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Post by Ben on Oct 6, 2023 22:29:46 GMT -5
If it's burnt, they'd have to have extracted it with some crazy high heat! Cocoa butter's smoke point is near 450F. Where'd you get this cocoa butter?
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Post by Ben on Oct 6, 2023 8:14:57 GMT -5
As long as they're tempered they should work fine.
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Post by Ben on Oct 5, 2023 16:35:09 GMT -5
Hello! What you're describing is just grinding chocolate, which is what the premier refiner is intended for. So it can definitely do it. If you want it to be smooth, it will take longer than 20 minutes, though.
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Post by Ben on Oct 2, 2023 13:10:56 GMT -5
Interesting. I believe he used to suggest not going that hot for fear of weakening the epoxy that holds the steel bowl and stone base together.
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Post by Ben on Oct 2, 2023 8:15:42 GMT -5
Hello!
Where does he recommend heating the cocoa butter that hot? I generally only heat it until it's 140-150F.
Regarding cracked wheels, I'm not sure. It probably depends on where and how big the crack is and if it's in danger of breaking further.
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Post by Ben on Sept 29, 2023 11:00:01 GMT -5
Dry conching refers to conching with less cocoa butter than will be in the final chocolate. In an industrial process, I believe it's generally done by pressing out some of the cocoa butter from the chocolate liquor and then putting that partially-defatted mass into the conche. I starts dry and crumbly but then transitions to a 'pasty' phase. If I remember what I read years ago in Industrial Chocolate Manufacturing and Use correctly, this pasty phase is the most effective stage of conching. Once conched sufficiently the removed cocoa butter (and additional if being used) is added back in to the conche and mixed until fully incorporated.
It could theoretically be done at home, but not with only a small stone grinder as it requires separate refining and conching processes, as well as a way to press out some of the cocoa butter. The stone grinder isn't good at conching to begin with and really needs all the cocoa butter to keep things moving.
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Post by Ben on Sept 29, 2023 10:52:22 GMT -5
Working with chocolate vs the candy making wafers (compound chocolate) is going to require more technique and precision. My guess is that the Ghiradelli chocolate you tried was fine--assuming it was stored sealed and dry, age and moisture shouldn't be a problem--and that the issue was more related to your process. If you gave us more detail on your process that resulted in the just-ok truffle shells, we could try to help troubleshoot.
I'd also recommend checking out the Pastry & Baking section of the eGullet forums. They're much more focused on bonbon/'chocolates' making vs here at Chocolate Alchemy where we're more focused on making chocolate from the cocoa bean.
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Post by Ben on Sept 20, 2023 10:07:03 GMT -5
You'd definitely want at least a thermocouple in the beans and one that measures the air temp, so if the low end ones don't have that, I'd consider that a deal breaker. A cooling tray is very helpful, too.
I'm not sure what that video is either, but I don't think it says anything about a 'best' roast. My guess is that it's showing different flavor profiles for one specific bean roasted at different levels. It's not making any claims for all cacao. Every cacao needs to be roasted differently to bring out their best flavors--there's no best roast for all cacao.
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Post by Ben on Sept 18, 2023 14:09:16 GMT -5
Regarding roaster recommendations, I'd look at a coffee roaster that has controls for power, drum speed, and airflow. I use a small roaster from Buckeye Coffee Roasters here the US, but it's just a rebranded chinese roaster that is probably available from Alibaba.
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Post by Ben on Sept 18, 2023 14:07:24 GMT -5
Hi Mark! I've moved this thread from the Ask the Alchemist forum to the Roasting forum. Alchemist John doesn't really ever come onto the forums anymore. If you'd like him to weigh in, you'll need to email him directly or submit a question on his Ask the Alchemist page: chocolatealchemy.com/ask-the-alchemistPersonally, I am a big fan of a drum roaster because they give a much more consistent roast than a convection oven--even a good convection oven. All convection ovens have hotter and cooler spots, so you're always going to get some variation. While a consistent roast doesn't mean a good roast, it does give you more control over trying to compensate for the shortcomings of an oven. From your description of your oven it does seem like it has some specific shortcomings that could lead to a less than ideal roast. Where did you see that Alchemist John concluded that 265F was the best roast? From what I've read from him, I don't think he would say that one specific end of roast temperature (EOR) is the 'best' roast. Different roasts will bring out the best flavors in different beans, so while 265F may be a good EOR for one bean, it is probably a terrible EOR for others. For me, I currently work with five different origins and don't roast any of them as high as 265F. Also, as John discusses in his series on roasting (starting around Ask the Alchemist 200 IIRC), the EOR is only one data point--how you get to the EOR is just as important for developing flavor. I'd start with that series of posts if you're looking to improve your roast.
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Post by Ben on Sept 18, 2023 11:18:54 GMT -5
Hello! I bought a 40L universal from Nantong Twinkle Machinery Equipment Co in Nantong, China. While I've been overall happy with it and have been using it for almost 5 years now, the process of buying it and having to do a bunch of work to get it up and running means that I can't recommend them. Also they presented themselves as the manufacturer, while they were actually just a reseller. I have heard good things about Newtang machinery www.newtang.com/ Along with a couple other recommendations I've heard, Brad was at one point (and may still be) a distributor for them here in North America and highly recommended them. Maybe he'll see this post and weigh in. I've also heard a recommendation for the universal from Sinofude: sinofudegroup.com/
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Post by Ben on Sept 15, 2023 11:09:01 GMT -5
Hello!
That chocolate doesn't look unusually thick to me. Two ingredient chocolate is inherently thicker than chocolate made with added cocoa butter and/or lecithin. Two ingredient chocoalte made in a stone grinder will also generally be a bit thicker than if made with some other methods, but not hugely so.
You could thin it out by adding some cocoa butter. Something like 65% nibs and 5% cocoa butter will be noticeably less viscous than just nibs and sugar. This can be done at the end of the refining process so it's easy to test by adding a bit, grind for a minute or two to incorporate, and then taste. If not thin enough, you could add a bit more and test again.
It's also possible/likely that you're over-refining, which, counter-intuitively, makes chocolate thicker. 96h is a really long time, but probably more important is the 24h with just nibs. I would suggest just refining the nibs until they're somewhat liquid and then adding the sugar. After that, refine until it's smooth (tested either with a grindometer or just by putting some in your mouth and using your tongue to rub it against the roof of your mouth). I'd test it after 24 hours and see where it's at. Depending on batch size, it could very well be done at that point.
Hope this helps!
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Post by Ben on Aug 21, 2023 7:27:36 GMT -5
I'm happy I could help! Feel free to ask more questions as they arise.
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Post by Ben on Aug 20, 2023 11:46:07 GMT -5
Hello! Regarding the smoothness issue, my guess is that you just need to refine longer. The little stone grinders are very simple machines. The longer they run, the smoother the chocolate. It sounds like you're doing 12 hours total, which is very short for a batch that size. I would try at least doubling it. If it's still not smooth, grind some more! Stone grinders get a lot less efficient once the chocolate is higher than the stone wheel axles. You can definitely put your existing batches back in to grind further (note that you're refining/grinding, not 'conching'). Cocoa butter and sugar can take far higher temperatures than 130F. Cocoa butter's smoke point is about 450F and sugar starts caramelizing at almost 340F. When I used stone grinders, my chocolate would generally always be at 140F or above, and now that I use a universal, I push that temperature even higher for some cacao origins. My final tempering temperature is generally around 92F as I find that easier to work with. You may want to try warming your scraper to around the temperature of the chocolate. Are you vibrating the chocolate after scraping? Cleaning molds is the worst. It's not necessary to clean them between every batch. You can just polish them with a cotton swab or microfiber to remove any release marks. If your manufacturer says they're dishwasher-safe, I'd give it a shot. The concern is that if they're polycarbonate, the detergent could cause tiny scrapes that could eventually be seen on the bars.
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Post by Ben on Aug 14, 2023 8:19:08 GMT -5
The manual should give you the recommended cleaning procedure. If it didn't come with a manual, I'm sure FBM would send you one.
I think most/all tempering machines can be cleaned with water. The key is just making sure it is completely dry before using again.
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