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Post by Alan on Feb 4, 2006 7:34:58 GMT -5
Dear all, The last time I used the champion, I began grinding the beans soon after roasting, and, as I should have expected , the cover over the rotating grinder became quite hot (though it did not get ruined). I now know that I should wait until the beans have cooled considerably next time, but I don't want to wait so long that the beans lose all of their heat as I fear that then the liquor won't be possible to produce properly. Should I worry about this, or are totally cooled beans reduced to liquor and heated properly just by virtue of the heat created in the friction of the turning grinder? Otherwise, how cool should they be? Sincerely, Alan
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Post by Alchemist on Feb 4, 2006 11:26:49 GMT -5
Wow, I never thought of that. I always let my cocoa beans fully cool and actually rest at least a few hours before I winnow them, and then grind them. It was for practicality sakes as the beans out of the roaster are hot and soft and do not winnow well, but do once they are cool and can "crack"
And the great thing that makes the Champion work is that it generates en ought friction heat to let the liqueur flow. That is usually why blenders and food processors don't work - they don't generate heat.
Your goal really is to keep the Champion and that snout as cool as possible. The Champion is up to the job, but is not built for really elevated temperatures. I actually did lose one auger blade when water got in, friction went WAY up, heat went WAY WAY up, and it warped.
So, in the end, don't worry about it. Cool nibs and the Champion will take care of it.
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Post by Alan on Feb 4, 2006 13:12:24 GMT -5
Dear Alchemist John, Thank you! That completely answers my question. I guess the reason I threw them in hot is that I simply didn't think about the heat issue and was excited to try out my first batch of cocoa liquor. I didn't winnow them ahead of time because I found out that my hair dryer was missing. So I let the Champion do the work of winnowing the 1lb of beans. It worked well, by the way, but I don't know if the flavor was changed by it. The cocoa liquor tasted pretty darn good to me. From now on though, I'll simply let them cool to room temperature first. Sincerely, Alan
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Post by Alan on Feb 10, 2006 9:12:41 GMT -5
Dear John, all, Sure enough, I processed the beans at room temperature, and there was no heat problem at all. Whatever temperature the grinder case was, it couldn't have been much because I could hold my hand on it indefinitely without being burned. That wasn't the case last time. The Champion works like a charm. Alan
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Post by angioplasty on Aug 24, 2006 20:46:34 GMT -5
Let me add to this. I roasted beans and cooled them to close to room temp. While I did crack them up and removed a lot of the husks, I wasn't as efficient as I probably could have been at removing all the husks. I ran them through the champion and the temp of the snout went up high to about 160 degrees. I turned it off and let it set a few hours before re continuing on the chocolate making.
Also the chocolate coming out seemed a bit thicker than a previous batch which was roasted by alchemest (part of the kit I ordered) ...
Is this normal that it gets this hot and can this hurt the chocolate at all? Next batch I do ill let them cool way way down first..
Just wondering what catastrophy I am heading towards here.
Aaron
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Post by Alchemist on Aug 28, 2006 19:11:07 GMT -5
Let me add to this. I roasted beans and cooled them to close to room temp. While I did crack them up and removed a lot of the husks, I wasn't as efficient as I probably could have been at removing all the husks. I ran them through the champion and the temp of the snout went up high to about 160 degrees. I turned it off and let it set a few hours before re continuing on the chocolate making. Also the chocolate coming out seemed a bit thicker than a previous batch which was roasted by alchemest (part of the kit I ordered) ... Is this normal that it gets this hot and can this hurt the chocolate at all? Next batch I do ill let them cool way way down first.. Just wondering what catastrophy I am heading towards here. Aaron How long did you let them rest? It sounds like not very long, and part of the cool down time is to let moisture escape. It sounds like you ground them rather quickly without the rest time, and possibly had extra moisture present. That would account for the thickness and heat (water laden chocolate is more viscous).
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Post by angioplasty on Sept 2, 2006 17:43:28 GMT -5
Umm yes Alchemest. I only cooled them for an hour or so at most then ground them. Looks like I goofed there but the chocolate still turned out incredible, though I ran it for about 4 days....
ok on this then, when I roast the beans, about how long should I let them rest before I grind them? Can they sit in open air, or do they need to be stored in something else while resting?
thank you in advance for any answers.
Aaron
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Post by angioplasty on Sept 2, 2006 17:46:27 GMT -5
Also, for what it's worth. I was doing a recipie that needed cocoa butter in it. As the snout started getting too warm on the champion, I threw a little bit of cocoa butter in it (it needed to run through anyways) and that cooled it all down very quickly. did the cocoa, as the temp started to come up again, threw in another lump of butter, cooled right down again.....
I do know now that I needed to let the beans cool for much more time than I originally did but this might help otherwise when things start heating up even if you did do everything right... (which I did not)
Aaron
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Post by ripvanwinkle on Dec 21, 2007 2:34:26 GMT -5
Angio - I am waiting for a mill to be delivered - sitting here trying to get prepared for the big day when I can get a move on to roasting and then the next steps in making dark chocolate. How are you cooling the beans?
I am planning to put a thin layer on an aluminum tray(s) and sit them under a ceiling fan running full blast. Is that about what you are doing?
My feel is that something like an hour the core of the beans should be down to ambient cooling like that.
Another ? is whether speeding the cooling will give the beans enough time to liberate all the moisture that I want to be rid of. Hmmmm
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Post by doclogic77 on Apr 4, 2010 15:15:36 GMT -5
Angio - I am waiting for a mill to be delivered - sitting here trying to get prepared for the big day when I can get a move on to roasting and then the next steps in making dark chocolate. How are you cooling the beans? I am planning to put a thin layer on an aluminum tray(s) and sit them under a ceiling fan running full blast. Is that about what you are doing? My feel is that something like an hour the core of the beans should be down to ambient cooling like that. Another ? is whether speeding the cooling will give the beans enough time to liberate all the moisture that I want to be rid of. Hmmmm I will be roasting my first batch tomorrow so take what I say with a grain of salt. But, I would think that the heat would expedite the evaporation of the water. So, by cooling via fan...you might have issues liberating enough water in a timely fashion. I would say the safe bet is to roast and let em sit for a few hours before any further processing. I know that's the approach I will take.
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Post by doclogic77 on May 28, 2010 18:19:14 GMT -5
Update...the above is the approach I have taken and have never had an issue.
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