gfron1

I have a question now that I'm getting more into the various practices and such. When steeling, I had always heard that you were supposed to pull backwards from the blade, but your instructions very clearly say to run it blade side down the steel. Is there a reason to do either way?

Great start! What exactly are bloody Mary tomatoes...sounds like a Catholic school boy game gone awry!

I found that my starter had peaks and valleys for about 9 months of regular feeding before now when it is completely stable as long I do my part. Work toward consistency and that means dumping or baking - I vote for the latter which may turn into a side business.

have you ever noticed how only the chocolatier sees their flaws I think those purple spheres are amazing looking.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Cookbook & References Forum INDEX which has French suggestions.

I didn't take it as insulting, so no worries. And if you're talking about videos v. online courses, there are more options. For confections start with Kerry Beal's video set.

I know you're looking for online courses, but maybe none of us know of any. I know for me, while I had a decent experiential foundation, but no schooling, eG and other forums are where I've really started to learn. And probably the best thing I ever did was bake my way through Amernick's book. Not that her book was exceptionally special, but it was interesting to me and by baking through it I learned so many techniques that I hadn't previously known. So my suggestion is get jazzed by a book, start baking, post your results and problems here and see where things go. The only benefit I see of a "course" is being held to deadlines, but eG is a good motivator if you make it so.

My first thought was the same as Kerry's - the air from the exhaust fan I would think would cool the chocolate and cause it to stick to the screen, the vent walls, the fan blades, everything, which might lead to problems with pests or buildup. I'm not sure what the solution would be except maybe a finer screen that would be considered disposable or washable.

Check THIS great collection of pics of showpieces. Its on a site that covers all forms of design.

Oh my goodness! Nibs and beans are great, but like Kerry said they need to be roasted. I put them in banana bread, on top of ice cream, in many of the cookies I sell, on top of my tiramisu. And yes, I pop them in my mouth - the perfect health food! But you don't just scarf or they taste like...sawdust. You need to eat them slowly so the flavor develops. And I've found price isn't the guide necessarily. The best beans packaged for sale that I've found come from Domori (chocosphere carries them). Those are amazing!

I didn't know that. You learn something new every day!

Taiwan's One Night Stand What you see in the picture is a malt cake topped with soy creme, a soy sugar tube filled with savory granola. Every element stood on its own, and combined I thought they were outstanding. In particular the granola was perfect - just a bit sweet and a bit salty, accentuated by the use of French Sel Gris (grey salt). Inspired by this month's TGRWT challenge, the combination of soy and malt works very well together. Recipe here.

I always simply ask for "standard cut" except my bison when I ask for more ground.

And thanks to our handy phone camera, I now know the name of the rice pudding joint

And here's a pic I just found on my camera...some dude thought he knew how to use chocolate

I was just sorting through my paperwork from the show and came across their literature which has a picture naming each salt. It doesn't say what they're good for but here's a bit more info. Going from left to right: 1. Wa No Mishio (dark blue label) 2. Churaumi No Nigari (bottle) 3. Kaiken (big white bag in back) 4. Aguni No Shio Kamadaki (bag with orange glow and waves) 5. Churaumi no Shio (Salt and Pepper)? not labeled in my literature 6. Japan Salt (doesn't say anything beyond this) (hiding behind brown bag) 7. Wa no Moshio (brown bag) 8. Ohotsuku No Shizenen Yakishio (tan label) 9. Aoiumi Yakishio (bottle) 10. Laying down on right: Churaumi No Shio

I'm laughing at myself because I vaguely remembered some eGer asking about non-pareils a long time ago and no one having the answer. Thanks to the search engine I found out it was me! At the Fancy Food Show I found Sanders Candy brand non-pareils that were dark and good. I hope the next fool looking for these finds this post.

I just ordered the Corallo 100% which I tried at the Fancy Food Show - the only 100% that I've tried (and i think I've tried them all) that had no bitterness, not bite and no chalkiness. It was outstanding melting on my tongue.

Wow - thanks Hiroyuki. I'll get better picks for the ones you can't read. It looks like I have a pretty good collection of salts here.

This topic has become a mangle of different types/uses of chocolate so my apologies for shifting, but I just added a few new bars to my store's shelves. My current favorites in order: 1. Patric 67% 2. Corallo 3. Cluizel Mangaro Noir 4. Askinosie 75% (although its unfair to include them since I mostly like their nib bars) Corallo is the new one for me and it is amazing!

I received this puerh from Ming at Vital TeaLeaf in Chinatown SF during the Fancy Food Show. He has gifted me with many great teas before (including a nice sized portion of an $800/lb tea on this visit also), and knew I didn't really care for the 6 or 12 year puerhs he has given me before. This one is aged inside of a tangerine skin and it was much less odoriferous, but had much of the positive tastes of the other puerhs. I could see myself drinking this more often.

I haven't opened this bottle yet since I want to do something fun with it at my next tasting menu. It was also very cold which of course diminished my ability to taste it. That said, I drank enough to know I liked it. It reminded me of a lightly flavored (lemongrass) tangy tea. There was a bit of the vinegar bite that we all know and love, but it wasn't so strong that it overpowered the more fruity taste of the lemongrass.

I hadn't thought about this experiment in a long time...til this morning. I make an Italian meringue when I prepare tiramisu, and today I only had duck eggs. Those SOBs did not whip worth s%^t! I will never do that again. I'm letting them set up to see if they're edible and hopefully sellable, if not I'm going to go find a duck to kick.

Can someone tell me what the heck I just got here!? I received all of these samples at the Fancy Food Show but there is no English so I'm a bit perplexed as to what is what and how I should use them. I'm particularly stuck on the liquid salt. Any translators willing to help me out? This one smells like salt and pepper mixed but its pretty so I thought I would post it

Here are pics of the product that I'm talking about.