$10usd per lb is reasonable for prime cacao. But $5usd per lb can make edible chocolate. All depends on the origin and your goal with the chocolate. For milk chocolate it doesn’t have to be the best cacao. For dark chocolate where you will only add sugar, the quality is more important.

@@arceliagallardo thank-you

Of course, let me know if you have any other questions

You're welcome, make sure to check out Craft Chocolate TV for more info

Thanks! They don't need to be roasted right before making chocolate. Yes, you can buy roasted cacao, it will be a bit more expensive. If you don't want to roast, I would suggest you just get the nibs. If you don't want to roast, you definitely don't want to crack and winnow beans either. You can buy roasted nibs and go straight to making chocolate.

Yes, you are correct, if you leave shells in the chocolate that also includes the mold. The best chocolates are made with zero or minimal shells. Also, the best chocolate comes from cacao beans that have no or minimal mold.

It makes no difference where you put the chocolate but the thickness of the mold matters a lot. The thicker and wider the mold, the longer it will take to crystalize, this means that the likelyhood of the chocolate going out of temper increases. Yes, you can take part of the chocolate from the melanger and put on the marble table to develop some of the good crystals, then place this in the chocovision.

The chocolate I sell is in the melanger for 2 to 3 days without interruption, timing depends on the machine, some are faster and better, on the type of sugar I use, powdered sugar will refine faster than crystal sugar, and the type of chocolate, a milk chocolate might take longer than a 100% cacao bar. Your chocolate should reflect your tastes, if you like it after 12 hours then that is ok, stop there and remove it. Yes, there will still be a lot of acidity in the chocolate after 10 hours but if you like that, it's ok. If you want to remove som acidity here are you options: age your unroasted cacao beans (3 to 6 months will do but I have aged for 3 years), grind longer and make sure that you do not have the lid on the melanger (let the aromas escape freely), age your chocolate (same times as the cacao) - these three things will help reduce acidity in chocolate. The obvious would be to start with less acidic beans if possible. In terms of "is it a valuable aroma" depends who you ask. In indigenous communities that drink cacao in Latin America they prefer this acidity, they grind cacao only until it becomes liquor (5 minutes) then add water or milk and drink. They like the aroma and flavor of this style. If you ask a Frenchman that makes 70% bars they will say this is a giant flaw. But like I mention, you are the creator of your chocolate so make what you like. I make both, my chocolate de metate (drinking chocolate) is not refined and not melanged long enough to remove the acicity, for my "eating chocolates" like my bars, I keep in the melanger about 2-3 days and a lot of the acidity has escaped. Do this, put in a batch of 3 kilos in your machine and at 10 hours remove 100g or so, at 15 hours remove 100g, at 24hrs remove 100g, at 48hrs remove 100g and taste them all in about a week so you truly understand the impact the melange time has on your beans.

@@arceliagallardo2776 Dear Arcelia, I am so greatful for your answer! Thank you for explaining me all the details, I have so much more to learn and experiment. The drink you are talking about sounds so fascinating! Is it the 'xocatl' old Aztec civilization drank? So you drink 100 % chocolate with hot water or milk? Maybe could you give me a name, so I can search and learn more? Thanks for sharing this video and answer!

😂 it’s not a problem though. Just a strange coincidence?

Try warming your molds a bit before pouring in the chocolate. Do not warm too much because you will take the chocolate out of temper. You can try adding cocoa butter to your recipe, 2 to 5 % will help your viscosity a lot. Are you trying to make a 70% bar? Try 75% or 80%, this will be easier to mold. If 80% is too bitter, add a bit of granulated sugar on top before the chocolate sets, the same you would add nuts but sugar instead, this will make your 80% chocolate taste sweeter.

Thank-you

Yes, mine is also used for that (not mine but other people use it for that), as long as you can maintain enough heat to reach your desired temperature, it will work

@@arceliagallardo2776 thank you subscribed

🤗 you should see my chocolate tasting class. you would faint waiting to actually taste something. 😅