pastrygirl

sounds like your process is make ganache, fill pre-made truffle shells, dip or otherwise coat & finish the filled shells by hand? If I was dipping into a wheel temperer I'd be worried that dropped pieces would get sucked under by the movement of the chocolate. In a melter without a wheel, at least things are holding still. But I don't do any hand-dipping, not an expert there. If you get the EZ Temper, you can also add silk to your ganaches so they crystallize more quickly.

Welcome and congrats on your growing side business. I think an EZ Temper and a melter or two would probably suffice for the next few years. Things to consider - How much chocolate do you usually temper at once? Do you primarily use molds and need room to dump chocolate back in? How much of that 100 kg last year was tempered? If you're making 100 kg of solid bars you might want something different than if you're making non-tempered ganache centers with 75 kg and tempering & dipping into the other 25. Are the moving parts of the molding wheel of concern, or would your sister be operating that?

Might be ok for personal use with no intent to sell or distribute.

Maybe you're supposed to tear off small bite sized pieces? Or use a knife and fork 🤪

I just had a Selmi training session with Tomric, lets see if I learned anything that might help... What temp are you keeping the bowl heater? It should be 45-50C, hot enough to re-melt the tempered chocolate pouring in from above. It works better full, if you can see the bottom grate, it's too low. The chocolate is flowing directly back towards the screw and doesn't have a chance to melt out the stable crystals. The heater is (mostly or all?) around the sides of the bowl. When going out of temper mode, let the chocolate flow through the nozzle a few minutes until the nozzle warms up above the temper zone to avoid chocolate build-up.

@Chocolat thanks, I did exchange a few messages with Dale. They are not taking new custom orders at the moment and are dealing with materials shortages. They were out of the 5 and 7 piece boxes I was looking at, promised to have one in time for Christmas but not the other. Their distributor Linnea's did have some though, so I have 300 on the way. Other manufacturers have also mentioned issues getting materials, and one store has more than tripled the price of candy trays vs a year ago. I don't know, maybe new supply is on all those container ships waiting off the West coast but I'm trying to stock up now.

Does food coloring go bad? It has been at least a few years, maybe several, since my last order for red velvet cake. Should I feel any worse about using old food color than I already do about using it at all? 😆

No idea. Do you know the origin of the chocolate you are using? If S America has more zinc mines or natural deposits of heavy metals than Africa, maybe choc from Ghana would have lower levels than choc from Bolivia? I'm sure testing is expensive, would it be worth it to test a few different origins?

Is it just me or has the price of candy trays tripled since a year ago?

"These products were sold frozen to restaurants in clear plastic bags with no labels, no lot codes, no identifiers, and no cooking instructions." 🤯🤯🤯

Does anyone currently use Duerr Packaging? I've sent two inquiries and have not heard back. If you use them, are you usually happy with the quality and turnaround time? edited to add: maybe they only sell through distributors? I'll try the distributor ...

I would guess heavy duty, with all the equipment and water tanks. Have you contacted a food truck/trailer builder in your area?

If you have wholesale suppliers, ask them about LBA, they have various sizes, baked, raw, triangles that you can roll and fill ... https://www.lba-inc.com/products If you just want a couple of croissants for yourself, I think Trader Joe's are supposed to be good.

@curls thanks I’ll take a look I cleaned out the supplier & have 200 on the way, hoping that’s not enough for holidays deurr has some that look good too

Just learned they are discontinuing stock production and going all custom. Now, to find a different box or storage space for thousands of set-up boxes? Ugh ... 🤬🤬🤬

Colors need to be specifically fat soluble, not sure if those are or not. The pre-mixed ones are just so convenient. Powder color may cost less but time is also money.

I would expect 'gelato' to incorporate less air than the others.

Jim, I'm not familiar with Chocobutter. I think R&R works out to be slightly less expensive than Chef Rubber depending on the exchange rate, maybe I'm imagining it.

@Jim D. You could try adding fat to the caramel, making more of a butter crunch or English toffee. I think that would help.

If it is a liquid, it's not what you need for decorating chocolate bonbons. Color painted into molds needs to be cocoa butter based and solid at room temp. I like Roxy & Rich, sampler sets on sale here: https://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/product/assortments-of-11-pearl-gemstone-cocoa-butters/

It's probably not CB melting from the edges (after all, you're capping with tempered chocolate that should not be hot enough to melt anything), but rather chocolate that has dripped or been forced into the tiny space created when the shell crystallizes and pulls away from the mold. Annoying when you spend so much time decorating, but it happens to most of us.

@no10 did you see the 'artisan series'? https://www.aspecialtybox.com/accessories-artisan_trays.html

You'd want to let the base thaw/melt enough to smooth it back to level before re-freezing. Fruit sorbets should withstand multiple freeze/process/melt cycles, but ice cream with high butterfat may not.

A blender might work but you may have to scrape the sides down often. It can take a while for nuts to turn to butter. Toasting the nuts and grinding them while still warm can speed the process.

Scrambled egg???