CHOCOLATE

   The covering of chocolates was originally carried out solely  by hand the process being known as `hand dipping’.   Each piece  or `centre’ was handled individually, dropped into  molten chocolate  (temperature  88-  92 deg.F), covered  ,  and  finally placed  a  plaque to set.  The process gave  results  which  even today  are  superior  to  any  mechanical  methods  although   in production to out put, a high cost of labour is involved.

The  enrober  machine, originally designed by Savy,  jean jean   ,   for  the  mass  production  of   covered   chocolates, revolutionized the chocolate industry.

The high labour charges of the hand- dipping process was eliminated and the output considerably increased.  The covering, however, although extraordinary good, did not  equal  the  hand dipping process in the early stages.

With   the  new  light  thrown  by  research  as   chocolate manipulation,   and  the  better  understanding  of   fundamental principles, it has been possible to produce & results very nearly very equal to the hand dipping process.

The many additions & variations which have been worked round the  original  design  of  chocolate  enrobber  have  produced  a machine,  which to all intents & purposes can be described  as  ” the mechanical Hand cover”.

The   enrobber   machine   is   somewhat   complicated    in construction.  The centers are first fed as to a traveling  band and  placed  in  alignment either by an automatic  ”  lining  up” attachment or by hand.  Then they travel over what is known as the “bottoming attachment”.   This attachment is a small tank of chocolate  containing  a rotating drum over which  rides  a  wire belt.   The  rotation  of  the drum  keeps  a  shallow  layer  of chocolate  at the surface , over which the “centers” are  carried by the traveling wire belt.  In so doing the bottoms the centers
are coated with a thin layer of chocolate.

They travel from the bottoming attachment as to another belt of  canvas,color they are chilled by a water circulation  cooling table  over  which  the belt rides.  It is  essential  that  thin cooling is efficient in order that the chocolate as the bottom of the “Centre”will “set” by the time it reaches the end of the belt as  the  other  hand,  thin cooling  must  not  be  too  drastic, otherwise the centers become too cold for covering.

From  the cooling tables they travels through the  enrobbers proper,  there  they pass through a double curtain  of  chocolate which  flows over the centers, thereby completely  covering  each piece.  The excess chocolate is removed by hot air which is blown from  a pan, while at the same time the wire belt  conveying  the pieces  is  vibrated  or tapped. This actras serves the double purpose of remaining both excess chocolate and air bubbles.   The chocolate than pass as to an endless traveling  band  from  the enrober to the cooling trunks for setting.

In the usual enrober of the savvy jean-jean type chocolate tank is part of the machine usually it is rather inaccessible for repair,  and moreover, it is duplicate, it is difficult to  clean particularly if it is desired to change over the chocolate  from, say, plain to milk.

It is a water jacketed tank fitted with a paddle stirrer.  The chocolate is conveyed by a series of rotating drums to  the upper  part  of the machine, color it is scrapped off  and  falls into  a trough.  In the bottom of this trough are two sets,  and through  thus  the chocolate runs as “certain” the  thickness  of which is controlled by slides.

In the International  enrober  the  tank  is  a   separate individual  unit and is interchangeable.  It is  therefore  quite and  is interchangeable. It is therefore quite accessible,  and the changing over chocolate couverture to another is effected  by a  rapid  &  simple  operations  of  interchanging  tanks.  The chocolate is  conveyed to the trough in the upper  part  of  the machine  by a work carver.  A point to  here is  the  temperature controls  of  the chocolate in the supply tank.   Most chocolate manufacturers  win at controlling the temp. of the  chocolate  in the  supply tank at about the covering temperature, but  this  is not only unnecessary , but far from ideal of the best results are to be obtained from enrober covering.

APPENDIX – A :

1.      COST OF PLANT ECONOMICS
2.      LAND & BUILDING
3.      PLANT AND MACHINERY
4.      FIXED CAPITAL INVESTMENT
5.      RAW MATERIAL
6.      SALARY AND WAGES
7.      UTILITIES AND OVERHEADS
8.      TOTAL WORKING CAPITAL
9.      COST OF PRODUCTION
10.      PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS
11.      BREAK EVEN POINT
12.      RESOURCES OF FINANCE
13.      INTEREST CHART
14.      DEPRECIATION CHART
15.      CASH FLOW STATEMENT
16.      PROJECTED BALANCE SHEET