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Post by ephramz on Oct 18, 2010 13:39:12 GMT -5
At Madre Chocolate madrechocolate.com , we've been trying to figure out how to easily temper largish (5-10 lbs) batches of chocolate in an existing appliance that we already have like a KitchenAid mixer, Santha, or Cocoatown grinder/conch so that we don't need to buy another machine and take up valuable counter space for tempering. We've had pretty good luck with some minor mods to a spare Santha we have to get good tempering results, and an electronics wizard friend of ours has offered to design and build a temperature controller with adjustable tempering curves programmed in that would control a heating element (heat gun or hair dryer) and a cooling element (fan) plugged into it based on a temperature probed affixed to the axle of the grinder. We offered to see how much interest there is here on the forums in a kit for $100-200 for just such a device. This would be a just a controller with a temp probe and you would provide the grinder/mixer and heating and cooling devices. The controller would give alarms at times for adding seed and when the chocolate is tempered. If you would be interested in something like this to make tempering larger batches of chocolate with less counter space, please let us know by replying to this post what features you would want in such a device.
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Post by oaxacalote on Oct 23, 2010 4:39:28 GMT -5
Santha tempering machine redux! Back in the days of chocolatetalk yore, when the posts ran long and passions were high, Alchemist and sugaralchemy posted some interesting results from experiments using the Santha Spectra 10 to temper chocolate. I started playing with this technique after spending several long evenings pulling my hair out over the tiny capacity of the Chocovision Rev2. A few things I found helpful: - Remove the rollers and axles for more space, less clean up, and easier ladling. The small paddle and centripetal force keep the chocolate well mixed. - Point a variable speed fan at the broadside of the Santha to lower the temperature. By adjusting the fan every few minutes, I've been able to keep a few lbs of chocolate within a 1.5F target working temperature for over an hour. - Use a stiff rubber spatula while the Santha is spinning to pull the chocolate off the side and bottom of the drum. - Since I have a Rev2, I pull 20% of the batch out of the Santha at peak melting temperature, temper it without seed in the Rev2, then use it as seed for remainder of the batch in the Santha. - As always, pre-melting the chocolate saves a ton of time.
This is definitely more work that required by a push buttom machine such as the Rev2 or its larger siblings, but it is completely functional if you're working with larger batch sizes but aren't ready to drop 1.5k on a larger batch tempering machine.
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Post by tony on Nov 22, 2010 2:26:12 GMT -5
mycryo............ is the answer.
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Post by oaxacalote on Nov 23, 2010 2:00:42 GMT -5
You're having good results with that Tony? I haven't priced the stuff, but have seen it discussed. Thought it was pretty pricey.
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Post by cheebs on Nov 23, 2010 9:10:45 GMT -5
You can obtain pretty much exactly the same the same results as mycryo using normal tempered cocoa butter, finely grated with a Microplane. Add slowly at a 1:100 ratio when your cooling cycle gets to ~95F. Cool to working temperature and wait ten mins... ready to go!
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Post by oaxacalote on Nov 23, 2010 19:11:24 GMT -5
And that, my friends, is the million dollar tip of the day! Thanks cheebs.
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Post by tony on Nov 25, 2010 3:07:14 GMT -5
Yes, Cheebs. I thought so and I was going to do just that. I'm new at this game but that struck me as exactly what they are doing. Tempering Cacao Butter. brilliant, Its like seed chocolate and the 1% isnt going to change a thing as far as the recipe is concerned anyway.
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