Stone base in grinder/melanger polished smooth, time to replace?

[jedovaty]

Hi:

The stone base in my wet grinder/melanger has become smooth where the wheels track.  It's quite polished, slippery to the touch.  Time to replace, or fine to continue using as is?

[Kerry Beal]

You are tightening too much. You get smoother faster when there is actually a tiny big of space between the wheels and stones. You need to replace I would say. What brand is it?

 

 

[jedovaty]

Premier Chocolate grinder, model "wonder", purchased 2016, I make 5-10lbs chocolate a year with occasional praline nut butters.  I tighten the nut until it stops, isn't that how it works?  I don't pregrind my cacao beans, drop nibs in after winnow.  I usually preheat everything in my oven at "warm" setting for 10-15 minutes to evaporate moisture from the stones, and warm up the nibs.

[Kerry Beal]

So that's the 8 lb size? Going to suggest you contact Melangers.com and talk to them about getting a new set of stones with the stainless setup. Confirm with them the setting of the nut - but we have been told to turn until it starts to grab then one full turn. If you hear any squeaking or other similar noises back off til they stop. The new stones have the metal washers that don't come out - you'll be thrilled!

[jedovaty]

Cool, thanks   Before I posted, I was considering upgrading to the stainless scrapers, and their website shop shows that part comes with the rolling stones (🎶).  So I'd just need the drum, and that is it.  I'll reach out to them with what I have going on and report back what I learn.

[Kerry Beal]

59 minutes ago, jedovaty said:

Cool, thanks   Before I posted, I was considering upgrading to the stainless scrapers, and their website shop shows that part comes with the rolling stones (🎶).  So I'd just need the drum, and that is it.  I'll reach out to them with what I have going on and report back what I learn.

Drop my name. 

[jedovaty]

They got back to me and said I need to tighten to stop then turn two full rotations back.  I also found instructions on their website which have similar steps.  They didn't address whether the stone needs to be replaced.

 

I asked them some follow up questions but haven't heard back, been over a week now. 

 

I will replace the stone since the epoxy is coming off and I'm too lazy to fix that.  Having written that, any idea whether I have the large or small drum?  My current drum has an 8.5" diameter and 5.5" internal height.  I did not find drum dimensions on their site.

 

Thank you!

Edited June 2, 2023 by jedovaty (log)

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, jedovaty said:

They got back to me and said I need to tighten to stop then turn two full rotations back.  I also found instructions on their website which have similar steps.  They didn't address whether the stone needs to be replaced.

 

I asked them some follow up questions but haven't heard back, been over a week now. 

 

I will replace the stone since the epoxy is coming off and I'm too lazy to fix that.  Having written that, any idea whether I have the large or small drum?  My current drum has an 8.5" diameter and 5.5" internal height.  I did not find drum dimensions on their site.

 

Thank you!

Show picture of drum in place

[jedovaty]

I suspect it's the small one, here you go.  Based on their website, it looks like only the tilting unit has the large drum.  For some reason, I thought the large drum was also available on the non-tilting units.  Are the drums interchangeable, or do they have different diameters?

 

[Kerry Beal]

So that is an older version of the 8 lb size with the 8 lb large bowl.  You would put the small bowl on it it and/or replace it with the 8 lb bowl both with the new stainless fittings.

 

If you have the tilting base you can put the 10 bowl, the 8 lb bowl or the small bowl with replacement of the middle post. 

[jedovaty]

New drum and roller stones received, they fit.  Weekend project to clean/season and then away I go!  This time, I won't lock things down all the way.

 

Thanks again for the help

[jedovaty]

Finally had a chance to make some chocolate with the new drum and scrapers!  I usually start with a 2lb bag of beans from the chocolate alchemist, by the time roasting and winnowing is done, the weight of nibs comes to between 600 and 700 grams, and I generally make 80-95% darks.  The stainless scrapers aren't really made for such a small amount, especially since the mass tends to be a bit thicker due to my humid environment.  There are two solutions, either double up roasting or install the original scraper.  I really wish there were a drum roaster that could handle 2-3kg cacao beans, all my troubles would be resolved!

[jedovaty]

Well, a few more months and I really don't like the stainless setup, it's not only loud, but somehow gets product everywhere and I'm losing about 30% to the floor.  The loud part is easy to fix, I can just put felt strips on the lid, but the ejection... I have no idea.  I've tried it both with and without the wheel covers.  With the wheel covers, there's still quite a bit of ejection but product also gets stuck along the underneath and I'm too stupid to stop the unit, scrape down, and restart so it's a real danger to my digits.

 

I haven't tried larger batches yet, maybe those would fix this but I think I'm going to have to reinstall the original nylon set, and simply get a replacement locking nut.  Uggh I wanted to get away from the plastic.

 

[curls]

That shouldn't be happening. How much product are you grinding? I'm guessing you are running it with too little product. Try running a larger batch and see if that resolves your issue. We have tried many of those melangers at the eGullet workshop and they do a great job.

 

Also, I think that the micro batch kit bowl and stones would work on your grinder model. If they do, you could work with small amounts and not have splattering issues.

Edited November 22, 2023 by curls (log)

[jedovaty]

I generally have two kinds of chocolate I make, one is a super small batch at around 500-600g, and the other type at around 800-1,100g.  While I *can* run a larger batch, it's not something I want to do until I have a way to roast enough beans in one session, for a batch of chocolate.

 

My unit worked pretty well with the small batch sizes until the lock nut broke - there would be some product stuck to the top of the plastic lid, no more than maybe 10% which is a perfect little treat for me.  I've not seen the micro-batch accessory before, I just checked the website and they write the yield is about 500g which is good for the first kind of chocolate I make.

[curls]

FYI there is a stainless steel version of the micro batch bowl & stones even though I don't currently see it on their website. There are a few pictures of it in the 2023 eGullet Chocolate Workshop report. 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/165289-report-egullet-chocolate-and-confectionary-workshop-2023/?do=findComment&comment=2388574

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by curls
added link (log)