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Post 24 of that thread gives the answer from Chef Greweling himself, which corroborates what his student Tiny said. I agree with gap. I don't think you can know for sure unless you always buy from the same supplier (and assuming that supplier doesn't repackage things from their upstream supplier). L'epicerie actually asked their suppliers about their composition. It appears 'dextrose' by definition will be pretty much the same, but 'atomized glucose' may depend on who you buy it from. Chef Greweling said that as well. My mention of L'Epicerie is an acknowledgment of data source (def. not an endorsement). One of their supplier was the following Dextrose: Carbohydrate Composition (Dry Basis): Regulatory Data: Dextrose, % 99.7 United States Other Saccharides,% 0.3 Corn Syrup Solids: Dextrose, % 7.0 Maltose, % 7.0 Regulatory Data: Trisaccharides, % 8.0 United States Higher Saccharides, % 78.0 For another of L'Epicerie's suppliers, the information was the following Dextrose: (a) Dextrose monohydrate is purified and crystallized D-glucose containing one molecule of water of crystallization with each molecule of D-glucose. (b) The food shall meet the following specifications: (1) The total solids content is not less than 90.0 percent mass/mass (m/m), and the reducing sugar content (dextrose equivalent), expressed as D-glucose, is not less than 99.5 percent m/m calculated on a dry basis. Corn Syrup Solids:(a) Dried glucose sirup is glucose sirup from which the water has been partially removed and conforms to the specifications of Sec. 168.120, except that: (1) The total solids content is not less than 90.0 percent m/m when the reducing sugar content (dextrose equivalent), expressed as D- glucose, is not less than 88.0 percent m/m, calculated on a dry basis; or (2) The total solids content is not less than 93.0 percent m/m when the reducing sugar content, (dextrose equivalent) expressed as D- glucose, is less than 88.0 percent m/m, calculated on a dry basis.

good thought. I see you are from Boston, I am too! The store I'm talking about is Marty's Liquors in Newton, FYI. Great place to get chocolate.

I love their BACON bar

chocolate purchasing question, really gathering opinions. I can buy Callebaut in blocks at a local store for $3.50 a pound for the 11 lb block. I could buy Callebaut callets for around $5.50 a pound in the 22 lb bags, plus shipping. For those of you who use callets (or feves, pistoles, whatever): is it worth it? I don't have a business to run, but for one batch of chocolates (~400 or so) this would run about $25-30 or so extra in costs per batch.

thanks for the tips!

maybe this is the Materials engineer in me talking, but all phase diagrams are affected by pressure to some degree. The most commonly known being Carbon, where heat and pressure turn it into diamond and you can substitute one for another. It's just that for liquids to gasses dP/dT is usually much larger than for solid-solid phase transitions. That is, the effect at 'altitude' is still there, just too small to measure.

thanks to all for this thread. My wife loves caramel popcorn, I'm gonna have to try these recipes out.

hey do you mind sharing your coloring technique? On your website, there's a 1/2 green, 1/2 yellow with chocolate drizzle. there's a red, white, and blue . If it is OK, do you mind mentioning how you do those?

a combination of above 1. like Ruth, don't get them too dirty in the first place and your job is easier. 2. Like John and Kerry, warm water 3. Like Prariegirl and Ruth, I use old tshirts to dry and polish at the same time. Sometimes I'll get a little bit of colored cocoa butter on the tshirt, so I prefer to clean over not to clean.

great memory! And thanks for the video. I still have to say it looks messier this way. In this method in the video, it looks like the chocolate gets all over the table from the mold when it is set down. Then chocolate gets on the bottom of the mold from the table. Then you "track" chocolate even more places when you put the mold down to set. And the excess off the side when you scrape. Plus the acetate when you take it off and set it down somewhere. I was also surprised to see the guy wasn't using gloves but maybe that is a difference between American and Euro production. The other way, the chocolate only goes from the mold to the melter (mostly) with nothing on the table or even your hands.

^^ but the service of the store is much worse if anything goes wrong http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=117510 http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=113731 and they do not reply to the BBB either. http://search.newyork.bbb.org/reports.aspx...mbersOnly=False

thanks for the extra description! ONe question, this seems messier to me than the other way. That is, your sheet (or bag) will have all sorts of chocolate on it ,and acetate is kind of floppy. It seems like it would get everywhere. Also, it seems like when you use the spatula on the acetate (which is on the chocolate?) it would leak over the sides of the mold.

very nice work and cnograts!

If you ever get a chance, take a few pictures next time you use this techinque. Sounds interesting, but i'm still a little confused. Luis ← I too would love some pics. Or even some more details - the spatula is in contact with the mold, and the acetate comes after? I am not sure how the acetate come in to it.

As a last resort, you can freeze your molds. They probably pop out after that (and a lot of banging). To reduce sugar bloom after this, you use a dehumidifier or work in a dry environment. And cover with plastic wrap immediately. They won't be as nice, but they'll probably be good enough for personal use. But, everybody else is correct, it's best to improve the technique so you don't have the problem at all.

Based on advice from thsi forum, I bought a dental vibrator from ebay, which I think is what you use too. $50 or so. I also do my production like Tammy with regards to difficulty of molds - start with Pyramid and Cherry and squares, end with domes and hearts. The kugelhopfs though are still the worst.

Just to add one thing if you buy from JB Prince. (and Tammy can add or contradict). I've found JB Prince to have great customer service. I request for them to tell me if it's going to be delayed for whatever reason, and they always do. Once I got a wrong mold (it was labeled wrong). They had UPS pick up the wrong mold and they shipped the correct one immediately, without even shipping cost to me.

I get all mine from jbprince. On Tammy's topic, my least favorite with respect to bubbles are the flat top pyramids and kugelhopfs (the worst!). Cherry after that.

in his book, Frederic Bau says this can happen if the ganache is not properly crystallized or if it is too wet when backed. He says the "free" water absorbs into the chocolate, shrinking the ganache and leaving a tiny space which is an ideal hothouse for bacteria and mold. Not saying this is it, just saying this is one source of mold according to an expert. I guess you could get the same effect if you backed the molds but didn't vibrate to ensure a good contact.

I also use the technique mentioned by djyee, gfron, prasantrin - score the edges then meet in the center. the long 14'' serrated knife makes it easier; it's much harder with a 7'' chef knife.

like marmalade, I 'cheat' and put them in the fridge. I run a dehumidifier (from ebay) to prevent sugar bloom. I also want to thank the egullet'er who suggested the 'ice cube' technique, it works great for me!

how is it that you bought 25 lbs of chestnut flour without a definite use for it?! lol

Microsoft Excel. I record the ratios of ingredients. I record the required ganache weight for a particular mold type. Then I can scale to any number of molds or mold types with not too much waste in material. Excel prevents calculation errors. At least that's the theory. I still waste some. But every time I do it, I waste less.

puff pastry for me.

amazon link Saw this link on Amazon. Anybody ever tried a machine like this? I am thinking I could make all the pistachio, hazelnut, and almond paste I ever wanted and come out ahead in the deal.