pastrygirl

It has a conical lid. It's not shown in the video, but the product sheet denotes the special shaped lid holds in moisture.

Yes, I currently have Cacao Barry CB and I think the temp is set at 33.8 or 33.9. I've randomly pushed buttons to mixed effect.

Why does it have to be a sealed lid? And how about a fire mixer? I think they're only $15k or so, and they heat and stir, but I wonder if it would be problematic that they're designed for cooking candy to much hotter temps than you need for custard. How low do they go? https://www.savagebros.com/p.1/firemixer-14-table-top-automatic-electric-cooker-mixer-with-plc-touch-screen-control.aspx

A few months ago I talked to a woman who was trying to sell one of these https://advancedgourmet.com/ott-freezer-masterchef/ she used it for cooking pate a choux, so definitely can handle thick ice cream, wanted $19k after two years of use, i don’t recall which size it was. She was really enthusiastic about it, loved being able to push a few buttons and have consistent product. Or how about a steam-jacketed kettle?

What have you done to make it set up? i.e. seeding with CB, tabling ... and how much butter vs CB did you add?

@ElsieD that's so cool that you just happened to find them out in the wild! And that @liuzhou ate them as a child; I knew someone here would have heard of them The only other pastry that I think of as Scottish is shortbread, also heavy on the butter... I guess they must have some good butter over there I've never been to the UK, will have to see for myself someday.

I'm not buying this cacao pod "strawberry" nonsense!

If so, what was it like? Sounds similar to kouign-aman ... https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-44486529

Definitely, to the point that I wonder if any stainless steel isn't food-worthy. I did get a large remnant of stone that I believe is quartz, so quartz is an option also.

I agree with Chris, stainless isn't great if you're tabling, but perfectly fine for dripping chocolate on while filling molds. And easy to clean. Also agree with looking for remnants of stone. I'd like to find a few pieces about the size of a sheet pan that will fit in the fridge to chill.

I think the original yield is off. If a pound of butter, 8 eggs, 4 cups of flour, etc makes a 10" cake, it must be 4" tall! I've been working on a wedding cake, and similar amounts of my vanilla cake have made two 9" x 2" round layers or one shorter 14" round. Maybe in the restaurant it was baked as a half sheet and a little thinner, with more surface area for the almonds on top. I agree that 2 TB of baking powder seems excessive, I stick with roughly 1 tsp per cup of flour.

How does one polish a silicone mold? Silicone that I've used for chocolate truffles and mendiants still has a cocoa butter film years later, despite repeated washings. You might be better off hand-painting them after un-molding.

So you decided? What did you go with?

So I was curious enough to order a humidity meter, but I still think that for me temp alone is enough of a clue whether good tempering is likely because it's always humid here.

Must be nice to have a dedicated “chocolate lab” and that sort of control! Restaurants and other commercial kitchens like commissaries rarely have temp or humidity control. The pastry dept of a big hotel might have a temp controlled chocolate room, but every restaurant Kitchen I’ve worked in is freezing in the winter and sticky in the summer. You do what you can to make it work.

How old is old? My little 7 cup one is late 90's, I only got a new one for more capacity. It's a bit disappointing, the larger capacity really only applies to light things. I would put a 2kg jar of natural peanut butter in the small one and process to mix the oil back in. I got a new 13 cup Cuisinart, merrily put 2 jars of peanut butter in and it would barely move. My double-batch dreams were dashed!

I definitely have days when it sets too fast or too slow, or sets but is super streaky. I usually blame kitchen gremlins or assume it was user error, like leaving too much seed or not checking my temper diligently. Maybe it is humidity and I haven't made the connection due to not monitoring it. I made some bars a few weeks ago that were disturbingly streaky inside and set up slowly. I think it was clear that day but warm. Oh, and some bonbons that stuck like crazy - it was warm, I was tired and rushing, I didn't check my tempers well. Don't know about the humidity, probably at least 50%. If you usually work closer to 70, you're dealing with heat AND humidity. Nice if you're an orchid, but ... Yes! So can we conclude that if it's particularly humid, it's even more important to get kitchen temp down? I dislike being ruled by the weather @Jim D. Good luck this summer, those big orders will surely be nerve-wracking.

yes, polish 'til your fingers bleed, then spray with ... looks like 3 or 4 colors of cocoa butter

I like fish sauce, but can’t imagine it smelling very good at any step of the way Likewise, I wonder if the soy sauce just went through an awkward phase, maybe it’s funky before it’s done but then it mellows out?

That's interesting. Maybe it's their standard disclaimer and applies more to appliances? Hard to see what could go wrong with a hotel pan! I was shopping for a refrigerator and bought a commercial one because the warranty would be void if I used a residential fridge for commercial use. How different is this from that?

Yeah, above 75 I try to avoid tempering if possible. I just moved to a new kitchen that stays at about 70 overnight then warms up if the sun comes out. Trying to make it work for the summer and hoping fall/winter will be better. The primary tenant makes ice cream and has 8 freezers plugged in and putting out heat but most won't be in use October-April. I was really happy yesterday morning when it was gray and raining! Otherwise, fans and the fridge are the way to go. For those of you who struggle with humidity, what sort of weirdness or difficulty happens? I don't monitor my indoor humidity, but I'd guess it rarely goes below 50% outside - Seattle lies between a lake and a bay, lots of water even when it's not raining! Maybe I've adapted or don't know any different when it comes to chocolate - I did make French macaron despite the rain yesterday, let them dry in the warm spot where the walk-in compressor vents and they rose nicely Or is humidity more of a problem as the temp gets higher? Maybe at 60F humidity is less of a problem than at 70F.

You're frigid? Funny, I thought chocolate was supposed to be an aphrodisiac ... I think about 63-65F is ideal kitchen temp. Don't get me wrong, I like being next to the oven when it gets any colder, and too cold for chocolate is a thing, but I stay pretty warm if I'm moving around, and I'm happier when the chocolate sets quickly so the cooler the better (within reason).

I just tried my iPhone through a freezer zipper bag and it was fine.

If you haven't thought of it already, wrap it in plastic wrap or stick it in a large ziploc bag. I admire your dedication to tracking down ingredients and molds (that is a cool one, though). I'd probably be making questionable substitutions from day 1

Glucose is usually more viscous than corn syrup, but otherwise is a good substitute. Glucose plus a little extra liquid? Corn syrup is closer consistency to honey.