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Post by Ben on Apr 19, 2024 17:02:55 GMT -5
Nope, no other oils or lecithins at all.
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Post by Ben on Apr 18, 2024 11:59:37 GMT -5
Yep, that's my understanding of why that works. My cooling cabinet is usually around 50F.
Not sure why mixing cocoa butter with a different oil before grinding would help. The grinder mixes it all together already. I'd also question the need to add a different oil at all. My spread is just hazelnuts & chocolate (cacao, sugar, cocoa butter).
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Post by Ben on Apr 17, 2024 11:15:33 GMT -5
I used to have this problem with my chocolate hazelnut spread. I found that cooling the spread to around 80F while stirring it and then cooling it in my cooling cabinet solved this problem. I think what is happening is that some of the cocoa butter was separating and solidifying separately from the rest of the spread. You're essentially tempering the spread.
These days, however, I refine my hazelnuts and chocolate separately and then combine later using an immersion blender. Since the hazelnuts are at room temperature when mixing, the resulting spread is already below 80F so I can just jar and cool it right away. Since doing it this way, I've never had a problem with separation.
On a side note, as long as the cocoa butter melts at some point, it shouldn't matter to the final product. Melting it beforehand as Chip suggests would make things easier at the beginning of the refining process and probably be easier on your grinder.
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Post by Ben on Apr 10, 2024 8:53:20 GMT -5
Yes, very strange that that worked and that the bars ended up being actually solid.
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Post by Ben on Apr 6, 2024 10:41:31 GMT -5
I'd be interested to see the video. Can you post a link?
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Post by Ben on Apr 1, 2024 10:24:45 GMT -5
That's crazy. I used to use a spectra 11 and don't remember any issues removing the bolts. I'd reach out to Spectra and let them know about the situation and ask what they suggest. At least then, if you do end up breaking the center piece (which I think is probably unlikely), they're aware of the problem and should replace the piece free of charge.
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Post by Ben on Mar 26, 2024 14:10:44 GMT -5
Agreed with lyndon. Your fat level is too low. Currently, the white chocolate is 30% cocoa butter and the milk is somewhere around 22% (depending on how much is in the liquor). I'd shoot for at least 35% overall cocoa butter.
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Post by Ben on Mar 8, 2024 11:56:25 GMT -5
Can you post some pictures? I'm having a hard time envisioning what's happening. Spectra (renamed from Santha) should be able to help with replacement parts and assembly instructions.
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Post by Ben on Feb 12, 2024 10:57:16 GMT -5
Normal chocolate should store fine in the fridge.
Chocolate for covering ice cream is usually a compound chocolate. I make some by just adding 10-15% refined coconut oil to chocolate. It makes for a nice brittle chocolate when frozen.
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Post by Ben on Feb 3, 2024 13:33:49 GMT -5
Those molds Chip's referring to were polycarbonate, but a thinner vacuum-formed polycarbonate as opposed to injection-molded polycarbonate. They're more flexible than injection-molded, but work pretty well. Chocolate Alchemy sells a variety or two of them, or you can get them from Tomric, who has a wide variety.
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Post by Ben on Jan 28, 2024 20:18:52 GMT -5
Yep, you'd want to keep the same ratio.
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Post by Ben on Jan 27, 2024 12:26:50 GMT -5
I'd look into vacuum forming. You can buy or build the stuff to do it for not too much money. I've never done it, but it looks reasonably do-able.
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Post by Ben on Jan 23, 2024 10:31:47 GMT -5
I'd second Chip's suggestion of adding it while tempering, not to the grinder.
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Post by Ben on Jan 12, 2024 13:01:58 GMT -5
You're welcome! Yep, I bake my own cookies. After they're baked, I'll put them in the dehydrator or just leave them in the oven on warm for a while to make sure they're dry and crunchy. I'd imagine it could work with any baked good.
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Post by Ben on Jan 11, 2024 10:35:36 GMT -5
The specific bar you link to has chunks of cinnamon rolls included in it. See here: compartes.com/products/cinnamon-roll-holiday-chocolate-giftMy guess is that they still need to be fully dehydrated before being included in the chocolate. I make a speculaas spread using a small stone grinder. I bake the cookies, ensure they're fully dehydrated, and then grind them with refined coconut oil and sunflower oil to make a spread. I've thought about doing this with cocoa butter instead to make a moldable speculaas bar.
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