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Peter Kring replied to Sarah Ariella Shapiro's discussion Working on a cocoa farm"October is the main cacao harvest time in Costa Rica. It is NOT the wettest time in the cacao growing areas. It is wet in October in areas that have the longest dry seasons and thus not that great for growing cacao. The weather should be good all…"
Daniel Herskovic replied to Lawrence danielka's discussion Tempering Machine VS Melter"I am a believer in getting a Mol D'art Melter to start. I purchased a 6kg melter and 5 years later I use it all the time. I have made many thousands of chocolates out of that thing. The other tempering machines are nice, but you will be able to…"
Daniel Herskovic replied to Veronique's discussion Where to buy transfer sheets (USA)"My favorite brand of transfer sheet is PCB and Qzina supplies them. Also, www.bakedeco.com is a excellent source.
I also really like Choco Trasfer Sheets. Nicole and Kurt are great people."
Brad Churchill replied to Lawrence danielka's discussion Tempering Machine VS Melter"Personally I would recommend the ACMC machine before the Rev 2. It will temper more chocolate, and is far less noisy."
Clay Gordon replied to Lawrence danielka's discussion Tempering Machine VS Melter"Lawrence -
You did not indicate that your purchase decision was imminent so I don't think anyone thought you needed to know right now.
You can get a decent capacity melter - 10-12kg - for well under $1000. As you are confident with your manual…"
Clay Gordon replied to beth campbell's discussion melanger necessary?"Michael -
Macintyre manufactures universals of many sizes with the smallest being about 45kg as I remember. There are many makers of this style of machine. They are not just conches - they are grinders, refiners, and conches and you can get them in…"
Michael Arnovitz replied to beth campbell's discussion melanger necessary?"Clay - in regard to the conche you refer to at the end of your post, I have seen universal conches that look like a small Macintyre. I think Brad uses something like this. Is this what you are referring to? I had no idea that they were that much…"
DiscoverChoc via TwitterThe DiscoverChoc Daily is out! http://t.co/d8uSs7g19K ▸ Top stories today via @ChocChilliMango @RoxChoco @TCHOchocolate
Ruth Atkinson Kendrick replied to Veronique's discussion Where to buy transfer sheets (USA)"Chef Rubber is my goto."
Hofer replied to Lauren Brill's discussion For Sale Hilliard Little Dipper in the group Classifieds - For Sale or Wanted"still available? can you send me more details? rojo_46032@yahoo.com thanks."
Kerry replied to Veronique's discussion Where to buy transfer sheets (USA)"We got some fabulous transfer sheets for our recent chocolate workshop from ChocoTransferSheets.com
Lovely people -and they do custom as well as off the rack.
"
Brad Churchill replied to Evan Langendorf's discussion Emerging Chocolatier with questions."Deadendish....
Ok... to avoid posting repetitive answers, my suggestion would be to read the many many many contributions on this and Chocolate Alchemy's site. They will answer all of your questions, and eliminate the need for…"
Evan Langendorf replied to Evan Langendorf's discussion Emerging Chocolatier with questions."Thanks for your insight. I may be early in my development and some of the questions might not have validity in their thinking, however some do and to say "do more research" is somewhat deadendish in its support. I am doing more…"
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Forum
Working on a cocoa farm
Started by Sarah Ariella Shapiro in Travels & Adventures. Last reply by Peter Kring 17 hours ago. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Hi All,I'm traveling down to Costa Rica this October, and was wondering if anyone knew of any working cocoa plantations, farms or coops I could possibly work on for a few weeks.Thank you for your help,SarahContinue
Emerging Chocolatier with questions.
Started by Evan Langendorf in Opinion. Last reply by ramya 21 hours ago. 4 Replies 1 Like
Hello everyone! First of all I would like to give thanks to all who contribute to such a wonderful site, the information has been hugely helpful for me so far. I have a few questions that havent been exactly covered or at least I havent found them.…Continue
Tempering Machine VS Melter
Started by Lawrence danielka in Opinion. Last reply by Daniel Herskovic 22 hours ago. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Good day to EveryoneI have been thinking about expanding my hobby chocolate making into a small business. I have been tempering by hand and melting on a double boiler for 1.5-2 lbs batch at a time, but I think it might be time to upgrade. I only…Continue
Where to buy transfer sheets (USA)
Started by Veronique in Tips, Tricks, and Techniques. Last reply by Daniel Herskovic 22 hours ago. 4 Replies 0 Likes
I just started my explorations into making my own chocolates and I have been looking around for companies that sell transfer sheets and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions.Any help is welcome.Continue
melanger necessary?
Started by beth campbell in Tech Help. Last reply by Clay Gordon yesterday. 11 Replies 0 Likes
Wondering if anyone knows if a conching or melanger is necessary to mix cacao powder, butter and sugar, or does it have to be liqeur?Continue
Choosing the right chocolate?
Started by Mike Mills in Opinion. Last reply by Nick Henderson on Wednesday. 2 Replies 0 Likes
Really exciting time as we're shortly due to open our first chocolate factory shop in the UK. Now that the reall leg work has started, we are currently looking at suppliers of raw materials and I was absoluteley astounded by the sheer number of…Continue
chocolate is not as liquid as it should be.
Started by Aishwarya darshan in Tech Help on Wednesday. 0 Replies 0 Likes
I made my first batch of dark chocolate (40%). i added 30% of cocoa liquor 10% cocoa butter 60% sugar and 0.5% soya lecithin. I did the conching it for 18 hours in my stone wet grinder. at around 150 F. my end product do taste good but its not…Continue
Washing Strawberries
Started by Karen Blueberry in Tips, Tricks, and Techniques. Last reply by Jeffray D. Gardner on Tuesday. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Can anyone give me advise on the best way to wash & prepare strawberries before dipping them?Many Thanks,KarenContinue
Opening a retail chocolate shop
Started by Karen Neugebauer in Opinion. Last reply by Mim on Tuesday. 22 Replies 0 Likes
Hi Everyone. This is a question for all of you that have started your own chocolate shop.I am the owner of Forte Chocolates in WA. Currently, we do about 50/50 wholesale to retail and make 200-250k a year. Retail comes from various shows and…Continue
losing temper w/tempering
Started by Maggie Prittie in Tips, Tricks, and Techniques. Last reply by Andrea Bauer on Tuesday. 11 Replies 0 Likes
Just starting out and am having a Very Challenging experience trying to temper properly!I bring the dark chocolate to 89 and it still does not have the beautiful glistening lookWhat on earth am I doing wrong?????Please HELPContinue
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Blog Posts
small winnower may not perfect but functional :)
Posted by Thomas Kesselring on May 16, 2013 at 6:30pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
i found an good winnower that is less than 4.000 USD :) here is an link:
http://chocolatealchemy2.myshopify.com/collections/equipment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMPt1SiNSKE&feature=player_embedded
i love this guy. he is an genius. :)
Sincerely
Thomas
addicted to chocolate song
Posted by teddy on May 13, 2013 at 10:00am 0 Comments 0 Likes
Hello Guys. I just wanted to let everybody know about a new song called "Addicted to Chocolate" by a London girl band. I think its exactly how us chocolate lovers feel. At least that how I feel. enjoy. ( cut and paste youtube link) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unQF4Ri_zKc
Suggestions of the Best Commercial Recipe for Spanish Thick Chocolate for Churros Dipping
Posted by Neville on April 25, 2013 at 7:56pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Any ideas for doing this in bulk for festivals etc
Anatomy of a Tasting Menu
Posted by Clay Gordon on April 21, 2013 at 12:00pm 0 Comments 2 Likes
I am often asked ... about how I approach my pairings, where I get my inspirations, and what my thought processes are. I recently had the opportunity to conceive and prepare a five–course prix fixe tasting dinner at Jimmy's #43, a craft beer bar and restaurant in New York's East Village. The occasion was April, which at Jimmy's is the inspiration for April Sours month - a celebration of sours, Lambics, and wild ferments. As I was working on the menu I…
Continue
Starting slowly - Picked up a free granite slab this morning!
Posted by Kaydee Kreitlow on March 30, 2013 at 1:30pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
I am interested in starting my own chocolate company. While I am getting the finances together and researching business requirements etc. I am teaching myself how to make chocolates more precisely (and more important, to get excellent results every time!)
I was looking online at marble slabs and I found one for about $50 with no guarantees for the piece arriving whole to my doorstep. Then I checked my local Home Depot and Lowe's and i couldn't buy a single tile 18" x 18" but I…
Continue 3D Chocolate Easter Egg Art
Posted by redman on March 28, 2013 at 10:41am 0 Comments 0 Likes
As a new member and in the spirit of the Easter Bunny, since I cant share real chocolate with you, I did the next best thing, and created a series of 3D Model Eggs and applied real chocolate textures to them . I also created 3D individual gold egg holders to place them in and then created a realistic rendering of the models into this picture…
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