Thought of the Day

“Do one thing you fear every day.” unknown Chocolate Morsel of the DaySometimes a particularly acidic cocoa bean smells very acidic during the refining process. This is good and what you want – the extra acidity to be driven off. You have not necessarily underroasted. Read more...
“Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it.” unknown Chocolate Morsel of the DayOn that subject, I often get the question “Do I have to use all that equipemnt? Can’t I just use (fill in this or that random appliance)? That pat answer is that I have tried and failed with a LOT of equipment and currently list what I know works. Will other equipment work? Maybe or maybe not, I don’t have a crystal ball. But if it is common (blender, meat grinder, etc)... Read more...
“If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” – Will Rogers Chocolate Morsel of the DayI have been asked many times if you can make chocolate from cocoa powder. The basic answer is yes. But you should ask yourself what do you want? Cocoa powder has been processed heavily to get the cocoa butter out. The resulting chocolate would probably be less than stellar. Should you want to try it, substitute a mixture of 50% cocoa powder and 50% cocoa butter for the... Read more...
“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.”—Theophrastus Chocolate Morsel of the DayCocoa MassCocoa liquourCocoa liquerCocoa licorUnsweetened “baker’s” Chocolate These are all the same thing and can be used interchangeably. They are all ground roasted cocoa nibs. Read more...
“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” – Aldous Huxley Chocolate Morsel of the DayYou may find this lose numbers helpful in formulating recipes. You will lose 4-6% from moisture when roasting cocoa beans.You will lose 10-15% from husk waste.The Champion will retain about 6 oz of cocoa mass. Read more...
“If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.” Chocolate Morsel of the DayOy, it’s been a few days. When first mixing your ingredients in the Melanger, try to have everything nice a warm – cocoa butter melted, nibs warm, sugar warm, bowl and rollers warm. Note – WARM on that last one. Hot may cause the center nylon assembley to fail – don’t ask :( Suffice to say, I, the Alchemist, am without a refiner for a little while. Read more...
“There is nothing so powerful as truth,—and often nothing so strange.” – Daniel Webster Chocolate Morsel of the DayWe have a table top winnower in the works. In the mean time, a blow dryier and large shallow (12”) bowl works well. 1-2 minutes with stirring will blow most of the husk away and your nibs will be ready for the Champion. Read more...
“Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is.” – Thomas S. Szasz Chocolate Morsel of the DayWith our home refiner (the Santha Melanger) it is pretty difficult to over refine. But it can happen. If you chocolate starts to really thicken up, and you have been refining over 20 hours or so, you may be starting to overrefine. If the flavor is still not smooth as you want, remove the tension spring, and effectively you will be conching but not refining. Read more...
“It is good to love as many things as one can, for therein lies true strength, and those who love much, do much and accomplish much, and whatever is done with love is done well.” – Vincent van Gogh Chocolate Morsel of the DayThere are three basic stages of roasting. 1) The bacterial kill from the inital (350 F) temperature2) The drying phase – usually a little lower than your final temperature 240-2603) A final stage slightly hotter temperature to bring out the roast flavor of the bean. Some delicate... Read more...
“Be who you are and say what you feel because the people who mind don’t matter and the people who matter don’t mind.” —theodor seuss geisel Chocolate Morsel of the DayIs it bad when you’re trying to figure out a technical problem and searching google just keeps bringing you back to the things you’ve wrote about the problem? me thinks it is. Ruzz I have had that same problem with various equipment for homemade chocolate. Sucks being the leading expert when you are searching for alternatives. Alchemist Read more...
“The cost of a things is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”—Henry David Thoreau Chocolate Morsel of the DayIf you have an bright or acidic cocoa bean (Madagascar), don’t try and rush the roast. It takes time for all those acids to make it out of the bean and be driven away. 30 minutes is not uncommon. But keep the temperature moderate (260-270 F) for most of the roast so you don’t over roast. Read more...
“True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist.” – Albert Einstein Chocolate Morsel of the DayI often hear about the grave danger of roasting cocoa, the fire hazard, etc. Please rest assured, the danger lies when roasting hundreds if not thousands of pounds together. The danger of roasting 10 lbs of cocoa approaches zero. The temperatures are just not hot enough and there is not enough mass to present a fire hazard. Happy roasting. Read more...