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Hi Darienne This old thread, around page 10-12 there is discussion on the spatter technique. DavidJ shows his spatter tip Ruth Kendrick explains her modification to the spatter technique. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=56184&st=330 Here is another one where TNChocolatier explains how to do it with the old fashioned way with a whisk http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=117072

I guess my other issue is that I'm not a pro. I make chocolates only 12 days of the year (~3200 pieces a year). So with that level of practice, fluctuations in my technique (both in molding and in ganache prep) will dominate over incremental improvement of going from Callebaut to Valrhona or Cluizel or Felchlin or whatever. And it's not as if Callebaut is bad - many pros use it too. I think I can think of maybe 1 person in my audience who would be able to tell I used Valrhona instead of Callebaut - for the shell anyway, in some cases the chocolate used in the ganache will make a big difference as Truffle guy notes. The shells are supposed to be thin anyway, right? I think that going to 815 from 811 would make a bigger difference in shell and wouldn't cost you any more.

here's a list of what some pros use (taken from the article exposing Noka chocolate http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name...article&sid=83) Info is not mine, see article for more explanations Michael Recchiuti's -E. Guittard, El Rey, and Scharffen Berger. La Maison du Chocolat - Valrhona exclusively. Vosges - Valrhona, Felchlin, and Belcolade. Jacques Torres's - Belcolade Gale Gand's truffles at Tru Callebaut for the ganache. Norman Love's - Felchlin Knipschildt's - Valrhona, Belcolade, and Cluizel MarieBelle's Valrhona. Fran's Chocolates - Valrhona, Felchlin, and Callebaut Richard Donnelly - Valrhona, Callebaut, and Cacao Barry Brian McElrath - Vintage Plantations, E. Guittard, Belcolade, et al. Chuao - El Rey Garrison Confections- Guittard Lake Champlain Chocolates - Callebaut.

I guess my philosophy is much more simple. I find something cheap that tastes pretty good. For me, this is Callebaut. I tend more towards "American style" ganache where the flavor is stronger (vs. French Style where the flavor is faint). So going from '95/100' to '98/100' isn't necessarily worth it if the '98/100' chocolate is more expensive. I use other chocolate in just two cases: guanaja for Palet d'ors, and ivoire for vanilla bean ganache. The other thing is that 95% of my audience can't tell the difference between Callebaut and Cluzel or Valrhona or Felchlin or any of the more expensive brands. So there isn't that much point to using something better (and more $$) to impress those 5%. Most people are far more impressed that I can airbrush or spatter or paint cocoa butter than with an incrementally better chocolate. I know that's sad for chocolate snobs, but that's what I see.

Hey Kerry thanks for the parchment tip which you mentioned a while back. It made my cleanup a lot faster this last weekend. Lastly, thanks to this forum for explaining how the spatter technique works and some of the difficulties. I ended up cleaning my sink with alcohol, then putting my molds in the sink to spatter. I lined the near wall with flexible plastic cutting boards, and that pretty much did the trick. I dipped the whisk into cocoa butter and did a 'clapping' motion and it mostly all wo rked! The only thing to clean was the sink, which was easy! The boards went straight into the washing machine. Nothing on the walls at all, and only a little on the countertops!

yeah, I wanted to buy these books for presents since both of them are great. Plus, PH's other books are either in French or 100's of dollars. Disappointing to see that they are out of print.

I did not read the whole thread, but is this book still available? I am not seeing it on Amazon for new.

if I remember correctly, he does use cocoa butter in his peanut butter ones. So it's not as if he is afraid of listing it as an ingredient.

In Pierre Herme's book, he makes enrobed chocolates eith luster dust and acetate sheet covering. Even for PH, there are pits everywhere, I think that kind of thing is a definite issue when put the dust between the chocolate and the mold/sheet I've taken to what Kerry does and mixed the dust with cocoa butter. Another technique you can do is to dust them or tap on dust afterwards instead. I saw Fritz Knipschildt do this in his throwdown vs. Bobby Flay.

Hmmm. I need to buy a heat gun. So before I had the melter, when I had to keep re-heating in the microwave to keep temperature, did that do the same thing as using a heat gun as far as keeping the chocolate liquid? The ganache wasn't completely liquidy, but it wouldn't hold its shape if it was touched or handled in any way. It was probably the texture of soft butter. I pre-bottomed with a layer of chocolate and that helped the pieces hold their shape and gave me something to hold onto while I dropped them into the chocolate. ← emmalish, you can also just use the microwave as before. Reheat a small portion and mix it in, and then you don't need a heat gun. In his book, JPW recommends not to use cocoa butter once it's thickened. slight heating is the way to go. Actually, JPW mentions something else- an alternative to the heat gun is to keep on raising the temperature slightly over time, up to 93.5 for dark chocolate. The bottom will be undertempered, the top will be overtempered, and when you mix them it will be perfect.

Good idea, but these must be eaten immediatley? or within a day or two at most. I am quite intrigued by the idea of a creme brulee truffle but it is it possible to get a decent shelf life ( 1-2 weeks) on a similar recipe? ← Sorry for the delayed reply, but I've been away from the board for a while. Yes, these are special in that they do need to be eaten within a couple days since the degree of water activity is extremly high. I imagine that you could make a version with ganache that would last much longer, but the texture would also be different. ← thanks for posting the results, I always enjoy seeing how these experiments work out!

JPW also mentions that you can set it overnight at just the right temperature (calibrated to your machine). The top will be overcrystallized, the bottom will be undercrystallized, and when you mix it all together the next morning it will be just right. I've never gotten this method to work, but he says it's possible. I think if you search egullet archives, it is mentioned there too.

The other thing that JPW has mentioned in his classes (according to reports here) is that every machine is different. So the temperature isn't absolute, it's relative.

The picture in Greweling on P242 looks like it uses the jbprince (standard sized 25mm-deep, same deepness as lapin dor's) mold. I could be wrong though. His cherries look smaller.

Dr. Kerry Beal! Is that a Ph.D. or MD?

Would this work? http://www.jbprince.com/chocolate-and-suga...28-cavities.asp 30mm around 25mm deep. No Sugar crust or no cocoa butter crust? Wasn't there that thread sometime ago about bottoming with cocoa butter for this type of thing? I can't remember exactly.

Based on Tiny's advice, I emailed Chef Greweling. He actually replied!!!!!! Chef confirms what tiny said: atomized glucose and powdered dextrose are different, and you can see the explanation below. "More on tract, since l'epicerie is asking you for retractions maybe it's a good time to put it away." Only on the cremodan part, which I am happy to retract as my error (and which they noted and thanked me for in email). Substituting dextrose without my knowledge and claiming they are the same because "Greweling says so" is pretty well documented and accepted by all involved. I did forward Chef's note to them. Just for their knowledge, not because I expect a refund or an exchange or anything. Thanks for the http://www.le-sanctuaire.com/ recommendation and thanks to all who helped answer this question! I love this site!!!!!!!

Hey Tiny Thanks for that. That's what I think too, in reading my books. Dextrose is one component of glucose, but glucose (the liquid) has other stuff too - explaining why powdered glucose isn't as sweet as powdered dextrose. I'll try emailing Chef Greweling, who knows maybe he'll reply. That would be pretty sweet if he did reply.

THis sounds pretty cool, do you mind answering a few questions 1. you say the blade is on edge. THis sounds like vertical, correct?? 2. You say you spray the end of the spatula. Are you aiming for the center of the spatula or slightly off? Do you get any spray directly into the mold accidently? 3. The mold is on edge, so I assume that means vertical rather than horizontal, correct?

Thank you Brian for that information about New York. I did not know that. they sent me another email asking me to retract what I said about a previous mess up. Their documentation shows I ordered "Pastry one Ice Cream stabilizer" and that is what I remember from my invoice as well. I received "Patisfrance Gel glace". If they are the same, my apologies to l'epicerie on that incorrect memory. I am not a pro so I did not know they are the same, my fault. In that email, they did tell me again that dextrose and atomized glucose are the same (see below)

Thanks again tan319. It was the 2nd time. The first time it was a gel glace for cremodan substitution. I only ordered one cremodan last time. But this time I ordered 3 lbs of Atomized Glucose and got 3 lbs of Dextrose. This recipe also uses both dextrose and atomized glucose, suggesting they are not the same. They even suggest lepicerie as a vendor. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JA...ag=artBody;col1 I did say in my original email "I will be out of town these next few days so it's not a critical rush". I would've hoped that 3 days was enough time and that I wouldn't have to call. But maybe they do things differently. *edit, l'epicerie's documentation shows I ordered Pastry One Ice Cream Stabilizer and I received Patisfrance Gel Glace. Maybe they are the same and if so that is my mistake and my apologies to l'epicerie for my error*

OK, I'm going to answer my own question. I found a recipe from the 2006 World Pastry Class forum from Biagio Settpani (thanks Schneich for posting the link!!!). The recipe uses both powdered glucose and dextrose, suggesting strongly that they are not the same thing. I think wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose clarifies the source of confusion. Dextrose is a form of glucose (D-glucose pure, as it is labeled on the package). That is, it is one stereoisomer of glucose. isomers have the same chemical formula but different arrangements and thus different chemical properties. Glucose will contain dextrose, but forms as well. This would be in line with what tan319 said earlier about it being less sweet, since it is the D-glucose form that is sweet (according to wikipedia).

Hey tan319 I'd be interested in what you think of L'epicerie's response. i cut and paste your answer to me and this is what they say Again, thanks for your expertise on this. I appreciate that they actually responded this time, but I'm probably just going to buy wholesale next time and eat the extra cost. At least I'll get what I ordered.

thanks for the pics! Do you mind expanding a little more on the sparaying part? Do you hold te gun sideways and the spatula sideways relative to the molds? and the cocoa butter drips down in a splatter effect? Or does it reflect off the spatula in a spatter effect? Or is it some other mechanism?

Thanks for the tips. 2 hours for 3 molds! I'll stick with the other way it sounds like.