Post by reelchemist on Aug 3, 2008 6:49:32 GMT -5
Just thought I'd share that John's current batch of Madagascar is totally awesome - anyone who likes Madagascar as an origin is going to loooove them. I roasted them right in the pocket, the fruityness is not dominating and there is some awesome chocolateyness in there too which I find lacking in some Madagascar origins I have tried - definitly taste the hazelnut in there too John. I recommend formulating strong and grinding fine to get that creamyness that a higher percentage in fruity cacao can give. A 75% definitly, wow, I am reminded very much of the Pralus bar.
Some little things I noticed, the beans are generally smaller than some other origins and the previous Madagascar John had so go easy on the roast, my roasting was 5 min at 170 degrees celcius and 19 at 150 degrees celcius in a conventional gas fan forced oven on the middle shelf roasting between 400-800 grams at a time in a roasting pan. The beans are on the whole plump and very easy to crack and winnow. When I sorted the beans initially I discarded 50 grams per 2lbs of twinned, cut and crappy beans which is a good ratio. I also took out 35g of what I term mini-beans, I find these every now and again in other origins I work with but not to such an extent. The mini-bean I characterise as a nice plump bean but in minature probably 1/4 the size of a standard bean. Usually smaller beans don't have much flesh but the mini-bean does. The higher proportion in this Madagascar batch means embarking on an experiment I have been meaning to do for a while and that is to make chocolate from the same origin and batch but using different size beans. As I, thankfully, have access to a lot of this Madagascar I have sorted out 200g of mini-beans and will attempt to roast well and formulate to compare with the current and amazing batch I just made - hope it lasts long enough. Should just wet the bottom of my Spectra 10 I think. This radical difference in bean size I am interested as to how radically it effects chocolate made, when roasted correctly. For example left in the roast these mini beans would be totally over roasted in the normal roast but if roasted with careful monitoring do they produce a similar chocolate - they are the same bean after all. Or do they have a more intense flavour as smaller fruit tend to, I am thinking of strawberries and chilli's where the same flavour quotient seems to be packed into the smaller fruit as in the bigger.
Won't get around to it for a little while as I am commissioned to do some big batches for another project.
PS Get some Madagascar Mmmmmmm MMMmmmmm!
Some little things I noticed, the beans are generally smaller than some other origins and the previous Madagascar John had so go easy on the roast, my roasting was 5 min at 170 degrees celcius and 19 at 150 degrees celcius in a conventional gas fan forced oven on the middle shelf roasting between 400-800 grams at a time in a roasting pan. The beans are on the whole plump and very easy to crack and winnow. When I sorted the beans initially I discarded 50 grams per 2lbs of twinned, cut and crappy beans which is a good ratio. I also took out 35g of what I term mini-beans, I find these every now and again in other origins I work with but not to such an extent. The mini-bean I characterise as a nice plump bean but in minature probably 1/4 the size of a standard bean. Usually smaller beans don't have much flesh but the mini-bean does. The higher proportion in this Madagascar batch means embarking on an experiment I have been meaning to do for a while and that is to make chocolate from the same origin and batch but using different size beans. As I, thankfully, have access to a lot of this Madagascar I have sorted out 200g of mini-beans and will attempt to roast well and formulate to compare with the current and amazing batch I just made - hope it lasts long enough. Should just wet the bottom of my Spectra 10 I think. This radical difference in bean size I am interested as to how radically it effects chocolate made, when roasted correctly. For example left in the roast these mini beans would be totally over roasted in the normal roast but if roasted with careful monitoring do they produce a similar chocolate - they are the same bean after all. Or do they have a more intense flavour as smaller fruit tend to, I am thinking of strawberries and chilli's where the same flavour quotient seems to be packed into the smaller fruit as in the bigger.
Won't get around to it for a little while as I am commissioned to do some big batches for another project.
PS Get some Madagascar Mmmmmmm MMMmmmmm!