Gap's Page

"Piping bag?"

"It is of interest to me - buying small lots of cocoa beans. I saved this thread for future reference, but having it in one spot that makes more sense would be good."

"Interesting question Ruth. I think I have read that it is possible but I am not even close to being an expert on this topic."

"My understanding is this is the same issue with bars marked, for example, as Criollo strain. There might be 10% criollo or 100% but who knows - there is no standard to say what it should be. And often the farms the beans comes from might have more…"

"From what I've read (which admittedly is limited) there doesn't appear to be a "standard". Ie., you don't need to have a certain % of single origin beans in your chocolate to claim the whole bar is single origin. I guess…"

"That's a good point actually re the Champion - even though I have one, I don't pre-grind the nibs in it before adding to the melanger . . . I just put my winnowed nibs straight into the melanger."

"I have been told that heating chocolate to max working temp is best when enrobing curved shapes. I haven't tried it because the situation hasn't arisen, but the advice was from a knowledgeable source."

"Depends how much you want to make and your budget. I have a Melanger (I use a Premier Wet Grinder) and a Champion Juicer. I use the Champion for cracking beans because we happened to have one before I started making chocolate (I don't use a…"

"I use my Mol d"Art melting tank. Ihave a 6kg tank and find it hold the gun and 4-5 colours. I leave them overnight before I plan to use them and leave them in the tank while I'm working as well."

"A melter (such as a Mol d'Art is used for keeping chocolate at working temp. It melts the chocolate at a high temp, then you temper the choc and reduce the temp on the melting tank. When you put the tempered choc back into the unit, it holds it…"

"Honestly couldn't tell you - I'm based in Melbourne. I'll have a dig around and report back if I find anything."

"Apologies Lowe, I've misled with my post above. I was actually thinking of Gabriel Chocolate which I've had before as being bean to bar. I have not heard that Margaret River Chocolate is bean to bar. Like you said, it's a bit…"

"Yes, I am pretty sure they are. Also Bahen & Co"

"A little more confection oriented but I though Bon Bon do a great job (in their particular niche) - http://www.bonbon.com.au/"

"Check out Broadsheet for places to go, it's a really good guide for finding out what is happening in the city. Here is a link to chocolate places on there. Have fun!"