Hello!,
I am trying to upgrade my chocolate line, we started with a cocoatown 12slta, we are looking for a new melanger, but we aren’t sure of which one will be the best, I have read that DCM melanger is good but support is bad, also that their melangers take a lot of time to mill, so if you can share your experiece I will thank you all a lot, please tell me, in your experience which is the best melanger? any recommended brand for a 10-15kg/batch melanger? any comment about spectra?
From an engineering perspective I think the DCM melangeurs above the small tabletop machines are the best of the brands based on parts from India. If I were to be getting a DCM machine I would trick it out – get the heater and the pneumatic pistons to set the pressure. Both of these, while costing more, will result in faster processing times and more repeatable results.
Interesting that you heard that DCM’s support is bad–I don’t have a DCM (other than the little premiers), but have heard nothing but praise for their support. I’ve also heard only good things about their grinding ability, but don’t have any first-hand experience.
Mostly, the chocolate can’t tell the brand of stone grinder, since they all work more-or-less the same. I used a Spectra 40 for a couple years and then a 65 for a couple years and had no real complaints. I sold both of those machines to other chocolate makers who are still using them today.
If you’re only looking to do 10-15 kg at a time, the Spectra 40 may be a good fit. I’m not sure if any of the other makers make one in that size. That being said, you could get a 65 from any of them and have room to grow.