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Compact 15Kg Chocolate
Moulding Machine
The PREFAMAC-moulding-machine will allow
you to temper or pre-crystallize in a faster, simpler, and more precise
fashion. It can be used for the manufacturing of pralines, truffles,
hollow chocolates, chocolate biscuits, ... of the finest quality. This
machine will take 14-15Kg / 12L, depending on the chocolate being used.
Emergency
stop valve and start knob
- In
case of problems, you must push the emergency stop valve with your
left hand. The wheel will stop rotating. Only the thermostat
(heating) is still working, in order to keep the temperature at the
same level.
- The
machine can be restarted by turning the emergency stop valve a
little, and by pushing the green start button.
Turn-switches
(with control lights) located to the left at the front side of the
machine
- Switch
HEATING.
- To
activate the machine, (to activate the thermostat).
- For
more details, see the description "adjusting thermostats".
- Switch
MOTOR.
- To
activate the wheel.
- Only
activate this wheel, when your chocolate is in a fluid condition.
- Turn
this switch to the right to start moulding.
Adjusting
thermostats
The
digital electronic thermostat is located at the left front side of the
moulding machine. It indicates the requested and the actual
temperatures. The smallest dial (green colour) indicates the requested
temperature. The biggest dial (red colour) indicates the actual
temperature. Only the functions "up" and "down" of
the requested temperature are available on this thermostat. All other
functions are out of use.
Melting
the chocolate
- Fill
the machine with pieces of chocolate.
- The
total content of liquid chocolate is 15kg. It's obvious that, when
we fill the machine with solid pieces of chocolate, this volume can
never be reached. This means it is absolutely necessary to break the
chocolate in smaller parts.
However, it is not advisable to use flakes, because this will cause
a too high volume.
- Close
the lid of the chocolate container.
- After
the machine has been completely filled with chocolate, put the cover
on the machine.
- Set
the thermostat at 40° to 45°C.
- After
a period of 2 to 3 hours, depending on the surrounding temperature,
the chocolate will be completely melted.
It
is however, possible to speed up the melting process, in one of the
following manners:
- Set
the thermostat at a higher temperature, 50° to 55°C.
- Fill
the machine with 3 to 6 kg (of liquid) chocolate, and activate the
wheel. Here the thermostat must be at 40° to 45°C. Little by
little, add small parts of chocolate. This way it is possible to
melt 15 kg of chocolate in less than one hour. Never completely fill
the PREFAMAC machine with liquid chocolate, as this will cause
problems with the pre-crystallization.
Pre-Crystallization
Or Tempering
- When
the chocolate is completely melted, activate the wheel of the
machine.
- Set
the thermostat at the appropriate temperature.
It's :
- 31°
to 32°C for pure chocolate
- 29°
to 30°C for milk chocolate
- 27°
to 28°C for white chocolate
- The
machine shows actual temperatures, which are real values.
However,
small deviations in both directions (decimal rounding), are always
possible. Please check with a standardized thermometer, and adjust the
thermostat if needed.
- Add
small parts of chocolate, generally 10 to 15 %, of the liquid
weight. E.g. for 15 kg of untempered chocolate, add 1 to 2 kg of
chocolate parts.
- In
this case, you may also use chocolate flakes, but only 0,5 to 1 kg
are needed for our example.
NOTE
: Only use FRESH flakes.
- If
you would like to have a stock of flakes, please store them away
from air and light, preferably between 16° to 18°C. Flakes oxidize
very quickly, especially these of white and milk chocolate. Using
oxidized flakes would give your chocolate a bad (musty) taste.
- Let
the machine rotate, until the set temperature is reached again. This
takes nearly 10 minutes.
- At
this moment, you can start with the actual processing of the
chocolate.
Filling
the Chocolate Moulds
- Fill
the carefully tempered and clean chocolate mould until the rim.
- After
filling moulds for hollow chocolates (St.Nicholas, Easter), they can
be best vibrated, by tapping with the handle of a flakeknife.
- For
pralines the filled moulds must be vibrated on the vibration table
which can also be purchased from Prefamac as a bench top model.
- For
filled applications, it is only necessary to place the filled moulds
straight on the Prefamac vibration table temporarily.
The
Cooling Process
- Hollow
chocolates must dry first, before they go to the cold storage space.
- surrounding
temperature +/- 18° to 20°C
- refrigeration
+/- 8° to 12°C
- Filled
applications goes immediate to the cooling. Otherwise this cause
problems with the released crystallization warmth.
Changing
The Chocolate / Emptying the Machine
In
case you want to change the (kind of) chocolate or empty the machine, the remaining chocolate
must be ladled out of the machine.
General
notes
- Do
not leave the machine on, without processing chocolate. This
may result in unintentional temperature fluctuations.
- Never
let the volume of chocolate reduce with more than half, in
the foreseen space, as this may also cause processing problems.
- Too
low a temperatures will cause over-crystallization/tempering
of the chocolate.
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