This guide covers the commercial chocolate equipment we recommend most often, from low-speed ball mills and tempering machines to panning equipment and wrapping machines. These are the brands chocolate makers rely on when starting out, or upgrading existing lines that can’t keep up.
Why is European chocolate equipment the best?
Rudolph Lindt re-invented the conching process in Switzerland – the breakthrough that changed how we process chocolate. European equipment manufacturers have been refining their designs ever since.
Now, Italian and German companies lead the world in chocolate production technology by continuing to improve their own designs and processes.
We work with manufacturers who are the best at what they do. For instance:
- Packint for their top-of-the-range low-speed ball mills
- Gami for their batch tempering machines and semi-automatic moulding lines
- Tecnochoc for their continuous tempering machines and automatic but compact moulding lines
- Rollermac for their panning equipment
You’re getting the best available technology for each specific process, not a manufacturer that does everything at average quality.
Best low-speed ball mills: Packint
Packint’s low-speed ball mills are used to refine cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, etc. into smooth chocolate. They’re also used for making cocoa mass or liquor, compound chocolate and fat-based spread and creams like nut pastes.
Inside the main cylinder, many ball bearings made from anti-wear alloy grind the mixture down to 18-20 microns (the point where your palate can’t detect any graininess) while keeping a tight particle size distribution and appropriate flow properties.
The combination of low-speed and high-quality components matters. It keeps the temperature of the product under control (less speed means less friction) and avoids contamination of the product by using the best building materials to prevent wear of the refining components of the machine.
Alternatively, when we consider other technologies available, such as high-speed ball mills, which require you to replace the balls periodically, where do the balls go? Into your chocolate.
What makes Packint low-speed ball mills the best refining technology:
- Anti-wear alloy construction keeps iron contamination extremely low
- Lower operating temperature prevents burning
- Less maintenance than high-speed alternatives
- Volumetric recycling pump handles two-ingredient chocolate
- Built-in blower extracts acidity and humidity during refining
Award-winning chocolate brand Jasper + Myrtle uses Packint low-speed ball mills in their bean-to-bar production. The machines also make nut pastes and spreads, giving you versatility beyond chocolate.
Read about our partnership with Jasper + Myrtle.
Best chocolate tempering machines: Gami Tempering Machines
Tempering machines give chocolate its gloss, snap, and smooth texture. Get it wrong, and you end up with bloom, soft texture, or chocolate that melts on your fingers before it reaches your mouth.
Gami’s tempering machines control the tempering process with precision. They use a bain-marie (double-jacketed) system instead of direct heating elements to avoid burning, and a temperature probe positioned at the chocolate outlet spout for accurate control of temperature.
All machines have an auger with adjustable speed to control the flow of the chocolate. The auger turns in reverse automatically when you stop the machine to help remove remaining chocolate. Their machines are built in stainless steel, and the funnel-shaped bowl helps to recover any chocolate that falls.
The removable stainless steel auger allows for easy and quick cleaning of the machine, and machines with a bowl capacity of 25kg and up are equipped with timers that can be set for automatic start-up.
What makes Gami tempering machines the best:
- Removable auger for quick cleaning between dark, milk, and white chocolate
- Built to run 12-24 hours a day as your production scales
- Quality components that cost more upfront but last longer
- Available in multiple sizes with dosing head options
- Every machine is tested with chocolate during manufacturing (not all brands do this)
Read our guide to choosing the right chocolate tempering machine.
Best chocolate panning machines: Rollermac Boscolo
Panning machines coat nuts, dried fruit, or confectionery centres with layers of chocolate, sugar, or caramelised coatings.
Rollermac Boscolo builds panning machines with two types of pans. Stainless steel pans work for chocolate coating; the pan rotates while the chocolate is sprayed or poured over the product.
Copper pans handle caramelisation because copper transfers heat more efficiently at the higher temperatures needed for sugar work.
See the Rollermac Boscolo panning machines in action.
What makes Rollermac chocolate panning machines the best:
- Stainless steel pans for chocolate coating, copper pans for caramelising
- Automatic spraying system available for consistent, timed coating (invented and perfected by Rollermac Boscolo)
- Air blower attachment for faster cooling and drying
- Batch capacities from 1.5 kg to 200 kg
- Patented nebulisation system for even chocolate or sugar coating
Best machines for high-volume tempering and moulding: Tecnochoc industrial lines
Once your production grows and your business is ready for the next step, Tecnochoc handles the continuous tempering and moulding solutions needed for industrial-scale production.
They offer modular and fully automatic, compact moulding lines for solid or filled bars and pralines, as well as specialised lines for making buttons or chips. They come in a range of sizes in both horizontal and vertical cooling tunnels.
The whole process runs continuously; tempered chocolate in one end, finished products out the other.
The continuous tempering machines maintain a steady flow of properly tempered chocolate, so you don’t have to work in batches. Cooling tunnels bring the temperature down fast enough to set the chocolate
Capacities range from 50 kg/h all the way up to 1,200 kg/h.
Best chocolate wrapping machines: Lareka BTB25
Most chocolate makers start by wrapping bars by hand – it’s time-consuming, but it gives you the ability to offer that premium hand-folded look customers love. Flow wrappers are faster, but you can only achieve one style of packaging.
Lareka started by overhauling big industrial wrapping machines, then artisan makers kept asking for the same technology at a smaller scale. So that’s exactly what they built.
The BTB25 replicates the intimate look of hand-folded wrapping. It handles 25 bars per minute with the same envelope fold you’d do yourself. And no need to worry about it crushing any nuts or dried fruit on top.
Format changeovers take about 15 minutes. You can run small bars in the morning and switch to full-size tablets in the afternoon. It handles sizes from 25 x 30 mm napolitains up to 100 x 200 mm bars.
Our clients Hunted & Gathered and Bennett’s Chocolate both use the BTB25, and their products look amazing.
Photo credit: Bennett’s Chocolatiers
Get started with the best European chocolate equipment
These are the brands we recommend because they’ve proven themselves around the world, and we’ve brought them to Australia and Oceania. Equipment that handles daily use, from manufacturers who’ve spent decades perfecting their processes.
If you’re starting out, scaling up, or replacing equipment that can’t keep pace, contact Artisan Industrial. We’ll help you match machines to your production goals.
