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Raw Materials and Equipment for the Chocolate AlChemical Laboratory
| Kits |
Novice Kit
Includes 2 lbs cocoa nibs
8oz cocoa butter
1 oz lecithin
3 chocolate molds |
Apprentice Kit
Includes
1 lb Cocoa beans
1 lb Roasted Cocoa beans
1 lb Cocoa nibs (unroasted)
1 lb Roasted Cocoa nibs
12 oz cocoa butter
1 oz lecithin
4 chocolate molds
Optional: Crankandstein Cocoa Mill
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Alchemist Kit
Includes 4 lbs Cocoa beans
2 lbs Roasted Cocoa beans
1 lb Roasted Cocoa nibs
16 oz cocoa butter
1 oz lecithin
5 chocolate molds
Optional: Crankandstein Cocoa Mill
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| Cocoa Nibs - Unroasted |
We are now offering cocoa nibs to help make those first few steps onto the path of Chocolate Alchemy a little easier.
Any of the Cocoa Beans we carry can be supplied to you as unroasted cocoa nibs. If you notice, there are no prices included here. This is a free service. When you place your order, just tell us that you want your cocoa beans as nibs.
We will then crack and winnow them for you and deliver to you the result. The husk that is removed is about 20-25% of the weight of the bean, so for 2 lbs of beans, you will receive about 1.5 lbs of nibs. Yes, you are paying for two pounds of beans, but not
paying for the service to have them made into nibs. Fair deal we think. We hope you do to.
When your nibs arrive, you may notice that there is some husk still in with the nibs. We do our best to remove 99% of it. Since we do it by hand, 100% is not possible. Regardless, these really are intended for chocolate making, and when you grind them into nibs in your Champion,
the remaining husk will form a nice filter bed, and be removed. The Carenero, due to it's irregular size and shape, will usually contain a bit more husk than other Cocoa beans.
Finally, it has been said a few times already, but these are unroasted nibs. You will still need to roast them to use them.
There is a 10 lb limit on cocoa nibs and is not available for wholesale orders. |
 | Prices the same as their whole Cocoa beans
10 lb limit please. |
| Cocoa bean Sampler Pack |
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This is a nice way to try 4 oz or 8oz of each of 4 of the cocoa beans varieties we have in stock. If you really want to try a particular bean, please ask and I will be sure to include it.
The Sampler pack is only available as whole raw beans, not nibs or roasted.
| 4 oz Sampler (1 lb total) - $20.00
8 oz Sampler (2 lb total) - $35.00
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Reviews: Click on the individual links above or go to the Review page.
| Chocolate Alchemy Kits |
| I remember what it was like to be a novice at this. I often still feel like a novice. So to help you
along the path, we have developed a couple of kit to introduce you to the Art and Science of Chocolate Alchemy.
The thought is that once are familiar with the basic techniques of chocolate making, it is not as difficult to acquire
the other skills. The Novice Kit lets you get familiar with grinding properly roasted nibs into cocoa liqueur and making
a basic chocolate. The Apprentice kit includes both roasted and unroasted cocoa bean so you know what you are aiming
toward. The
Alchemist kit sets you up with your own Cocoa mill and enough raw ingredients to make 10-20 lbs of fresh homemade chocolate. Please note that all of the Kits contain roasted cocoa beans in one form or another. Since we roast to order, and only roast once a week on the weekend, kit orders may take a week or two ship out. |
Novice Kit |
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This kit includes:
- 2 lbs roasted cocoa nibs (alchemist choice)
- 8 oz certified cocoa butter (in pieces for ease of use)
- 1 oz lecithin
- 3 chocolate molds (again, alchemist choice of design)
- basic directions to walk you through your first bit of Alchemy
This kit does not include a few things that you will need to make chocolate.
- Champion Juicer (with fine juice screen)
- Santha Wet Grinder
- Sugar
- Numerous bowls and towels
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| Novice Kit. | $45.00 |
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Apprentice Kit |
| Where the Novice Kit lets you get familiar with grinding properly roasted nibs into cocoa liqueur
and making a basic chocolate, the Apprentice kit includes both roasted and unroasted cocoa beans so you know what you
are aiming toward, and can perfect your roasting skills. We have also included some unroasted nibs for you to try your hand
at roasting those. I actually find them a little easier to roast, but they are also easier to burn. Since this kit is
made up as you order it (roasted cocoa does go stale), and we roast only once a week, please allow a week or two for delivery. The cocoa bean type is what we chose, but the whole kit will only contain one type so you are comparing similar cocoa bean.
If you have a bean you would really like to try, just ask, we might be able to accommodate you. Also, I realize the photo is showing a few more beans than I have list. We changed the kit a little, but the photo was already taken.
It will get changed at some point. |
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This kit includes:
- 1 lb Cocoa beans (alchemist choice)
- 1 lb Roasted Cocoa beans
- 1 lb Cocoa nibs (unroasted)
- 1 lb Roasted Cocoa nibs
- 12 oz cocoa butter
- 1 oz lecithin
- 4 chocolate molds
- Optional: Crankandstein Cocoa Mill
Just like the Appretice kit, this kit does not include a few things that you will need to make chocolate.
- Champion Juicer (with fine juice screen)
- Santha Wet Grinder
- Sugar
- Numerous bowls and towels
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| Apprentice Kit. | $75.00 |
| If you would like to add a Crankandstein mill to your kit, you will save $10.00 on it. |
| Apprentice Kit w/ Crankandstein Cocoa Mill. | $200.00 |
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Alchemist Kit |
| The previous kits give you the chance to get familiar with the process of making chocolate,
with a little roasting. The Alchemist Kit lets you really test your skills since it is contains a majority of unroasted cocoa beans, but with enough roasted to know what you are striving toward.
Since this kit is made up as you order it (roasted cocoa does go stale), and we roast only once a week, please allow a week or two for delivery. You do get to choose the type of cocoa bean you want in this kit though. |
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This kit includes:
- 4 lbs Cocoa beans (please specify type)
- 2 lbs Roasted Cocoa beans
- 1 lb Roasted Cocoa nibs
- 16 oz cocoa butter
- 1 oz lecithin
- 5 chocolate molds
- Optional: Crankandstein Cocoa Mill
Just like the previous kits, the Alchemist kit does not include a few things that you will need to make chocolate.
- Champion Juicer (with fine juice screen)
- Santha Wet Grinder
- Sugar
- Numerous bowls and towels
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| Alchemist Kit. | $120.00 |
| If you would like to add a Crankandstein mill to your kit, you will save $10.00 on it. |
| Alchemist Kit w/ Crankandstein Cocoa Mill. | $245.00 |
| Cocoa Butter |
 | The addition of cocoa butter will affect the mouthfeel,
melting point and other textural components of your finished chocolate. Use anywhere from 0-20% cocoa butter. This is
supplied in pieces for ease of use. We offer both Natural and De-odorized cocoa butter. Some people like the de-odorized
when they don't want another flavor to balance and only want a texture change. I personally like that
little extra bit of complexity and variation you get with natural cocoa butter. We are now offering the Natural cocoa butter from the Dominican Republic. It
has even more chocolate aroma than our previous source, and it is Fair trade as a bonus. It makes a wonderful base for white and milk chocolate.
It is your choice and the price is the same. |
| Origin | Type |
1 lb | 2 lb |
5 lb | 10 lb |
| Dominican Republic - Natural | Organic & Fair Trade Certified |
$7.50 | $14.70 |
$36.00 | $70.50 |
| Brazil - De-odorized | Organic |
$7.50 | $14.70 |
$36.00 | $70.50 |
| Granulated Lecithin |
 | The addition of lecithin acts as an emulsifier. You will probably see it on most chocolate labels. Use approximately 0.2% of any addition cocoa butter you add.
For an interesting effect you can add more as it will also affect the mouthfeel of your finished chocolate. A little bit will go a long way. |
| Origin | Type |
Price per oz |
| Soy | Organic |
$0.50 / oz |
| Whole Madagascar Vanilla Beans |
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Nothing equals the complex aroma and dark, robust flavor of vanilla.
Our vanilla beans are hand harvested and sun cured to provide unsurpassed quality.
Bourbon vanilla has the familiar vanilla flavor we have come to know and love in ice cream and chocolate.
Vanilla is a great way to add extra depth of flavor to your chocolate.
One vanilla bean will easily flavor 5 lbs of chocolate. A little bit will go a long way.
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| Origin | Type |
Price per bean |
| Madagascar | Bourbon |
$2.50 |
| Crankandstein Cocoa Mill |
 | We were having a difficult
time finding a piece of equipment to crush cocoa beans so we had one manufacctured for us.
This is a cold rolled steel, three roller cocoa mill.
The first two rollers lightly crack the cocoa, then the second and third rollers crush
the cocoa bean again into consistant nibs and husk. It comes with a 2 gallon hopper, crank
and is ready to use on a table top.
It could also be mounted so the nibs fall into a tray or bucket. Mine is mounted simply
on a round board so the cracked cocoa beans fall into a 5 gallon bucket. It will crack
about 4 lbs/min with this mill.
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| The weight on this item is approximately 14 lbs and has a flat $20.00 drop
shipping charge from the manufacturer. If you want it shipped with your order, there would
be an addition shipping charge to get it to us first.
| $135.00 + $20.00 shipping |
| We are now offering an optional wooden base. This will let you set the Mill on your own container. The cracked nibs fall through with a minimum of mess and fuss. I really recommended it.
| $10.00 |
| Champion Juicer |
 | We are now distributing the Champion Juicer.
We simply can not recommend it enough for grinding your Cocoa beans into Cocoa Liqueur. I have found
nothing else on the market works as well. A number of other juicers will start to liquify the cocoa, but usually
don't have enough power to really do the job, and you end up with what some people are discribing as "ropes". No other juicer
that I know of filters out the trace amounts of husk as well either.
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| You have your choice of colors - White, cream, silver or black. This item is drop shipped from the
manufacturer via FedEx for a flat $25.00 shipping charge.
| $235.00 + $25.00 (shipping) = $260.00 |
| Santha "Alchemist's" Stone Chocolate Melanger |
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Santha has decided to officially start calling the 2 L Santha Wet grinder (it actually holds about 6 liters) the Stone Chocolate Melanger. It is used to refine your Chocolate.
Once your cocoa beans have been passed through the Champion, this
piece of equipment is used to reduce the grit from the sugar you will add. We have been experimenting, and have verified that if you get your nibs very clean, the
Stone Melanger will also grind the nibs to liquour, saving the Champion step.
The Melanger has two 7.5# black granite "stone" rollers that rotates at 120 rpm on a granite
slab. This creates tremendous shear and reduces the particles of sugar
and cocoa to the smoothness we expect in modern chocolate, somewhere in the 1-30 micron range. Please read the
Grinding
section about how to use it and it's limitations. Please note, the bowl is not dishwasher safe.
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We are really pleased that Santha has worked
with us on this product, and continues to make improvements. The latest batch has the option of a 99 hour timer so you don't have to be present when you want it to turn off.
All of the Melangers are supplied to run continuously and ventilated keep the motor cool.
This item is drop shipped from the manufacturer. They are available in a sharp looking maroon, and come with
or without the 99 hour (not minute as the stock Santha Wet grinders) timers. We have run out of the units
with timers. They sold much faster than we expected.
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| Santha Stone Chocolate Melanger without timer | $265.00 (shipping included to the lower 48 USA states) |
| Santha Stone Chocolate Melanger with 99 hour timer - OUT OF STOCK | $295.00(shipping included to the lower 48 USA states) |
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We can also supply these in 220 V for our non-US customers. The prices for shipping vary wildly (usually $50-100 extra), so please enquire before ordering. Non-US units are generally shipped to a local port and need to be picked up by you.
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| Escali Scale |
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I have been using an Escali scale for the last couple of years and really like its ease of use. It's problem was that
it had a maximum load of 13 lbs. Well, Escali just came out with this one. It has allthe features I like plus a higher capacity.
- Tare feature
- multiple units (lbs, oz, grams, kilograms)
- Electric or battery power
- 44 lb capacity (this is nice for taring your Santha on)
- 0.1 oz or 2 g discrimination
In addition, a couple nice features is that the units stay to the one you selected when it turned off (others make you scroll each time it powers up), and
the top loading tray is removable for cleaning.
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| This scale only comes in black. This item is shipped from in-house.
| $42.00 - 5 lb shipping weight |
| Digital Thermometer with Thermocouple |
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We just received this low cost Digital Thermometer with a thermocouple wire probe, a simple and effective way
to monitor temperatures in a roaster ... especially when snaking a flexible wire into the roast chamber
is easier than drilling holes for a rigid thermometer shaft. It is also perfect for chocolate tempering. I have checked
the calibration on half a dozen of these, and all have been either right on (at boiling and freezing) or no more than on degree off.
And the temperature range on this thing is
amazing: -58 f to +1382 f ! It comes ready to go with a K-type thermocouple and a 9v battery installed.
You have a choice of Centigrade of Farenheit readout on the big easy-to-see LED screen, and a Hold button in
case you want to freeze the readout screen at a particular moment (not sure why you would want to. With an
pen, paper and a watch, you can create roast curve charts and graphs the old fashioned way!
The thermometer is made in China and imported by Circuit Specialties. It also comes with a nice zippered canvas carrying case.
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| Digital Thermometer with TC
| $30.00 |
| Molding Syringe |
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This is a 60 cc syringe - let's not get into what it was originally intended for. I like it for molding chocolate. It holds about 1 1/2 oz by weight of chocolate. I was not planning on carrying them but a lot of people asked for them, so here they are. They are individually wrapped and sterile.
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| 60 cc Molding syringe
| $4.00 |
| Chocolate Molds |
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We have a number of molds to choose from, whether you want bar molds, truffle molds, molds in which to make filled chocolates, or just some pretty shapes.
Please go to our Chocolate Molds page for picutres, discriptions and mold capacity information.
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| Instructional Chocolate DVD's |
| I would like to introduct the Chocolate Doctor. She has produced a fine set of DVD's dealing with handling your chocolate AFTER your have made it. These
are not chocolate making DVD's. One day maybe....In the mean time, these are very professionally produced, and make tempering, molding and decorating with chocolate seem effortless. I have taken the copy direct from the dvd's. I will be doing a bit more of a review later with some of my own comments.
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Volume 1 - The Basics of Successful Tempering - Instructional Video on DVD.
The Chocolate Doctor - Volume 1: The Basics of Successful Tempering.
A professionally produced,
25 minute Instructional Video on DVD illustrating three methods of tempering chocolate: tempering in a container, tabletop tempering on a marble slab and the seed method of tempering.
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Volume 2 - Techniques of Chocolate Molding - Instructional Video on DVD.
The Chocolate Doctor - Volume 2: Techniques of Chocolate Molding.
A professionally produced, 30 minute Instructional Video on DVD demonstrates the use of tempered chocolate to make plates of individual chocolates, double plates of chocolates, hollow and solid molded figures. It also shows molding with a magnetic mold, using a transfer sheet to produce a chocolate with a coloured cocoa butter pattern on the top.
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Volume 3 - Various Techniques with Chocolate - Instructional Video on DVD.
The Chocolate Doctor - Volume 3: Various Techniques with Chocolate.
A professionally produced, 25 minute Instructional Video on DVD demonstrates coating truffles, hand and fork dipping of items, making chocolate curls, ruffles, cigars and ribbons. Also demonstrated is writing and making filigree decorations with tempered chocolate as well as making a freeform cup called a 'snobinette' into which you can pipe your centers or mousse. Finally with the remaining tempered chocolate we produce chocolate bark or clusters.
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Volume 1 - The Basics of Successful Tempering | $30.00 |
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Volume 2 - Techniques of Chocolate Molding | $30.00 |
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Volume 3 - Various Techniques with Chocolate | $30.00 |
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