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Marmalade

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Everything posted by Marmalade

  1. I agree, no way to get a flush piece all around inserting a transfer sheet into that shape mold. You would get ridges in the spaces where there is no transfer.
  2. Try melting at 120 or so as you mention, dropping down to 90-92, and adding seed then. Wait at least 10 minutes or more and test for temper. You are probably adding your seed when the chocolate is still too hot. Good luck!
  3. That would be paint in the red first with the tape in place, then do the airbrushing.
  4. Probably fine line airbrush tape...in the following order: tape, spray in red, allow to dry, then spray in gray on sides (and any gray that gets in the red area won't show up behind the red). Remove tape, spray in white. I've done similar stuff, but the time involved usually is too costly to justify this method for large-scale production.
  5. After making ganache slabs, truffles, etc. I often have trimmings from the guitar and sometimes small amounts of different flavored ganaches left over. I let these accumulate over time and freeze them, and usually have a kilo or two every couple of weeks. Usually, I cook it all into chocolate caramels, as this destroys all the different flavors and I end up with just a chocolate caramel. I'm looking for other ideas/uses for all my leftover ganache trimmings. What do other chocolate makers out there do?
  6. Do you have silpats? I have gotten away with using silpats to pour the nougat on in a frame, and dusting with 50/50 cornstarch and confectioners sugar on the outside, nothing else, and this prevents sticking. Host wafers (communion) also work perfect.
  7. Yes and yes. :-) It could easily have happened because the mold was too hot from the hairdryer. This can easily happen. You can retemper and use the chocolate again without a problem. Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions!
  8. I've made the Greweling version several times with great success and it was excellent. However, broke some of the whisk wires on my kitchenaid from all the beating, which takes a beating (no pun intended) on your whisk. Stopped making it for that reason! You can see my experience here.
  9. I think you should simply state the facts, which is what we try to do with our products. 1. Couverture is made with real cocoa butter, which is more expensive than vegetable fat used in compound. 2. Why is it more expensive? Because there is demand for it in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and other industries and it's at least 2x the price of chocolate in my experience. 3. Describe the difference between cocoa butter and vegetable fat-which is what is in compound. It has a much more pleasant sensation on the palate because it melts around body temperature, isn't greasy, and is reasonably healthy for you in moderate quantities. On the other hand, vegetable fat is basically like Crisco. 4. Then, tell about the skills needed to temper chocolate, as opposed to just melting compound. I don't think you need to say anything about "inferior"-the quality of your products and the facts, laid out plain and clear, should let anyone with at least a modicum of taste and intelligence be able to decide for themselves what's better, and why it's worth the prices you charge.
  10. As a grad of L'Academie de Cuisine, I'd love to make it, but unfortunately I live in Ecuador right now! However, I'd be glad to contribute from afar regarding curriculum, student questions before and after the course, and any other way you think I might be of help. I'm here to answer any questions regarding techniques in chocolate making, as well as questions about actually processing cacao and making chocolate, especially since I am in Ecuador and very close to the actual source! Thanks,
  11. I would recommend you go for the longer description-better safe than sorry. You should also include allergy warnings. Go here to the FDA Labeling Guide for further info. However, I believe your state officials may not really have legal jurisdiction over this...labeling is mandated by FDA regs, which also are not law but can be enforced, if I understand correctly. I import chocolates from Ecuador and follow the labeling requirements as best as I can, and have never had an issue with the FDA or USDA stopping our products at customs upon entering the country.-
  12. I think it was just sloppy production and they didn't make it very clear. There's no guarantee that the unmelted bits they mentioned won't melt out completely long before the chocolate cools to around 30-32C, which would mean the chocolate could end up untempered. So to be safe you'd have to do a visual check on it once it reaches the right temp, and add additional seed chocolate if necessary.
  13. Luis: I am not a chemist but you might want to try low-ester or amidated pectins, I quote from wikipedia: With low-ester pectins and amidated pectins less sugar is needed, so that diet products can be made. Pectin can also be used to stabilize acidic protein drinks, such as drinking yogurt, and as a fat substitute in baked goods. Typical levels of pectin used as a food additive are between 0.5 – 1.0% - this is about the same amount of pectin as in fresh fruit. Here's the link for the full text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectin Hope this helps and let us know if you find the pectin, where you found it, and how the products turn out!
  14. I´ve done about ten batches of PDFs without success here at 9,000 feet in Quito, Ecuador. I am beginning to suspect it´s my sugar-Ecuadorian sugar is very impure and does not always dissolve well. I spent hours making brittles with Ecuadorian sugar before I finally figured out the impurities were causing it to crystallize and not set up right. We did a batch of mango PDF and it came out perfect-but I didn´t make note of which kind of sugar we used. Colombian sugar is much purer. But there is none available right now! Once some appears in the market again, we´ll go back to the drawing board and see if that works. If anyone has any chemistry insight into this, and you can help me figure out if my hypothesis is correct, I´d appreciate hearing from you. It´s the only idea I have left. The idea being, undissolved sugar or impure sugar is somehow affecting the PDFs from setting up right. They are always kind of lumpy when I pour them and just never set up firm, despite having cooked some of them to over 75 brix-as high as 78, and adding additional pectin to recipes.
  15. Good observations! :-) I had considered this as a possibility since it was being discussed here, but have never did have the chance to use the pastry cutter on ganache since I have a guitar, so I cannot speak from experience using it on ganache. However, it's worth noting, I find the wheels in the pasty cutter I own very tightly set in place with almost no noticeable wobble, and I do get very straight lines on whatever I'm cutting. Hand movement and human error definitely are a greater contributor to wobbly lines than the wheels themselves, at least for the one I own. I can't determine what brand I have. I do use the pastry cutter for cutting lines across a thin layer of chocolate placed on transfer sheets, before it sets up, in order to get uniform triangles for pastry decoration, works like a charm.
  16. You can buy one of these, or something just like it-they make them for cutting pastry doughs. I found one here http://www.instawares.com/divider-6-wheel-....jr2396.0.7.htm for $23! and they are adjustable-that is, you can adjust the spacing between the wheels and then tighten it down with a wingnut. They're often called dough dividers or dough cutters. I have one and it comes in handy for all kinds of uses. Since they're made of stainless, you can also warm them. Very sturdy too!
  17. I can't speak for Canadian labeling requirements, but for US labels that meet FDA requirements there are several low cost options on the web that will produce your labels for you online for as little as US $20 per label. Specifically, the one we use is at: http://www.labelcalc.com/register/home.aspx If you are not producing a large number of products, it's a lot cheaper than buying a software package. Others include: http://www.foodcompliance.com/Tool_Chest/Wizlet http://www.compufoodanalysis.com/newsite/pricing.cfm http://www.nutrilabel.com/faq.html http://www.calorieking.com/ (source for nutrition info of many foods/food products) All our products are first analyzed in a lab for nutritional content, then that information is used to generate the labels.
  18. If you're hand dipping, getting a really smooth bottom isn't such an issue. But if you're using an enrober, it's important that the bottom be really smooth from the get-go. I've found using a brush or paint roller (sponge) leaves the texture to rough and spiky, where as a print roller or something really smooth will apply the chocolate and leave it with really smooth surface. Using untempered chocolate prevents any cracking around the edges of the cuts from the guitar wire, whereas tempered chocolate is much too brittle and you end up with imperfect edges at the bottoms, which in turn results in pinholes when using an enrobing machine.
  19. That would probably work. You can also get the printing rollers in varying widths-2", 4", 8", 12", etc.
  20. You can use a printing roller to apply a very thin layer of untempered chocolate. Works great.
  21. I've been attempting PDFs here at 9,000 feet for some months, adjusting cooking temps for the altitude. However, still have had no luck. Does anyone have experience doing PDFs at high altitude, and making any needed adjustments?
  22. Hi Michael: You might also try Mod-Pac, they have a lot of good stock packaging and pretty small minimum orders. BTW, I'm also from Solana Beach! Small world isn't it? Jeff
  23. Try contacting Michael Recchiuti of Recchiuti Chocolates in San Francisco. He and I discussed these and for that specific reason-that you had to adjust your formulas to the machine-he didn't really use his. michael@recchiuti.com Jeff
  24. I suggest you contact Clay Gordon at claygordon@thechocolatelife.com. Let him know I sent you and he'll have some good suggestions. Jeff
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