pastrygirl

https://shop.tillamook.com/products/makers-reserve-2014-extra-sharp-white-cheddar Tillamook has cheddars up to 10 years old available. I wouldn't be concerned about the quality of the cheese, but do be careful so you don't end up injured and posting in that 'never again' thread

https://www.ampersanddairy.com/ ampersand butter, to go with your wildfarmed bread

Are you planning to re-sell them or use them in producing food to sell? If not, I wouldn't worry about items for personal use.

I have a shop, or more accurately a production kitchen where people can also shop. It's in an industrial area & I'm always a little surprised when people find me. I sell more wholesale to gift shops & gift basket companies than I do direct, which is fine. If you decide to go into business, check with your state Dept of Ag for their Cottage Food laws & if they aren't friendly to chocolate, look into commissary kitchens.

IIRC, that's the 'bakery' discount, I think there's a 'chocolatier' discount as well but it's not as good so convince them you're a bakery if you can

It's super satisfying when the bonbons come our all shiny and pretty, but excited customers doing involuntary happy dances are downright intoxicating. Makes all the hard parts of business worthwhile!

I used to be a restaurant pastry chef, did mostly plated desserts for years. Now I'm focused on chocolate.

@Saltychoc I use Felchlin Edelweiss, I'd say it's a little less sweet than Ivoire and a little less opaque than Opalys. Should be around $30-35/kg.

I'd try wrapping it in a damp towel then in plastic for a day.

welcome!

Hygropalm 23

@GRiker I don't think it's supposed to be instantaneous. I have the Rotronic, which lets you set a 'dwell time' of how long you want it to analyze the sample before computing. 20 minutes might be what you need for accuracy.

Borrow money in this economy??? That is a rational fear. Rent is easy enough to figure out, just look at your local commercial real estate listings or talk to an agent. You already know your ingredient & packaging cost. Where are you? I agree that marketing is huge. You can make the best product but people need to know it exists before they can buy it.

Oh yeah, you had mentioned that in your intro post. Also check out Caputo's and Worldwide Chocolate, they have pretty decent prices for retail and even re-pack some items into one pound bags. https://caputos.com/chocolate/ https://worldwidechocolate.com/

They had been carrying a wide variety of Felchlin then had a clearance sale & now have a much more limited selection. I'd gotten some Sao Palme 60% & 43% plus some Edelweiss at way better prices than AUI, now those aren't listed. Sorry, not sorry for buying it all Worldwide Chocolate also carries Felchlin and will break cases but prices aren't great, even wholesale is higher than AUI. @MECO are you starting a business or are you sticking to small volumes for friends/family?

I have a commercial kitchen with an exhaust hood, but I'm also using a 0.7mm grex with 2 gal/1hp compressor and spraying each cavity individually rather than blasting the whole mold in a few passes. I have a Sagola mini spray gun (0.9 mm?) and a larger compressor that I got last year but it seems like overkill for tiny bonbons so I haven't made the switch.

Yeah, I splatter ALL THE TIME. I splattered yesterday, might splatter again today. All I do is turn down the psi on the compressor 🤷‍♀️

Actually, sounds like you do/did. Confit is cooked slowly in fat until the fat permeates the meat and is a common treatment for duck legs.

Are they confit-ed? Maybe you could add the spices then re-sv at a lower temp to infuse the flavor?

Another one? Ugh! Thanks for the warning.

Sorry for your loss. What were your valentine's traditions? Would it bring you comfort to still do those things in remembrance on your own, or is it more about a group share? It seems a little too niche as a business idea.

I haven't had the candy in question, but the linked recipe isn't a ganache, more of a gianduja or meltaway, there's no liquid or cream. I'm not sure whipping it will get you anywhere. Also might be a bit firm for a cake filling.

I believe the original/viral bar is pretty runny - it's all about the filling oozing out when you break it. There might not be any chocolate in the filling. However, I think they'd show fat bloom fairly quickly from the oil migrating so adding chocolate should help stabilize/slow that.

You could go fancy with bresaola or more pedestrian with beef jerky (ideally a sugar-free version) or make your own.

Pretty!