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Post by chocobog on Mar 17, 2013 11:39:57 GMT -5
Hi Guys,
I spent most of last week working with a machinist to motorize my crackandstein. I got a shiny stainless steel machine with a motor, gears and ventilation.
After I started to crack the nibs I found the motor got stuck when multiple nibs were in at the same time.
I am unable to fill the hopper and just walk away and ended up having to slowly pour the beans to avoid getting it stuck.
By hand I would be able to crack 8kg in about 5-10 minutes. With the motor I am doing 8kg in 30-45 minutes, with a lot of pain. The problem is I no longer have access to the hand cracker, meaning the stuck beans have to be removed by hand or manually moving the rollers.
My first thought is the motor has too little torque. The RPM's are ok. I'm concerned putting a more powerful motor would break the plastic gears on the crackandstein instead of crushing the nibs if they get stuck.
All in all, I would say I failed to make my life easier.
Any of you succeeded in motorizing a crackandstein and leaving it unattended with a hopper full of beans?
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Post by Ben on Mar 18, 2013 22:06:34 GMT -5
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Post by chocobog on Mar 19, 2013 22:43:34 GMT -5
Ben, Thank you! I am glad to know that the plastic gears can take some stress.
I know a lot of people would use drills but I was concerned about burning the drill and wanted to be even lazier with unattended cracking.
Now, you say you used to use a drill. Did you find something better to crack the beans? Did you move back to hand cranking?
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Post by Ben on Mar 20, 2013 8:40:51 GMT -5
I built one of John's winnowers and switched to a champion juicer.
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Post by lilypa on Mar 20, 2013 14:23:31 GMT -5
Ben,
A few questions:
How fast can you crack your beans now using the Champion relative to the Crankenstein? Is it faster?
Did you build a version of John's larger or smaller winnower?
What sort of hopper are you using now for your new winnower?
Dave
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Post by Ben on Mar 21, 2013 11:23:55 GMT -5
Hi Dave, The Crankandstein with drill is definitely faster for cracking than the Champion. If I was cracking and winnowing as two separate processes, I would probably still use the Crankandstein. Side note: While the Crankandstein is faster, I think the Champion produces more consistently sized nibs. As a combined crack/winnow process, the Champion's speed seems just about perfect for feeding the winnower. I haven't timed it, but I'd estimate that it can crack & winnow about 30lbs of beans in 30 minutes--maybe even a little faster. I built a version of the larger winnower using a cyclone dust collector to collect the husks instead of the box used in the design. This was mostly due to laziness and not wanting to build the box. You can see my winnower on my FB page here: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=436345333073116&set=pb.124491320925187.-2207520000.1363882684&type=3&theaterI haven't built a hopper yet, but plan to soon. I currently still hand feed the winnower. I may just use this huge stainless steel salad bowl I bought a while ago for something else chocolate-related (can't remember what, however). I'd just cut a hole in the bottom and build a little stand to hold it over the champion's intake. Otherwise, I'll probably just build a wooden hopper like John's original design. Ben
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Post by lilypa on Mar 22, 2013 16:32:59 GMT -5
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Post by Ben on Mar 23, 2013 9:47:58 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever recovered the 80% ideal, either. It's usually around 75%. I didn't see a noticeable difference in yield between the crankandstein and the champion. I did notice fewer shells stuck to nibs with the champion, though.
I think those funnels look great. I don't think they'd be a problem with the champion.
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Post by Ben on Mar 23, 2013 14:06:10 GMT -5
I've ordered one of the funnels. I'll let you know how it works out.
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Post by lilypa on Mar 23, 2013 16:04:17 GMT -5
Sweet!! Definitely let me know how that funnel works out. The inner diameter of the Champion is a bit more that 2.125" to a depth of a 0.5" in, then the taper of the Champion inlet.
Hopefully that 1/2" of depth and the funnel mouth are compatible enough.
I'm glad to hear that the Champion also seems to cut down on the amount of husk stuck to nibs. That solidifies my opinion of sticking with the Champion and foregoing purchasing a Crankenstein.
Thanks Ben!
Dave
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Post by chocobog on Mar 25, 2013 20:39:50 GMT -5
Ben, Dave, This discussion is very exciting. It can potentially take away more than the pain of motorizing the bean cracking. My Winnower setup as of now is: 1. Crack the beans with Crackandstein (manually or with a better motor) 2. Classify the beans with a 3 level sieve (see attachment) 3. Use the DIY version of the sylph winnower design from John. Found here: chocolatealchemy.com/2012/11/05/the-sylph-winnower/While it sounds easy, it has several problems. Classifying the beans is heavy and messy. I can do 4 kg of nibs but doing 8kg or scaling to 30kg would be a huge pain in my lower back and also makes a mess. The reason for classifying is to control the suction on the aether winnower better to avoid nibs being sucked. I currently have to winnow twice, once for each level. Loss of finer levels The finer levels of the nib classification are just full of shell and really hard to separate. I store them but do not use them for chocolate. Maybe I'll sell them as cacao tea. My recovery rate of usable nibs / cracked beans is of a maximum of 68%, but normally 60%. Manual winnowing The sylph winnower was great to start but the main problem is hand feeding the cracked beans to the funnel. It can't run unattended. You have to get the pace for it or you will get more shell than you need. It looks like Ben's setup for using the Aether Winnower design from John and that it works MUCH better than what I'm using. Ben, is your winnower is setup to get the shell with a single setting or do you pass it through several times? If you go from roasted bean to nib in a single, potentially unattended step, with 30lbs every 30 minutes, it is just my dream come true. Thank you for sharing. Any additional details/images are most welcome. Felipe Attachments:
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Post by Ben on Mar 25, 2013 22:12:32 GMT -5
Felipe: I just do one pass through the winnower. Unattended winnowing is my dream, too. The big funnel comes tomorrow. I'm hoping to have it mounted before my next big batch. I'm surprised at the low yield you're getting. Do you get a lot of nib mixed in with the shells? One other thing to keep in mind is that smaller beans are going to have a lower nib-to-shell ratio.
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Post by Ben on Mar 25, 2013 22:22:41 GMT -5
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Post by Ben on Mar 28, 2013 17:18:54 GMT -5
I received the funnel and built a little PVC stand to hold it above the champion. I didn't connect it directly to the champion inlet as every so often, the beans clog the opening and I have to push them. As you can see, the funnel is about 1" above the opening with the champion's ring still in place. I haven't used it yet, but I can't imagine there will be any problems since there's no added places for the beans to get caught. I probably won't be using it until Saturday. I'll post if there are any problems. Attachments:
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Post by Ben on Apr 1, 2013 17:40:26 GMT -5
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