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Post by karthikeyan on Jul 22, 2015 2:32:07 GMT -5
Hello everyone....
Wondering if/how chocolate makers here are checking the final particle size in their chocolate.
Has anyone achieved a size of 15Mu using Santha/Cacaotown melangeurs?
And have people noticed differences between large and small melangeurs if refined/conched for the same time?
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Jul 22, 2015 16:52:59 GMT -5
I eat the chocolate to test it :-) Jokes aside, you will notice pretty quickly if your chocolate feels gritty or "not quite right". If it is smooth and silky in your mouth, it's probably where it needs to be.
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Post by Sebastian on Jul 22, 2015 19:02:04 GMT -5
I use a micrometer, and am able to achieve 8um chocolate on my melange. As gap notes, i can also pretty accurately 'taste' the particle size as well, but it took 20 years of tasting AND measuring with a micrometer to be able to do that
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Post by karthikeyan on Jul 22, 2015 20:17:09 GMT -5
Thanks Gap & Sebastian... I have just acquired a grindometer to check the particle size, haven't tried it yet. Will do so tomorrow.
I was under the impression that one needs to dilute the chocolate with some oils for one to measure using a micrometer? Am I correct? Is there a video somewhere that I can see it being used?
Wow.. 8um is really fine! Generally how long has this taken you on the melangeur? On the small spectra 11 I am not able to get the chocolate quite fine. I have my first batch running on the spectra 65 and will have to wait and watch. Is there a difference in refining times between the small and large melangeurs?
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Post by Sebastian on Jul 23, 2015 4:41:36 GMT -5
you should always dilute the pure chocolate with an oil of some sort to minimize stacking of particles, and getting an innacurately high reading. I very much doubt there's a video that shows how to use a micrometer for chocolate, but it could be out there. Remember that ta micrometer measures the largest thing it sees (think of a pencil - if you measure it in one axis it could be very small reading; however if it read it on another axis (say, from lead to eraser) it could be very high reading)). Also if you twist too hard on a micrometer you could crush the particles further - you can make a micrometer read as small as you want by turning hard enough on it Melanges particle size reduction depend completely on the stones you get - while my melange may be able to hit 8um, that by no means that everyone's can...
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