Tri2Cook

Nice! But now I'm going to be somewhat disappointed if the next thing you post here isn't titled "Marcie".

I'm not familiar with that particular gun but for the one I use, it is necessary to have the complete assembly (all 3 parts). Mine came with all 3 sizes that are available for the gun I use and it came with a nozzle, needle and cap for each size. Edit: I type too slow... Kerry already covered it.

You've already negotiated the idea that you'll still be working as a competitor with your own business while working for them and they're onboard with that. If you've managed to get that as a stipulation, doesn't seem like much of a stretch to explain to them that while you will be using your recipes for your own business as well as theirs, you use different ingredients for your personal brand and would likely, at least at this stage, be targeting a different market. That's with the assumption that you're currently working as a home business and not a directly competing local shop.

I have way too many cookbooks and not nearly enough. I have a bunch that I inherited from my mom that I've never used and probably never will that I should get rid of and there are quite a few out there that I don't have but would like to. It just seems easier to call it well balanced as it is and leave it alone.

That is kinda sad, to not find good sweets at a confectioner's trade show.

Cool technique. I've never thought of using butter as a medium to create a hollow shell but I like it. Gonna have to give it a go.

Nope. Just some color from the smoker and low-end photography skills.

Rubbed a couple pork butts with salt yesterday. Got up early this morning, coated 'em in a spice rub and got the smoker going. They spent most of the day relaxing in 225 F heat with 4 hours of pecan smoke at the start. A big pan of beans kept the pork company in the smoker while I made coleslaw. Pretty much your basic slaw other than I added a couple shredded granny smith apples and some minced jalapenos. Figured I might as well make my own bbq sauce to go with it. I actually planned ahead for this one and made the sauces last weekend so they'd have time for everything to mingle. They say variety is the spice of life, so I went with it... From left to right: North Carolina red* (vinegar based), South Carolina gold (mustard based), Alabama white (mayo based) and Kansas City (the sweet stuff). *Just in case any N.C. eGulleters are prepared to pounce, I'll specify that this is the Western N.C. type with the addition of a smallish percentage of ketchup. I've tried the Eastern straight vinegar stuff and it is tasty but I like the red slightly better.

Maybe they're giving the warnings earlier in the process now, it's been a while since I tried ordering anything on U.S. amazon. That would definitely be more convenient. Yeah, I sometimes get hit for duties on orders from the U.S. even when it's something that should be covered under the "free-trade" thing. It seems pretty random sometimes even on the percentage charged.

A few things on U.S. amazon will ship to Canada but most won't. They'll let you add it to the cart and go through the whole checkout process until the very end... and then give you a message saying "this item does not ship to your location". This is one of those items that will not. Not a big deal though, I'm not in a hurry. I have enough things I need to practice at the more basic end of the spraying cocoa butter scale at this point.

Now I'm curious how these compare to others I've made. Gonna have to give them a try. I find it interesting that he says to add fruit purees at the end of the whipping stage, I've never tried that. When doing fruit flavors, I always use the puree to hydrate the gelatin and then whip the hot syrup into that.

I've never used honey or invert sugar in marshmallows. I suppose it's entirely possible that he just likes the taste of honey in his marshmallows since he's not adverse to using invert sugar in other recipes but I agree with Kerry that I'd probably go with invert if I was going to replace it just to be on the safe side. Just in case it's integral to his formula. I strongly suspect that glucose would work just fine though.

He uses dried egg white powder if that makes any difference.

I may still invest in the second edition of the book at some point if I'm convinced there's good reason to but I managed to dig up the pipeable marshmallow recipe. It's not being piped in shells and doesn't say anything about a temp where it becomes to firm to pipe so I'm going to have to play with it to find out if it can still be piped once cool enough for shells.

Hopefully someone will be able to help. I saw your other post but don't have an anything helpful. I've never made marshmallows with Greweling's recipe and never layered with a ganache. I don't have a guitar so there's never been any decision making when cutting. I have some marshmallow ideas I'd like to try in chocolates but I admitted defeat without ever entering the battle and decided to hold out for a good pipeable marshmallow recipe. I may have to invest in that second edition of the book after all...

I want to say "I don't know how you do it all" but I think that would just be an attempt at making myself feel better because I don't. It's pretty obvious how you do it... you don't find excuses to not do it, you just do it.

I've tried mayo, it doesn't work for me. I'm not the greatest meatloaf enthusiast to begin with. I generally find it to be unexciting so mayo just makes it seem (for me) like rich, creamy unexciting... which somehow comes across as worse than ordinary unexciting. I need something that wakes it up, adds a bit of zing and excitement. Even then, once or twice a year is plenty to take care of my meatloaf fix.

I go for a whole lot of crust. I fry those slices until they're begging for mercy. I don't want them burned but I want that outside layer as crunchy as I can get it short of burning. Then I toss it on bread with bbq sauce or mustard (or, even better, South Carolina style mustard bbq sauce if I happen to have a batch made) or sometimes hot sauce, depending on my mood at the time.

No idea. I've rarely worked with it at all, much less tried to attempt something like this with it. Looks like your experiment is holding up nicely. If that's going to work, isomalt would be silly anyway. Just added cost.

I wonder what isomalt and a little white chocolate would do... I have both but nothing that would pulverize them as well as that.

I have the model 165 (4.8 gallons per hour) but like I said, I've had it for over 12 years. I honestly have no idea what the current models are. Yeah, just pastry work. I use it for velveting and spraying glazes. I've never tried using the Wagner for chocolates.

I'd agree 100% with that. At the very least, to get started and see if it works for you or you like messing with it. They're not too expensive and do the job just fine for most pastry work not requiring fine detail. I have over 12 years on mine with no issues and no temptation to upgrade to something more fancy. The biggest issue with the Wagner is making sure you use something, even just a cardboard box, as a spray booth because the overspray isn't horrible but isn't entirely insignificant either. I generally set the sprayer in container of hot-ish water so that it's container is mostly submerged while I'm melting chocolate and cocoa butter for spaying. Then I just put the filled sprayer back in the hot water whenever I'm not spraying to keep things flowing nicely.

Interesting. Doesn't completely eliminate the starch but it greatly reduces it and it solves her gluten free request. Sounds a lot easier than spraying chocolate or cocoa butter through a stencil for each cake too.

I was thinking the same thing about that salad. Lunch today was an experiment in seeing how well neighbors get along. Took a piece of leftover Nashville hot chicken from last night's dinner and put it on a slider bun that had been well soaked with North Carolina style bbq sauce. If that sandwich is any proof, Tennessee and North Carolina get along very well indeed. I think that chicken might be even better today cold than it was last night hot.

The problem is, commercial or homemade, without the aid of additives, sugar, especially a very thin layer of super-fine sugar, is going to struggle when confronted with moisture... which is going to happen when in contact with a cake. Maybe try a light spray of white chocolate through your stencil and see how it looks? That wouldn't increase sweetness any more than the sugar and won't taste like chocolate. If it's sprayed lightly enough, it won't taste like much of anything when eaten with the cake. Also less expensive long-term than coating every cake with cocoa butter would be. I have no idea how well it would work, never tried it, but it'd be a cheap experiment to try it on one cake and see what happens.