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Post by mark on Oct 25, 2022 4:16:41 GMT -5
Unroasted beans can last for years if stored properly (cool and dry). Those beans you’re describing are probably totally fine.
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Post by mark on Aug 9, 2022 19:52:34 GMT -5
If it's liquid at room temperature with those ingredients then your room temperature is warm enough for it to stay liquid. In the summertime here, my chocolate stays liquid for days if I leave it in my kitchen. A room temperature of around 20 C is ideal and after tempering it's good to briefly chill the bars. Like Thomas says you'll find a lot of info here on that if you do a search.
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Post by mark on Aug 1, 2022 21:09:24 GMT -5
Yeah in my opinion that statement about the sugar locking in the flavour is a red herring. Like Thomas I tried adding sugar at varying times and I never noticed any difference. I add the sugar to the melangeur quite early, once the nibs are liquefied. Good luck with your experiments.
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Post by mark on Jul 31, 2022 20:03:02 GMT -5
Hi Zooza
I have no experience with that melangeur but I'd suggest you see how the refining time impacts the flavour of your chocolate. Make two or three identical batches with different refining time, e.g. 24, 48 and 72 hours. You'll see that the flavours will vary considerably and you may prefer the chocolate from one of the longer refining times. There's not necessarily a right or wrong here, it's sometimes just a matter of taste, like with a lighter or darker roast in coffee.
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Post by mark on Jun 19, 2022 19:31:13 GMT -5
Hah, I love that phrase about projecting a high degree of confidence while having a low amount of understanding, Sebastian. That is something I've encountered in many different fields outside of chocolate (management consulting in particular).
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Post by mark on Apr 5, 2022 20:16:22 GMT -5
Hi tabularasa yeah that "first crack" is a key milestone when roasting coffee beans and it appears somebody thought it might also be applicable to cacao roasting. As Sebastian says, it's not. Some of the beans I roast crack sometimes, others never crack. So best to ignore that one. A few years ago John did a whole series of "Ask the Alchemist" blog posts on roasting. I feel like many of your questions may well be answered by the material there. I learnt a lot from that series of posts and my roasting (and chocolate!) improved substantially based on my new knowledge. The series starts around ATA 190, here's one of the first ones: chocolatealchemy.com/blog/2017/2/9/ask-the-alchemist-194 . Be sure to look at the ones around 200, some really good info there.
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Post by mark on Mar 24, 2022 1:59:05 GMT -5
Hi jmm I'm on the other side of the world so makes no sense for me to buy this from you. However, I'm keen to hear how this machine worked for you as I'm considering getting one of these.
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Post by mark on Mar 24, 2022 1:56:35 GMT -5
I've even heard anecdotes that the chocolate tasted *better* when the beans were two years old compared to the fresh beans.
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Post by mark on Mar 22, 2022 20:24:46 GMT -5
When I first started I made test batches using exactly the same ingredients / roasting with varying refining times. It was interesting to taste the differnce and in the end I went for the one I liked best. Also, I know you don't add sugar but I do and the shorter refining times meant there was still some perceivable "grit" from the sugar. Not a defect in my opinion, but many consumers want that smooth mouthfeel.
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Post by mark on Feb 15, 2022 1:48:20 GMT -5
Hey Ted, there's no need to be ashamed, you're learning and that's great. I agree with Ben it's a good idea to understand tempering first by using Brad's method. That one will always work if you follow the instructions but it's a lot of effort. Once you've mastered that you can move on to silk and I'm convinced you'll nail it based on your new experience.
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Post by mark on Dec 9, 2021 2:13:41 GMT -5
I've never heard of seasoning molds, Chip. I season my cast iron frying pan and my wok, but I've never heard about seasoning molds. Do you find this gives you better results?
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Post by mark on Nov 11, 2021 4:30:10 GMT -5
Yeah those look like a great upgrade for people using the smaller melangeurs. I reckon if they made something similar for the Spectra 11 it would sell well. The plastic parts are prone to breaking.
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Post by mark on Nov 4, 2021 21:20:05 GMT -5
I recall the Omnom guys add charcoal to one of their white chocolates to make it black.
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Post by mark on Nov 4, 2021 21:18:56 GMT -5
We did exactly the same thing as Thomas for many years. With a good inkjet and a guillotine you'll easily be able to print on demand for thousands of units per month. I'd strongly recommend getting a continuous ink tank printer (e.g. Epson Eco Tank) if you're going to print wrappers yourself, brings the unit cost down way lower than when using cartridges.
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Post by mark on Nov 2, 2021 22:44:39 GMT -5
Hey Chip just out of interest what did you upgrade to?
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