alanamoana
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Posts posted by alanamoana
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or...you could just buy a scale...
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forgot to add, you can always do as posters above have noted, expand the top of the vibrating table by adding a sheet pan or risers or something. and, you can add a rubber mat (like the kind you put under glasses in your cabinet) to keep the molds from bouncing off.
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shouldn't need to be on the vibrator any longer than about 30 seconds or so.
where i've worked, they fill one mold, put it on the table, fill another mold, remove the first mold and then put the new mold on the table. as fast as that.
but you're correct, it does depend on viscosity, etc.
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Hi Tammy,
It has been posted previously that someone used a dental vibrating table. A very inexpensive alternative to buying one from a chocolate supply company. I have yet to find one on e-bay.
I think Trishiad uses one?
We'll see if she chimes in.
I think they are useful and will help eliminate bubbles, etc. But you can also do this by priming your molds (painting a thin layer of chocolate inside certain more detailed molds). But this is time consuming and maybe not something worth considering.
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i would worry more about the safety of the luster dusts over the use of denatured alcohol. the alcohol will evaporate, but you are actually ingesting the luster dusts.
you'll notice on chef rubber's web site that they offer fda approved lusters and "decor" colors. the decor colors are not fda approved. doesn't mean that they're poisonous per se, but they aren't meant for consumption in large amounts.
from information i've read, denatured alcohol isn't a problem.
edited to add: but if you're at all concerned, vodka or everclear or another clear alcohol would probably work just as well.
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i don't think so considering you can use the airbrushes with straight cocoa butter with no ill effects. just thin out the luster dust with alcohol until it is more liquid than paste? but i'm just speaking in theory, not from practice.
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Is anyone airbrushing with luster dusts? What do you mix them with, and in what ratio?
chef rubber sells these pre-mixed with alcohol. i'm sure you can do the same using denatured alcohol which will evaporate after spraying. don't know what ratio though. enough to make a liquid?
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sounds like a pretty good deal. I am looking on the other side of the Peninsula and Mr. C's in Campbell is charging $350/mo with only 10 hours per month plus $15/hr.
I'm going to be looking at alternatives but that is my backup.
their santa clara facility is $285/month with 10 hours and then $18/hr.
they must make a killing, because ten hours is one day's worth of work in my book...
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Hi Shaloop,
I've done this with just about any cheesecake recipe. I'm sure the following recipe is just the simplest:
1#11oz cream cheese, room temp
8 oz sugar
4 eggs
(flavor as you like. i usually put some lemon or orange zest in with the cream cheese and maybe a vanilla bean or two, split and scraped)
cream the cream cheese and add the sugar, scraping down often to avoid lumps. add eggs slowly, scraping down frequently.
portion into ring molds that have crust pressed into the bottom (graham cracker with butter is fine. i also usually just bake off short dough and run it through the food processor. there's enough fat in the dough that i don't have to add butter to the crumbs)
bake at 325F (depending on your oven. you can go as low as 300F)
now, i guess the tricky part (if you can even call it tricky) is to take the cheesecakes out of the oven before they start to souffle too much. they should puff just a tiny bit but they should still jiggle a bit as well. sort of like a firm jell-o.
i've also topped these with a sour cream/sugar mixture and then put them back into the oven for a minute or two to set the sour cream. allow to cool completely (overnight in fridge), torch gently around the ring to unmold.
removing the cheesecake from the oven before it is completely set up is the key. i think people tend to overbake cheesecake. it is a baked custard by definition, so you treat it the same way you'd treat a creme brulee. that's why i think people usually bake in a water bath. but, if you're good with the timing, you shouldn't have a problem without the water bath.
maybe with individual sized cheesecakes, it is easier to bake them because there's less volume? but i think if you don't overfill your pans, it should be just as easy in a springform?! just don't try to make the cheesecakes too tall.
hope that helps. i've had to bake tons of cheesecakes for work, so i'm not just blowing smoke up your ***
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many recipes for starters call for soaking ORGANIC* grapes and/or organic raisins to get some wild yeast from the skins. soak the fruit and then use that water as the liquid for your starter.
i'm sure there are other food products that also collect wild yeast. i would think the grapes would work quickly and efficiently, rather than waiting for wild yeasts in your kitchen to seed a plain water/flour mixture.
*must be organic because you can really wash the grapes before you soak otherwise you destroy the yeast as well
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at the right temperature, there really is no need to bake cheesecake in a water bath at all. that could save you some trouble.
Well, I've tested many, many cheesecake recipes and techniques and although I can bake a crack-free cheesecake without a waterbath (at a low temp) I prefer the creamier texture of the cheesecake baked in a waterbath.
i bake mostly individual cheesecakes in ring molds. there's no way for me to use a water bath and ring molds. they are very creamy. it has more to do with time and temperature than water bath imo.
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luis,
the price at jb prince is the best, but shipping adds on a lot. you can also successfully use what is often called 'guitar sheets' which is a more flexible plastic, sort of what transfer sheets are printed on.
you can check at tap plastic (there's one in mountain view). they sell rolls of acetate, but it can get quite expensive. 25 inches by 100 feet for anywhere from $80-120 depending on thickness. But I bet 100' would last you a while.
and i agree with everyone else, it is the same stuff whether you buy it at office max or specifically for food related stuff.
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at the right temperature, there really is no need to bake cheesecake in a water bath at all. that could save you some trouble.
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Not that I am questioning your advice (I think you are a marshmallow goddess!), but I want to understand some stuff. Why wouldn't the fruit at the beginning inhibit the marshmallow from being fluffy? Also, would adding the fruit towards the end be a problem? I am thinking of making a swirl type with layers of the fruit. Would the fruit like that cause it to degrade? I am just trying to get some info before I attempt anything to help prevent disasters. Thank you so much for helping me!
the marshmallows are not like meringue. they are not relying on egg white albumen to expand for their fluffiness. thus, it doesn't matter that you add the fruit puree at the beginning because you are only relying on the temperature of the sugar syrup and the fact that your gelatin is properly hydrated to incorporate air into the mixture.
adding the fruit at the end is not like adding other types of swirls (this is my educated opinion). adding a nut paste swirl or dry swirl isn't quite the same as adding a banana puree swirl. i think a banana swirl would degrade as fast as a peeled banana being left out at room temperature.
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Anna,
If there's a way to keep the chocolate out without putting it in the fridge at all, please try that as well. One of my colleagues insists you get much better shine by allowing crystallization to occur naturally at ambient temperature. I'm not saying you have to keep the house at 60F
, but after you're done molding, just let it sit and see how they turn out.Good luck with your experimentation.
Well a winter storm raged through here yesterday so I had nothing better to do than make chocolates!I turned off the heat in the house and let the temperature drop before I started. It did not drop as much as I would have liked, however, it did prove a point. Molded up hearts and another oval mold that had been giving me so much trouble and both worked perfectly. It seems that the temperature differential between the room and the fridge plays a larger role than I had imagined.
So the procedure was:
Drop the temp in the house to around 60F.
Pour the molds (both were solid, unfilled) and let rest at room temp until starting to set up.
Put them into the 'fridge for 15 minutes.
Allow them to rest at room temp for at least 30 minutes.
Unmold.
I want to repeat this experiment as soon as possible to ensure it wasn't just a freaky thing and that some other variable was responsible. I hope to do that next week and will report back.
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I have a round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Is there an easy way to get the tart off of the removable bottom? I need to reuse the tart pan. Would lining the bottom with parchment work or would it inhibit the baking?
Today I tried putting a baked lemon tart in the freezer and then trying to pry it off when it was partially frozen (it was too delicate at room or fridge temp). I then had to cut it down the middle to get each half off separately. There must be a better way?
when you refrigerate or freeze the tart, you're just solidifying any butter which would normally act as lube between your tart and the bottom. with most tart doughs, there's enough fat that you don't have to lube or use parchment.
just warm up the bottom a bit and stick a paring knife (or one of the other tools mentioned above) between the tart and the removable bottom.
but definitely do not refrigerate.
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mmmmm, popovers!!!
i can't vouch for blt steak anymore as the chef i knew left. they still have original management in place though. it is formulaic, so it can't be too hard to screw up a meal there.
blt prime's exec chef is larry forgione's son. don't know if he's spending a lot of time there now as he's morphing into the 'corporate' chef for blt...since they're opening on average a restaurant a year, he's gonna be pretty busy!
(have they opened blt market yet? or is that still in the works?)
d.c.
dallas
vegas
los angeles
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congratulations! and know, that with time, practice and patience you'll have more and more successes and fewer failures...hopefully! gotta love the challenge of chocolate.
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When using the refrigerator to speed things up, please know that you are definitely compromising your temper.
I know that experts will recommend placing in the fridge, but people like Jean-Pierre Wybauw do this with specific conditions in place. Jean-Pierre talks about using the fridge, but the fridge must be a certain temperature and there should be a fan in place to remove moisture from the space. The molds are left outside for a period of time and then placed in the fridge. Molds or pieces of different thicknesses are placed in the fridge for different lengths of time.
Using the fridge just as a shortcut is NOT the way to go. The best way to temper would ideally be at a cool room temperature (some businesses have chocolate rooms which are kept cooler than a regular kitchen) and to allow the chocolate to set overnight. Then, the ganache can be piped in...again left overnight to crystallize or crust over and then backed and tapped out.
I think if you are going to use the fridge, always let your molds come back up to temp before filling, backing and attempting to release your chocolates.
Ideally, it is best to understand the mechanics of tempering and crystallization at a slow speed/pace before upping production to necessitate refrigeration. I think you'll be surprised at the difference in the shine on your chocolates.
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Although I'm getting better, I'm still tending to work "messy" when I'm molding, so I get a lot of chocolate on the sides and bottom. Are you all just impeccably neat?
oh yeah tammy...
, i'll have kerry post photos of me after the chocolate class in march...you'll be able to see how neat i am then!but, i am getting better. as kerry posted, just scrape the sides while you're working. you'll find a rhythm that works for you the more you mold.
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Hey Josh, long time no post, eh?
Try this resource. They have tons of flavor compounds that are really good. I've used several and their green apple is very good.
edited to add: I just took a closer look and their prices aren't listed on the website. Just note, they are NOT cheap
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i'm not megan, but i used to live near her and the only surviving german restaurant which is near schaller & weber is 'heidelberg'...not great, but the servers wear dirndles and lederhosen!
i also know the history of why there were so many germans living in yorkville, but i'll save that for another time, sandy
I walked up to the laundromat and threw in two loads; while they dried, I walked over to Midnight Express, a diner on the corner of 89th and 2nd.When you mentioned Schaller and Weber upthread, I was going to ask whether you lived in Yorkville.
This post answers that question.
I had a friend of German descent who lived at 151 East 83d; I've fallen out of touch with him. He did take me to a German restaurant on 86th Street one evening back around 1980 whose name I've long since forgotten. Perhaps you could rattle off a few names on the off chance that one of them might trigger a reaction?
New York rents and rent control being what they are, I suspect he may still be living at 151 East 83d. Maybe I should see if I can track him down.
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You can strain the pulp out by pressing it through a sieve. Use a spoon to stir and press through until the seeds remain. It takes a little while but entirely worth it. I hate those pesky seeds too.
or quickly blend in a blender and then strain. this breaks up the juice sacks and makes it easier to separate seeds and pulp from juice.
Cupcakes Business: Packaging, Sales, Etc.
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
Hi Everyone,
I don't want to post this on the new 'Kitchen Consumer' thread because I think this applies mostly to pastry people.
I did a (not exhaustive) web and eGullet search as I vaguely remember someone posting a link to a source for inexpensive, multicolored, possibly wholesale, but at least bulk quantity cupcake liners.
The closest I've found is: www.confectioneryhouse.com
If anyone knows a better supplier for cupcake liners...and specifically BROWN ones, please post a link.
Thanks!