Kerry Beal

It was my assumption as well when I first heard about it.

But you don't like white chocolate you said.

Here's a home based one. Bet someone could riff off the design.

I thought Ruby did contain milk. Which made me wonder how it would taste without the milk component? Here's the ingredient list - Sugar 35.5%, cocoa butter 29.5%, skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, cocoa mass 4.5%, emulsifier; soya lecithin, citric acid, natural vanilla flavouring. That is a whole lot less cocoa mass than I thought would be in there.

I'm sure it is! If not it should be.

I'm in!

He’s coming to Toronto in early April - contact him as ask him to bring and we’ll ship up to you.

You need to invent that!

I suspect my Swing-a-Ways have been around for years, which is probably why they still work so well.

The solid form, when powdered or shaved with a microplane becomes quite electrostatic - you wear more in your hair than you will get in the chocolate. I did extensive experiments with the solidified form and found that it did not temper as well as at the silky consistency. That's why I chose the name silk for the product that the EZtemper makes - a name that has been co opted for something that I certainly don't consider to be silky. If you go back to the posts starting March 3, 2017 in this thread you can see the experiments.

Were you happy with the nibs you got from Bhavhani?

It's a patent that Callebaut had that was going to run out apparently. Beans/nibs high in polyphenols (which are already quite purple) are acidified and they become more red/purple. They are not fermented or roasted - just heated sufficiently to reduce the microbiological burden. The patent was originally based on low quality beans.

Potato chips - cheesies - any kind of savory snack!

But it doesn't call out to me like chips do!

So perhaps the Pound Plus dark bars with a little extras cocoa butter (say 3 or 4%) would work well for learning to temper. The price would be right. And of course even if the milk doesn't taste great - it might be fine for practice. I do recall how parsimonious I was when I started - couldn't bring myself to temper large amounts because of the cost - soon learned the ease was worth the expense! Of course these days I have about 100 kg of chocolate taking up space in the living room.

Thoughts on the Pound Plus Bars from Trader Joes these days? I used to use them a lot when I first started out and getting inexpensive chocolate was important. I seem to recall they have changed but I'm wondering if I'm confusing them with the President's Choice bars which have changed a lot.

His - I've had a lot of people complain about the cocoa butter they get from him. Most often due to irreversible form VI formation. When cocoa butter oxidizes it goes white. Rancid lipids are linked to the devolvement or exacerbation of many diseases - among them atherosclerosis, cataracts, kidney disease, heart disease and can cause cellular membrane damage resulting in neurodegeneration and carcinogensis. So these days I throw out my smelly cocoa butters. And make my white ala minute if I have to because it oxidizes so quickly.

Badly oxidized.

Pretty sure I understand what you mean. I think I’ve got some narrow diameter pvc hose material I could use. i was also thinking I need to make some frames for around the shape so that the mold can sit flat on it’s edges if that makes sense. I have some Tomric bunny plaques where the shape sits higher than the sides and it makes them hard to mold flat. Since most thermoform molds are unsuitable for scraping anyway I’ll likely use them for solid pieces that I’ll pipe in.

I’ve chatted with my machine shop guys about CNC milling - I need clearer pricing for them. i purchased a used 3D printer - it’s still in Buffalo awaiting smuggling. It’s the resin kind so much better resolution. Today I’m going to hit a Value Village to find a few items to serve as plugs for my trials - sadly this evening I start my next 24 hour shift so I won’t be able to play for a while

I’ll get right on that!

Totally agree - EZtemper is not a first level purchase. When you are established and tempering is slowing you down then we can talk. As @keychris mentions - start with a couple of polycarbonate molds (why struggle with hobby grade when you don’t have to), a hardware store taping knife and a few other inexpensive items. Perhaps with the advice here assemble a starting kit list.

I love my Swing-a-ways! Also like the little baby from Lee Valley which is perfect in a travel pack or purse. Here

Loaded - but I wonder if the eG message relates to there being no content yet?

Excaliber 9 tray on Woot again. $189.