|
Post by lilypa on Jun 10, 2012 0:18:35 GMT -5
Hey All,
My first post. So...I've now made my second batch of chocolate at home. Each time I've kept it small (2 lb per batch).
Do you have any suggestions on an inexpensive way to vibrate the air bubbles out of my bar molds? I bought a couple of the molds John sells. Currently, I'm just shaking as quickly as I can while avoiding "overtopping". Then I pick up the mold and tap it on the kitchen counter. There has to be a better, inexpensive way?
Cheers, Dave
|
|
|
Post by Ben on Jun 10, 2012 18:14:38 GMT -5
Hi Dave. Welcome to the forum. Someone suggested in one of the forums to use a dental vibrator. I bought one on ebay for about $50. I added a small cutting board to it to hold the mold. You can see it on my photos page: www.potomacchocolate.com/about/photos/It lasted about a year and several thousand bars and then the switch broke. I'm now on my second one. The motor in the first one is probably still fine, so I may pull it out and make a vibrating table that can handle 2 molds. Ben
|
|
|
Post by lilypa on Jun 11, 2012 23:40:19 GMT -5
Thanks Ben! I wouldn't have thought of that. I looked on eBay and found a few for about $70 - $90. Some were circular and a couple (more expensive) were rectangular. Seems like a rectangular dental vibrator would be easier to fit a cutting board and moulds on top of. Are you using a rectangular or circular dental vibrator? Also...does yours have a rubber (or at least a tacky-ish) vibrating surface? I figure smooth plastic would just cause whatever is on top of the dental vibrator to slide off. So...I'm gonna check the specs out to make sure the surface is rubber. (It's funny talking about vibrators and rubber on a chocolate making forum. )
BTW...I think I've seen (and maybe) tried a bar of your chocolate. If so, I probably saw it at a store called Chocolate Covered in SF. They carry a ton of product. I think maybe the packaging was white with black or red lettering (not like in the photos currently on your web site). Does this sound familiar? It would've been about a year ago or so.
Also...thanks again for responding! I was sort of worrying that this forum would not be that responsive as most of the posts on here seem to be from 2006 - 2010. Maybe that was the heyday for home-made chocolate discoveries and idea sharing...closer to when John Nanci started his web site.
Cheers, Dave
|
|
|
Post by Ben on Jun 12, 2012 10:53:28 GMT -5
Hi Dave,
No problem. I use one of the round topped ones with the cutting board glued on the top. The cutting board is just a bit smaller than my molds, so the sides of the mold hang over the edges of the cutting board keeping it in place. I've also tried one of the rectangular ones, but it was too powerful when set to high and too weak when set to the low setting.
Chocolate Covered does carry my bars. About a year ago, it would've been in a clear plastic wrapper with a white label wrapped around the middle. It would've had my fish logo in green with black lettering.
The forum has gotten a little slower. I think it's probably because most of the 'just getting started' issues have been thoroughly discussed. If you haven't yet, I'd suggest reading back through the various threads. There's a ton of great info.
Ben
|
|
|
Post by lilypa on Jun 14, 2012 0:21:08 GMT -5
Thanks again Ben. Yeah...one of these days I'd like to try your Bahia bar. Too hot right now. Shipping costs are probably a lot more due to the heat. Maybe if I make it to SF before Fall, I'll stop by Chocolate Covered and see if they have some of your bars.
I saw a post on the forum from Brad Churchill (Choklat) using the Bahia, Brazil chocolate produced by Jim Lucas (I think). Sounded like the Lucas's have good quality control on their plantation (preventing outbreaks of Witches Broom?). Is this where you get your Bahia chocolate?
Oh yeah...what kinda glue did you use to keep your cutting board from detaching from your dental vibrator? Seems like it would require a very adhesive type of glue. Sorry if I'm asking too many questions. I'm just in the excited learning phase.
Another question...do you have any great reading recommendations (in book form) on chocolate and chocolate making? I bought my wife the Greweling book as she'd eventually like to use some of my chocolate to make the fancier stuff. I, myself, am just excited to make bars and mostly to keep it simple. Cacao beans and sugar primarily. I have some coworkers that absolutely hate dark chocolate so someday I'll oblige them with milk, but for now this newbie has to get the dark-chocolate tempering part down first. I'm trying to use John Nanci's Santha tempering method to keep my initial costs down. Tempering machines seem pretty expensive, but I bet they're well worth it once you get to a production mode. The jump in price from the 1.5 lb Chocovision machines to the 10 lb machines is pretty steep.
Anyway...now I'm just rambling.
Cheers Ben, Dave
|
|
|
Post by Ben on Jun 14, 2012 10:38:21 GMT -5
Thanks Dave.
Sadly, my Bahia bar is not currently in production. I had some issues with it and haven't been able to get back to it. I'm currently waiting on more beans and hope to start working with it again this summer. I'm also working on a Peru bar using beans from John.
I think I used gorilla glue for the cutting board.
I used the santha tempering method for a long time before finally getting a tempering machine. It worked great for me. I used seed chocolate, which I'm not sure if John does or not.
As far as books go, I've got The Science of Chocolate which is pretty good, but not too deep. Other than that, I've mostly just learned from the forums and trial and error. I'd like to get a copy of Chocolate, Cocoa and Confectionary Science and Technology, and Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use.
Ben
|
|
|
Post by lilypa on Jun 15, 2012 13:19:12 GMT -5
Yeah...I'm trying the Santha method that calls for letting 1/4 - 1/3 of your refined chocolate to develop into seed chocolate overnight by slowly cooling in the oven (without heat, just an insulated environment). So far I've worked with both Bolivian sets of beans from John and next will be some Venezuelan Sur Del Lago beans. I really enjoyed the taste of the wild-harvested Bolivian nibs, but I thought the organic Bolivian criollo/trinitario tasted better as a mostly finished product (not fully tempered).
Wow!! Those are some expensive books. $230 each on Amazon. I think I'll pick up a copy of the Science of Chocolate, and either next fall I'll order a couple of bars from you or I'll pick up a couple of them from Chocolate Covered whenever I make to SF again.
Thanks for all your tips and answering all my questions Ben! Really cool of you!
Happy Chocolate Making!
Cheers, Dave
|
|