Frequently Asked Questions:

• 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:  What is a melanger by CocoaTown?
  

ANSWER: Melanger by CocoaTown is a device that grinds cocoanibs 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 cocoanibs into less than 20 micron. Since the roller stones are conical in shape, these melangers grind and conch the nibs.

• QUESTION:  What is the difference between Deluxe melanger and 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:  What is the difference between melanger and Grindeur?

Answer: Melanger is 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 the Commercial version of the melanger. It 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.

• QUESTION: Will I get the unit that looks like the picture in the website?

Answer: We at Cocoatown are constantly improving the Grindeur and melanger based on the feedback from our customers. We take all the efforts to update our website often. But still the actual unit you receive might look different than the one in the picture. Be assured that the functionality will be on par or better than the description in the website.

• QUESTION: How do I make sure that I receive the correct voltage if I am ordering from out of USA?

Answer: When ordering mention the voltage needed in the comments section. We supply units with 110V / 220V single phase motor and 220V / 440V three phase motor as needed by the customer. ECGC -65 comes with 2 HP three phase motor and all the other units come with single phase motor.

• QUESTION: I do not have three phase power coming into my facility. I want to buy ECGC-65 unit. What are my options?

Answer: Option 1 is to bring in three phase line to the building. But this is an expensive option.

The best and cheaper option is to buy the frequency controller 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 is the difference between the CocoaT melanger and the Santha / Spectra melanger?

Answer: Here is the comparison table between the CocoaT melanger and Spectra melanger.

• QUESTION: What is the difference between the CocoaT Grindeur and the Santha / Spectra 20 & 40 melanger?

Answer: Here is the comparison table between the CocoaT Grindeur and Spectra melanger.