actually dump the chocolate from one melanger to another one that had one of the stones and the tightening spring removed. You probably need to have one stone at least for stirring. Then, I'd add seed chocolate (you could also table some on your slab to create seed) to temper. I had a fan/heater next to it that I would use to maintain the correct temperature.
I believe others were doing it all in one melanger. I'm not sure what they'd do about the residual heat in the melanger, though. Maybe just add more seed? Or maybe they'd just let it sit for a while to let the temp drop somewhat before seeding or tabling.
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