Kerry Beal

And besides - you know I have a few extra being used in different spots that I'd bring around if needed!

I'm working on him for a better lid for the little bowl - no joy so far!

Ginger Milk Curd

Add the juice after emulsifying the chocolate and cream.

May want to add it after the cream as ginger will cause cream to coagulate and I suspect galangal might as well.

In the original melt you just need to get it melted. If you don't get above 33.5 it will likely have the same texture as the silk so you need to get a little higher than that.

And now to make your life even easier - don’t bother taking it all the way up and cooking back to 33.5 - just get it melted (likely will happen at around 34 or so) and cool down from there.

Check again. It's only if it remains grainy when the background is silky that it needs to get melted back out.

I’m not quite sure why he says that seeding isn’t stable in a machine - By extension he seems to be suggesting that tabled chocolate is stable in a machine - which isn’t the case in some types of machines. Certain automatic tempering machines are constantly taking the chocolate in and out of temper in order to keep it less viscous over time. They use cooling and then reheating methods to temper the chocolate in the first place, and then shear the chocolate as it comes out the spout to get form V crystals. Tempering with silk is indeed tempering by seeding - but just adds the perfect amount of the perfect seed vs waiting for your callets to melt out while your chocolate cools. So the bottom line - with your current setup an EZtemper would work for small or large quantities.

Are you adding the wood frame after or during the molding process?

I’d call that bulk - Valrhona doesn’t seem to come in really big bags!

Gummy recipe I have has about the same proportions.

Are you getting coverature in bulk at Caputos? I’ve only ever noticed craft bars there.

I’m interested in efficient 3D molding without a spinner

It will all be worth it when we get you that James Beard award

What an awful feeling. I know the early days of EZtemper were sleepless. The costs were far higher than I was led to believe and I wasn’t sharing the info with the hubby. I hope you see a profit quicker than I seem to be.

That's a lot of sleepless nights! Happy it's all coming together albeit so late in the game.

I've been getting Shokinag in 10 kg boxes from my supplier who also gets me Belcolade in 4 kg bags - either of those are great (but not sure where you get in the states). Puratos handles Belcolade in the US.

Are you using your EZtemper to temper your meltaway?

Figure if I have to make a silicone mold - I might as well use it for the chocolate- I suppose I could use the gelatin molding compound.

Likely could - was hoping for a lazier way!

Great minds and all that! Was also trying to think of a way do to half a figure without cutting it in half.

Am I seeing what I think? Little chunks of crystals? That's old cocoa butter with form VI conversion. I've had it confirmed at the University of Guelph. You can try melting it out - take it up to around 60º C. Place in a scrupulously clean container, let cool and harden at room temperature before putting back in the machine. If you have some good silk - you can seed it when it cools to around 33.5. I've had some that was too far gone and there was nothing I could do to save it.

It is really Ruby chocolate - apparently they can't call it chocolate in the states. Ingredient list - SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, WHOLE MILK POWDER, UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), CITRIC ACID (ACIDULANT), NATURAL FLAVOR.

@teonzo - looking forward to your drawings. The mold doesn't really shrink - because the material is warm it stretches over the surface so stays the same size overall. The experiments continued this afternoon - realize the frame that I bought to serve as a base was a little bigger than I had thought. I should look through all my short caramel bars and see what might fit in there. Probably wise to stick tack them together on the edges to prevent them jumping when the vacuum comes on. What I learned today - plug the little holes with something - otherwise the plastic will get sucked right into them. Bring the arm down fast so that the plastic sheet is as warm as possible when it touches the piece so it will pick up the pattern. Also use completely flat objects. These guys don't lie flat so the plastic get's sucked right around them. Making it hard to get the tool out of the mold and then the chocolate out of the mold. Fixing all those little holes should make it easier to get the chocolate out without breakage. Regretting that I didn't buy the molded plastic kiddie tools I saw today - would have given me a more substantial piece and there wouldn't have been all the little divots to deal with.