mostlylana

Kerry you're amazing!!!! Thank you!!!

Kerry - you're amazing! My goodness you're a wealth of information! What I'm interested in is making hazelnut paste which I can then use to make gianduja. I would like to make both sweetened (hazelnut praline) and unsweetened (hazelnut paste). Yes, the store bought versions are quite runny which is what I would need. Sooooooo... does the Sumeet multi-grind actually give you smooth nut butters????!!! I see that it has a 1/2HP motor - pretty powerful. The Santha melangeur sold on Chocolate Alchemy has a 1/4HP motor. I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here but here's the million dollar question... which do you think would do a better job in making a true hazelnut paste (with very little discernable 'grit' - ie. VERY SMOOTH)? Wow, this is exciting!

Thanks so much Kerry. I'm going to try this with hazelnuts and see how it works.

Thanks!

Hey Kerry, do you use oil when making your almond paste or just plain nuts? Any tricks I should know about? I should try my food processor before buying yet another piece of equipment!

As I am working toward using organic products and can't find an organic hazelnut paste I wanted to try my hand at making my own. While working with chocoalatiers in Italy (who use A LOT of hazelnut paste) I asked about making my own. Paul DeBondt sometimes uses his 'Bimby' to make hazelnut paste but says it doesn't get fine enough to make a very smooth gianduja. I asked about using the Santha wet grinder. The chocolatiers I spoke to didn't think the Santha would grind fine enough. I decided to ask John Nanci of Chocolate Alchemy about it. He said it would absolutely work - he's done it himself. Does anyone know if Chocolate Alchemy will be offering the Santha again? - it hasn't been offered for a few months now... Luis, how smooth does the food processor make your paste? Do you add oil or just use the nuts? Thanks!

Great tip - thanks. I'm thinking the acetate would give a shinier appearance as well. Here in the interior of BC, Canada it's been snowing for about a week. It's going to be a picture perfect Christmas (even though the patio door is frozen shut so we can't actually get out to the back yard!) Merry Christmas all!

Yes, it makes perfect sense. Actually the link to the video that Lior posted in this thread shows the method as you describe. I'll have to wait until after Christmas to try it though - it's time to make turkey!

Ahhhhhh. I normally do a 'beauty coat' when bottoming traditionally. I guess doing the beauty coat using acetate would just be extra beautiful! Thanks for the tip. .

Thanks Anna. I don't think I would use this method on a regular basis but want to use it for some special Valentine chocolates I will be making... my 'jewels'! Glad to hear you don't have to pre-coat first. It's already more work - don't want to add more!

I would like to try the acetate method for bottoming chocolates during the holidays. Most of the talk about this method in this thread dealt with solid chocolate. I would like to try this on filled chocolates. Anna, I think you were going to try it... did it work out for you? I was thinking you would have to sort of fill using your spatula before doing the acetate method to ensure the chocolate fills each cavity properly. I would be concerned with just using the acetate method as there might be crevices left unfilled. I would love to hear people's thoughts and experiences. HQAntithesis - it sounds like you just go for it with the acetate on your filled chocolates. Do you have any issues with unfilled spaces?

I agree! What a cool little airbrush. Now I want one of those too...

I have always assumed that it is the cold air and fast movement of the chocolate from the spray gun that tempers the chocolate/cocoa butter as it is being sprayed. I would love clarification on this if anyone knows the science of it?? I haven't done the velvet effect before but you know I'll try it with my new gear!

Thanks for the info Schneich. I am getting this gun primarily so I have the option to do effects. I will definitely still be thinning the chocolate with cocoa butter. I looked into the gun you mentioned Kerry (the Fuji) and was told that I needed to use it with a turbine. Not knowing much about these things at all I was told that a turbine differs from an compressor in that it blows warm (hot) air. He said the air can get pretty hot. I didn't think that would work for chocolate so didn't pursue it. I ended up ordering 2 of the Walcom guns. I figured I was getting such a good price I could always sell one. I got one with a 2.5mm tip for chocolate and the other with a 1.3mm special order tip for cocoa butter. With 2 guns I can use them simutaneously. I inquired with the fellow in Italy where Paul DeBondt purchased his gun. He said a 1.7mm tip would be fine for both chocolate and cocoa butter if you just want 1 tip. His gun comes with the whole heating cabinet unit for 1800 euro. Yikes... http://www.faemitaly.com/macchine%20spray%20inglese.htm

Oh dear. I can only imagine how disheartened you must feel right now. And yet - this could be a wonderful opportunity to be able to purchase your building. Good luck!

I agree - I would ask for an exchange. I once got chocolate that was actually expired. They tried to tell me it was just fine (which I'm sure it was) but, like you, I'm small and knew I needed it to last. I now request a long expiry date when buying large quantities. I usually get them to look it up and tell me before I commit to purchasing it! I haven't had any bad feelings coming back to me at all with that request. I think they understand. As for your praline paste if you need to keep it... I put mine in smaller jars and refrigerate. That way the oil doesn't rise up - and if it does, it's so much easier to stir those smaller jars! What will go bad in the hazelnut praline is the fat - it will go rancid. So as long as it still tastes fresh - you shouldn't have any problems. But I would still try for an exchange!

I toured the kitchens of a few 'chocolatiers' doing both pastry and chocolates. One had a completely separate kitchen for pastry. Another had a partition dividing the baking and the chocolate - for temperature and flour dust issues - but had a common walk-in fridge for both sections. I know other chocolatiers who do both. They do them on separate days. I plan to do both. I think you would need to make sure you have a cool room that the chocolates can hang out in on your pastry days though. I don't plan on using yeast but am still concerned with the flour dust issue. Would love to hear from others who do both.

Hi Chocoera, I have been following this thread with interest. I am a few years behind you in timing but completely understand what you are saying about moving your business to the next level. It sounds like you are a success at the level you are at and that's saying a lot for your readiness for the next step. It seems that you have the right attitude and a 'spark' that will really help you with your new path. I was in Italy a few months ago working with chocolatiers there. Lucca Mannori gave us some stats on the business side of chocolate making. He said the cost of employees is the greatest cost. He has several Selmi machines and says "with all these machines I have the work of 20 people." He said you need to take a good look at the time it takes for 1 person to do the job of the machine. Yes, a Selmi with an enrober is expensive but if you compare it to the cost of an employee needed to do the same job ??? He also said that cleaning is a high cost. He estimates that they spend 30% of their time cleaning. Packaging was his next highest cost and after that - ingredients. But back to employees - which he says is his biggest cost... he said you should figure out how much more revenue that employee must create in order to be an asset. I'm not sure I completely have my head wrapped around that - but it sounds wise doesn't it?! He was the most organized of all the chocolatiers we worked with. Mind you, he is tradionally trained and has a high stature in Italy. He said it is very important to have a level of quality - everything planned and programmed so that the quality is always the same. They have regular briefings so that everyone is always on the same page. I know you're not at that level yet - but it's good to keep in mind while you're setting up. Here's a few photos of his storage area. He even had a diagram on his walk in fridge that showed the location of everything so you didn't need to be inefficient when needing to get something! Good luck Chocoera! I look forward to reading about your future successes!

Haven't bought it yet - still deciding on which nozzle size to get. Here is a link to the gun - it's the Slim S HD. http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/walcom2.htm I managed to get a really good price - $307 - but not from this company. It's a 'just for me' special. If anyone else is interested I could ask if the price will stand for others.

Referring back to the Nawtees post - I, too, am waiting with baited breath for your post of the mold making process. Very cool. Good luck finding your jelly mold foodrambler. Your glow in the dark gin jelly sounds wonderful! I, too, have a question about finding a mold - if, in fact, you can call it that. I would like to do decorations similar to what is shown below. I can't figure out what is being used to make these designs. It's an imprint of some sort - it's not added afterward. These chocolates are from DeBrand chocolatier. Any ideas?

I thought I would post an update with what I've learned about spray guns since my last post. I decided to contact Paul DeBondt and ask about his gun. This is what he said: "The gun is special because, different from others, it has the possibility to have air pressure on the container (= on the chocolate) . This gives you the possibility to spay thick chocolate and/or large quantities and create many different effects." So the gun he uses has a pressurized gravity cup - not that common in a spray gun. I found a Walcom gun with a pressurized cup. The fellow at Walcom was most helpful. He said with a regular gun all you get is even atomization. With the pressurized gun you can get all kinds of effects. Here is a photo of some of the effects Paul DeBondt did. I'm also posting a photo of Paul DeBondt with his pressurized cup gun - notice the little hose that goes to the cup? You can see it near the neck of his T-shirt. I remember reading a post about using a spoon with your spray gun to get a splatter effect. With this gun, you adjust the air going into the cup and just spray splatter. I'm going to bite the bullet and buy this model. Then I'll have to save my pennies for a compressor!

Ahhhh... didn't see the bevel. Thanks for the info.

I love that it can go in the dishwasher. I definitely want one - but with more of a bend please... I like the bend of fork on the cover of the Andrew Shotts book - 'Making Artisan Chocolates'. Speaking of which - your fork looks just like his Kerry. Where did you get it please!? I use the Wilton fork I get from Michael's but it's not too easy to bend. The Shotts fork (your fork Kerry) looks like it would be easier to bend. My fork has a flattened end - I notice that the 2 you pictured don't. Do you get marks on your bottoms where the chocolate slides off? Here's a photo of the flattened tips I am talking about

Thanks - I think I'll give it a try and see how cost effective it is.

Wow - I'm glad someone asked about making Paillete Feuilletine. I am aiming toward using only organic ingredients and thought I would have to give up making my 'hazelnut crisp' - basically what Ilana (Lior) described. I just did a search for recipes for crispy crepe, cornflakes, making Paillete Feuilletine, and wafer flakes and came up empty. I have tried a few brands of organic rice krispies and corn flakes - and yuck - they taste like cardboard. Anyone know of an organic source of Paillete Feuilletine?! How about an organic source of a TASTY corn flake or rice krispie??? Thanks!