FAQ - Know about Cocoatown's melangers and it's use

Melangers:

Question: Can I use my melanger for grinding peanut butter?

Answer: Yes. CocoaTown melangers can grind nuts into nut butters. Powder the nuts or pre grind in CocoaT Mini Pre Grinder before adding to the melanger. If you are making nut butters with skin, you can purchase the cylindrical roller stone assembly that is available as optional accessory.

Question: Can I use my melanger for grinding nut butters?

Question: What causes one of the roller stones from spinning while grinding?

Answer: This can be caused by couple of reasons.
After each use, remove the roller stones from the roller shaft (by removing the nut at the end of the roller shaft) and clean inside the hole thoroughly. Clean the stainless steel roller shaft also thoroughly and make sure chocolate is not sticking anywhere. Presence of chocolate between the roller shaft & roller stones can make the roller stone to freeze and prevent it from rotating normally. This in turn can damage the center pin of the stainless steel vessel.
If the roller assembly is dropped and the roller shafts get misaligned, it can cause the stones to freeze.
If the melanger or Grindeur is switched on with the ingredients inside the drum, it can prevent the roller stones from rotating normally. Always start the unit with only cocoa butter or any liquid you are using, and then add the ingredients slowly while the unit is running.
If nut pieces or bigger particle sized ingredients are used in the melanger, the stones can stop rotating. When using melanger for nut butters from macadamia nuts or cashews, always pre-grind them into powder and then use them in the melanger.

Question: I have never made chocolate in the past. Where do I find more information on how to make my chocolate from cocoa (cacao) beans?
Answer: There are several good references that explain in detail how to make your own cocoa liquor from cocoa beans. Some useful references are: www.chocolatealchemy.com, www.thechocolatelife.com, www.cocoa2choco.com.

Question: Why does the roller stone adaptor in the center of stainless steel drum stick to my roller assembly in my melanger?

Answer: As soon as the grinding is done, the roller holder assembly has to be removed from the stainless steel drum and cleaned. Attention should be paid to clean the underside of the roller holder. If the roller holder is left in the drum after grinding, the chocolate can solidify and make it harder to remove the roller assembly. We have seen in couple of instances, it breaks the center pin and makes the drum useless.

Question: What is the difference between the deluxe melanger and the basic melanger?

Answer: Basic Melanger and Deluxe melanger work on the same principle.
Basic melanger is suitable if you are a novice, chocolate enthusiast and make chocolate occasionally. If you are a chocolatier, or a flavor developer for chocolates, Deluxe melanger is ideal. Deluxe melangers help you to scale up pilot scale manufacturing. Deluxe melanger is designed with forced air ventilation to keep the motor well below the maximum operating temperature recommended by the motor manufacturer.

Question: Why does the roller stone adaptor in the center of the stainless steel drum rotate separately or come out loose?

Answer: The roller stone adaptor is attached to the granite base of the stainless steel drum with food grade glue. When the unit is turned on, the motor will try to rotate the stainless steel drum which in turn rotates the roller stones. If there is cocoa nibs or nut powder in the drum before the unit is turned on, it will lock the roller stones in place. The drum will continue to rotate and it dislodges the roller stone adaptor from the granite stone.
Washing the melanger / Grindeur drum with hot water can damage the food grade glue and separate the roller stone adaptor.
Heating the drum in the oven can damage the glue and separate the roller adaptor from the granite stone.
Preheating the drum can also damage the glue connecting the granite stone and roller adaptor.

Question: What is a CocoaT Melanger by CocoaTown?

Answer: CocoaT Melanger by CocoaTown is a device that grinds cocoa nibs into chocolate liquor. The grinding process takes place between the granite roller stones and the flat bottom granite stone of the stainless steel vessel. It is a slow grinding process that reduces the cocoa nibs into less than 15 micron. Since the roller stones are conical in shape, these melangers grind and conch the nibs.

Grindeurs:

Question: What are the features and benefits of CocoaT Grindeur?

Question: Why do I see grey color in the nut butters while grinding them in the Melanger/Grindeur?

Answer: If the stainless steel roller shaft is not cleaned right before using, the nut butters will turn gray. To prevent gray color butter, clean the roller shaft and the stones as described in the cleaning instructions.

If the tension knob on the Grindeur is overtightened, it can cause the roller stone to hit the roller shaft vertically and damage the stainless steel shaft. Damaged stainless steel will ooze out as gray color in the nut butter. The tension knob on the Grindeur is to release the tension completely while conching. So do not over tighten them.

Question: What is the difference between a melanger and a grindeur?

Answer: Melanger is a belt driven appliance for grinding Cocoa nibs in small batches of 8 -10 lbs or less. It is ideal for small chocolate shops, chocolate teaching classes, laboratories to develop flavors and for enthusiasts to make chocolate at home.

Grindeur is a Gear motor appliance with a minimum tension on the belt. Commercial version of ECGC Grindeur comes in three different sizes to process different amounts of cocoa nibs – ECGC-30 for 30 lbs, ECGC-40 for 40 lbs and ECGC-65 for 65 lbs. ECGC-12 mini Grindeurs are the scaled down version of the commercial Grindeurs and ideal for testing labs and small operations.

Question: How do I start the melanger or grindeur?

Answer: Grease the roller stones with cocoa butter (if you are using it for grinding cocoa nibs) or nut butter (if using for grinding nuts). Place the roller stone assembly in the stainless steel drum. Lock the roller assembly in place. Start the melanger or Grindeur. Once the roller stones start rotating, add the cocoa nibs or nut powder slowly. Make sure that the roller stones are rotating freely without any struggle. If the roller stones are struggling, stop the unit, remove some of the contents from the stainless steel drum and then restart the unit.

Question: I do not have three phase power coming into my facility. I want to buy ECGC-65 unit. What are my options? Option 1 is to bring in three phase line to the building. But this is an expensive option.

Answer: The best option is to buy the control panel from cocoatown.com. Control panel comes with frequency controller that converts the incoming single phase electricity into three phase for the motor. Control panel also comes with additional features to make chocolate grinding easy and programmable.

Cheapest option is to buy the frequency controller only and connect the ECGC-65 through it. Frequency controller has two functions –
1. Convert the incoming single phase power to three phase power to the motor.
2. Help you to change the speed of the unit for different stages of the grinding process.

Question: What causes stainless steel shaft of the roller holder to wear out prematurely?

Answer: If the tension adjustor knob is screwed in more, it will press the roller stones too hard against the bottom stone of the grinding vessel. This causes the stones to hit against the roller stone shaft, wearing out the bottom side of the roller stone shaft.

The tension adjustor is provided to completely release the tension on the roller stones during the conching process. If the delrin wears out, release the tension by unscrewing the tension adjustor. As a rule of thumb, the tension adjustor bolt should not be more than 20 – 22 mm below the tension bracket. We are working on the indicator to prevent overtightening of the roller stone assembly. If you have ECGC-65A and would like to get a device to prevent overtightening of the stones, please contact cocoatown.com at 770-594-1815 or through email.

Question: What causes the delrin insert inside my roller stones to wear out prematurely?

Answer: If the tension adjustor knob is screwed in more, it can cause the delrin insert to wear out. The tension adjustor is provided to completely release the tension on the roller stones during the conching process. If the delrin wears out, release the tension by unscrewing the tension adjustor. As a rule of thumb, the tension adjustor bolt should not be more than 20 – 22 mm below the tension bracket. We are working on the indicator to prevent overtightening of the roller stone assembly. If you have ECGC-65A and would like to get a device to prevent overtightening of the stones, please contact cocoatown.com at 770-594-1815 or through email.

Question: What causes the premature wear out of the bottom stone of the grinding vessel?

Answer: If the tension adjustor knob is screwed in more, it will press the roller stones too hard against the bottom stone of the grinding vessel. This causes the stones to chew up the bottom stone of the vessel, wearing it out matching the roller stone track.

The tension adjuster is provided to completely release the tension on the roller stones during the conching process. If the delrin wears out, release the tension by unscrewing the tension adjuster. As a rule of thumb, the tension adjuster bolt should not be more than 20 – 22 mm below the tension bracket. We are working on the indicator to prevent over tightening of the roller stone assembly. If you have ECGC-65A and would like to get a device to prevent over tightening of the stones, please contact cocoatown.com at 770-594-1815 or through email.

Question: How do I choose the correct control panel for my use?We have three different kinds of control panels.

Answer: 220V single phase control panel: If your facility is located in USA, Canada or other countries where 110V is the common electricity, most probably,there will be 220V, single phase power in commercial buildings. If you do not want to spend money to run three phase line, single phase control panel is the correct choice. Single phase control panel comes with frequency controller that converts the incoming single phase electricity into three phase electricity for the motor.

220V three phase control panel: If your facility has three phase electricity, this is the right option. The control panel uses three phase electricity for input and gives three phase output.

440V three phase control panel: If your facility has 440V three phase electricity, this is the right option. If your facility has 380V electricity, please mention it in the order form and we will send you the correct frequency controller.

Abirami Technologies

Melangers & Grindeurs