We are starting a new bean to bar factory in the industry so I would like to know what is the best cocoa nibs there is to order for making chocolate? And what equipment do we need?  Can you supply me with a recipe for making the best chocolate?

You mentioned I should keep adding cocoa butter when  my milk chocolate  batch is thick; if am making a 1kg batch and i keep adding more cocoa butter, then my final batch no longer becomes 1kg or is it that when am making a batch of 1kg, I should always make sure my cocoa butter is higher  than all the other ingredients on paper before starting

Another Great video on brewing cocoa. Have a few questions.

1. I am embarking on cacao for weight loss and all the health benefits. I was told that if your roast or heat the cocoa beans they lose a lot of phytonutrients. I live in India and my cocoa beans are thoroughly sun dried and the skins are easy to remove. Do I still need to roast them.

In the roasting seminar I just attended a week back, I was amazed at how much math and science can be used in determining/developing what are generally considered "artistic" qualities (like in roasting/flavor development). Out of curiosity, what basic math/science skills should I brush up on that will make the biggest impact on my ability to produce the highest grade chocolate and make it a replicable process? Do I need high grade chemistry and calculus? Or is there some other basics that will get me close but still give me an edge over people who are mostly winging it?

My question is whether you have experienced more intense flavors by starting with a high temperature and then coming down.  As well, why did you choose 232F as the end of the development phase.

I am a long time coffee roaster and know it is important to cool coffee as fast as possible.  How quickly do I have to cool my cocoa beans?  I’m worried they going to over roast if I don’t get them cool in a couple minutes, especially in the Behmor roaster.

I use my Sous Vide for so many things and am planning on making silk. My question is however have you tempered chocolate using a sous vide

For almost 6 months or so, I've been using coconut sugar (we are trying to be organic, low sugar, etc.), and the last batch of sugar I bought from my usual supplier was moist.

Hi John! I apologize if I am inquiring at the wrong time; I'm not sure who is managing emails right now. I hope all is well and you are having a nice recovery! If you are able to reply, I had a few questions.

Instead of whole cacao nibs, can I buy cracked cacao nibs from health store and put it in Melanger
Instead of cracked cocao nibs can I buy raw cacao powder from health store and put it in Melanger

How do I maintain a large batch of chocolate at 92-93° while pouring multiple molds? Can it drop below that and still maintain the temper?

I have a question about tempering which answer I can’t find anywhere and I’m hoping you can help.  Simply, why are the tempering temperatures have to be different for dark, milk and white chocolate?  Is it because of the greater amount of cocoa butter in the milk and white chocolates?

One thing I can’t find an answer about is how I should go about sorting my beans.  I have tried a bunch of different ways and nothing really seems to improve my chocolate every time.  I see so many chocolate makers sorting but just can’t figure it out.  Please help!!

 1. If I am using the melanger to make Dark Chocolate, I do not make chocolate liquor correct? I just use the roasted/cracked/winnowed cacao nibs and put them directly into the melanger? When would I need to make chocolate liquor?

I would appreciate if you could provide any specific bean recommendation to make milk chocolate.

How do we store chocolate that is coming out of the Melanger? Does it have to be tempered first? Or can we just pour it into a container?  I can’t seem to find the answer.

I make ganache and if you let it set and if you don't make it with a lot of cream it can set up nicely. So my question is this. Why no wet ingredients if you know how to incorporate them like in making ganache?

 I attended the NW Chocolate Festival and wanted to follow up with you on a few things:

Love this channel. I've yet to see anyone skilled enough to produce a quality video making dark milk chocolate without using caster sugar. Using Honey, maple or coconut sugar. Do you reckon you could think about doing such a video in the future?