Kerry Beal

Home Depot has another set of HVLP guns as well - Husky. I'm not sure how they compare to the Powermates but I know that Chocolot has them. Sounds like the Powermates may have less issue with overspray.

There's an idea - I've got some Wegman's corned brisket in the freezer!

Then you can colour and polish with wax when you are done.

Might this one work?

Boiron purees are great - usually just fruit and up to 10% sugar.

1 part of water to 2 parts of sugar will give a 67% solids sucrose solution at room temperature. So your's might have a bit more sugar. Here is a helpful article.

The folks who clean the call room have made a few comments!

Stifado on the list! Today I decided to make a variation of the Chicken, Apple and Butternut Stew from Cooking Light that Anna N made in her IP. I used whole thighs rather than boneless skinless, apple juice instead of cider cause that's all I had. Browned the thighs, added stock and apple juice, 6 minutes with quick release, threw in the onion, butternut, parsnips and apple and gave it another 5 minutes with delayed quick release. Veg were a bit soft - next time a few minutes less.

So that would be the syrup part of the equation - you would drizzle a bit of the syrup, throw in handfuls of sucrose and blow dry, several layers with regular sized sugar and syrup, followed by layers with fruit sugar sized sugar, then layers of powdered sugar until you get a smooth surface. The last few layers of syrup get the colour (plus flavour if desired). Then polish with wax.

How have you tried to do it so far?

That actually looks like there is some flow to it. I think some experimentation is in your future to come up with the perfect texture.

I've had e-mails from people who have gotten cocoa butter from various sources - and it does appear that over time some form V to form VI transformation happens in 'old' cocoa butter and this causes the grainy part of the 'weirdness' and the failure to soften. What I tell them is to completely melt the cocoa butter (making sure it gets up to about 50 C to make sure everything gets melted out - then cool overnight at room temperature until solid before putting it back in the unit. The letting it get solid again is important - if you put it back in while still liquid it won't have the crystals. Some experiments I did back when I just had a prototype to work with seemed to indicate that melting and putting in the freezer to solidify wasn't good - got liquidy when put back in the unit - so I suspect the time at room temperature solidifying is important in reestablishing the approximately 15% form V crystals that should be present in solid cocoa butter. Don't know if that helps at all.

Indeed - we are all still learning (I don't believe anyone who thinks they know it all) - and chocolate can be a cruel mistress.

Had a chance to look a the recipe - the Greweling soft caramel will ooze when cut or bitten into. If you want something that doesn't do that you could make the caramel from the page before, pinch off pieces of it and press it into the mold. If you try to pipe it - it will be too hot for the chocolate. I'd probably cook it a degree or two cooler than recommended to make it softer to bite into.

The kind of caramel you cut isn't the kind you put in molded chocolates. I'll check out the recipe you are referring to when I get home.

I'm with pastrygirl - they don't need to be used at the same time. You can make the caramel at your leisure because it will remain pipeable at room temperature. I tend to put ganache in first then caramel in behind because if you pipe ganache on top of caramel it tends to cause it to squish out.

Welcome Bentley. You might be interested to have a look at the Starting a Chocolate Business thread started here by Bill Brown who opened William Dean Chocolates in Florida and has made quite a success of his business. We on eG like to think we helped make that possible! I shall watch for you on Ecole Chocolat - I'm the shelf life tutor.

It vacuum oil - so probably wouldn't use it for deep frying - but you might be able to clean deep frying oil in a similar fashion.

I suppose if you used a fat based colour powder on the carnuba waxed surface it might work - one way to find out!

Yup - polished.

Have the bases you can buy been polished? If not you may be able to colour batches in a coating pan.

We tally up the costs and divide by the number of people. Usually works out to around $150-$175 per person plus the cost of our meal on Saturday night which is generally $60 $70

Possibly if magnets aren't very strong and the back gets some warping when it is in place

Definite RobertM Sue Casey Chocolot curls MelissaH Gwbyls tikidoc Robyn sarahdwyer Dilittante + 1 YetiChocolates dhardy123 Beets3 Almost Definate jim loellbach Tentative gfron1 - not seeing a commitment to come above but seeing an interest in Morato! lambrecht gourmet prabha Mark Heim (strong tentative!) patris and sib Lurking waiting to decide DianaM

No full itinerary yet - but to date it will be Morato Thursday evening, Soma and other chocolate shops Friday (possible Master's Class Friday but not decided quite yet), Friday eve show and tell and drink until our check liver lights come on if desired,Saturday am didactic, Sat afternoon and Sunday - play and teach each other, Saturday evening dinner.