Marmalade

It's got a wheel, doesn't it? How do you find cleanup? Do you find the chocolate thickens significantly during the day? ← Yes, it's got a wheel. Cleanup is not bad as there are not to many tight corners. You have a couple of hours before thickening really sets in, but it's easy to control with a few minutes of a heat gun or adjusting the thermostat up for a little while. But I find the heat gun is the easiest and fastest method to thin quickly. I am very satisfied with my results, the shine and evenness of temper is far better than what I could get by hand, and the vibrating table is awesome.

Hi: I just bought a Prefamac 30kg machine with the enrober attachment from bakonusa.com. It was about $20,000. Doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other machines for more money, but thus far it's been great for both molded pieces and enrobing. Basically takes 2 people to operate, but I am very pleased with the results. It's a good machine for mid-volume and not as steep as LCM, Savvy or some others. Also I am very pleased with the customer service from Luc at Bakon USA. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be glad to answer them.

Thanks for posting the photos of my chocolates. You can see more at www.giandujachocolate.com, which is my website, and read more about my experience here at destinationecuador.wordpress.com. Those origins bars are made by a local and large confectionery company here called Confiteca, and I think they are quite good. I would love to know where Lior got them if it was here in Ecuador, since they are mostly sold to the US and other foreign markets and you don´t really see them here. I am working on a project to export single origin bars, so if anyone is interested, let me know! I will eventually be able to source beans, have them processed, and have the bars made so know the chain from bean to bar.

Hi: First, I saw your web site and your chocolates look fantastic, and have seen many of your posts. Nice work. Right now I use a 50% made by one of the main chocolate producers here. There are really only three, and only one I like. There is Nestle (very bad), Tulicorp and Ecuacocoa. I use Ecuacocoa's products. I believe Ecuacocoa makes the "Plantations " brand bars sold in the US. The 50% is a bit sweet for my taste but it's for the local market, which is where I sell most to currently. The industry is really not very sophisticated here, you can't get the wide variety of %s here like in the US or from European producers. Chocolate is highly protected by high tariffs here so there are no imports of high-quality (expensive) couverture, nor would the local economy support such a product, you just couldn't make money off of it. The company I buy from has a milk, dark, and 100% (liquor) product, and that's it. If I want to custom order a batch of chocolate per my own formula, minimum order is 1500kg. I don't have that kind of volume yet, so haven't done so. To do so, I could also source my own beans if I wanted or let them source them for me. I do buy a 70% dark from a friend of mine who owns a 600 ha. plantation. He sells most of his cocoa to Europe, but processes about 4000kg a year here for local sales and export. I have found Rainforest Alliance certified chocolate made by another small local producer here, but it was too costly and not feasible to make money off of-nor is there a market for it here. Even for export, it was too costly for me. Since there isn't the massive volume like in the US, prices can be steep. However, I do pay about $3.40 a kg for my local product. But a 20 piece box (half pound) also sells for no more than $10! I will be glad to continue telling you more, just ask!

I´m a North American who lives in and operates a small artisan chocolate shop in Ecuador. I´d be delighted to share my experiences and inside info here on Ecuadorian chocolate, cocoa production, etc. It´s a lot more interesting when you´re on the ground and can see where your chocolate is actually coming from. There´s a limited market for fine chocolates here, and limited availability of good chocolate for a number of reasons, which I won´t go into here. Anyway, I´ve been here almost a year now with my family operating the business, and we are aiming to export before the end of the year. If you ever come to visit Ecuador, I´d be glad to share all the chocolate and cocoa information I can. But for now, I´ll do it on this

Usually just some 70% dark chocolate made and produced here in Ecuador, straight from Quevedo.

Welcome Jeff, we'll be interested to hear about your products and hope you'll become involved in our many discussions about chocolate. Did you catch the earlier thread about 'Balancing your Ganache'? I'd be interested on your take on shelf life of your products. ← I did read the Balancing Your Ganache entry. I use many recipes from both Greweling´s CIA book and Wybauw´s Fine Chocolates. I like Wybauw´s because they all provide the Aw, and find the guidance provided for shelf life is just about spot on, except for the Gianduja. I´ve had them mold up after about 6 weeks, which is a bit too long anyway. But I think there is too much free water in the formula, and have tried reducing the dairy. Also, dairy hygiene is not quite as good here as in the US which may have affected the shelf life, despite boiling the cream. Also, butter here is not consistent like in the US; depending on the time of the year I believe the amount of fat and water varies because of the changes in season from rainy to dry and back again. Things are not nearly as high tech for quality control. I do find that most of my products have easily an 8 week shelf life, without any preservatives. I had all my products lab tested here and they were given 90 days. I am still, however, tweaking recipes, especially for export, to extend shelf life as long as possible. ← Marmalade, would you care to share a sample ganache recipe? I don't get anywhere near a 90 day shelf life and I think others would be interested in taking a look at what you're doing; for myself, especially, since you're not using any preservatives. Thanks! ← John, Kudos on the gorgeous web site. Very nice photography. I am curious to know, what kind of equipment do you work on? I have just purchased a Prefamac machine and am anxiously awaiting its arrival sometime next week. Been doing everything by hand up now on Mol D'Art melters and a small vibrating table.

I agree...my workshop is never cooler than about 57 F and never warmer than 68, so temperature is very cool and steady. I store all my products here. I use all fresh ingredients too. I will put up a recipe shortly. I do find that using tempered chocolate in the ganache, as recommended by Greweling and others, definitely improves texture and shelf life, and helps prevent separation. I do have some drying issues with some pieces after several weeks, but using invert sugar or fondant treated with invertase (no invert sugar here so I have to make my own) really helps to prevent drying out.

Welcome Jeff, we'll be interested to hear about your products and hope you'll become involved in our many discussions about chocolate. Did you catch the earlier thread about 'Balancing your Ganache'? I'd be interested on your take on shelf life of your products. ← I did read the Balancing Your Ganache entry. I use many recipes from both Greweling´s CIA book and Wybauw´s Fine Chocolates. I like Wybauw´s because they all provide the Aw, and find the guidance provided for shelf life is just about spot on, except for the Gianduja. I´ve had them mold up after about 6 weeks, which is a bit too long anyway. But I think there is too much free water in the formula, and have tried reducing the dairy. Also, dairy hygiene is not quite as good here as in the US which may have affected the shelf life, despite boiling the cream. Also, butter here is not consistent like in the US; depending on the time of the year I believe the amount of fat and water varies because of the changes in season from rainy to dry and back again. Things are not nearly as high tech for quality control. I do find that most of my products have easily an 8 week shelf life, without any preservatives. I had all my products lab tested here and they were given 90 days. I am still, however, tweaking recipes, especially for export, to extend shelf life as long as possible.

Hello: I´m a new member here and have a chocolate business in Quito, Ecuador. I´m mostly self-taught in chocolate though I have been to culinary school and have spent about 3 years now full-time at this. Please feel free to ask, share, whatever with me. My website is www.giandujachocolate.com. I make all my products by hand and have been in business just under a year now. Hoping to eventually export to the US. If you ever come to Ecuador, please visit and I can tell you all about the local chocolate world here, it´s very interesting. Jeff