How can I make chocolate with honey? -- 'The Updated Answer'

So why am I going to answer it again?  It boils down to the scientific method.  Science, good science, by its nature changes and evolves as we learn new things.  It does not necessarily  invalidate previous findings completely.  It refines it and fine tunes it.  To that end, I have somewhat a new answer to this question in that it appears (note the disclaimer for future updates of failure) that I have successfully tempered chocolate with honey in it.

I have heard you should stop roasting when cocoa beans start to smell good so you don’t lose all those great flavors.  You don’t really talk about that though. How do you know when to stop a roast?

I have been following your roasting profile recommendations and I am loving the results.  I am having a lot of trouble though keeping the roast from going too fast.  I know we are driving off water in the first part so I turn the power down 5-10% to account for that but it never seems enough.  I’m afraid to turn it down more and mess up the roast by having it take too long.  How much should I have to turn my roaster down?

Where do you get your spider charts?

We have the newest crop of an old favorite and two (soon three) new direct trade in.

ew questions have been a little light lately.  I want to share a correspondence I had due to Ask the Alchemist #211.  Because I have something planned Ask the Alchemist #212 (is it obvious to everyone what the subject will be?) I’m going to call this one 211.5.

We've noticed that different beans seems to have different amounts of intrinsic oil. The Peruvian Maranon seems to have quite a bit of oil and produces a chocolate that flows very easily but it tricky to temper correctly. Is there a way to know in advance the amount of oil in a bean so we can adjust the amount of cocoa butter we add?

It is another of the short and sweet speed rounds of Ask the Alchemist.

What is your favorite chocolate?

I want to make my own brewing cocoa.  I have a really good coffee grinder so I am all set there.  How can I use the Behmor for roasting brewing cocoa?  Do I have to remove the husk?  Are some beans better than others for brewing?  Thanks for all you do.

I was wondering about adding flavors to the white chocolate in the melanger? At which point? I was considering using oils unless you have another recommendation.  Do you know ratios to attempt to begin with? Thinking of Orange, Lemon, lavender - not altogether.

I have read about that volatile compounds are released and the acidity in the chocolate drops as it is refined.  I tried to test the changes in pH.   After 12 hours there was hardly any change in pH (7.1 to 6.9). It clearly tastes different even after 12 hours but the acidity didn’t change.  How can I measure and track and acidity?

I notice you advocate dropping your beans into a hot roaster.  I assume this is because you want Maillard reactions and Strecker degradation products.  Is there a certain temperature that works best for these products?

I have just finished up the details of Chocolate Alchemy’s first Profile Roasting Seminar.  It is for June 24, 2017.  There are currently 6 out of 15 slots left.

Finishing phase. 

This phase extends from a bean temperature of 232 F until you decide your beans are fully roasted, generally 245-270 F, and lasts 3-6 minutes with the temperature continually rising.

I am roasting to reduce acidity and boost chocolate flavor: I use a 3k drum coffee roaster. Would you recommend roasting a bit longer or hotter maybe 25 minutes building up to 290 degrees?  For the Ugandan I've been enjoying a 21 min roast at 275 tops. 

If you have not heard of it yet, I suspect you are going to start hearing about Allulose.  And remember you heard it here first.

How can I relate this (the roasting profiles) to what happens in my Behmor, where I cannot control the temperature in subtle ways?