John DePaula

I never table either. I don't know about you guys, but I always have several tasks going at once so waiting a bit for the ganache to begin to set up is not a problem. Also, it makes a mess. Also, my utensils and bowls go through a sanitizing dishwasher. My counter-top or slab is washed with soap/water and chemically sanitized but I really don't want to put such a delicate filling, ganache, on the slab. Just doesn't seem necessary.

I actually got the idea for tabling from the Greweling book…I think he uses it for his slabbed ganache, but I thought I’d try it on all of them. When you add seeds to the ganache, what size chocolate pieces do you use? Is it chopped up into fairly fine pieces? ← I think he's saying he uses melted, but tempered, chocolate to seed.

I like your method, Marmalade. Do you think a bit of Mycryo would work as well?

I just now placed another order. Thanks for the heads up!

Interesting report, Chris. I haven't tried Taza yet, but I will now. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Just a quick update: my supplier graciously accepted the return for a credit to my account. So I'm happy!

Thanks, All. Good advice! P.S. I've been down this road before with the supplier and had hoped we'd moved past this...

I recently purchased a giant pail of hazelnut praline paste. This is a rather expensive buy for me, even at wholesale prices. When I got back to my kitchen after picking up the order, I noticed that the expiration date on the pail was only a few weeks away. Quite frankly, I’m a small shop and will not go through a pail very quickly. Needless to say, I was not happy. Shouldn’t I expect a more "reasonable" life span for my purchase? So what are my options? I could: Complain and request to return the unopened product – probably resulting in bad feelings all around. Use it up as fast as possible Freeze it in portions for use over the coming months.

The presence of yeast in the air could cause a significant problem in the chocolate kitchen. Ganache is a good growth medium.

Is it possible that you're using water that's too hot to prep the lids? I thought the water should be hot but not boiling (~180F). Otherwise, I'd say your 99.2% success rate is pretty good!

What is "Arkansas bacon"? ← Arkansas Bacon and from the USDA Arkansas Style Bacon

My 2¢: I really love the cookbooks that I own from Julia Child. I know that no matter what, if I want to be sure it's going to be good, I turn to her books. That's why I started with her Perfect Pie Crust recipe in Baking with Julia. It's a butter/shortening crust. I don't know why (maybe it's my technique ) but I can definitely taste the shortening: a bitter, unpleasant note in the crust that I don't get from an all butter crust. Does no one else detect this?

Yes. Almost any type of citrus peel can be candied. However, you do have to start with peel that has some flavor. A few of the hybrid citrus have so little flavor that they end tasting only of sugar. I have found that most pomelos are this way and the white part is so thick, sometimes as much as an inch or more, that most of it has to be pared away and the results are not worth the bother. If I can't get citrus direct from growers, so that the fruit has not been treated, I buy only organic fruits. I would advise you to buy just one of the fruits, wash and cut off a small piece of the skin and chew it. If the flavor is very aromatic then you should end up with an aromatic and flavorful result. Some of the tangerines are tough skinned so after they have been parboiled, I test to see if they are tender enough. If still rather leathery, you can steam them to tenderness and then proceed with the candying process. I candy or glacé may types of dried fruits and steaming them first accelerates the process so they absorb the syrup much more rapidly. I learned this from a Lebanese cook who taught me how to candy apricots in honey (which are then rolled in sesame seeds to make a traditional confection). Also, here is the link to a page in Artisinal Christmas prezzies where I posted in Post # 163, my method of removing the skin from most citrus which is the easiest and quickest method I have found. It also makes it easier if you want to use shaped cutters as you have a larger piece to flatten and cut. I know that several people have used garnish cutters to make fancy shapes for decorating cakes and candies. ← Thanks, andiesenji; you are an invaluable resource here on eGullet! I did use your method this time for removing the pulp and my peels have turned out better than ever. Thanks also for the tip on tasting and/steaming the peels.

Can you get a good result candying Satsuma mandarin oranges?

That sounds just about perfect. I like the late addition of herbs. Typically, I use olive oil or olive oil/butter mix but if goose fat is around, I'd not hesitate to use it - sparingly.

There's also another thread somewhere about the CooksIllustrated recipe using 1/2 (?) the usual amount of water but making up the difference with Vodka, which doesn't interact with the gluten in the flower.

Paul is exactly correct: it's all about technique. On our final exam in pastry school, we all had to make a quiche. The dough recipe was identical among the students. The ingredients were identical. The only thing that differed was technique. Some ended up with flavorful, tender flaky crusts; others, not so much.

Ok, well, duh! Thanks, Lapin d'or. I did not see that when I did a google search. From the link above: A mixture of top quality coffees and complementary flavors selected by Pierre Hermé. The mocha of Ethiopia associated with Colombian coffee. So: mélange PH : Coffee blend selected by Pierre Hermé Characteristics: The mocha of Ethiopia associated with Colombian coffee

I am looking at another recipe, one for a Coffee Anise bonbon, that uses mélange PH. I have no idea what that is. Anyone?

Congrats to you on your new adventure! How nice to have in-house photographer and hubby just upstairs! The enrober to which you refer is the Selmi. Torsten showed us his lab here: Adventures in Starting a Chocolate Business - Post #85. I vaguely recall someone posting floor plans or something like that for layout of the chocolate kitchen, but I don't recall where. I think your local Health Inspector will have lots to say about materials you can/can't use in your commercial kitchen. See ChristopherMichael's posts... We look forward to your future posts!

I did the editing on PH10 and I can answer a few questions (but please bear in mind that the job feels pretty remote in time to me now, that I don't have a copy at home - or none that I can locate - and it might be tricky to search for the original texts I worked on in my computer files). You're right for Végétaline (I am not sure it is hydrogenated though, but I haven't checked). Edit: okay, it is hydrogenated. It is, indeed, used for french fries (and makes the best french fries beside animal fat) but I suppose it is used in the chocolate bonbons for its texture and hypersaturation which makes it solidify in the cold. Beurre de La Viette used by Pierre Hermé, unless mentioned otherwise, is not demi-sel but sweet (doux). There is no mention of that because butter in French pastry is nearly always sweet. La Viette is a brand of Charentes butter (very dry and pure, quite tasteless IMO). Demi-sel is not "demi" as in "un demi de bière" but means that the butter is lightly salted. There used to be "beurre salé" (salted butter) and beurre demi-sel (less salted). Now only demi-sel remains aside from doux. The practice of salting butter heavily to preserve it has disappeared long ago. Hermé uses two different pectins, Ruban Jaune and NH. Ruban Jaune is said "irréversible" and NH is "thermo-réversible". Thermo-réversible means that the pectin may be reheated again and will solidify. Irréversible means that once solidified, it cannot be melted and solidifed one more time. Thus I am not sure Ruban Jaune, being a brand name, means "yellow pectin". ← Thank you very very much, Ptipois; that was a very helpful post! By the way, ph10 is a gorgeous book and very well written. I, for one, am grateful for your contributions to make it so! to recap: Végétaline : hydrogenated coconut oil Characteristics: Good for French fries; makes fillings firmer at room temperature beurre de La Viette : a French AOC butter from Charentes Characteristics: low-moisture, neutral, unsalted butter pectine Ruban Jaune : pectin Characteristic: thermo-irreversible pectine NH : pectin Characteristic: thermo-reversible

I'm gonna need 2 demi's of bierre after my day in the kitchen today; maybe even 4... But about the butter, in one recipe he specifies "beurre demi-sel." One of the last ingredients in the same recipe is "beurre de La Viette." My question is: is this a salted (demi-sel) butter?

Yes, the vegetaline and beurre de la viette is being used in a caramel bonbon. I knew that 'demi-sel' means 'half-salt' but I wasn't sure that this particular butter is 'demi-sel.' Do you know for sure? I was a little skeptical about the vegetaline being coconut oil because it's often used to make french fries, so that seems kind of odd... I think that the pectin is just regular apple pectin but I'm not positive about that. Ruban Jaune may just be the brand name.

Recently, I’ve gone through my copy of ph10 and selected some recipes try out. Fairly often, I come across an ingredient or specialized pastry term that I have no idea what it is. I want to start defining some of these terms here so that we may all get better use out of the book. So, please post your questions about ingredients, sources, and/or techniques here. Sometimes I just making an educated guess so if you know better, please speak up! I’ll begin: végétaline : hydrogenated coconut oil beurre de La Viette : a French AOC demi-sel (?) butter pectine Ruban Jaune : yellow pectin

A good primer on bean cooking: Simple Instructions for Preparing Delicious Beans in the Rancho Gordo manner.