pastrygirl

Depends on how many batches you want to make... Its a 12-13 gram piece, at that size you need more than one mold’s worth to make a pound. Chocolat-chocolat might be a few dollars less depending on the exchange rate, but international shipping might be more than JB prince.

Sure, and nothing wrong with citric acid itself, but it’s not a normal ingredient in chocolate. Usually if you want a less sweet chocolate you add less sugar, not sugar as the first ingredient then some acid to balance it.

Mix a little of the raspberries with a little pastry cream to mage sure it doesn’t turn a weird color. Some berries plus egg yolks can turn an unappetizing purple-gray. Separate layers of jam and pastry cream might be prettier.

Re: ruby chocolate - I was surprised to see citric acid as an ingredient. They're really trying to make it fruity, aren't they?

A lot of commercial appliances come with a 3/4" gas connection, though you may be able to find 1/2". Might be a good idea to keep utilities separate for business purposes

Why clarified butter? I think whole butter with all the milk solids has fuller flavor. And was it salted or unsalted? If unsalted, it might just need a pinch of salt as flavor enhancer.

Its everything chocolate, not just bonbons. There is the usual prologue on how chocolate and tempering work then sections on: breakfast & snacks drinking chocolate jams & creams Cakes individual cakes other desserts chocolates (bonbons, truffles, etc) restaurant desserts & petit fours. I have the english/Spanish version, 2nd edition in excellent condition except for a small gouge on the spine. I’d have to look up what I paid for it, but would entertain offers.

Thanks! But we are comically inept in the snow. Transplants from the Midwest, Northeast, Canada, and everywhere colder laugh at us. Part of it is that we don't get enough snow to be properly equipped with chains and snow plows and practice driving in it, part of it is that it doesn't stay cold enough so it thaws then re-freezes and we get layers of ice on the road. Oh, and all the hills. Good for sledding, bad for driving!

How much water does a steam cleaner put out? I have a concrete kitchen floor so the tempered bits are easy enough to scrape up but there's still traces of chocolate. I've been wondering if a steam cleaner would be practical. There is one floor drain, a steam cleaner and a squeegee sounds easier than scrubbing and mopping.

Made some bonbons for Valentine's but it's currently Snow-pocalypse '19 in Seattle, so I think Valentine's Day is cancelled From top/left, all with caramel, dark shells except the first one in milk: milk choc chipotle, white choc passion fruit, milk salty caramel, white (Orelys) butterscotch, dark honey Snow-mageddon - we got about 8" which is unusually deep, some winters we get no snow at all.

@Tri2Cook yes, but you should still try. My bars all have various inclusions or fillings, and scraping the molds back into the melter can pick up bits of those. To get maximum use out of the chocolate and fewest washings of the molds, I'll do the 72% bars with no allergens first, then switch to 60% and make the 3 flavors with only soy and milk, then one with soy, milk, and either wheat or nuts. After I've made a batch and have leftover chocolate that has been used with wheat or nuts I label it and keep it separate and only use it for that flavor. As I scale up, I should move to bigger batches and only use the chocolate for one thing. I have a 24 kg melter but don't need 450 bar batches yet, this method lets me make 150 of 3 flavors with one melter-full of 60% and be able to tell people that I'm trying my best. Otherwise, I think you just have to make a few batches of everything and roll with it. If you've gotten to the point of a Selmi and a retail shop, surely you already know what your best sellers are and how long it takes to make a batch. There will always be some adjustments for a new kitchen and maybe the retail location will have a different demographic than whatever you've done before. Keep us posted! I think we all dream of having cute little shops, few of us achieve it.

And honestly, I'll probably forget again! 😊

Make the items with the fewest allergens first to avoid cross contamination.

Then are you building a separate kitchen or hoping to use your existing? I’ve had gas stoves in apartments with a tiny home exhaust fan but when you get into commercial ranges you need a commercial hood. Type 1 with fire suppression if you’re doing any deep frying but type 2 should be ok for light duty. (Type 1 is heavy duty to withstand a grease fire). Here, electric ovens 6kw or lower don’t need to be under a hood, but a gas oven might need one or at least a dedicated vent to outside . Check with your health department (to see what is required) and your homeowners insurance (to see what they’ll allow). And your fire dept & building codes while you’re at it. And you might need to upgrade gas lines & connections for higher volume.

You have commercial zoning but do you have a commercial kitchen? 3 compartment sink, grease trap, possibly a hood depending on your oven power and if you're cooking with gas. The bus stop sounds promising, lots of people would grab a coffee or a bite while waiting. Is there parking and easy access to/from the main street?

Were you not already on the Valrhona Dulcey bandwagon? If you have tried them both, I'd be interested in how they compare. And since I just made pretzel blondies with Dulcey today, my suggestion is a caramel and pretzel or peanut butter, pretzel, and caramelized white combo. Apricot sounds good but they are not always that subtle. How about apple or pear - good ol' caramel apple!

Being president (of anything) and having good taste do not always coincide.

@akonsu I meant are you dipping individual pieces into the chocolate or are you using molds? Molds get tricky, if the temper is not close to perfect the chocolate will stick in the molds. Yes, 73f is warm for chocolate work. Especially if humidity is high, that makes it even worse. Most of us prefer mid 60’s with humidity below 50%.

I think your temper is off. Merely cooling and stirring in a bowl over 15 min might not be enough to create the stable cocoa butter crystals. My understanding is that tabling on marble cools it so rapidly that it creates crystals, a bowl isn’t going to be that fast. Sounds like you’re dipping centers. How long do they take to set? How warm is your room? It might help to refrigerate the pieces for 5-10 min to help them solidify and cool quickly. Or lower your chocolate working temp by a degree or two, streaky pieces can mean the chocolate was too warm.

I buy it! The 2.5kg/5.5 lb box from cacao barry is around $35-40 ish.

I'm sure there are a lot of people who could benefit from picking up a few basic skills with you, I think it would be great of you to share your knowledge. But will that help people who don't have access to fresh veg? Before you can cook the fresh cabbage, you have to be able to get the cabbage! The neighborhood I work in is semi-industrial but gentrifying, with a large pocket of residential and no grocery store within walking distance. (Well, there used to be a little neighborhood grocery but it went out of business and now it's a cake shop. Let them eat cake!) If I run out of eggs mid-day I have to go about 4 miles to cash & carry. Also, consider culture. In the US, there's the example of poor Black people in the South who want to eat their traditional foods, not quiche and baby kale salad. In Canada, maybe you have more Asian immigrants or First Peoples with different culinary traditions. So for some it's not only a question of getting any fresh food and cooking it, its getting fresh food that they want to eat then figuring out how to make it easier or healthier but still recognizable and comforting. If I went to the grocery store and all they had was okra and chitterlings or durian and Japanese mountain yam I'd get junk food instead! More food for thought: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-people-food_n_5b75c270e4b0df9b093dadbb?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003

I was using a gravity feed Grex with a 0.5 needle at about 60 psi. More heat worked for me, your mileage may vary. Part of what makes chocolate so much fun! 😉

Another vote for giving up on "months". I mean, I might hope for 2 or 3 but I'm not usually going for 6 plus. I am making bonbons for Valentine's, and along the lines of what Kerry said, they are all caramel based. Plain old sugar is still a good preservative!

@RJ23 how are you keeping the airbrush warm? The metal parts all need to be above 85f-90f so the cocoa butter stays melted and can drip down. I’ve been spraying molds the last few days with similar issues, used a hairdryer aimed at the bottom of the paint cup to make sure everything was flowing.

Nice work!