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Post by benvt on Dec 26, 2008 13:54:57 GMT -5
We're finally putting on our first official batches of chocolate and we've run into the simplest problem. How do you refine for 12+ hours in a shop that's only open 8 hours a day? The best idea so far is to put it all in big molds at the end of the day and melt it in a melter/temperer the next morning. Although that takes a lot of time and effort. Any ideas?
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Post by cheebs on Dec 26, 2008 19:34:02 GMT -5
What size grinder? If it's a 10 just put the bowl in a warm oven with the light on. It should stay around 95 degrees overnight. A 20 or 40 may take some extra effort, but a brewer's heating belt (or two) should do the trick wrapped around the bowl.
At home where I can supervise I just leave the grinder on for the duration.
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Post by benvt on Dec 27, 2008 10:59:35 GMT -5
A 20 or 40 may take some extra effort, but a brewer's heating belt (or two) should do the trick wrapped around the bowl. It's for a 20 now, and a 40 in the future. I've never heard of brew belts, but I looked them up and they might work. Have you tried it? I was thinking that aquarium heaters might be a candidate to keep the chocolate liquid also.
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Post by cheebs on Dec 27, 2008 11:45:26 GMT -5
It's for a 20 now, and a 40 in the future. I've never heard of brew belts, but I looked them up and they might work. Have you tried it? I was thinking that aquarium heaters might be a candidate to keep the chocolate liquid also. I have not tried the brewer's belts (I have 2-10s so I just throw them in a warm oven) but they should keep temps at ~95 deg. They are designed to keep a full 5-gal carboy at around that temperature. I like the idea of these because there's no need to stick anything in the chocoate to keep it warm.
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Post by Brad on Dec 27, 2008 23:59:18 GMT -5
I have a simple, but somewhat cynical question: "If you can't trust the equipment you are relying on for your business, is it wise to rely on it at all?"
I mean no disrespect, but wouldn't it make more sense to be making the chocolate at home, where you can babysit the machine, and then take the final product into the shop given that you're in the shop a much shorter period of time?
When I was making chocolate with the Santha for my own personal use, I ran the machine almost 24/7 for a number of months. My basement was undeveloped, so I set up a 15amp breaker specifically for the Santha, and then set it in the middle of the basement floor. If it crapped out, or shorted, or did anything that could potentially cause a fire, the resistance would cause the breaker to trip, and if it actually "did" catch fire, it would burn peacefully in the middle of my cement basement floor, leaving everything else unharmed.
Having said that, when I finally decided to get into the chocolate business commercially, I bought the right equipment for the job, and to be honest it wasn't much more expensive than what Santha's charging for their "industrial" (I use the term loosely here) mills.
Happy Chocolate making.
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Post by kellymon on Jan 2, 2009 18:40:47 GMT -5
Actually, with all due respect to Brad, I think this is a valid question. I would like to offer a few thoughts for your consideration.
1st, I also use a good quality plug strip with 15 amp circuit breaker in my home when I refine in my Santha 10. I also have a smoke detector in each room, and the Santha is running in a room that is close enough that I can hear it running as I occasionaly wake up during the night. I feel pretty comfortable with this. But I am a home hobbiest with chocolate and only process a few kilos a month to share with family and friends.
The thing with electrical safety and fire prevention is that it is a game of odds.
I only process occasionally, so my very basic protection is probably OK.
If I had refiners running 24/7 with only circuit breaker protection, I' d be looking for a better option. Because your odds just got a lot worse.
A circuit breaker is for short circuit protection, motor overloads are for protection against motor over current due to load increases. The difference is based on the relationship of an inverse time/current curve.
In other words, a circuit breaker will trip fast under a short circuit condition, but much slower under just a general overload. In fact, I'm not sure how long it would take a S-10 sized motor to trip a 15 Ampere CB if it were locked rotor, but I bet it would be several minutes, maybe not even until the short circuit and fire started. A motor overload devise can be sized acurrately to the size of the motor and the duty. Canadians and even USA users can use IEC rated devises that can be dialed in to pretty much the actual real world load. But even this improved protection could be improved. Windings with embedded thermocouple sensors can monitor actual motor winding temperature.
It all depends on what degree of risk vs return you are willing to accept. And your Risk Insurance Carrier of course.......
At the very least, I would have properly sized CB and motor overload protection, with smoke detectors that would kill all electrical power to running equipment. Pre- Action sprinklers wouldn't hurt.
Hope this helps someone. namaste, robert
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Post by Brad on Jan 3, 2009 0:14:14 GMT -5
Robert;
Thanks for the electrical tidbits. I learned something here.
I too think the question is valid. In fact given the that the Santha's aren't UL/CSA approved the risk of fire is VERY pertinent - which is why I suggested that the santhas be located where the budding chocolatier spends most of their time.
Best Regards, and thanks again for sharing.
Brad
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