Chocolot
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Posts posted by Chocolot
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I have missed lots of Kerry's adventures. Let's hope for more travel in 2021!
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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.
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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.
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18 hours ago, Jim D. said:
Me too. I have a tiny little sharp knife that I sometimes use. I would love to find a tiny angled spatula that would fit into a cavity, but it would have to be so small that there would be no room for the angled part. There must be some tool somewhere that would do it. The finger approach has the added advantage of heating up the ganache a tiny bit to nudge it into flatness. I have never been able to figure out why some (not many) dark ganaches self-level and most do not. Over the years I have been gradually inching up the temp at which I pipe to get as much fluidity as possible without melting the shells.
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:).
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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.
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On 10/9/2020 at 6:33 PM, pastrygirl said:
Back to the original question - I use mostly Felchlin and AUI does give a volume discount above $750 (but of course that doesn't apply to sale items). I don't know much about Valrhona's Cercle V but there appear to be perks associated with using a lot of their chocolate - trips, social media, hopefully discounts.
I buy Valrhona and Cacao Barry through Peterson (wholesaler here and in NJ), Valrhona Dulcey is around $81/3kg, raspberry Inspiration was about $106, and CB Zephyr is around $88/5kg
Caputo's has a good selection of Valrhona, might be worth a wholesale inquiry. https://caputos.com/
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!
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Regardless of what else you get, get an EZTemper. It will make your life a LOT easier.
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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.
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3 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:
Is that the chocolate we got from Chef Rubber?
No. that was Fortunado 4. This came from a sales rep.
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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.
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5 hours ago, Louise nadine brill said:
Any advice out there on freeze dried fruit for bar inclusions? I see so many gorgeous bars with piles of freeze dried fruit on the and I keep wondering how the texture is kept crunchy? I opened a bag of freeze dried strawberries, resealed it, and a week later all of the crunchiness was gone - I cant imagine that they stay texturally pleasing Once they’re exposed to air on a chocolate bar. I am planning to give it a go - people are doing it, so it must be possible😁 - but wondered if egulleters had some tips for me?
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.
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43 minutes ago, GRiker said:
@RobertM, certainly sounds like many years of experience not to disagree!
Anyone else using the caramel molds like chocolot is using? They look super handy. I'm kind of obsessive about getting my caramels all the same size. A chef knife and a ruler don't give the accuracy I'm looking for. I've thought about a caramel cutter, but the silicone caramel square molds seem easier than using a caramel cutter.
They seems relatively
I saw several very inexpensive brands on amazon. I usually subscribe to the "you get what you pay for" so usually don't go for the lowest priced option.
I found the following brands that look quality when I did some looking.
- O'Creme runs about $0.50 per cavity
- Chef Rubber runs about $1.15 per cavity
- Truffly Made runs about $1.40 per cavity
- JB Prince runs about $1.50 per cavity
Does anyone have real experience using these (or other brands)? Any issues with release? Any thing that surprised you with how they work?
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.
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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.
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I had a memory pop up on FB. We were in Toronto 4 years ago. Missing everyone.
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17 minutes ago, JeanneCake said:
There's a FB eG Chocolate page?!
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.
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2 hours ago, weinoo said:
Bread I made yesterday. Recipe from Cuisinart food processor booklet, kneaded in Cuisinart. 10% white whole wheat flour subbed for white A/P flour.
And baked in the CSO...quite soft and fluffy.
Let's say I wanted to bake this in a loaf pan? What quantity of dough would I use for either size of loaf pan?
My loaves were 725 grams each.
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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.
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8 hours ago, teonzo said:
Thinking about it, you can try this solution.
Buy a plastic container that will act as your booth. If it's food grade all the better. Dimensions depend on your needs, it should be no problem since nowadays you can find containers with a super wide choice.
Drill a hole (about 2") at the center of the bottom surface of the container (which will become the back surface of your booth).
Fix an attachment to the hole, so that you get a screw pipe end on the outside of the booth.
Assemble a filter holder to that screw end. For filters, you can buy the replacements for home stove hoods, then cut them in circles with a pair of scissors.
Assemble a powerful fan to the end of the filter holder. Look for a fan with variable speed (or various speeds, not only one).
Assemble a flexible pipe to the fan.
Drill a hole on the window or wherever you can drill a hole that can vent outside.
Fix another attachment to the hole in the window, so that you get a screw pipe end on the inside of the room.
Mount the flexible pipe to the window.
All components should be ready for sale in any hardware store. For the plastic container just look at some restaurant suppliers. The handyman should only need to drill a couple holes and assemble everything. So at the end you should be in the $300 range, hopefully less.
It's better to use a flexible pipe (like the ones for vacuum cleaners), so that you can place the booth wherever you want and move it. When you are doing the due mainteinance it will be pretty easy to clean in a sink with hot water.
If you want to be 100% safe, then ask to your local inspector to come there with a tool to measure the oxigen content of that room while the booth is running. Just to see if you need to drill another hole for the vent-in (make-up air).Teo
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:).
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2 hours ago, lambrecht gourmet said:
Due to our 2 week Anniversary trip to France at the end of April, I will be unable to make it to this work shop. Very sad to miss seeing everyone this year!
No!!! First Bob thinks his daughters wedding is more important and now you? We will miss you.
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Thanks, Kerry. I think I gained 10# just looking at the photos.
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1 hour ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:
Kriss does a Maillard caramel (no sorbitol, yes lecithin). Instead of caramelizing the sugar and deglazing with cream, the sugars and cream cook together for a long time and the milk proteins cook and go through a Maillard reaction. With this method, the sugar never actually gets hot enough to caramelize. So it has more of a cooked dairy flavor than a burnt sugar flavor. I think @Chocolothas said she makes her cut/chewy caramels this way. Am I remembering that correctly?
Yes, that is how I make my cut caramels. For pipeable caramel, I use the other method.
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How about using a table fan to remove the latent heat?
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1 minute ago, Louise nadine brill said:
Would you mind sharing the ratio that you thin your cb to? As in how much clear cb can you add to say, a Chef Rubber colour without diluting the result too much or causing transparency? Would love to be able to make my coloured cocooa butter go a bit further. 😁
Are you supposed to measure???:). Some just seem thicker, like the metallics. I just squeeze some in the gun. I"m not exactly precise.
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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.
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Chocolate Heating Cabinet vs. dough proofer / heating cabinet
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
The smallest Savage holds 50#.