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Post by Brad on Jul 15, 2006 16:49:42 GMT -5
Good Day All;
I've finally had time to do more experimentation with the Santha, and have found that it is in fact possible to make liquor/paste with the machine.
It took me about 30 minutes today, but the end result is that I didn't have to use the Champion at all. Here's how:
First I allocated 5lb of roasted nibs for the project.
I then heated the bin, rollers, and nibs to 150 degrees (in my home oven).
I started the Santha, REMOVED the spring tensioner, and while the machine was running, slowly poured in 1/2 of the nibs.
I set the remaining nibs aside and then continued to heat the contents with a blow dryer until it was shiny and considerably more fluid.
Then over the next 15 minutes, I continued gradually adding more and more nibs until about 2/3 of the nibs were in the machine and shiny. (Sort of like crunchy peanut butter).
At this point I screwed the spring tensioner on, and slowly began adding the rest of the nibs (which I kept warm in the turned off oven).
The machine did stall once, but I was pushing the envelope a bit at first. It's been one hour now since getting things rolling, and I have 5lb of wonderful liquor/paste being created in the Santha.
**Important Note: My modified Santha uses a motor twice as powerful as the standard "modified" Santha, and an industrial strength belt that doesn't slip or stretch. Making liquor with a Santha that has the stock motor may not be possible. However, I'd like to hear from people if they've tried it, and if it's worked, what they had to do to ensure the bin didn't stall.
Brad.
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Post by Alchemist on Jul 17, 2006 18:17:55 GMT -5
Patric mentioned this too me the other day. But I know he modified his Santha also. I am going to give it a try this week and I will report back. My impression from Patric's method, he did not heat it at all, and just let it run without the spring or nut for about an hour.
Will will see....
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Post by Brad on Jul 18, 2006 3:11:54 GMT -5
Running it for an hour may very well have worked. I was being impatient, and as usual, trying to push the machine a bit. What I DID notice however, was with a larger amount of cocoa nibs under the wheels, the wheels more or less just packed the nibs on the bottom of the bin, rather than ground them together.
I stirred my nibs, and that made a difference. The key, I found, was heat. That really got things going quickly.
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Post by Alchemist on Jul 24, 2006 11:18:45 GMT -5
Well, I did my tests this weekend and the non-turbo charged version of the Santha works just fine. No heat, no stirring. Liquor in about an hour.
The more detailed review (with photos) are on the main site.
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