mostlylana

I'm on the search for a nut chopper so thought I would bump this topic and see if there have been any new inventions (or new ideas!) since '07. I'm tired of getting nut dust with my nut pieces and want something that chops uniformly. I was hoping the thermomix would work - but alas, no... I found this which looks interesting: http://www.miracleexclusives.net/miracle-electric-grindermincer-p-130.html or maybe a grain mill like this: http://www.miracleexclusives.net/electric-flour-mill-me300-p-67.html although the grain mill might grind too fine. They're more expensive than what I was looking for. I was hoping for something like the Progressive: http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-Heavy-Duty-Chopper/dp/B0007ZEU2W ... but electric and sturdy. Any help out there?!!! Does anyone know if there are KitchenAid attachments that would work for chopped nuts? Also, we just got a homogenizing juicer (like a Champion). I know nothing about it yet. Would it work in any way to chop nuts?

Deb, Your store is just as cute as could be! Well done!! I've looked at your website before but just did again... I can see why your production takes up so much time. Your chocolates are beautiful. I hear what you're saying about making ingredients from scratch. I use only organic ingredients so that means I produce purees, nut butters etc. myself. It is time consuming but the flavours are soooooooo good. I guess the key is finding equipment and techniques to make the job as efficient as possible. We just got a homogenizing juicer for Christmas. I'll see how that works for making purees. I look forward to hearing more about the adventure as you continue on. Good luck!

Somehow I missed the last set of pictures. It's looking great! Any new updates? How about you prairiegirl (Deb!)? You must be busy beyond belief in this Christmas season with a storefront! I've been dipping so much that my hand seized a little yesterday. I can't imagine producing enough - by hand - for a storefront. Ouch! Can't wait to hear more from both of you...

It's the way they're processed into oils. I can't remember the why's behind it though. When I called the company I linked to they explained it to me. I believe the oil will say "not for internal use" if you can't eat it. But I'm not sure...

Hi Ilana, I get my essential oils from here: http://www.anandaapothecary.com/therapeuticgradeessential%3Cspan%20class= They have a lot of organic oils. Here's their page on ingesting oils which I found to be very interesting: http://www.anandaapothecary.com/articles/essential-oils-safe-for-ingestion.html Also, I emailed them about bergamot specifically as I couldn't find a bergamot essential oil that didn't say "not for internal use" - not even the organic ones. I also asked about rose. I don't know if he's correct in what he's saying about the roses not being sprayed. As a lover of roses with MANY plants - they are fussy babies and need to be fussed over if not using pesticides (which I don't). Although, perhaps the oil comes from the hardier varieties of roses...??? I think I'd get the organic to be sure. Here's what they had to say: All essential oils are really edible, but some in greater amounts than others. Bergamot and other citrus oils are cold pressed from the peels of bitter oranges, and is completely safe. Same as Geranium. Rose, steam distilled, is not currently in stock; though we may have some soon. Rose absolute is solvent extracted, so cannot be 'organic'. The steam distilled, or 'otto' is quite pricey, and more so in an organic variety. The thing about roses, however, is that they are so hearty that they aren't sprayed, so the 'otto' is generally pesticide free - I CAN special order an organic 'otto'; I expect the price would be around US$1.5 per drop (yes, drop :-). We eat the absolute anyway, as any solvent is removed under vacuum pressure - and they usually use ethanol, the same alcohol in wine.

I feel much better. Thanks for doing that Kerry. I intend to try a bacon butter ganache one of these days. Maybe I'll send you some to test the Aw!

OK, incase I made anyone else paranoid besides myself - here is some great, scientific data on cooked bacon: http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents2005/bacon-aw-study.pdf I think I'll go cook up a pound of bacon and roll in it. And then leave it out at room temperature of course...

Awesome! Thanks Kerry. I looked up countless recipes for candied bacon and homemade bacon bits and they all require refrigeration after the fact and give an approximate 1 week duration for shelf life. It's very confusing...

Ummmm - bacon bark, bacon pecan bars... I'm having the bacon discussion on another forum too. I'm still stuck on shelf life. Here's my thinking... The Vosges bacon bar gives a 6 month best before date. Now I know I can't leave a piece of cooked bacon on the counter for 6 months and eat it without some side effects! So am I to assume that it is because the bacon is 'sealed' in chocolate that it can last so long? (I don't even want to think about those little bits on the top of the bar that aren't sealed in!) What I don't understand is if I make beef jerky, that product is shelf stable, on its own, at room temperature. But cooked bacon isn't. So surely there must have to be some sort of process done to the bacon in order to make it safe in a bar for a 6 month duration - or for that matter - a 1 month duration - or a 2 week duration - or a 5 day duration! I know it's got the salt thing going on and it would hold up better than a pork chop covered in chocolate - but STILL!! I must be a little dense as I just can't fathom not getting (or giving) food poisoning from such a product.

I still don't understand how bacon in chocolate could have any shelf life at all... it's meat! - understandably with salt - but still! Yet the Vosges bacon bar states a 6 month shelf life!!!! Can someone please explain it to me?

How fun... and how cool that you're letting us share the experience with you! Thanks! I wouldn't worry about your landlord. You've got your team here rooting and praying for you. Let us know how it all pans out. What an exciting adventure...

Third for Baklava... I also suggest those hazelnut shortbread cookies -- can't remember the name. As soon as I get my computer back from the shop I'll post the recipe... so good... There's no chocolate in them but they would be superb dipped in chocolate.

Yep, I was thinking the same thing. Thanks Kerry - I'll go play...

Just 1 layer hey? Do you let the chocolate sit for a minute before dumping to get some thickness to the shell - or just dump right away after vibrating? Thanks Kerry.

I want to make eggnog cups for Christmas this year. I did cups last year and I know I read all the tips and tricks somewhere! In any case, memory fails me and I know there's something different about molding cups that will be removed from the mold unfilled and filled at a later time. I have the same mold as the cups pictured in the new Wybauw ganache book. Nice. So I'm thinking I need to do a 2 shell mold (fill and dump, let set, fill and dump again and let set) in order to get enough structure. Also, what's the trick about placement of the mold when setting? I'm not sure if I'm after a thin or thicker rim. Thanks!

I have a really good savory cheese muffin as well. Unfortunately my computer is out of commission right now but this is basically the same thing: http://www.cookingnook.com/muffin-recipes.html . I omit the ham and use cooked broccoli instead. The parmasan cheese makes them yummy. We used to make these in my home ec. foods classes. The kids loved them. And if she doesn't like broccoli - substitute away! When my computer comes back I'll check my recipes and see if there's anything else that might be suitable for a school lunch (that's also vegetarian and liked by kids!).

Well I'm feeling much better about the egg ganache. I guess Wybauw DOES know what he is talking about! He is 'Mr. Shelf Life' after all. I was more concerned to know if there were any restrictions on this type of ganache - ie. a low pH or something of the sort. Thanks so much for posting the Geert recipes Ilana. It looks like #4 and #5 don't have any acid ingredients in them at all. For whatever reason, whenever I saw an egg ganache it always had lemons or oranges etc. Maybe that's because those set up better as a curd?? Can you give more details on those recipes Ilana - amounts? As for using real fruit instead of fruit compound, you pretty much have to go about it a different way. I don't use compounds but usually reduce the fruit A LOT and add it to a butter based ganache using some milk chocolate to add creaminess. But if you want to do a banana ganache (#4) I would caramelize the banana first - it's one of those ingredients (like pumpkin) that I wouldn't trust 'as is' for shelf life. Raspberries are more acidic so they can be reduced and used as is.

I, too, want to add my thanks to you Schneich for being so generous with your information. I can't wait to try your recipe! I don't have Sorbitol in any form. Do you think it can be substituted with something else? I'm assuming the sorbitol is mainly important for keeping qualities... But I know this is a finely tuned recipe and I'm afraid of upsetting the balance!

That Pomegranite curd sounds amazing. I was looking at that thread too and want to try it one of these days. Ilana, that would be great if you could take a look at his egg ganache recipes (I really must get that book!). What I'm most curious about is whether or not the pH needs to be adjusted on this type of ganache. Can you look and see if he has any regular types like vanilla or something like that that doesn't use acidic ingredients? Thanks! I also posed this question on The Chocolate Life as there are scientifically minded participants there. A couple of people mentioned the bacteria on the egg shell and the need to take precautions with that. Clay Gordon suggested cleaning the egg shell as well as hands with an alcohol-based disinfectant. He stated that when the alcohol has evaporated you will have achieved a 99.99% kill rate of the bacteria. I thought that was a fabulous idea.

I think the reason the Kee's creme brulee has no shelf life is because it is not a ganache. It is just creme brulee in a molded chocolate. I think the issue there is available water not so much the eggs in the creme brulee...

As Kerry said, Wybauw does have a recipe that uses raw eggs. I would never go there myself. The recipe I referred to - the Egg Ganache with orange - uses eggs cooked as a custard to 80C. This is what I intend to do but I wouldn't always be using acidic ingredients and was wondering about the implications of this. When I asked Wybauw he didn't make any distinction between an egg ganache and a cream based ganache. When I asked him specifically if the eggs made a difference to shelf life he said no - and again referred back to the aW of the recipe. I don't know why I can't just accept that! Can you keep me posted on the shelf life of your pom curd? I'll let you know if I get any other info on the subject.

I had always wanted to try Wybauw's egg ganache with orange recipe but was hesitant due to the eggs (p. 132 Fine Chocolates / Great Experience). When I did the course with him in Chicago I asked him about the shelf life of egg ganache. He didn't really understand why I was singling out this type of ganache - his response focused on water activity. When I asked if the eggs made any difference to shelf life he said 'no'. In Greweling's book, he states: "due to the potential for food-borne illness when an egg ganache is mishandled, formulas for egg ganache are not included in this work." In the Callebaut advanced/expert course I took in Montreal with Derrick Tu Tan Pho, we made an egg ganache. Basically it was a lemon curd made in the Thermomix and this was added to white chocolate. What I liked so much about the egg ganache is the fact that flavours can be enhanced due to less chocolate needing to be added to make the ganache firm enough to slab. We added less white chocolate than we would have for a cream ganache. So I'm pretty much OK with the idea of egg ganache when an acidic ingredient is involved to reduce pH (eg. lemons) but I'm still hesitant in other cases. Can someone help me with the science behind the shelf life of these egg ganache and what Greweling means by 'mishandling'? I really would like to try a few other egg ganache recipes if I'm not going to kill anyone in the process!

I like the sounds of your last version Ilana. Greweling has a honey hazelnut recipe but it combines the 2. I think I'll try his and yours. Did you have any trouble with the honey crystallizing when it was left as is in the recipe? I think you might be onto something with the invertase pringle077... good idea...

I just got a jar of wildflower honey to experiment with from a local beekeeper. They also have a blueberry and blackberry honey - ummmmmm (they move the hives to blueberry/blackberry fields when the flowers are in bloom. So cool!) I'm wondering if there are any updates on the 'honey in chocolate' experiments before I begin... Thanks

Interesting you should say that. I've decided that next time I make it I'm going to add some glucose to replace some of the sugar. Mine did crystallize somewhat but I was trying that Schott's technique of freezing the slab before cutting. It did create some condensation so I'm not sure what factor was the issue in the crystallization