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Post by kellymon on Mar 18, 2009 19:33:25 GMT -5
I have just purchased a Chocovision Revolation 1 tempering machine......I don't have it yet. I know that some folks here have not had favorable experiences with it, but I'm on a tight budget, it was very inexpensive (way way below list) and I am a technically inclined do-it-yourselfer and I figure that even if the control doesn't allow the flexability needed, maybe I can do some modifications (hacks) to make it work for me and ease my tempering issues a bit.
Size I can live with for now. Noise I can live with for now. I can fasten a digital thermometer to the paddle for a read out.
My questions for you folks with more experience is "what else needs improved?"
Specifically, what did you not like?
BTW, I will be doing mostly dark, 70%+, mainly natural cacao mass with just a little added cacao butter and sugar as needed.
Thanks, robert
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Post by cheebs on Mar 18, 2009 20:01:55 GMT -5
Roberto mi estimado amigo,
I've been using a Rev1 now for a while as my "small" tempering machine.
After the rainy season was over down here, it's tempered all my chocolate flawlessly -- dark 70, which like yours is pure cacao with 0.7% added cocoa butter, a "normal" 60% with 8.2x% cocoa butter, a 43% milk and even white made from natural (non-deodorized) cocoa butter. No problems with any. I don't even bother to measure temps anymore... just melt, seed and temper. A great timesaver is to pre-melt in a just-warm (light on or pilot light if gas) oven overnight if you need to temper more than the Rev1's capacity.
I've developed a little procedure with the Rev1 that works every time. It involves an extra step but really does guarantee success:
After the chocolate is melted and the Rev1 beeps its ready signal and the "seed" button is pressed, I slowly add about 1/2oz of chocolate grated with a fine Microplane. When that is incorporated, I add a 1oz chunk of chocolate in the rear compartment. Chocovision calls only for the chunk chocolate, and I believe the extra grated chocolate gives an added boost to the crystal seeding.
So just give it a whirl! You probably won't need to do any mods at all.
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Post by kellymon on Mar 18, 2009 20:41:11 GMT -5
Gracias mi estimado amigo, por la informacion, cheebs, that really does help. I'll give it a try and see how it goes. Ultimately, I hope to build my own, larger and more versitile unit, but if this works ok it will get me over this hurdle. It does sound as though your formulation is very close to mine, and I'm quite sure it is excellent;) I and some friends look forward to the day you can ship to the USA:)
BTW John, I meant to post this in the finishing section, feel free to move it if you want. namaste, robert
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Post by Brad on Mar 19, 2009 1:05:04 GMT -5
If you have already tempered chocolate for seeding, I'm sure the Rev1 or 2 will work fine. However if you have to completely retemper chocolate without seeding, the bottom temperature setting for tempering doesn't go low enough. You need to manually do it.
Personally I hate the machine for tempering. I temper all of my chocolate by hand, and it's much quicker. Then I use the Rev to agitate and hold the chocolate at the temperature I want.
Having said all of that, I also own 6 ACMC Tabletop tempering machines, and two larger Savage Brothers water jacketed tempering machines.
The ACMC machines are 10 times the machine that the Rev is, and just a few dollars more.
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Post by kellymon on Mar 19, 2009 17:22:49 GMT -5
Hi Brad, Thanks for the comments.... I had previously researched some of the earlier posts here, including your (I think) reports that it did not go low enough. I'm wondering what exactly that means.... what kind of formulation for example? Dark, milk, all of the above? What temperatures are we talking about here?
In my hand tempering, for dark......I've been using the chart on page 49 of "Chocolates and Confections" (Peter Greweling, ISBN 978-0-7645-8844-0)
Sharp rise to 50c/122f....slow decrease to 27c/81f....slow rise to 32c/90f......hold there for a minute or 2 (which is difficult by hand).... then mold.
How does this compare to your experiences, especially as relates to machines?
thanks, robert
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Post by Brad on Mar 19, 2009 18:40:26 GMT -5
Robert; Your temperature range is about the same as mine, except that I go to 78 degrees F for milk chocolate and 79 degrees F for the dark. Having now said that, for our 80% bars (70% bean and 10% CCB) we go to 80 degrees F, as considerably more crystals form. I've found with our milk chocolate that the lower temperature is needed to allow more crystals to form, and the Rev machines don't go below 83 degrees (I think) / 80 degrees (For Sure). It's been a while since I used mine. Hey.... Wanna buy a Rev??? Brad.
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Post by kellymon on Mar 22, 2009 8:36:28 GMT -5
Thanks for the info Brad. I think I'll wait until mine gets here and see if it's something I want to work with..... then I may just make you an offer on yours
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Post by kellymon on May 3, 2009 21:14:36 GMT -5
I just wanted to give a quick update on how my Rev 1 has been working..... It's been working fine for my dark (70+) chocolate, much easier than the other methods I have been using;)
One time I accidently left it on the milk setting with dark in it, and that did not temper well, but using dark chocolate with the dark setting it's quite satisfactory for my needs. When I get a little more time to play with it I have a few ideas on mods to make the temperature more custom, but for now I am happy with the results, especially with the discount from a good buy on ebay. robert
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