Melanger experimentation

[MelissaH]

3 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

 

How does it taste?

[keychris]

3 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Makes for expensive bars unless you have a freeze dryer.

 

not really a standard piece of kit in the home kitchen though

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, keychris said:

 

not really a standard piece of kit in the home kitchen though

I don't think Kerry's home kitchen is the standard piece of kit. I think a lot of food labs and high end restaurants would be jealous... 

[Kerry Beal]

3 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Got sidetracked with other ideas and never got back to it after my initial disappointment that it was too soft. I have it stored with some other things waiting to be molded and it actually did seem to harden up more eventually, it just took longer to do it than most things usually do, so I need to finish that and see what I end up with. 

Story of my life!

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, MelissaH said:

How does it taste?

Fruity! Quite lovely actually.

[Rajala]

11 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

So to 200 g fruit I added 60 grams of sugar and initially 200 grams of cocoa butter - added 70 more later 

 

Makes for expensive bars unless you have a freeze dryer.

 

That's quite a lot of fruit! I checked up Valrhonas and they use between 11 and 17 percent of fruit in their inspiration line. I guess yours are way more fruity than theirs.

[Kerry Beal]

17 hours ago, Rajala said:

 

That's quite a lot of fruit! I checked up Valrhonas and they use between 11 and 17 percent of fruit in their inspiration line. I guess yours are way more fruity than theirs.

Curious where you found that amount - can't seem to find it myself.

 

 

[Rajala]

9 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Curious where you found that amount - can't seem to find it myself.

 

 

 

Check this; https://www.laboetgato.fr/en/inspiration/15446-passionfruit-inspiration-fruit-couverture-beans-200-g-3333330250706.html

 

Ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter 32.9%, dehydrated passionfruit juice 17,3%, emulsifier (soya lecithin).
May contains traces of nuts, milk proteins and gluten.

Composition: sugar 49.3% - fat 32.9%

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, Rajala said:

 

Check this; https://www.laboetgato.fr/en/inspiration/15446-passionfruit-inspiration-fruit-couverture-beans-200-g-3333330250706.html

 

Ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter 32.9%, dehydrated passionfruit juice 17,3%, emulsifier (soya lecithin).
May contains traces of nuts, milk proteins and gluten.

Composition: sugar 49.3% - fat 32.9%

Thanks - a whole lot less sugar in mine - maybe I should bulk with maltodextrin

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, Rajala said:

 

Check this; https://www.laboetgato.fr/en/inspiration/15446-passionfruit-inspiration-fruit-couverture-beans-200-g-3333330250706.html

 

Ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter 32.9%, dehydrated passionfruit juice 17,3%, emulsifier (soya lecithin).
May contains traces of nuts, milk proteins and gluten.

Composition: sugar 49.3% - fat 32.9%

Interesting. 50% sugar and 17% fruit. So, not having tried either, I'm guessing a whole lot sweeter and somewhat less fruity than what Kerry is doing... but explains why they can afford to sell it at their price point. 

[Rajala]

Yeah, lots of sugar. I'm going to order the freeze dried blackcurrant with my next order with the supplier I'm using. Need to try this.

 

Did @Kerry Beal use any lecithin? How long did you run it in the melanger?

[Kerry Beal]

3 minutes ago, Rajala said:

Yeah, lots of sugar. I'm going to order the freeze dried blackcurrant with my next order with the supplier I'm using. Need to try this.

 

Did @Kerry Beal use any lecithin? How long did you run it in the melanger?

No lecithin - ran it overnight - likely didn’t need that long. I did get some crusty stuff up the sides that I would have melted back in occasionally if I’d been awake.

 

Black currents will probably tolerate more sugar.

[Rajala]

2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

No lecithin - ran it overnight - likely didn’t need that long. I did get some crusty stuff up the sides that I would have melted back in occasionally if I’d been awake.

 

Black currents will probably tolerate more sugar.

 

Ah, interesting. I should watch it a bit while running then. I guess you pour melted cocoa butter right into it?

[Kerry Beal]

40 minutes ago, Rajala said:

 

Ah, interesting. I should watch it a bit while running then. I guess you pour melted cocoa butter right into it?

That’s what I did 

 

 

[pastrygirl]

9 hours ago, Rajala said:

 

Check this; https://www.laboetgato.fr/en/inspiration/15446-passionfruit-inspiration-fruit-couverture-beans-200-g-3333330250706.html

 

Ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter 32.9%, dehydrated passionfruit juice 17,3%, emulsifier (soya lecithin).
May contains traces of nuts, milk proteins and gluten.

Composition: sugar 49.3% - fat 32.9%

 

7 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Interesting. 50% sugar and 17% fruit. So, not having tried either, I'm guessing a whole lot sweeter and somewhat less fruity than what Kerry is doing... but explains why they can afford to sell it at their price point. 

 

I'm surprised it's that much sugar.  I had a sample a few months ago and found it reasonably tart, less sweet than typical white chocolate.  But I'm sure the freeze dried passion fruit juice is pretty intense so it's just a matter of balancing the particular fruit.  Fresh unsweetened passion fruit is quite pucker-y, not as naturally sweet as say, a strawberry.

 

Looks like the almond and strawberry are both around 40% sugar, with 14% dried strawberry vs 30% almonds.  

 

[VistaGardens]

So glad to find this thread.  I've made pistachio gianduja and also raspberry cocoa butter.  I bought a freeze dryer specifically to be able to FD the fruits to use with CB and use in the melanger.  I used rice as the sacrificial lamb in cleaning out the melanger.  I was so excited when I read that there was a small batch size drum and rollers, but sadly they are all sold out.  Hope he brings more in.  Very interested in the use of coffee in the chocolate!  Thank you all for your great ideas and experimentation.  

[Rajala]

Wow, a freeze drier isn't cheap. The first one I found is 20k USD.   

[Kerry Beal]

4 hours ago, Rajala said:

Wow, a freeze drier isn't cheap. The first one I found is 20k USD.   

Much better pricing from Harvest right - Home freeze dryers from Utah 

[keychris]

34 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Much better pricing from Harvest right - Home freeze dryers from Utah 

Postage to Australia would probably push it out to $20k!

[Kerry Beal]

10 minutes ago, keychris said:

Postage to Australia would probably push it out to $20k!

True that!

[tikidoc]

Slight update on the small melanger bowl. At their request, I sent some photos. They initially thought the scrapers might be holding things up, but the scrapers actually had more clearance than the wheels. I think the issue is in either the height of the tube in the center of the bowl or in the plastic part in the center of the wheel apparatus. They also had a concern that it was not fitting correctly on my machine, but the problem was apparent before even setting the bowl on the machine, and the spring loaded screw did not help.

 

So I sent the bowl back yesterday, and I am awaiting a replacement. I’m glad I asked them to hold a replacement early in the process of troubleshooting, as they are now sold out. Given how fast they sold out, I would expect they will be making more...

[pastrygirl]

@tikidoc which melanger do you have that’s not compatible?  My mini bowl has been shipped so I guess I’ll find out soon enough if it fits mine ...

[cdh]

Isn't a slab of dry ice in a cooler with a fan a servicible, if ephemeral freeze dryer?  I've seen references to that as a means of getting things like strawberries freeze dried. 

[KennethT]

24 minutes ago, cdh said:

Isn't a slab of dry ice in a cooler with a fan a servicible, if ephemeral freeze dryer?  I've seen references to that as a means of getting things like strawberries freeze dried. 

Freeze drying requires vacuum to directly sublimate the frozen water to gas

[tikidoc]

2 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

@tikidoc which melanger do you have that’s not compatible?  My mini bowl has been shipped so I guess I’ll find out soon enough if it fits mine ...

 

To clarify, the problem is how the wheel assembly sits in the bowl, NOT the machine. It is supposed to work on either machine. When I notified them of the problem, they attempted to troubleshoot and asked me for photos. Their initial theory was the scrapers were too long (they weren’t), then that the problem was the fit of the bowl on the machine (not that either). When the wheel assembly is put in the bowl, it sits too high and neither the rollers nor the scrapers touch the floor of the bowl. There is probably 2-3 mm clearance. So there is no way it would grind stuff. The fit was the same whether it was sitting on the table or on the machine with the spring loaded screw attached. 

Edited August 16, 2018 by tikidoc (log)