Comment by Youden | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Youden | Hacker News Reader

This looks really promising.

I'm someone who's interested in making chocolate for the product, not the process. I know there are people who like the process of tempering (e.g. tabling), pouring it into fancy moulds and decorating something like a praline but I'm not one of them.

The existing process I have to follow is a pain. I use the "vaccination method" for tempering chocolate. I have to measure out 2/3rds of the chocolate, heat it to ~50C, then mix in the remaining chocolate and leave it until it cools to ~28C, then heat it back up to ~32C. After that I have to pour it into the moulds and let it cool overnight. The whole process takes several hours and I have to spend a lot of time monitoring the chocolate's temperature. It's not like a slow cooker or oven that I can just turn on and leave until the time is up.

I also have to source couverture. I'm have the privilege to be in one of the best places on earth to do that (Switzerland, I live within easy cycling distance of Lindt HQ) but there's clearly a wide spectrum of what you can do with the flavour of the chocolate itself and I have no control over it.

This product would make the process "set and forget" and give me more control over the flavour of the chocolate, so I have to say I'm all for it.

My main remaining question was about cleaning but the FAQ [0] makes it sound pretty straightforward.

If only they shipped internationally.

[0]: https://www.cocoterra.com/frequently-asked-questions/

Ugh, that FAQ has clearly deceptive marketing bullshit in it. eg:

  Can I use my own molds with CocoTerra?
  
  Yes! You can easily re-melt the chocolate from the CocoTerra machine
  and pour it into your own molds.

So, that's a "No", not a "Yes". You can't use your own molds with the machine.

But you're welcome to re-melt the chocolate afterwards however you like.

Just like any other chocolate.

When there's one marketing lie, it's probably not the only one. :(

The ring molds look quite awkward too…

I’m not sure that qualifies as a lie. If you stop reading after the ‘Yes!’ maybe you’d misinterpret it, but the following sentence is crystal clear.

It's not a lie, yes, but it does rather undermine the entire point of the machine if you have to re-temper outside of it to use a standard shaped mold.

Since the chocolate comes out of the machine tempered, you can pretty easily use the seeding method to maintain temper when melting for other molds. This is much easier than wild crystallization which is required when starting with a fully untempered batch.

Hi Justin. We appreciate your criticism. It's not intended to be a "lie" but rather an explanation of how people can use existing molds if they have them. You are correct that you can't fit a third party mold onto the CocoTerra machine, but you can either pour the chocolate while still liquid into your own molds or remelt. Many people don't know whether or not you can remelt the chocolate while also maintaining temper. We'll take a look at the language in the FAQ. Thank you.

No worries, hopefully it all works out well. :)

Then the issue becomes sourcing the beans. But I can see that becoming more available, as well as information about how to best use them, just like hops, grains, malts, and yeasts at brewery supply shops. And that will certainly give you more control over the taste of the chocolate.

A source of quality ingredients from around the globe is essential to experiencing the variety of flavors you can get from the native cocoa bean. We plan to work with craft chocolate makers, specialty importers, and farmers/co-ops to supply a variety of nib options. Of course, if you find your own source of ingredients, that works too.

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