I am interested in making my own chocolate from scratch. Can anyone
recommend good books, web sites for instruction and supplies for getting
started?

"Stuart S. Berr" wrote:

> I am interested in making my own chocolate from scratch. Can
> anyone recommend good books, web sites for instruction and
> supplies for getting started?

Do you mean from cacao beans? It takes a number of
specialized machines, which usually have no small-scale
equivalents. The conching machine, for one.

You could probably make a form of chocolate using
kitchen equipment, but it probably wouldn't be very
much like a fine chocolate, or even an average
commerical chocolate.

Yes. I am interested in making it from cocoa beans or cocoa powder. DO
you have a rough idea of what it would cost to get a setup that could do
this and make a decent chocolate?

Mark Thorson wrote:

>"Stuart S. Berr" wrote:
>
>
>
>>I am interested in making my own chocolate from scratch. Can
>>anyone recommend good books, web sites for instruction and
>>supplies for getting started?
>>
>>
>
>Do you mean from cacao beans? It takes a number of
>specialized machines, which usually have no small-scale
>equivalents. The conching machine, for one.
>
>You could probably make a form of chocolate using
>kitchen equipment, but it probably wouldn't be very
>much like a fine chocolate, or even an average
>commerical chocolate.
>
>
>
>
>

"Stuart S. Berr" > wrote in message
...
> Yes. I am interested in making it from cocoa beans or cocoa powder. DO
> you have a rough idea of what it would cost to get a setup that could do
> this and make a decent chocolate?
>
> Mark Thorson wrote:
>

Search the Google archives for making chocolate and you will find a lot of
post that explain the process. Look for post by Alex Rast and DKM. It is
not easy and produces at best an OK chocolate.

DKM's cousin

at Fri, 30 Jan 2004 16:57:19 GMT in <bve2db$2fe$1
@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>, (Stuart S. Berr) wrote :

>I am interested in making my own chocolate from scratch. Can anyone
>recommend good books, web sites for instruction and supplies for getting
>started?
>

This is a question that comes up cyclically. I've answered it several
times. Perhaps the best summary, if you're interested, is my post " How
do you make milk chocolate" under . A DejaNews search should
find it quickly. The instructions apply equally to making dark chocolate -
simply delete the milk from the ingredients.

Before you start, I'd like to ask a few questions for you to consider.

How much effort are you prepared to make? (It will require a LOT)

How much time do you have available? (Plan on at least 3 days)

How good of a chocolate are you hoping to make? (Even decent chocolate will
require multiple attempts)

How much up-front money can you spend? (Depending on what you have in-
house, it may cost $500)

What's your goal? (In other words, why are you trying to do this?
Generally, the only reason that proves fruitful is simply to learn how it's
done. Other goals are usually more easily achieved by buying one of the
commercially available chocolates)

There's more information I can impart than what's in the post, if you're
*really* interested and want details on blending, ratios, bean types, etc.
--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

http://www.fmnh.org/Chocolate/manufa...nufacture.html

this is rather elementary, but it gives a good overall picture of the
manufacturing process....it loads slowly at first but if you cl;ick on the
"finish" word on the home page, it will get you there...good luck...LG



"Stuart S. Berr" > wrote in message
...
> I am interested in making my own chocolate from scratch. Can anyone
> recommend good books, web sites for instruction and supplies for getting
> started?
>

Hi Stuart,

For a quick and easy introduction to the miracle of making chocolate out of
cocoa beans:

1. Get you some cocoa nibs:
http://www.scharffenberger.com/products/nibs.htm.
2. Spread them out on a cookie sheet and painstakingly (your teeth will
thank you later) inspect the nibs for any little rocks or pieces of
concrete. Remove them.
3. Follow the instructions inside the package for making chocolate. You'll
need a blender or small food processer (the oskar works very well.)


pete

--

My mail address is plock at tokla dot com.


"Stuart S. Berr" > wrote in message
...
> I am interested in making my own chocolate from scratch. Can anyone
> recommend good books, web sites for instruction and supplies for getting
> started?
>