pcm
Novice
Posts: 75
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Post by pcm on Sept 20, 2010 22:58:58 GMT -5
I am so frustrated with my $700 light box. Does anyone else have the trouble I am having with the temps? The probe that the machine came with frequently reads 10-13 degrees different from the body of the chocolate when I use another thermometer to check it. I feel like the temp reader on the machine is completely misleading and I have very little control over the temperature. Often the lights go out and the fan comes on well before the chocolate is heated up to the temp I want. So then I jack the goal temp up, then suddenly it is cooked and I need to start all over. I have been using it a lot and my success rate is a very discouraging %. Any ideas? The probe they give is mounted such that it reads the temp in one spot, near the bottom of the bowl and right next to the fin. The body of the chocolate is a very different temp. I have been reading all the posts about tempering and feel like I know what to do. I have to blame it on the ACMC. Any thoughts? I am going crazy. And the sound!!! Le bruit qui rendes foux!!!! thanks 700 dollars for a salad bowl and two light bulbs! Does anyone have a bridge I could buy to throw this thing off of?
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Post by Brad on Sept 20, 2010 23:42:54 GMT -5
I own no less than 6 ACMC machines and several of them came with whacked out thermocouples. I had to call the company and have them send me some new ones.
The biggest challenge I've had is with the motors and gears. I've replaced EVERY motor and transmission in EVERY machine TWICE since I've purchased them. In fact right now, ACMC has 6 faulty motors I sent them a few weeks back.
I've just purchased a couple of Pavoni MiniTemper machines. They work on the same premise, but are much more industrial in design, and have some nice automated features which prevent such things as chocolate crawling out of the bowl when it crystalizes too much. Be prepared though... Pavoni's machines are pricey in comparison!
Currently, there's not much out there in the way of good quality smaller scale tempering machines.
Brad.
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pcm
Novice
Posts: 75
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Post by pcm on Sept 21, 2010 10:11:02 GMT -5
I realize that controlling the temp of chocolate in the ACMC is like stopping a freight train. The true temp is way behind the ACMC readout. When I crank the temp up to 90 from 82 or so, the ACMC readout hits 90 and the fan comes on but the chocolate is still around 82-85! It freaks me out when the fan is on and the lights are off and the chocolate is still way cooler than the ACMC thermometer reads. What I usually do is crank up the ACMC goal temp to get the chocolate up. This is usually where I magically and suddenly over shoot it and wreck the whole thing and have to start over.
I have calmed down and will try again this morning. Sorry about the rant.
Brad, are you burning out the motors because you are adjusting the fin too tight?
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Post by itsallaroundyou on Sept 21, 2010 12:01:31 GMT -5
I find that the chocovision x3210 has surprisingly excellent temp correlation between an IR thermometer and the read out onboard (plus/minus one degree F).
i'm finding that when working with a relatively full bowl (7-10 lbs), the chocolate thickens fairly rapidly (in about 30-45 mins of working with it at tempering temp), such that bumping the temp up only works about once before i need to bump it up past the optimal range for my chocolate. do the larger volume (like a 50-100 lbs Selmi) tempering machines have this problem of rapid thickening or do they just agitate the molten chocolate less?
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Post by Brad on Sept 22, 2010 21:04:12 GMT -5
In the ACMC, the temperature read out will ALWAYS be either higher than your mass if you are heating or cooler than your mass if you are cooling. Remember, the chocolate gets scraped off the bowl, and travels right past your thermocouple. It's designed specifically that way. The rest of the chocolate in the center of the mass will ALWAYS take time to catch up.
Once the machine has been running at the set temperature for a while (say, 15-20 minutes) the chocolate in the center of your mass will equalize. You need to give the machine time to do it's job. Our shop is 64 degrees, and takes approximately 1 hour for a full bowl of dark or milk to cool from 120 degrees to 79 degrees, and then properly heat to 90 degrees again and crystalize to the point where we are happy with it.
...and PCM, no we're not tightening the baffle too much. In fact in the case of our machines, the baffle doesn't even touch the bowl when it's screwed down tight. There are washers that keep it about 1mm off the surface of the bowl at all times.
With regard to ANY tempering machines, if your chocolate is thickening, it's over-crystalizing. Bring the temperature up 2 degrees at a time until such time as the chocolate is the viscosity you want to work with. For the ACMC, this variant is 5 degrees throughout the day. We start with the chocolate in temper at 90 degrees, and by the end of the day we end up with it at the same viscosity at 95 degrees. Any lower and it would be too thick to work with. This is because it's crystalizing all the time. That's why it needs to be constantly agitated.
Cheers. Brad
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pcm
Novice
Posts: 75
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Post by pcm on Oct 6, 2010 20:39:42 GMT -5
Thanks Brad. I am going to try again and do exactly what you said. I really appreciate your thorough response. I need to be more patient.
Is there a noticeable change in the sheen of the chocolate when it is mixing in temper? Does it look slightly matte?
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pcm
Novice
Posts: 75
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Post by pcm on Oct 7, 2010 14:03:29 GMT -5
So I am now running the temperer and have been following Brad's instructions as closely as I can. My room temp is 69. It took more than an hour to get the chocolate to 120, then 1/2 hr to get down to around 82. Now as I try to climb back up to 89-90, the chocolate is getting thick and splurging over the rim. The thing is set for 94 and the fan keeps coming on but the chocolate is still 86. The top is on, What do I do now? Start again and do the same thing and hope for different results? Temper attempt # 15, flop.
I guess I will crank up the acmc to 96 or so and monitor the fudge, hoping it will loosen up and get in temper at 90 but I don't have a lot of confidence.
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Post by itsallaroundyou on Oct 7, 2010 14:58:48 GMT -5
If its very thick and clumpy, you should start over. are you using seed chocolate? if you add seed, then you don't need to go so low to form more seed.
seed or not, next time only go down to 84 before going back up. I found that when I use seed, going down to around 80 in the x3210 resulted in a bowl full of fudge that i could never really melt the clumps out of. I was skeptical the first time i dropped to 84 (as opposed to <80F), but it worked just fine.
good luck, its tedious but it will be worth it!
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pcm
Novice
Posts: 75
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Post by pcm on Oct 7, 2010 15:08:13 GMT -5
Well, that was a disaster. The chocolate was too thick and was just flowing over the sides. It never made it to 90. I had to pull the plug and start cleaning.
I can still try to use this chocolate, right? I should be able to reheat it and try again, right? I am prepared to hear that the chocolate was over tempered and that is why it thickened. What does that mean and is that a good guess at what happened?
Thanks for any input.
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Post by Brad on Oct 8, 2010 2:17:59 GMT -5
Your chocolate over-crystalized. However, that's not a problem. When it gets thick like that you can use a hair dryer or a heat gun (careful with the heat gun as it blows VERY hot air), to "help" the ACMC get the chocolate back up to your working temperature, and help it become much more fluid.
Working with tempered chocolate throughout the day, you are always going to be adjusting the temperature one or two degrees up or down depending on how thick you want it. Some chocolatiers add cocoa butter to thin it out, but in the end just dilute the chocolate, and make the problem worse, as the cocoa butter also crystalizes and thickens quicker.
As you work with chocolate more, you'll understand what I'm talking about when it comes to making small adjustments in the temperature of your working product.
Keep going. You're almost there.
Cheers. Brad
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