David J.

If you must refrigerate or freeze your truffles I suggest placing them in a vacuum bag first. That will eliminate the condensation problem.

It sounds like you are planning on duplicating Llyod's design (which is where I got my inspiration). His works great for the punch style, though I would opt for a single row of bolts in each direction to cut down on the effort required. I'll be watching for your design and pictures!

No big developments. I've been lazy about designing and building a base. Instead I've just been using it hand-held and found it works nicely in that I can rock it to cut from the back, then front, then middle. That works out especially well when the ganache is stiff or I miscalculated and let a tempered chocolate foot set up too far. Right now it's on loan to Tammy. Perhaps she will post her comments. I have speculated that the whole thing might be able to be constructed with epoxy rather than having to deal with brazing. A slight channel cut in the side rails for the ends of the cross pieces would ensure that the glue didn't have to hold against a shearing force. If that worked it would reduce the skill set required by a notch, not that brazing is all the difficult.

Michael Recchiuti has a Rose Caramel filled piece in his book "Chocolate Obsession" which is quite soft. That's just left overnight to skin over. I've always made it soft but not runny myself. You could also use the trick of spraying a very thin layer of cocoa butter over the top of the caramel if it is still to liquid after setting overnight.

That's quite a list of small enrobers. What is the price of the least expensive one? Thanks for the link for the wire belts.

I don't know that I'll go into business making them, but I could possibly do for enrobing what I did for the preceding process. I've already documented an inexpensive design for a home built guitar cutter in another thread. An inexpensive enrober head for a melter would be a logical next step. I like the idea of using a chocolate fountain for the pump. Would that work with normal chocolate (not thinned to death with vegetable oil)? Or are there simpler pumps that won't be destroyed if it sets up?

Yes! I keep searching for one. I wish there is a way to rig something up ... like using a chocolate fountain ... but how to get something to rest the chocolate on without them being stuck? Maybe if they make silicone or waxed grid racks. ← The problem would be the pieces resting on the grid and the bottoming chocolate between the grid locking it in place. That would happen no matter what the material it was constructed of. The answer would be to make a chain grid like an enrober that you could turn to get the pieces off. If you go that far, though it isn't all that much further to building a small pump and creating a small hand cranked enrober... I wonder just how difficult it would be to build an enrober "head" that would sit on and use a 6Kg Mol'dArt melter. I examined the enrober at the FPS and the mechanics are really rather simple. In essence it's just a pump pouring chocolate over a curving metal band to form a double curtain of chocolate over a powered chain belt. The back part of the belt has a vibrator to knock off excess chocolate, but that shouldn't be difficult to include. Oh, and a hot air blower to keep everything warm, but that isn't a deal breaker either. The continuous tempering machine it sits on is what makes it expensive, but I wonder if it couldn't just be replaced with a large pool of tempered chocolate in a melter. One would have to temper it to start and keep and eye on it, but for the length of time it would take to enrobe a few hundred pieces it shouldn't be a huge problem. Can anyone tell me why I'm deluded and should give up on the idea?

Yes, the layout is heavy on the whitespace and the directions are fairly repetitive. If you wanted to, you could collapse all the recipe sections down to a few pages at the cost of the margins and the pretty pictures. The book is rather pricey for the level of content, especially compared to Greweling which is the new standard any chocolate book will be compared to. JPW knows his material, but Greweling manages to convey it more coherently and thoroughly, probably because he is a professional instructor. That along with the fact that English is not JPW’s first language makes Greweling’s book easier to follow.

I've finally taken the time to go through my copy so I can post a review. The book is broken up into eleven sections and I will take them on one at a time: High-Quality Ganache In this three page section he gives some high level information that you've probably already read a few times, but then there is a little gem with tips on how to better construct a survey for a more accurate taste test. It's not a full course on Design of Experiments, but it will help you determine if one recipe is better than another. Main Ingredients This nine page section begins with a description of the basic ingredients of ganache. Here he gives 2-4 paragraph descriptions of the ingredients and their contribution to the ganache. There is a page devoted to the most frequently used spices and fruits that can give you some ideas. It’s not bad, but I think Greweling does a more thorough job. Technical Aspects Eighteen pages are devoted to theory. First up is a discussion of how various quantities of cocoa fat and milk fat affect the consistency of the ganache. JPW then goes into a discussion of why ganache should be pre-crystallized. He even goes so far as to state that the milk and other fats should be pre-crystallized. I wasn’t aware of a need for that or that milk fat is at all polymorphic as cocoa butter is. Does anyone have any ideas about this? He touches on homogenizing of the ganache with a blender for a smooth texture and then discusses creating a ganache under a vacuum. Here I found that part of the reason is to prevent airborne microbes from being mixed into the ganache, not to just prevent the oxygen in the air from being incorporated. So my plan of normal mixing followed by a degassing would only achieve the latter. Next up is a discussion on making ganaches lighter, first by whipping with its negative consequences, and then by addition of a frappe. He goes on to give three recipes for a suitable frappe if you can’t or don’t want to purchase a commercial product. Curdling of ganache is discussed with causes and cures followed by a six page discussion of shelf life: microbial deterioration, chemical deterioration, physical deterioration, and preservatives. Water activity is introduced and the scale explained. That is quite useful because JPW supplies the Aw value for each of his recipes. He gives some practical advice on how to manipulate the Aw value, reminding you that corn syrup is not all that soluble in water and doesn’t lower the Aw as much as other sugars. Starting Out In this small section JPW outlines the assumptions in his recipes and the allowable substitutions. That is followed by a nice pictorial on how to slab ganache and how to form disks for piping on. Special Ganaches This will be the most exciting section for those who would like to cater to those customers with special dietary needs. Lactose Free: JPW gives a calculation on how to replace the cream and then follows that with three basic ganaches and a Mocha ganache. No Added Sugar: He offers several variations of a no added sugar ganache using the Callebaut product “Malpra” which is praline with maltitol along with their dark, milk, and white coveture with maltitol under the brand name “Malchoc”. He gives a Butter ganache with saffron, ganache with vodka, mint ganache, Champagne ganache and beer ganache. He gives a great tip of using cocoa butter to coat the snap-rocks so you can add them to the Champagne truffles without the cream setting them off. Previously I had to use an all butter ganache but this looks like a great idea. This is followed by four recipes with a long shelf life (Aw 0.69 and under) and seven glazing ganaches and two sauces. Ganaches with Stimulating Properties In this section JPW admits that marketers like to play up the stimulating properties of some ingredients before providing nineteen new ganaches making use of them. These are laid out as in the previous book “Fine Chocolates Great Experience”, one to a page with a full color photograph opposite. Unfortunately as this is a book of ganache the pictures aren’t always relevant. Often they are of the finished molded praline and only occasionally cut in half. The pictures are really nice though and make this worthy of being a coffee table book. JPW makes use of a number of the new Mayan inspired molds. Caramel-Based Ganaches JPW spends a page discussing the caramelizing of sugars and how to mask some of the sweetness with baking soda. That is followed by eight new recipes. Fruity Ganaches The first page is a sort discussion of concerns when using fruit puree, freeze-dried fruit chunks, and freeze-dried fruit crystals. Nine new fruit based ganaches follow. More Suggestions This is a catchall with sixteen recipes. He also introduces the use of cuvettes along with egg liqueur, caramel, rum and anise cream. Pralines with Several Layers This might be a translation problem, but this section deals with dual layer ganaches. That includes the fruity layers we are familiar with, caramel layers, and praline layers. He includes six recipes here. Useful Information This starts with a very interesting method of infusing solid chocolate using an additional amount of cocoa butter. I recall there was a thread on this very subject some time back. He then gives two methods of creating your own invert sugar, one recipe for making almond milk, two for coffee extract, two for a whipped cream substitute, three for whipped cream for pralines, and one airy filling with a minimum of lactose. My summary: I would advise a beginner to go with Greweling’s book as a basic primer on ganache, but if you already own it this is a worthy addition to your library. It compliments Greweling and introduces a number of specialty ganaches, a few neat tips and a host of new recipes to keep you busy.

I'm interested in how you achieved the look for the Key Lime truffle. It looks like a dribble and splash of orange colored cocoa butter. If so, the what keeps the splash from being too thick (or was it)? And what is the cause of the dark outline around the orange? Is that a buildup of the sprayed green caught up against a thicker part of the orange?

How does this compare with the premixed colors from Chef-Rubber? If it's an improvement, do you have formulas for improving various colors?

Do yourself a favor and find a massage therapist who does thereputic massage/deep tissue work. You might even consider Rolfing. There many types of massage therapy, but I'm a proponent of getting in and working deep to release tension. You are likely not aware how much energy is drained just keeping those muscles tight, and how inefficient it is to fight them in everday movement. One side tightens up, say the biceps, and then the other (triceps) is constantly pulled and starts to tighten up in response (and the triceps is likely the side that hurts the most even though it's not the root cause). If your body is mechanically relaxed you should be able to work longer with less pain and exhaustion. The concept is so simple that I find it difficult to understand how ignored it is. Massage is widely considered a fluff/light relaxation or luxury item rather than a valuable therapy for certain conditions. Perhaps it is the result of it not coming in a pill or injection and therfore not pushed by the drug companies.

How thick a coating of cocoa butter is that? I'd imagine it would have to be fairly thin not to be noticed. If the liquid filling is made in the classic way, wouldn't it set up with a layer of sugar crystals on top given time? Is this just a way of speeding up the process, or is the sugar solution made weaker so it doesn't crystalize?

It sounds like a good deal of your problem stems from raising your arm fairly high and keeping it there for some time. A related problem for IT workers is holding the shoulder high while typing or using a mouse. Another big cause is raising the shoulder to pinch a telephone reciever to work "hands free". The muscles involved aren't used to this sort of work and "splint up". It doesn't even require repetitive motion, just holding this position for a long time will do it. The joint wasn't designed for this and the small muscles tighten up in self defense. You first want to verify with your doctor that there isn't any actual joint damage or inflamation. If the doctor can't identify an obvious medical condition for your pain it very likely will stem from tight muscles. The most familiar sensation of tight muscles is general soreness, but sharp pain (sometimes felt far down the arm from the tight spot) is quite possible. I have pressed on a trigger point on the upper arm and elicted sharp pain in the elbow and wrist. MD's often perscribe muscle relaxants when they can't find any other reason for the pain, and while it generaly isn't enough to take care of the problem it is on the right track. My father had his ulnar nerve relocated with surgery due to constant pain that developed after an afternoon of heavy erasing on a drafting board. That resulted in adhesions which just added to the trouble, and the original problem wasn't solved. I started working on his arm after all this and was able to effect dramatic improvment over a few weeks by relaxing the rock hard muscles through deep thereputic massage. Since then I've had success with "keyboard shoulder" and "phone shoulder". With the emphesis on sugery or drugs the act of simply getting into the muscles and manually manipulating them to relaxation is most often overlooked. This is a shame because it's a simple and side effect free method of getting relief. I'd say it also gets down to the root cause, but that's really the motion that caused the muscle problem in the first place and the solution to the root problem is proper ergonimics.

I'm not a doctor, but I have trained professionally in massage therapy. In my experience I have found a lot of joint/arm pain is caused by tight muscles pinching nerves. It's easy to overuse certain muscles and set up this condition. You can check yourself by palpating (pressing/squeezing) your arm and shoulder muscles. If you find some rock hard bands of muscle, or pressing in certain places refers pain further down the arm (trigger points) you may well be suffering from this. If so, the good news is you could get significant relief with regular massage therapy. The condition took some time to set up, so don't expect it to go away with one or two sessions. Muscles learn over time. If they are conditioned to be tight they will have a tendency to return to that state and you will need to retrain them. You can do a lot of massage work on yourself, and a good tool like the Homedics Mini-Thumper can help you do that. The trick is then to change how you work so that you don't overuse the muscles and return to the condition.

Last October I posted about just such a problem. I ended up buying the "Dynamic Mini Blender" from JB Prince and I'm quite happy with it. It cost many times what a home model does, but I am able to blend a heavy ganache with this puppy and while it warms up a bit it does the job. I am certain that any home model would have burned out in thirty seconds.

While I enjoy watching such videos I passed on them myself. I couldn't justify the $100 per DVD (sans discount). I had purchased another (I forget the title) and found it showed a small fraction of what was in a good book. I love books and gladly spend quite a bit on them if they are worth it (one pastry book at $200). I have found the information density to be much higher in a book than on a video presentation for the same reason a book has so much more story than a movie. It's just a matter of how much you can say and demonstrate in an hour. If it were a topic like cake decorating where full motion demonstrations mean so much you would benifit from the video, but chocolate work isn't so dependant on that. Personaly I would just buy Grewelings book and enough supplies to practice with. But if you do buy them please post a review...

You don't want to dip refrigerated centers for two reasons: 1) The cooler temperature will knock the coating out of temper 2) The cooled center will later expand as it warms and crack the coating. If you just want to fridge it so you can cut it, that should be fine as long as you let it come back to room temperature before dipping. What was the formula you used for this batch of ganache?

Though it's sold as a postal scale I really like the 7001DX. I've had it for over two years now and use it for all my chocoalte work and baking. It's both durable and inexpensive.

From what I recall nobody sells them. I believe the FPS just went to a metal supply shop and had them cut to size from sheet stock.

I use a silpat, but I also stack 1/4" x 1/2" bars for dual layer ganache so I have to tape the second layer.

It's close but not a perfect comparison since it is much easier to mix your own ice cream base in house than it is to process cocoa beans. I suppose a shop with a very small output could manufacture the chocolate they use, but the amount of time and floor space required for the manufacture would likely dwarf that required for the confectionary side. The Penn State instructor's point was that you could purchase premade bases of whatever quality level you were looking for. Some are cheap and others are more expensive, all based on the quality and percentage of ingredients. The bases aren't dry powders either, but rather come shipped in large plastic bags that need to be kept refrigerated. I did not verify this, but supposedly even a high end shop could find a base to suit them. Now that is all fine when you are using the base or your coveture as an ingredient, but everything changes when it becomes your end product. Repackaging someone else's product as your own with no added value is nonsense at best and deceit at worst. I've read the article on Noka and it certainly sounds as though they were actively deceiving the public to get them to pay a huge markup for the repackaging (and imperfect tempering to boot). If true that would put them in the category of scamer rather than chocolatier.

The length of time you let the chocolate sit in the mold before pouring is a function of how warm it is to start, its viscosity, and how cool your shop is. If you have a very thin chocolate (lots of cocoa butter) at 94F with a shop temp of 75F you will have to wait a lot longer than if you have a thick chocolate at 89F and a shop temperature of 62F. You have to adjust the time to your conditions. That said, you can tap the back of the mold or swirl it in a tight circle to encourage more chocolate to exit if you went a bit over.

This is a lot like the ice cream business. I took the Penn State "Ice Cream 101" short course a couple years ago in the hopes of perfecting my personal ice cream making. What I found was the course was directed to potential "Mom and Pop" ice cream shops. They described what went into the ice cream base, but went on to state that no shop would actually be manufacturing the base. Like coveture, the base is available in a huge variety of formulations and you can generally find one that you prefer. The huge manufacturers produce the various formulations in bulk and the ice cream shop differentiates themselves by what they do with it. That includes various flavorings, inclusions, and the degree of overrun (air). The base is most economically and consistently produced in huge quantites which doesn't make it practical for the small shop. That's much like producing your own coveture for a truffle shop, though you could argue that the coveture is far more process intensive. While I still love making ice cream I was a bit dissapointed with the minimal challenges and that is what led me to start working with chocolate.

Not at all! Just line them up to whatever size you need and tape them down so they don't shift around when you pour and level the ganache. Having them in seperate pieces facilitates removing the frame after it sets up. This is really simple and you can use almost anything of the height and length you need.