586 replies to this topic

[Lysbeth]

Chris,

I spoke with Didier yesterday (what a nice guy!) and ordered the PCB colors. They should be here on Monday, just as my tempering machine is coming back from being serviced. I'm so excited to get started. I have tried working with the powdered colors and they've always come out looking crummy. I have seen the PCB colors used at the World Pastry Forum classes and they are fantastic. It's nice to know that we can get them here in the States.

Can you tell me how you heat your colors and if they can be overheated, or heated too many times. In other words, is there anything that will make them deteriorate? I want to be sure to treat them properly, so I can use them for a long time!

Has anyone used the colors from Chef Rubber? If so, how did those work out? I'm interested only because they have a larger selection of colors.

[Ajl92]

I bit the bullet yesterday and ordered some of the chefrubber colors. I would also be interested in a comparison by anyone who has used both. Also, how do the PCB colors compare in price and quantity (as I am an amateur chocolatier at best, I am really only looking to dabble and I tend to go a little crazy loading up on frivelous ingredients)

I bought some white, red, and yellow (which I will also mix for orange, shouldn't be a problem, right?) I also ordered some of the polycarbonate molds from jbprince, as well as that airbrush. I got it for 1 CENT! from ebay! (Actually, I paid 13 for shipping, but hey, it was still a great deal!

I have 22 pounds of E. Guittard couverture from Assouline and Ting as well as a kilo of cocoa butter on the way, so I should be set. All I have to get down is tempering this tempermental chocolate and hopefully I can produce some halfway decent looking chocolates.

btw, this is my first post to eGullet after a long period of just reading, and I hope to learn a lot from all of you great folks!

[cotovelo]

Chris,

I spoke with Didier yesterday (what a nice guy!) and ordered the PCB colors. They should be here on Monday, just as my tempering machine is coming back from being serviced. I'm so excited to get started. I have tried working with the powdered colors and they've always come out looking crummy. I have seen the PCB colors used at the World Pastry Forum classes and they are fantastic. It's nice to know that we can get them here in the States.

Can you tell me how you heat your colors and if they can be overheated, or heated too many times. In other words, is there anything that will make them deteriorate? I want to be sure to treat them properly, so I can use them for a long time!

Has anyone used the colors from Chef Rubber? If so, how did those work out? I'm interested only because they have a larger selection of colors.

I melt the cocoa butter in the microwave, paying careful attention as to not get them too hot. Other than storing them like you would chocolate, they should last you awhile. You can re-melt as neccesary.

[Ajl92]

Has anyone used the colors from Chef Rubber? If so, how did those work out? I'm interested only because they have a larger selection of colors.

My shipment of Chef Rubber colors just came, as did my new dome molds from JBPrince, and I couldn't wait to try them out. So, I wipped up some raspberry truffle filling and melted the white and red color as well as some extra cocoa butter to "grease" the mold.

I swirled first the red, then some white color ala Norman Love/Christopher Elbow and I couldn't be happier with the results. I know I have a long way to go with tempering but I think the finish is pretty decent for my early stage of experimenting, especially with the extra cocoa butter in the molds. I can't believe I finally got to make these:biggrin:

Here are the bon bons just out of the mold on a wood cutting board:

[Lysbeth]

Ajl92 - Those are beautiful, nice job! I have mine waiting to be capped and unmolded. Funny, the first combination I tried was also red and white on a dome. I also sprayed some yellow and white for my passion fruit, but I think I may need some green in there too (they were out). I haven't filled these molds yet with milk chocolate, but I will this afternoon. I can't wait.

It looks like the results are similar between the Chef rubber and the PCB colors from what I can tell from the pic anyway. I might just have to order some and try them out.

[chiantiglace]

I just broke into this thread, man it took 2 days to read all this stuff, lord.

Um, i have a suggestion for the "rubbing the colored cocoa butters into the molds with crevaces".

If you skewer up a piece of foam to the end of a very small dowel, you should be able to retain the right amount of coloring without creating "pools"in the in the sides pockets. it will soak up only a small amound and you can press the excess off aswell as when you "smear it in" you should get nasty thread lines.

just a suggestion.


Heres the site I found if you guys didn't already because it wasn't post. (I don't beleive)
PCB online

Edited by chiantiglace, 29 January 2005 - 02:22 AM.

[Lysbeth]

Well, I unmolded my chocolates and they look beautiful. I am very happy with the result. The milk hearts are very nice with the yellow and white spray and the dark domes with the red and white swirl just pop. Not all the domes came out of the molds in one piece though. With some of them the red cocoa butter stuck to the mold. I know the molds were clean because I just used them recently. Any suggestions as to why this might have happened?

[chiantiglace]

Um, Lysbeth, did you try cooling them in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes first. That usually helps the release all in one piece.

[Lysbeth]

Chiantiglace - I did stick them in the fridge for about that time. It's really strange as it wasn't a complete mold that would give me trouble. I also had colored half my dome molds one day and the other half the next. The ones I did first released better. The second ones I had more trouble with for some reason. I thought it was particularly intersting since all the ones that were sprayed came out in one piece. Maybe the color wasn't thin spread thin enough?

[Chef Rubber]

Chef Rubber produces close to 100 different types of colored cocoa butter.
We use Beta 6 technology to improve propagation of the crystalline structure and improve working characteristics. We hope you will try our diversified color line and personally warrantee complete satisfaction. It is our attempt to assist you, the chocolatier, in producing appealing, interesting pralines.
Please let us know if you have any questions that we may be able to answer.

www.ChefRubber.com
support@chefrubber.com
702-614-9350

[FWED]

Here are some photos of the chocolates that I made for Valentines Day. The Red hearts are made of white chocolate filled with a white chocolate and champagne ganche. The mold is first sprayed with coco butter then a light dusting of gold powder and then a heavy spray of red coco butter. The white chocolate ovals and rounds are made in magnetic molds with transfer sheets and filled with white chocolate and raspberry ganache. The other photo shows the finished package including several flavors of pate de fruits.

[Wendy DeBord]

Lovely Fred!

Rubber Chef, can you explain more......... You have over 100 types of colored cocoa butter for sale? Would you provide a link to them please, I must have missed them at your site?

I've only seen maybe 10 different colors, from PCB. But if you have more I think that's very interesting.

I've been using cocoa butter for air brushing my plates. The colors must be mixed with white cocoa butter (I got from PCB) to make them more opaque so they show on my plates. Do you have any colors that go on opaque?

[PastryBoy]

hmmm... I think I need to get my hands on some coloured cocoa butter (not too sure where I can get it in Canada as I think Chef Rubber only delivers in the States). I did 400+ chocolates for work (haven't tempered chocolate in over a year... yikes!) and they came out alright.



I tempered dark and white chocolate and coloured my white choc with fat-soluble pigment. The chocolates lack the shine and the punch of colour that you all seem to be getting with coloured cocoa butters. The coloured swirl should have been much redder (I filled that one with raspberry ganache) but I was afraid of breaking the temper of the white chocolate by adding more colouring.

[bripastryguy]

This thread really got me into doing some more chocolate work.... I mad some great looking and tasting bon bons as well. The technique of coating the mold with a thin layer of cocoa butter has proven itself with stellar results and really glossy chocolate (even if my temper is slightly off ) still have trouble getting my airbrush to deliver enough color so I'm still painting and swirling and dusting. I'm using melted cocoa butter mixed chef master candy colors, they seem to be fine for now as I am saving $$$ by not buying colored cocoa butters until we start to sell some chocolate in my shop.
Current Flavors: Keylime, Chai, Mocha, Crunchy Peanut, Coconut, Raspberry, Ginger Pineapple....

[Truffle Guy]

Wow! So many talented people. I've also been bitten by the chocolate bug. I have been working on truffles for a few years now as a hobby and I'm thinking of maybe looking at it as a business. I saw Norman Love's chocolates on the Godiva webpage and it really excited me about the possibilities of making chocolates even more attractive. Chris' chocolates are even more stunning. So many KC people on here (Chris and Josh)...that's where I'm from originally.
I have a couple questions and would appreciate any feedback. I'm looking at getting a temper machinge and it concerns me to see so many "refurbished" machines..are they so faulty? I am looking at the Rev 1 or Rev 2 and possibly the Rev X3210 if the extra investment is worth it. Does anyone have feedback on their experience with these models?
I have some molds now and have orderded quite a few more from JBPrince. My friends actually prefer the hand made look but with the colors I want to try using molds. What equipment would you recommend as essential to start making chocolates as more than a hobby? I have a local vendor who specializes in fudge/ice cream who is interested in having me produce truffles/fruit peels for his stores. I'm also considering approaching some restaurants with my product. I have a good "real" job but I'm leaning towards pursuing my passion.
What kind of experience does anyone have with the Ecole training (both online and the tours)? I live in the Tampa/St. Pete area and have contacted Norman about his classes...does anyone have other suggestions for good training? Right now I need to work it into my work schedule so it can't be too expensive or more than a week. Thanks for any help!

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome Truffle Guy!

Take some classes from Norman Love......I'd spend my money learning from him before going to a school.

[Truffle Guy]

Welcome Truffle Guy!

Take some classes from Norman Love......I'd spend my money learning from him before going to a school.

Thanks Wendy...I agree. I emailed him and he said he would contact me after the "chocolate" season ends about the next class. I noticed in your previous posts you went to his training...what kind of format was it and do you remember the approximate price? I didn't know if he did a 1 day class/weekend class or full week.
My focus is very tight on what I want to produce so I'm not concerned about becoming a full-fledged pastry chef...just someone who specializes in truffles and a few other complementary confections. Do you know of any good books regarding chocolate design, in particular using an airbrush and the colored cocoa butters?

GO HAWKEYES!!!! (Except this weekend against KU)

[Wendy DeBord]

Truffle Guy, I only attended 1 demo by him.........I wish I had taken a class with him. He is an excellent speaker/teacher and I got ALOT out of just 1 simple ole demo. The demo was thru The French Pastry School and Albert Uster Company in Chicago. I attended other demos by them but the one with Love was exceptional......because of what Love himself put into it.

[Skwerl]

Hi Truffle Guy! You mentioned the large number of refurbished machines, and I think I have an answer. Ian from Chocovision told me I had a year after purchase to upgrade my machine with them. They'd apply what I paid for my machine to a larger model. That's probably why there are so many refurbs. With that said, I'll mention that my Revolation has gotten to be VERY loud and has a habbit of just shutting itself off in the middle of tempering, or telling me the chocolate has been tempered when I've only just put the seed chocolate behind the baffle.

[Trishiad]

funny, i too just spoke with ian over at chocovision. i have a rev 2 and an X3210. my big boy needed repairs and came back with an extra bowl. my little guy is in the shop now. it's no longer under warranty and needed a new motor, they are replacing the motor and only charging me the labor and shipping, about $50. any other company would carge for the motor as well.
i think the motor fried because i (before getting a bigger machine) tried to feed it too much chocolate and it overflowed into the bottom, sticking up the turny thing and causing the motor too much stress. just my theory.

so, repairs or not, i really like my loud machines. they are easy to use, easy to clean and easy to stash away.

as for truffle guys question of education: i took the ecole chocolate course and would only suggest it if you have very little knowledge of chocolate. Many of my fellow students seemed to get a lot out of the course, i didn't feel that way. i was hoping it would be more than the absolute basics. i love my books and the internet.
trish

[Truffle Guy]

thanks for the feedback. I'm looking for a Temper machine in the $500 and under range. Any suggestions? I was looking at the rev1 and rev2...they seem pretty similar but I was hoping the rev2 is more robust and I would get it. What about other brands? Also, I've been looking around for transfer sheets...has anyone come across any place that really stands out? thanks again for all the feedback

funny, i too just spoke with ian over at chocovision.  i have a rev 2 and an X3210.  my big boy needed repairs and came back with an extra bowl.  my little guy is in the shop now.  it's no longer under warranty and needed a new motor, they are replacing the motor and only charging me the labor and shipping, about $50.  any other company would carge for the motor as well.
i think the motor fried because i (before getting a bigger machine) tried to feed it too much chocolate and it overflowed into the bottom, sticking up the turny thing and causing the motor too much stress.  just my theory.

so, repairs or not, i really like my loud machines.  they are easy to use, easy to clean and easy to stash away.

as for truffle guys question of education:  i took the ecole chocolate course and would only suggest it if you have very little knowledge of chocolate.  Many of my fellow students seemed to get a lot out of the course, i didn't feel that way.  i was hoping it would be more than the absolute basics.  i love my books and the internet.
trish

Edited by Truffle Guy, 08 March 2005 - 03:18 PM.

[Skwerl]

My Rev1 does a great job with E. Guittard chocolate when it decides to work, but I've been told that the Rev2 would be a better choice if you're using El Rey or Valrhona because they require a slightly warmer temperature than the Rev1 defaults to. Aside from being able to adjust the temperature and pause the bowl, there isn't a huge difference between the two models. I really need a larger tempering machine, but the next step up is 10 lbs which is too big. Other companies' temperers that I have seen are more expensive than Chocovision's. I haven't used them, so I can't say anything regarding their quality, but as with anything (as the old cliche goes), you tend to get what you pay for. As far as transfer sheets go, I have gotten most of mine from Kerekes (linky), but it looks like they've raised prices quite a bit. I think JBPrince has them, too.

[Anni]

You can also get transfer sheets from Pfeil and Holing and Albert Uster. So far these are these are the least expensive options I've found.

[chiantiglace]

A.C.D.

American Chocolate Design company, give you a lot of cool stuff for your chocolate.

[Truffle Guy]

I'm doing some chocolates for a fundraiser and want to provide some nice packaging, does anyone have suggestions for a good place to order packaging? I have seen the simple truffle boxes but I'm looking for some more elaborate 1, 1.5 and 2 lb boxes. Thanks for any help!

[chocophile]

I'm doing some chocolates for a fundraiser and want to provide some nice packaging, does anyone have suggestions for a good place to order packaging?  I have seen the simple truffle boxes but I'm looking for some more elaborate 1, 1.5 and 2 lb boxes.  Thanks for any help!

Try Package Nakazawa. Japanese company with a sales office in LA.

Several high-end hotels I know of were looking to use them for their packaging. Comparatively inexpensive, too.

:Clay

[Truffle Guy]

I'm doing some chocolates for a fundraiser and want to provide some nice packaging, does anyone have suggestions for a good place to order packaging?  I have seen the simple truffle boxes but I'm looking for some more elaborate 1, 1.5 and 2 lb boxes.  Thanks for any help!

Try Package Nakazawa. Japanese company with a sales office in LA.

Several high-end hotels I know of were looking to use them for their packaging. Comparatively inexpensive, too.

:Clay

Clay, thanks. Great call they do a great job and you are right about the pricing, very reasonable for the product. Thanks again!!!

[GaryK]

A question from a new kid. Is there a term for the fillings in a truffle (other than ganache)? Where do I find recipes for fillings? Thanks.

[chiantiglace]

Truffle is hard(ened) ganache. I think you mean fillings for bon bons in which there are thousands. Just look up bon bon or "chocolates" recipes and should get you on your way.


By the way, welcome to EGULLET Gary K

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome to The eGullet Society For Arts & Letters GaryK!

One of the easiest way to find recipes is to go to all the different chocolate manufactors websites and check out their recipes.