Kerry Beal

Wonder how well an ultrasonic cutter would work.

How many hours to Hogmanay where you are now?

I loved being the one to squish on the yellow dye blob

Do you remember if it used shortening vs butter? My mom's crispy oatmeal cookie recipe uses shortening.

Funny - when we were struggling with titles and content for our blogs and new topics - we talked about what our 'fans' would appreciate. "the Ladies who lunch can't eat there again - our fans need variety (and so do we)"

That makes sense - and I’m guessing there is a reason they have evolved that way. The very first vintage Dedy I bought and gave to my very first student was cast iron, weighed about a thousand pounds and wasn’t nearly as deep. I’ve forgotten how well it cut - it was enough of a struggle to get it up on the table.

So these are interestingly sized guitars - certainly not a standard size either for a regular guitar or for a mini guitar (kind of half way between) - about 12 inches square base vs the 8 inches for the Dedy mini and 14 inches for the standard size. I wish you could get a clear idea from the pictures about how the frame sits on the base and how it clears the end. Someone on eG made their own guitar a bunch of years back and as I recall the clearance was an issue when the frame came down. These ones appear to be OK - but you can't truly see it. Price is right though - and I would agree with your choice of frame sizes. Are they selling the ganache frames of the equivalent size to go with it so you don't have to have them custom made?

Which one are you considering?

Should last for a lot of months at that value.

I have an earlier edition - looking in Abebooks - looks like it's the first edition. By far my favourite sauce book is the Sauciers Apprentice though!

Sadly it wasn't that cheap! I've been making batches of BBQ sauce for my recently housed fellow - I have been trying to find the perfect combination of gums to thicken it to the way he would like it. I have a book on hydrocolloids but it really isn't all that helpful to make decisions around combinations of gums. My suspicion is that half guar and half xantham might be what I'm after - but I suspect the answer is in this book where someone else has done the research and I can just sit back and take advantage of that. Much like I rely on @paulraphael's gum combinations for ice creams and sorbets.

Bloody enablers!

Pyrographed wooden box!

Keep it below 53º C - I'm sure a couple of hours would heat it through in a single piece. Sliced it would probably only require 30 min or so.

Looks like there is a Boxing Day sale on the bigger Creami for Canadians - creami

Couple of thoughts - Your spread might be suffering from a broken emulsion - there isn't enough water to suspend the fat any more. You could try the various techniques to rehabilitate a broken emulsion and see if one would work. But if I were to try - I'd split this into a few bowls and try with only part of the mass. Can I ask what the rest of the ingredients are in there so we can make some suggestions around what to try? When you are making a batch of chocolate in a melanger - at first it is thick, then becomes thinner as the particle size get's smaller and each particle is coated with cocoa butter. When the particle size gets even smaller then the amount of cocoa butter is no longer sufficient to coat the increased number of particles so the chocolate becomes thicker again. For this issue you add more cocoa butter. I don't think that's necessarily what's going on here but the thought did cross my mind. Another thought - you say my 'chocolate/hazelnut paste' - is there anything else in there? Because if not this is just gianduja and I'd probably just process the nuts alone in the cuisinart to get the hazelnut paste - melt the chocolate and stir in the nut paste then temper the whole thing.

Messy!

Unlikely - but will be spending a day with 3 kids soon so maybe then.

Having been labouring under the misconception that it was a few weeks away - I had a rude awaking on Monday when someone mentioned that Christmas was 7 days away. Realized I'd better get my ass in gear if the neighbours were going to get their accustomed treats. You aren't getting the glam shots - there isn't time! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - thank you Kriss Harvey. Eggnog filling - very rummy! Bergamot and wild madagascar pepper - you can see I had a fair bit of flaking in the deeper molds. Coffee in milk chocolate Lavender and honey - (well most of them anyway - I think a few might be bergamot) Lavender Dulce de leche - polished with mold with my dremel - took a microfibre towel in strips and speared it onto a mandrel - no fluff (unlike my trials with the wool felt things and the cotton mop things). And this is what happens when you realize you have just poured untempered chocolate into the mold - oops - bet they get eaten though!

When I lived in the Queen Charlotte Islands, we knew them as salmon berries. Apparently in England, they are known as knot berries

Guess you could nuke it - what about just pouring the excess into a frame and cutting into squares instead of molds?

I believe they do - you can recrystallize melted butter by seeding if I recall correctly.

Just thinking back to lumpy chocolate I have had over the years - it usually comes down to either age or moisture has gotten into it. When it came to you melted was the bag fully sealed?