pastrygirl

@GRiker this is a winco pan, not a perfect fit but it works, wasn’t $65, and I can fit an extra 2 kg.

From his ‘fruit’ book: the ‘coating mixture’ is a base of white choc & cocoa butter sorry, posting from my phone, I’ll see if I can rotate the pics later.

Check the fit, you may be able to get away with it. The corner radius might be different. I have a couple of deeper ones that fit and even allow me to work with more than 6 kg.

Bonbons have been quite popular for me lately & I'd like to add a display case so people can choose their own flavors. What do people think about a regular deli/pastry refrigerated case with PID controller to keep it at 60ish for chocolate diplay? I have no idea what humidity would be like ... I could find a mini dehumidifier and still save $5k ...

I've been enjoying it as usual and the lack of drama due to everyone just being happy to cook is nice. I'm re-watching the season in advance of the finale and am rooting for Shota. Maybe because he's a local boy, but also Gabe lost me at the chicken liver churros in the movie challenge and Dawn might make some tasty things but has left too many of them off the plate.

I go there sometimes, it's a bit out of the way but they do have really good deals. Plus there's the 'treasure hunt' aspect that some people enjoy. They have everything, but the specifics may change. Like they always have pints of premium ice cream for $2-3, sometimes there might be a few flavors of Haagen Dazs, sometimes it's Ben & Jerry's, sometimes Talenti gelato, and often the more niche or seasonal flavors - pistachio or rum raisin instead of vanilla. My understanding is a lot of it is overstock or closer to the pull date than other stores will accept. Fresh produce can be on the meh side but everything else I've bought has been good quality. Things I buy there include nuts (sliced almonds are even cheaper than TJ), sparkling water, frozen pizza, tortilla chips, guacamole, cheese, beef jerky, granola, olive oil, dried fruit, hand soap, cotton balls ... If there's one near you, might as well check it out!

Yes, lots of different skills to gain. Have you sorted out your packaging, labeling, pricing ... ?

That one does say it can applied directly to the mold, use a dry fluffy paint brush to push a little powder into each cavity and it will cling to the mold on its own. You won't get an intense color but you'll get a sheen of sparkle.

lol, a chocolate industry friend has referred to the Hershey's sour milk taste a few times, I didn't realize it was intentional!

Yes. Toffee and nuts can last up to a year especially if fully encased in the chocolate bar (not just sprinkled on the back & exposed to air) depending on freshness of the ingredients and how they are stored. But nuts and butter fat can go rancid so of course you don't want to get too far ahead and you still want a few months left on them when you sell them. Obviously you're not going to make each bar to order, you need to figure out a good batch size or par number, which will of course grow with the business. Maybe when you're just starting out you need to keep 20 of everything in stock but after a few years as you do holiday events and pick up wholesale accounts you'll want to keep 100 or 200 per item. And it'll take time to see what the best sellers are, they are not always what you think they will be. Are you hoping to turn this into a full-time business and make a living or keep it as a (more fun than profit-focused) hobby? Do you have experience in sales or marketing? To me, that's the hardest part - chocolatiering and marketing skills do not necessarily overlap 😆

Thanks for clarifying, and no need to apologize. I think I've seen those before, maybe Francisco Migoya did a brioche with them? Traditional to some part of France? The candying steps will be relatively high heat, hard crack sugar is 300F + and the pan itself will be hotter. But if you're mixing the finished candy into bread dough, only pieces that stick out above the crust will be subject to high oven temps, the internal temp of a baked loaf of bread is only about 200F. I have no idea about natural colors but anything artificial and meant for candy or labeled 'bake stable' should work. I did an art project last summer with big slabs of hard crack colored sugar, pretty sure I used my usual gel/paste colors, the colors remained vivid.

The CW 2295 is just a little smaller than the 2116 but same configuration (8 x 4), could be either. I use the 2295, if you want to send me a box I'll let you know if SWM's are the same size https://www.pastrychefsboutique.com/CHOCOLATE/Chocolate-Molds/polycarbonate-chocolate-molds/Modern-Shaped-Molds/chocolate-world-cw2295-polycarbonate-chocolate-dome-mold-29x21-mm-32-cavity-13gr-modern-shaped-molds https://www.pastrychefsboutique.com/CHOCOLATE/Chocolate-Molds/polycarbonate-chocolate-molds/Modern-Shaped-Molds/chocolate-world-cw2116-polycarbonate-dome-chocolate-mold-30x23-mm-32-cavity-14gr-275x175x28mm-modern-shaped-molds

‘Praline’ can refer to a number of things, can you be more specific? Since you mention high heat I’m thinking of the mostly sugar pecan pralines from the southern US but I don’t know why you would subsequently bake those. For reputable brands I recommend ameri-color and Wilton gel colors.

I keep inventory so I can fulfill orders as quickly as possible. Sharing a hometown with Amazon.com, I've come to expect my purchases to be shipped within a day and I try to do the same for my customers. Most bars will keep for a year, so might as well have a few months' supply. Bonbons are more of a conundrum that I'm solving by freezing, which is fine for shipping, just move the box to the fridge and ship the next day or keep it frozen with an insulated bag and ice pack if shipping to warmer areas.

Have you considered a guitar?

75F is my limit

You're right, a spray gun would be for larger pieces like Easter eggs or figures where you need to cover a large area. Sorry I can't offer any insight on Grex vs Iwata.

Why do you need both airbrush and spray gun? You can get a grex airbrush for $200. Do you have a compressor? https://www.dickblick.com/items/grex-tritium-airbrush-set-top-gravity-5-mm-double-action-trigger/ https://www.midwestairbrush.com/grtrtopgraiw.html

How hot is the pan? I agree with Heidi that the typical 1.5" thick stone slab can take a lot of heat. Hard candy or peanut brittle is in the 300-325F range and cools fairly quickly once poured out. I did an art project with big slabs of cooked sugar last summer, my thicker slab of marble survived (thank goodness) but my thinner piece of quartz developed cracks. To be safe, I'd avoid putting anything unusually hot on your stone. A sheet of cookies out of the oven or the pot you just dumped pasta water out of should be fine, but something like a pot of caramel sauce that's been on high heat for half an hour or a pot of hot oil from deep frying might be too much heat in one spot.

saucisson?

So since the Selmi cools before dispensing, in theory it could give me chocolate cooled to below room temp? If it's 95F in my kitchen, it could dispense chocolate at 88? I'd have to put it directly in the fridge, but hmmm ...

Who's "trashing"? I'm not trashing, I freakin' love cheese, bacon, and huge portions 😂 While blue crab may be special in the mid-Atlantic states and Dungeness crab may be special in the Northwest, it's the lowest common denominator that ends up defining us - Applebee's, McDonald's, Cheesecake Factory. Yes, there is SO MUCH more and better including regional cuisines and our rich immigrant cultures, but I don't mind taking a lighthearted view towards mass market food habits.

I recently tried these, because how could I not? https://shop.mackiescrisps.co.uk/collections/vegan-range/products/mackies-of-scotland-haggis-cracked-black-pepper-crisps I don’t know if they tasted like haggis, but I enjoyed the ample black pepper.

Cover it with cheese 🇺🇸

Are you cooking it in the jars? I personally never make pate but when you said chicken liver I was reminded of the smooth mix I’ve seen in restaurants kitchens, pureed in a blender then poured into ramekins and baked.