prairiegirl

I do find that El-Rey white chocolate does have a chocolate odour to it and I specifically use the white in chocolate tastings to teach my audience about chocolate and how it is produced etc.. I would not use white El-Rey in my ganaches such as strawberry, or a flavour that I am trying to profile. Sometimes I use it in a straight white ganache and tier it with maybe a coffee ganache (as an example). That tends to work well.

I think that wholesaling is a lot of work with little profit. It helps at the start to get you out there but I tell people "it is twice the work for half the profit"! Retail and corporate are what I prefer to do. I do go thru some restaurants and might chase one or two others because of the prestige and branding. For samples I use a 5 gram cup mold and I put ganache that I no longer need, maybe I made too much... and use that in these cups because most people want the freebees. Or some old bonbons that aren't moving i will cut up and use as samples.

Torsten and Truffle Guy and Sebastian. Thanks you for all the input. A lot of excellent information and resources.

There are factors which you have not listed that will give a ballpark figure as to the shelf life of the product. The biggest factor is the ingredients, then from there the proportions. I know of a gentleman here in my city that has truffles going bad after one week. They spoil because he has all the ingredient ratios out of balance. A properly made bonbon with no chemical preservatives can go from 4-6 weeks. Another chocolatier (a member here) had his product tested after 12 weeks and there was no mold or bacterial growth. The flavour was not as good. Shelf life, therefore, is dependant on your recipe. If is still tastes okay then you probably are okay.

Staples was selling them out as well back in June for around $40. I spent 3 days thinking if I should buy one and when I went to buy a few they were completely sold out!!

I would think that the Canon 4500 would work better because it has 5 cartridges whereas the IP3500 is only 4. I am currently using the IP3500 and the 4500 is in reserve. Canon always changes the printers so these are becoming obsolete. That is why it is good to go on a used goods website and pick it up cheap. I was lucky with the IP3500 because all the seller wanted was the ink and not the printer. he bought it on sale because the whole printer was cheaper to buy than replacing the ink cartidges! $20 is what I paid for a brand new printer. The Ip4500 wasn't so accessible and I thought it would be good to have it as well because using this technology is great business. I paid $140 on ebay for a brand new printer. Again, they are going obsolete so it was hard to find in Canada. If you go into the Deco artist website they will list what it costs and the shipping is not too bad. About $20 -$25 CAD. I think if you go to page 1 or 2 of this post I have listed the prices. It is less expensive for me to order the special transfer sheets directly from England then to purchase from Chocolat chocolat. I get the order faster and save about $15. Chocolat-Chocolat is asking $135 for 100 sheets. You have to swap out the cartidges and printhead with Deco artists. You can get these at Kopycake and other places because it is the same ink used for frosting sheets (cartidge that is, printhead probably from Deco artist or tomric or others who sell the system).

I use this system and I bought it directly from Deco artist. I have the Canon ip3500 and ip4500. It is the system that they say works with the security stick. I found one printer in kijiji and the other thru Ebay. If you look at my website and view current offerings, you will see some of my work. You must use the special acetate paper. It is sprayed with a mixture of cocoa butter, egg white, gelatine and something else. This allows the ink to absorb into this material and not smudge. It needs to dry for about 30 minutes to an hour before using. You can back with white chocolate (thinned with cocoa butter) or spray with an airbrush white cocoa butter. The white chocolate might interfere with with the colours you used on the transfer sheet. So it is better to airbrush with white. Read the previous posts because i did mention costs etc. in the past.

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/12494027...2_6759_4518.jpg http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/12494027..._6759_20197.jpg http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/12494027..._6759_28271.jpg http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/12494027..._6759_27606.jpg Pre reno shots of the new location.

You are so fortunate. I am looking for a better production facility and it is not easy to find. We did sign the lease last night for our very own retail store.!! It took 4 months to get this place!! I am trying to post pics.

Steve, do you have an update on the troubleshooting for your problem?

I think that Micheals sells the powder and also most craft stores . You will find it in the cake section.

I have had the suction problem when working with dome molds. My biggest trouble maker is the aztec design dome mold!!!

I used the Chef Rubber red colour and I overheated the bottle. When I over heat the cocoa butter I can usually retemper the mixture by running it under cold water and then the airbrushing/compressor can finish the tempering job. This time, my cocoa butter would not set. After several hours the bottle is still liquid. I am going to have to table slab temper the whole content of the bottle. Has anyone ever experienced this? The PCB brand has never done this. I have done a lot of airbrushing and this is the first time this has happened. The remedy will be to hand temper the whole bottle.

The paperclip is okay if only doing a few but there is no way I would use that technique for volume.!

I pit the cherries from the side with a cherry pitter. They sometimes look a little deformed instead of nice and round. I pit the cherry from the side, let it dry, then dip in fondant, let cool, and asap I dip in chocolate. Then I take the wet chocolate dipped cherry and put it in a pan filled with shredded chocolate splinters and let the cherry dry. I like to get a spoon and drop the splinters onto the cherry and sides to give a rustic look and cover the defects (from being pitted from the side). So I might dip in dark chocolate and then use white or milk shavings to decorate. I like to buy the "van" cherries as they are very firm. Bings work as well. Any firm cherry for that matter.

It is easier to just buy the software. Sometimes I will use a kopykake software to do some specialized work. I would check with deco-artist in England about the cost of the security stick. You might get it cheaper thru them directly.

I am interested in your making your own magnetic molds. I would to hear more about that. I use the Deco Artist and like it. I had to learn to use it properly and you can see in my website how it looks. Great for corporate logos and wedding apllications.

You need to make sure that the printer you have will be compatible with the software. I bought the system from England except for the printer that I bought locally the kijiji for $20 brand new in the box. I also bought another printer thru ebay to have as a back up. By using the software I have increased business and most people are quite impressed. You can put a white chocolate backing on or you can airbrush white cocoa butter onto the transfer sheets. There is good methods and bad methods when doing this. I was unaware that Tomric sold this so I will inquire about the cost of the special transfer sheets. I found that buying out of England was cheaper postage than from the United States and I live in Canada!! If you go on my website you will see some of my work using this technology and also what we are charging. So, in my opinion, Deco Artist is a worthy investment.

Rancho Vignola Get ahold of Rancho Vignola. Edited to say they are in BC

I use Amano chocolate strickly for chocolate tastings. I always let my audience know that I consider Amano to be among if not THEE top chocolate maker. I mold the chocolate into 5 gram bars. I am in the process of planning a retail outlet and will be thrilled to carry the bars.

Kerry mentioned this heated head airbrush some time ago and I wrote for info but didn't get a response (what's with these companies not answering requests to purchase their products???!!!) Has anyone else followed up on it? Any luck? I'd love more info and PRICING! Here's the link: http://www.aerographe.com/page7e.htm ← I called them in France and English was an issue! They told me to send an email and I did and "no response". I might get my colleague, a french pastry chef to call for me to get the info I want.

Wow. Thanks everyone for all the recipes. They all look awesome. I will be trying every one of them. Any more ideas...keep them coming. Again THANKS.

I have only experimented a little with making a banana ganache and I haven't liked the outcome. Does anyone have any good ideas or recipes for a delicious banana ganache for bonbons?

I make ice wine buttercream fillings. The high fat content absorbs the ice wine flavours very nicely.

Are you turning them upside down to cool? ← Yes, I do turn them upside down.