Hello Everyone! We are looking into the purchase of a Savage Bros 200LB tempering machine & ElectroStove. So I just wanted to check with the group to see if they have had any negative experiences with these machines or with Savage Bros in general? And if so, would you mind sharing what your specific issues were? Alternatively, if you have had a good experience with these machines or SB, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks in Advance! – Seth
Thank you so much for the quick response! I spoke with SB about the cold water cooling and the depositor issues you mentioned. They have updated the CTM to include an on board chiller that now chills the water and so the machine is now much more “portable”. Also, they stated that they changed the supplier they were using for the depositor since they were having the issues you mentioned and they now state it works better and that they have had less complaints. This change was about 1 year ago. Just thought it would be good to pass along these updates. Thank you again for the fast response and the great advice on both machines!
Seth – Almost everyone I know who has Savage Bros equipment likes it and the company. SB is not always the cheapest option on the block for a given capacity – I know the Firemixer price has gone up 40% in the last year because of demand from the edibles industry. I was recently looking into buying a Firemixer 14 but I found another machine (tilting) with 3x the capacity for less than 50% more and I did not care about the copper bowl.
There are not many alternatives for the Electro Stove anywhere near this price. Whatever you do, make sure to get the movable stand for the bowl and consider that you will probably want two people on hand to move the full bowl around as spills when filled with hot sugar are going to be extremely dangerous.
One thing to consider with the tempering machine is that it uses cold water for cooling. The general approach is to plumb into the cold water supply and directly to a drain. If you’re generally not happy with the idea of wasting water this way – for environmental and/or cost considerations – you might consider creating a closed loop with a recirculating water chiller. Which I don’t think Savage offers.
Another thing to consider with the tempering machine is that the depositor is clumsy, especially if it is heated. If there is one thing I hear grumblings about that’s the topic. As it can be finicky to use and not clog up during a long day of use.