rfdk
Neophyte
Posts: 12
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Post by rfdk on Jul 27, 2017 8:08:17 GMT -5
I am using a Premier Tilting - Melanger to grind and “conche” my nibs. I have a temperature of 100 – 110 F deepening on how much tension applied to the grinder.
I would like to control and apply heat to the process by using a PID-controller and a heat-gun. The heat can either be applied by blowing hot air directly into the bowl (and the chocolate) or by blowing hot air at the outside of the bowl.
The question is what is the best way to apply the heat to the prossess?
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Post by Ben on Jul 28, 2017 8:49:34 GMT -5
I've seen it done both ways. They'll produce different results, although which is 'better' is pretty subjective. I'd try it both ways and see which you prefer.
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rfdk
Neophyte
Posts: 12
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Post by rfdk on Jul 31, 2017 4:06:55 GMT -5
Hi Ben Thanks for your answer – I will try both. I can see you build a small conch – did you apply heat to the process? If yes how?
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Post by Ben on Jul 31, 2017 7:08:39 GMT -5
You're welcome! On my conche, there's a silicon heating blanket attached to the underside of the tank.
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Post by snowghost on Jul 31, 2017 20:42:11 GMT -5
What sort of temperature range should we be looking for here? I measured around 44c, while refining.
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rfdk
Neophyte
Posts: 12
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Post by rfdk on Aug 1, 2017 5:20:18 GMT -5
I would like to go up to 60C or 140F. At the same time I am looking to replace the roller stones with some kind of stirring wheel to imitate a “real conche”.
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Post by Ben on Aug 1, 2017 11:34:05 GMT -5
Can you describe the stirring wheel you're envisioning or link to a conche that you're trying to emulate?
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rfdk
Neophyte
Posts: 12
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Post by rfdk on Aug 2, 2017 1:37:56 GMT -5
I have imagined blades like you see in the IMAGE GALLERY mounted on the Spindle. www.chocolatemixer.in/conchmixer.htmlTo get them to rotate – I will try to put a wheel on the bottom of melangur. I don’t know if this will work or if it is enough just to put extra scrapers in the bowl to stir the chocolate.
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Post by Ben on Aug 2, 2017 8:38:00 GMT -5
I'm having a hard time envisioning what you're trying to do. Would the added scrapers rotate on a horizontal or vertical axle? You mention replacing the wheels with a stirring wheel, so if I had to guess, you're saying you'd fashion some of these stirring wheels and attach them where the wheels were. How would the wheel on the bottom of the grinder make them rotate? Also, would the bowl be spinning, or just the wheels? Unless I'm completely misunderstanding you--a distinct possibility --I don't think this will work. In a very large way, conching is about shear stress, aeration, and heat. When applied correctly, these elements result in a lower viscosity chocolate with lower moisture and better flavor through removal of some flavor-affecting chemicals. Shear stress reduces viscosity. Aeration increases surface area, which helps to remove moisture and chemicals. Heat helps to remove moisture (moisture contributes to higher viscosity, so it's removal helps to reduce viscosity). By the nature of applying shear stress, etc., stirring happens, but stirring by itself doesn't really do too much. If your scrapers are just mounted where the wheels would normally go, you're not going to be able to add much shear stress to the chocolate--probably even less than the wheels do (which is not a huge amount--one of the myriad reasons why grinders are terrible conches). If you can get the scrapers to rotate in the opposite direction of the bowl, you'd probably be able to aerate pretty well, although still probably not a massive improvement over the wheels. And with the added heat, you'd be able to positively affect the moisture levels and flavor development. One thing I've thought of over the years would be to replace the whole wheel/axle/hub parts with another that has several scrapers mounted very close to the walls and bottom of the bowl. The bowl spinning normally would force the chocolate through the gaps between the scrapers and walls, creating shear. Heat would obviously have to be added separately, and I'm not really sure how to increase the surface area through aeration or other means, but there's probably a way. While this certainly wouldn't be as effective as a true conche, my guess is that this would let a grinder be a far more effective conche than it currently is (again, terrible). Basically, you'd be creating a horizontally-stirred rotary conche, but one where the bowl spins rather than the scrapers.
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rfdk
Neophyte
Posts: 12
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Post by rfdk on Aug 2, 2017 9:20:07 GMT -5
Hi Ben
Once again thanks for your input – I will try the “fixed scraper solution”. I know that the melangur never will be a good conche. The right solution would be building a small conche with two scrapers like yours. Unfortunately my dad’s workshop with all his and my tools burned down so this is not an option right now.
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Post by lualquimista on Jun 13, 2019 9:28:17 GMT -5
Hi Ben,
What is the model of your melanger? How to you attach the silicon heating blanket to the tank. I just bought a spectra 11 and mine the tank keeps turning all the process, I would like to apply heat since the weather here were I live is cold, I liked your idea to attach this heating blanket but I don’t know how.
Thank you
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Post by Ben on Jun 13, 2019 10:06:58 GMT -5
Hello! I was referring to a separate conche that I had built, not to a stone grinder/melanger. The tank of that conche doesn't move, so the blanket is just attached to the bottom of the tank. Many in the craft chocolate world have taken to referring to their stone grinders as conches, but I think that's somewhat misleading and adds confusion to discussions such as this. -Ben
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Post by lualquimista on Aug 31, 2019 8:51:39 GMT -5
Hi Ben, How did you build a conching machine??? It must be something not so easy to create! Sorry for my english. Do you have a video of how you did that? Thank you
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Post by Ben on Sept 3, 2019 6:29:00 GMT -5
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Post by lualquimista on Sept 25, 2019 13:54:57 GMT -5
wow! tHAT'S really cool!
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