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chocoera

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Everything posted by chocoera

  1. what do you mean by the DIY model? i also don't have a fancy vibrating table...i just fill, tap tap tap tap, pour out, scrape, tap tap tap, scrape and set upside down. it might just be my molds, but for every 200 pieces, i might only get 6 air bubbles...
  2. pyewacket: you rock. thank you so much for taking the time to write this out! i am copying and pasting this list to my future landlord (since he is renovating the structure, and brad and i are going in with the finer details and kitchen equip etc) and yes, i am renting the first 1-2 yrs, with an option to buy (setting a price now) so that if (lord please) im successful, it would be wise then to buy and invest money into the finer detailing, outside etc...but again. wow. blown away by the info! thank you!
  3. christopher elbow is doable...have heard great things about him, as well as his type of shop..very clean, but showy (like a jewelry store?) not my look i'm going for (think old , warm, vintage, dk woods etc...) but would love to see one up and running nonetheless... will try to head there between busy seasons (so in jan?) or after V-day
  4. thank you so much for the information and as for jeff, if you know him, do you mind letting him know i'll be contacting him? i'd really appreciate, and have been a frequent fan to his web site! as for budget...yup, its low, but we figure we'll only be growing. and the area i'm in has not seen an "artisan" chocolatier before, and the nearest chocolate shop (more like grandma's chocolates) is an hour away, and the nearest *gag* godiva is 2 1/2 hrs away, so i feel i'd have that market. i don't crave to be big and famous, but just offer a unique product to a certain population. and the fact that i've been growing steadily the last 2 yrs is uplifting, and the area i'm moving to is quite familiar with me and my product. i do understand the long days, my days are also about 12 hrs, and during busy season (now) i work with little breaks for, well, just today was 16 1/2 hrs. so i understand the toll it takes on someone. i am very stressed about opening commercially, but feel it is the right step to continue to grow, and looooooooove all the help everyone on here has given. i will try to update pics when i'm home in another month, and will keep you abreast to the sanitation dept, (who has yet to return my call) keep the info coming...i'm checking into it all. and any more thoughts on ways to be productive and efficient, without an enrober?
  5. new thought from husband: can you rent equipment like an enrober? or rent to buy? any ideas? or maybe just hire more help for commercial space and do more warming pots? (about $400 a piece..not bad at all!)
  6. thank you! i will call look up the health inspector in my future county of residence, and let you know what i find out. as for having a kitchen? no, its an old building and is being completely gutted, and there is nothing there, they even have to install a gas line. (there is a meter outside, but no one has used gas in the building for a very long time) and thanks for the links to the other posts, i will read through them and write some notes (i have a "commercial notebook" so i remember what i'm doing!) also, i knew enrobers were expensive...but i was looking at some links from kerry and didn't realize HOW expensive they can be!!! do you all think a small (if possible) enrober is worth the investment? right now i hand-temper with the block method using warming pots from felchin (2 pots...i had bad experiences with chocovision rev 2 and i trust myself more than the machine) and times when i have 300+ to dip, makes an enrober seem pretty nice...but thinking it could be $10,000-$30,000 means that would be a HUGE chunk in my budget...any thoughts? pros cons?
  7. hi libra20, yup, i will be having a chocolate bar (not a liquor bar) but think the movie "chocolat" and a few tables for people to eat a slice of cake, or have REAL hot chocolate! (not hot cocoa!) and then there will be products to take and buy, as well as a selection of chocolates i'll make every 1-2 weeks (i have over 25 flavors, i'm always creating new ones!) so its hard to offer all of them at the same time. thanks for looking into the enrober
  8. Hello to all my wonderful friends on eG forums! (actually, you don't know me, this is my first post..but i have been reading all your posts and topics for over a year!) Long story short, my husband Bradley is a photographer and web designer (http://www.bradleyjensen.com) and I am a "budding" chocolatier with my own 2-yr old home-based business (actually, we are in a renovated old country school house...so that's pretty unique) (http://www.thechocolateseason.com) We are making the leap into a commercial property, where we will share a building, him upstairs, me on the main level with a kitchen a few steps below the main level. (i will try to attach a pic soon of our "drawing" later next week) My question is how do you go about making the transition? We are both self-employed and in our 20's (he's 28 i'm 25), so we don't have a huuuuuuuge budget, but are applying for a couple low interest loans. and our commercial spot we're looking at (bare bones) would be only $500 a month, and then our start up expenses, cabinetry, kitchen supplies etc) one question is: Are there certain materials you can and can not use in the kitchen? (wall materials, backsplash, floor, counter top) How much counter top space do you recommend for production and packaging? Where do you find a quality, but not huge, enrober? (remember the thread where one of our (?) german friends showed us his commercial kitchen, and his 25 lb pot of chocolate that had an attachable enrober/conveyer belt...and it could fold up vertically for storage) any health code regulations i should especially look into? (i'm in NE now, but will be located in IA for commercial when we move) pitfalls, or problems you experienced that i could try to avoid? basically any help in designing a floor plan, kitchen layout, where to find kitchen workspace tables, or equipment, enrober, guitar cutter (or something that would work in place of it) etc...i will try to be more specific later, but i will continue to write about our journey...we are shooting for the move in summer, (hopefully we can sell the school house!) with a store opening in late summer early fall? and any tips on my confections or marketing...always appreciated! i value all your opinions so much! thank you! xoxo erika
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