Tri2Cook

It's a loose rendition of Greweling's recipe. I used Michael Laiskonis' coffee ganache recipe subbing the chocolate I was using for the shell for the dark chocolate he calls for which essentially takes it back to Greweling's recipe. The DDL does thin when stirring and piping but it seems to thicken up again. As can be seen in the picture, it stays in place after cutting. Shelf life, I can't answer. I haven't reached a point where I need more than a couple weeks at most and everything seems to survive that time period (even using commercial off-the-shelf jelly in PB&Js held up longer than that unrefrigerated). I kept a few of these aside, I'm going to cut into one every few days and take a look but the eyeball test doesn't really guarantee nothing is starting to go bad. This is the stuff I make myself by simmering cans of sweetened condensed milk. I'll try making the DDL a day or two before using and see if that helps. The can I used this time had been cooked about a week or so before I used it. I haven't tried that. The crystals are pretty small but I'll give it a try next time and see what happens.

Nothing exciting here, no decoration or anything fancy. Just coffee ganache and dulce de leche in 40% milk shell. The main reason I'm even posting it is to ask if anybody has figured out a way to eliminate the crunchy little sugar crystals that form in every batch of dulce de leche I make (using the boiled cans of SCM method)? They're so tiny that you don't even know they're there until you get that little crunch when chewing. I've had taste testers* say they enjoy the occasional little crunch they get from them but I'm not sure if that convinces me it's ok for them to be there. *Taste testers are another thing I'm going to have to address. Think I'm going to instate a "one strike, you're out" rule that removes people from the tester list if I don't receive timely feedback.

Pictures of baking are never boring.

That looks good. I need to try a semolina bread one of these days. I love it for pizza dough, not sure why I haven't connected that to bread.

Sounds like a great reason to be there to me. Between asking questions, some dedicated internet searching and lots of experimenting, I can usually figure out how to do most of the things I want to do. It's meeting the people and seeing how they do things that would be the fun part for me. I'm determined to get to one of the workshops someday, conspiracy of the universe to prevent it be damned!

Anybody willing to ask Lisabeth a couple questions for me during the bean to bar talk? Unless somebody already knows the answers and we don't need to bother her with it. I'm just wondering if there are detrimental effects associated with higher levels of milk fat in chocolate (for example, if you used cream powder instead of milk powder) and with bringing in other fats (for example, using peanut butter powder or coconut cream powder in the mix). Would the latter just end up making a variation on a meltaway or is there a level that can be tolerated in the mix without causing texture problems? And if so, would that level be sufficient to even matter in terms of flavor?

Dinner is still cooking but I may forget to take pictures when it's done so... Cajun shrimp boil tonight, minus the boil. Nice weather made the smoker feel like a better idea. Top to bottom, Cajun spiced potatoes in the foil pan (mainly just using the heat, not trying to get heavy smoke in those), corn on the cob (pulled the husks back, removed the silk, rubbed 'em with butter and a little Cajun spice and closed 'em up again), spicy smoked sausages (no andouille available locally, I generally make my own but haven't got around to it yet this year with smoker season just getting started) and Cajun spiced shrimp.

Good question. I was only commenting on the substitution, not the recipe as a whole.

Just a guess but maybe "works fine here" means "will still be tasty" and not "will be the same" just as an option to anyone who doesn't have Sichuan Pepper sauce available where they live.

Or lots of screenshots and the judicious application of video capture software... not that I would condone such behavior, of course.

That is a good price. I've been looking at the Nutrichef PKFD8 mainly because I'd like to have one I can dual-purpose as a cocoa butter/airbrush warmer. The Nutrichef isn't any more expensive than the Excalibur (normal price) and has a bottom temp of 84 degrees. Most others I've looked at, including Excalibur, have a bottom temp in the 95 - 105 range. I like the idea of having a little more low temp cushion.

Must have been a pretty good deal! It already says "sold out" where the price should be.

I don't know if it's always added but every tutorial I've read or watched included it. I'm not really interested in getting into any of the niche categories of minimalist ingredients or special designations, I just want to see if I can make some tasty chocolate. I appreciate the efforts of those who do explore the possibilities with anything related to food and cooking, it's just not an area I want to get into myself. In regards to the "bar" part of "bean to bar", what's a good size for molding bars?

Good points. I've been doing quite a bit of reading and video watching on the subject recently but I hadn't found much information on the economics of it. I'm not interested in getting into any serious bean to bar production so it doesn't really matter a whole lot, was mainly just curious. Besides, I don't think any playing around I'd do will be considered actual bean to bar by the purists regardless of whether I start with whole beans or nibs because I don't have plans to produce the cocoa butter myself.

Digging this up because it's the only thread that came up in the search with "bean to bar" in the subject line. I'm wondering if I'm correct in my assessment based on perusing the internet and checking out cocoa nib prices that rolling your own is primarily a labor of love? Unless I'm overlooking something, which is entirely possible since I have no experience in this area, it looks to me like higher end commercial couvertures sell in the same general price range per kg as what it would cost to make it yourself. Good but perhaps not top tier chocolate (entirely subjective, I realize) can be purchased for much less than the cost of making it yourself. So am I overlooking something or is that pretty accurate? This is not an attempt to lessen the idea of making it yourself, I'm looking forward to giving it a shot, just wondering if I'm correct that cost is not one of the factors in deciding to make your own.

No picture but I gave a drink I accidentally stumbled across a long time ago while stuck in a youtube loop (for those who aren't familiar, it's when you go to youtube to view something specific and the next thing you know, an embarrassing amount of time has passed while you keep clicking to the next interesting looking video in the suggestions) a try last night. They bill it as a tequila play on a zombie, which seemed about right for Cinco de Mayo, and call it the Oaxacan Dead. Blanco, reposado and anejo tequilas in equal parts plus apricot brandy, passion fruit puree, lime juice, grenadine and a few dashes of yuzu vinegar (which I was unwilling to source just for this). I thought the name was kinda clever (it's what caught my attention and is the only reason I clicked on the video) and it didn't taste bad. I don't know what it would have been like with the yuzu vinegar and probably never will but it wasn't too bad a way to kick off tiki season.

In a stunning display of dedication, with all of the great foods available within the cuisine of Mexico, the Cinco de Mayo meal is going to be... wait for it... nachos. And not even crispy homemade corn tortilla chips topped with pork carnitas or carne machaca or chicken tinga or anything else along that line of delicious. Oh no, couldn't even pull together that level of effort. So it's store-bought chips, ground beef cooked with onion and jalapeno, some pinto beans, cheese, salsa and sour cream and that's about it. The available avocados were not too wonderful so guacamole isn't even on the list. Waffling between a tequila based tiki drink or the Modelo's I already have in the fridge to accompany. And you call yourself a gourmet!

I'm usually somewhere in the middle. I don't use a lot of the Kraft Dinner type stuff for myself but I'm not at all opposed to some things from cans or the freezer section of the store helping make a meal quicker and easier. There is always KD, Campbell's tomato soup, Ichiban ramen noodles and frozen chicken nuggets in the house though... despite my best efforts, the kid won't eat very many things outside of those items.

I was actually semi-disappointed to see his post. That basic idea was already on my experiment list for when I get my hands on a melanger. I thought I had a clever idea in mind, apparently not clever enough to not be beaten to it.

I just assumed that must be the case since he mentioned it being a problem but didn't get specific. But then again, Michael Laiskonis is one of my pastry heroes so maybe I'm just not as willing to question him as I should be.

Under normal grinding conditions, I'd agree. But with the melanger, I think enough time and, as Kerry and pastrygirl mentioned, enough cocoa butter just might solve that problem. I guess we'll see where he gets with it.

But it's not that at all. He's not making a popcorn bark, he's running it all through a melanger so that the end result is a smooth chocolate with the flavor of the buttered popcorn in it.

Are yeasts and other living microorganisms used in breads and fermented foods vegan? Not instigating anything here, genuinely curious.

I just miss online monthly challenges. The challenges here like the one mentioned in Kerry's post that wrapped up not too long before I joined eGullet (which I read through with great enjoyment as soon as I discovered it) would have been huge fun to me. The TGRWT challenges (They Go Really Well Together... unexpected ingredient pairings) and Royal Foodie Joust (dishes incorporating 3 ingredients chosen by a participant from the previous month), both of which were not eGullet initiated. They always kept me thinking and often inspired me to think in different directions than I normally may have. If I'm not mistaken, there's been a few stabs at trying to get some sort of challenge series going again here over the years but they never seem to catch on or be embraced well enough to continue. I wonder sometimes if people replace "challenge" with "competition" in their head and worry over whether they'll measure up or if it's just something that had it's time and is no longer of much interest.

I'm sure there are. And honestly, I'm glad there are. People should have choices no matter how they choose or are required to eat. My comment was mostly meant to be funny, with maybe a touch of taking a shot across the vegan bow in the mix. Probably should have refrained.