RanaMN

Which one did you buy? I want one so bad but feel so insecure about buying one.

Fantastic! Thank you so much!

Neither Kerry nor Ruth can bring their AW meter to the workshop. Would anyone else be willing to bring theirs?

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Austin! I’d love to practice making a pipeable marzipan filling with a good shelf life. I’d also love to make a ganache using pomegranate molasses (which is literally pomegranate juice boiled down until it's super thick—it tastes kind of like balsamic). Kerry, will you be bringing your AW meter? I still haven’t purchased one—otherwise, I would!

I have the 8lb one which tells me 1 kg was plenty for that. I didn't buy the small because all I want to make in the melanger is mainly almond and hazelnut praline, and flavor some couverture with coffee and maybe freeze-dried fruit I would think pretty "safe" recipes but haven't tried them yet. Did you try flavoring couverture in there? If yes what was your experience? ( I know people have made flavored chocolates from scratch but haven't seen anyone just flavoring couverture in the thread yet).

I caramelized the sugar to 185C separately. I did not have a gumminess problem with it. I have not figured out the center rod issue yet I am going to call the company tomorrow, as it is now it just works fine but there is that gap between the lid and the bowl and I did get some splatters however I only had 1kg of stuff there ( somewhere I read the minimum was %40) so that might have added to the splatter issue. Not really sure what the issue is with the lid but the machine works just fine. Thank you so much for the link, I am going to order that. This brand takes me back to my childhood, my mom always ordered that from Germany for lemon peel oil.

Jim, when making almond praline, do you use almonds with skin on? Also do you add any flavorings? I made almond praline yesterday with blanched almonds and the end product didn't taste like almonds at all. It tasted like a nut paste with caramel notes but you couldn't tell what nut it is. ( I did roast the blanched almonds until golden or a bit more). I caramelized the sugar as well. Thanks!

No worries. I actually ended up ordering one last week and I just received mine today! I just cleaned it and will start to experiment. I mainly wanted it it to make hazelnut praline. As soon as I received it I wished I bought the 10pound one it's small. But the 10 pound tilting one seemed an awkward shape to store in my basement on the shelf. Also I can't figure out the lit. I will attach a picture. Is that space normal? In Kerry's picture it's seems like there shouldn't be any space. Also whats the red plastic lid for? Anybody knows?

jim, could you please do an update post about which model of melanger you have and whether its worth to buy it or not. I am about to buy one and really hesitating. any input would be appreciated:)

This is what I mean - check her insta (seed confections post on November 13) she gives some tips how to do it- I haven't tried it myself but I am going to at some point.

Have you ever seen where it's done in the water? Where cocoa butter is dropped in the water and you stamp it in the mold? If you haven't, let me know and I will try finding the video. ( I have not tired that way yet but I was super intrigued).

Amy Levin has a post on her Instagram (October 9th 2023 -I tried to share a link I couldn't ) showing how to do this. She uses her finger to spread the color, but I have also seen people dropping the color and then use just air with their air gun to spread it. And maybe you already know these techniques but I thought I would share. Now I want to try it too. I feel like the trick to get the look like Monde would be using really light colors in the right order. Amy's colors make the transitions a bit stark.

Ruth, Jake went ton SOMA factory by himself the next day, while he was exploring that area, we turned him into chocolate fanatic 😂 he send me this picture of their Melanger that day.

We are driving back home from the airport and digging into some of the chocolate we brought from show&tell: Anyone know who brought the carrot cake bonbon. I think it was either enrobed or dipped and had a little carrot piped on top. I thought it was so good!

I am happy to report my fork is coming with me on the plane! (Last time we were traveling, they tossed away my sister-in-law's knitting needles, so don't bring those ever.) Here are some pictures from when Bob was making the caramel in Fire14.

Does anyone know if I am allowed to bring the dipping fork on the plane? Anyone in the us brought it in their carry on before? I would hate to toss it away if it's not allowed, because we aren't checking bags. I didn't even think about that when I got it.

Toronto friends, if you ever want to try premium, authentic Turkish baklava, this is the place to go. They have four locations around Toronto.

Any suggestions for places that aren't touristy ?

I will join the fun. Just had dinner at MSP Airport. It's hit or miss at the airport, but the shaved beef sandwich was actually good. Jake's Peanut Porter smelled heavenly. We will be exploring the Lawrence/Distillery District tomorrow. If anyone has suggestions for restaurants there, let me know. Looking forward to meeting everyone on Friday!

YES! I was just thinking the same thing!

It's okay. I think with that much sugar in any brand will probably be okay. Usually, I am super picky when making hummus because it does change the taste of the end product drastically.

Searched for years to find decent Tahini here, and finally landed on Lebanon Valley Tahineh Extra... I can find it in the Middle Eastern stores in Minneapolis or order it from amazon. I already checked Amazon Canada to order it to your house when I realized I couldn't bring it with me, I could not find it there.

Omg, this is super exciting! I don't know you yet, Kerry, but I love you already. Guess what I did yesterday. I tossed away the bitter soapwort water and then reboiled the used soapwort again, thinking and hoping the bitterness would go away. It didn't completely go away, but it was less bitter. I tried to use that and made some as well, using a different process (I will explain more in person) and added very little soapwort water (just 4 tablespoons for 400 grams of product). My final halva tasted good according to my family (I still think it has a slight bitterness), but the final texture wasn't as crunchy as it should be. It was more fudgy, possibly because I didn't use enough soapwort or my sugar wasn't boiled enough. I found some more info online, mainly from a paper a student wrote comparing the usage of powdered soapwort vs. liquid, regarding percentages in the halva. I will share that in person. Here are my pictures from my experiment. Side note: I said I would bring good jar of tahini, but I didn't realize our tickets don't include checked bags, so I won't be able to bring that on the airplane.

25 grams soapwort with 300ml of water. Boiled it until I had 75ml liquid. The meringue itself was beautiful I made it with sugar syrup but was inedible. I saw here somebody else complained their meringue was super bitter, the writer thought it was probably the soapwort. https://www.anissas.com/natef-a-miraculous-transformation/