Chocolot

The smallest Savage holds 50#.

I have missed lots of Kerry's adventures. Let's hope for more travel in 2021!

If I'm trying a new filling, I will test as I make it. I will spoon out a little ganache, put it in the freezer for a few minutes and then test. That way, I can make adjustments if needed. I find the "test" improves over several days. If it is good when i make it, i know it will be good later.

I think it is from the thickness of the bottom chocolate. There is more, so it contracts more, causing the crack. Especially thick round the edges.

I wait until ready to cap, then use a plastic spoon to scoop out the excess ganache. It has the advantage of a convex shape which leaves a concave space in the ganache. I usually end up with one or two peaks per tray and this takes care of them. Someday, I might actually pipe a whole tray without any peaks:).

Just a riff on Melissa's idea of putting a pastry bag with silk, in the EZ Temper for when you just need a squeeze. I have found this bottle works well and doesn't drip. I transferred the silk to the bottle, didn't fill bottle with hard cocoa butter.

The wholesale end of Caputo's is Apriori. https://aprioridistribution.com/. I get good pricing from them, except on Yuzu inspriation! That just about emptied my bank account!

Regardless of what else you get, get an EZTemper. It will make your life a LOT easier.

I have three Savage melters/temperers. I rarely outwork them. IMHO, old is good in confectionery equipment. I haven't used a vibrating table and don't see the need for one. Might be just me.

No. that was Fortunado 4. This came from a sales rep.

They have a wonderful white chocolate. They sent me samples to try. The white has lots of vanilla bean specks in it. It handled well.

I asked Wendy at Socola. She showed me the little pack of moisture absorbing stuff she puts in each package to take care of the problem.

Chef Rubber has lowered the price from when I purchased. They are now $88. I used to cut with roller knives. I saw the molds at JinJu in Las Vegas. She had full sheet pan sized ones, not the quarter sheet size I have.

Bob and I had the same idea today😀. I have used serious copper pots for years, but I can’t lift them anymore. The electric pot works wonders. I made a 2000 gram batch this morning. I put in ingredients, stirred and left it to wash dishes. 30 minutes later, it was the color I wanted. I just needed to add butter, salt and finally vanilla. No stirring or sticking. Pot is easy to clean. A few things to remember. This pot is great for Maillard caramels, not burnt sugar ones. There are several different sizes of pots. Get the largest one. Sorry photos are out of order.

I had a memory pop up on FB. We were in Toronto 4 years ago. Missing everyone.

It started years ago mainly for planning our workshops. It has taken on a life of its own. You are welcome to check it out. eGullet Chocolate & Confection Workshop on FB.

My loaves were 725 grams each.

Like everyone else, I've been playing with sourdough. This is KA's Sourdough sandwich bread. This was my first attempt. I think I got it a little dark, but it was tasty.

In 2011 I tried something similar. I used a shop vac and a furnace filter. It mostly just trapped the cb where the hose was. I am no engineer and it shows:).

No!!! First Bob thinks his daughters wedding is more important and now you? We will miss you.

Thanks, Kerry. I think I gained 10# just looking at the photos.

Yes, that is how I make my cut caramels. For pipeable caramel, I use the other method.

How about using a table fan to remove the latent heat?

Are you supposed to measure???:). Some just seem thicker, like the metallics. I just squeeze some in the gun. I"m not exactly precise.

She keeps a large hard plastic "salad" bowl next to where she sprays. She takes her large scraper and runs it across the sprayed mold. Then scrapes off the excess color. Then she scrapes it against the edge of the bowl. She works her way around the edge of the bowl when she changes colors. After it sets up, I break it up and put it back in the bottle. Sometimes it is a bit hard to stuff it back in, but you could always remelt each color and pour back into bottle. I'm amazed at how much color you can save, I looked back on video from /vegas workshop, and Lionel is doing the same thing. I tried to post video here, but I don't know how to change it from a .mov extension to an acceptable one. I did a screen shot. You can see a small amount of color on the edge of the bowl.