Edward J

The chocovision sells for around $400, and it's ready to work. You can putz and futz around. Lightbulbs and compter fans, eletric heating blankets, electric seed germinating mats, etc etc. It's the thermostat that must be accurate within a half a degree, and no household appliance will have this, I'm not familiar with sous-vide, but the thermostats there should be that accurate. A temperer is a device that brings the temperature up to around 45 c, then down to 28 or 29 C, and then back up to 32 C and constantly agitates it. Do not confuse this with a melter. If you study chocolate, you will find that like ketchup and cement, it is thixotropic , which basically means a liquid that doesn't like to move and is best mixed with shearing action. Do not use beaters or whisks , opr you will incorportate air, which results in bubbles. If you look at professional chocolate melters and temperers, you will find a large thin plastic disc that sits vertically in the tub of chocolate and spins at very low rpms, at the top of this is a comb that scrapes off the chocolate from the face of the wheel and channels it into a spout, where it flows back into the tub. The motor that powers this disc is under some serious load--torque really, and should not be a universal motor, but an induction one, and should have a gear box, not a rheostat. Perhaps a bbq spit motor might work. In the end, you will find that a purchased tempere is cheaper, but not as fun as making one yourself.

Matthew, Be carefull what you ask for, or you just might get it! I am in a similiar situation, but a small artisan chocolate and pastry place. I don't do the books, but do alot of cabinet making and carpentry work ontop of my "regular duties". There are two types of bloggers, the professional one, and the non-professional one. You want the non-proffesional one. Why? The non-pro is generally interested in your business/product and generally lives in your area. They are usually genuinely interested in seeing your place grow because they live in the neighborhood and are excited about something new. The blogs might not be well circulated, but treat these bloggers like a new lover. Like me, unless I operate a 5 star restaurant where someone will blow $2-400 a meal for two, it's not really worth the trip coming across town or from out of the city to eat at my place. Local is best for the smaller operator. The key word in "professional" blogger is the professional bit. To be a profesional you generally do not have any other jobs. Thus, the professional blogger needs an income.... Either this comes from advertising, from freelance writing, or free food. Like the bumper sticker from the '70's says: "Cash, grass, or azz, no one rides for free." Should it be known that you are looking for a blogger, or it is percieved that you are fresh off the boat, many a pro blogger will oblige,......... and charge. If you put out a good product and have happy customers there will be non-pro blogging, and you might find, as I did, that a pro blogger has written a "regurgitated" blog about you. What this means is that your business has survived the first few critical months and consistantly puts out good product, therfore a pro blogger does not risk much by sticking out his neck to write a few words about you. The blog could be written in such a way that you know that the blogger never set foot in your place, but "gleaned" information from smaller local blogs and/or your website, information such as the menu, decor, and theme of the place. Or, if the bloggger actually lives close by and makes the effort to drop in, could be more direct. Newspapers are a different story, as the writers are--or should--be compensated for their work. Generally this means that they do not seek out freebies, nor do they aggresively seek advertising dollars for their publication. Generally. Of course, if you were a succesfull restauranteur with 3 or 4 places under your belt, they would be there at the grand opening with their spouses, on your dollar. But I digress. Vancouver is a different town from Montreal, and the local Yelp differs too. I find the Vancouver version very, uhhhh, "different" and some of the practices and feature articles leave me with more questions than answers. Beware the point system and do not get let down when someone sinks your 4 or 5 star rating. There are some who are so influenced and hyped about a 5 star rating and find tht you don't have $2,000 arm chairs and can't quite put a perfect fern leaf on the crema of an espresso or latte, and sink your boat. Others get jealous of a 4 or 5 star rating and sink it out of spite, and some, weeell... they see it as a way to get some money or freebies. Close behind the bloggers are the "go-getters", the types who want to sell you advertising, or god forbid--group coupon deals. Either they e-mail, or they show up at your door in your face. They know you exist bcasue they read the blogs and want to, uh, "help" you. Hope this helps, Edward

Ummmmmm.......... How long have "Chicken Mcnuggets" been around, and what do you think holds the meat scraps together?

I'm interested in the roasted flour for cookies.... As others have said, rosting flour does impart a nutty taste. The Swiss roast flour for a regional specialty called "Basler Mehlsuppe" which is a roasted flour soup, and is almost always served at "Fasnacht" or Mardi-gras time. Roasting the flour also dimishes a lot of the flour's binding power, and I wonder if used in cookies it would have the same effect as cornstarch would--a very short crumbly texture. I gotta start experimenting....

Currently, I o/o a small artisan chocolate and pastry place, the only server I have is my partner. From '97 tto '07 I o/o a catering business. In the begining, I hired waiters/esses through a hiring agency, I paid between $15-18/hr. Later we hired our own and paid the same rate although by '05 the going rate was $18-20/hr. Minimum wage was from '98 to 2010 fixed at $8.25/hr. Tips for catering gigs are not common, but we did get a fair number of them. Tips were split evenly between all those who worked on-site. This included me.

Congratulations, you've just stereotyped an entire nation. No, I won't return the favour. As it is, this thread is dangerously clsoe to be locked,and that is not my intention. If you go back to the firt post, by the orginal poster, you will find he asks the question, "When is it permissble not to tip?". As a self described "food writer" he was upset by being seated under a noisy airconditioner and felt he didn't have to tip. Go back to that post and find out what country and what city he is from. If I can't get anyone to acknowledge that the current tippig system is lousy, how can you educate the O.P. to tip?

Is that the best you can do? C'mon, really? You've got employers thumbing thir noses at labour standards and paying below minimum wages, in some States waitrons can and do call the Police because customers don't tip, and save for a few infrastructure requirements, there are no standards at ALL in the hospitality industry, and you can't admit that there might be a teensy probem with current tipping practices and social custom? Maybe if we all close our eyes and squueze them tightly the whole problem will dissapear--like the metric system, eh? I'm a "lifer" in the hosptiality industry. I fight for what I think is right, and the current tipping system is not right.

I'll second the habit and fear. Many people are scared sh**less of a sharp knife and insist that a dull one will do just as good a job. Knife skills are not common in kitchen where there is no "dedicated" cook. THis is why ther is so much prepared vegetables and meats available in stores. In my kitchens I always supply knives for my staff, and I have a good selection and keep them sharp. When a new staff comes in with no cooking background, they will automatically reach for the smallest knife, ie a paring knife to core a cabbage, a boning knife to cut potatoes. It's fun to watch......

O.K. some big lofty ideas now.... 1) Ban the word "tip" and use the P.C. word of "Salary supplement". 2) Continue paying sub-minimum wages and pay the server a percentage of the gross sales that that server rang in, ie a commission and base salary. 3)Establish a series of standards and pay according to those standards. 4) Continue as always and ignore the issue I guess that 4 would seem like the best option, as ideas 1-3 would suggest that it must be acknowledged the current N.A. tipping system/social custom is a poor one, and that the various Gov't bodies are wrong in promoting a sub-minimum wage. It's fun to discuss, but one thing we can agree on, is that nothing will improve or change until both the public and the hospitality industry acknowledge that the current system is a lousy one.

I don't get it... It's O.k. for the server to find some way to get out of paying taxes on what they take home, and laugh at the cook or d/washer who gets taxed on his/her hard earned $12-14/hr pay cheque?

For me, overcrowding means meat overlapping, heaped up high, etc. About 75% coverage of the pan works best in my opinion.

No....the only Union members in hospitality unions who make decent money are the ones with seniority. This is why so many people hold on to 2 or even 3 p/t (non union) jobs in order to "service" their union job and hopefully, one day, get an increase. I know, I've hired many and given them full hours. Look, last month my hot water heater at home crapped out. I call around to find a plumber. Minimum hourly rate is $65/ph, plus truck charge, plus the cost of the heater, plus other materials. All licensed plumbers--from the one guy outifits to the mega ones start at $65. Granted some are higher, but the minimum is $65/hr. I could go cheap and get a non licensed guy to do it, but seeing as it's a major gas appliance in a wood framed building, it wouldn't be prudent. Key operative word, "licensed" A benchmark or a standard. There are no standards in the hospitality industry. This is why employers can pay a thumb-your-nose-at-minimum-wage $2.30/hr. This is why there are so many culinary schools, with so many curriculums, and so many standards. This is why there are so many f/t college students working p/t as waiters/esses and lining up to get paid bare minimum. This is why there are so many restaurants. All you need is money to open up a place, and naturally this is why so many places fail within the first year. The damage a failing business does to this industry and to the customer's perception is bad. And it keeps on happening every day. In the end, the customer pays for everything. Many tourists and Americans who come to Vancouver and make purchases are frustrated and infuriated with our taxes. So are we, but that's not the issue. Time and time again, we hear "Why can't you put down one price with the taxes included so I know what I have to pay?!!!!!!" And so it is with tipping........

Uhh.. Katie? Jenni hasn't been to the U.S. and considering your post, presumably never will. For someone who lives 2 hrs from the U.S. border, I've only been to the U.S. once--a pilgramage with the kids to see the duck and the mouse. If you want to get angry at someone, get angry at the hospitality unions. They garnishee salaries but give nothing in return. They say nothing about tipping or sub-standard minimum wages, say nothing and do nothing about implimenting standards and benchmarks to bring the hospitality industry to earn liveable wages. Hit them where it hurts: Get a bill passed to make it illegal to garnishee salaries. My most turbid, erotic dream features the shop steward standing infront of the staff lunchroom with an empty coffee can, the "Edward's" scratched off, and "Union Dues here" written over, and everyone laughing at him......

Yes and no.... No it is not a tempering machine. However.... If the chocolate to be melted is in good temper to begin with, and the melting temp never exceeds 31 Celcius, the resulting melted choc is still in temper. To do this, it takes some time, usually somewhere around 2 hrs per pound. I have seen Chefs do this with the pilot light of a commerial gas oven, the top surface of a Bunn-omatic coffee brewer station, on top of the espresso machine and even with an electric heating blanket.

Yup. It's called a "picnic cooler".... Airtight and with no fan to blow around air, so the dough doesn't crust over, and no need for plastic bags or oil spray. No heating element, so the dough doesn't get too warm, partially bake, or for croissants, bleed butter all over the place. Of course, proofing this way takes more time and a little more planning, but makes for a richer coloured crust and better flavour.....

A voice from the north............. It's true, here in B.C the are a lot of smaller microbreweries, and they are available. But when I walk into a liquor store I am pounded on the head by the large American brews--Bud and Miller. According to local stats, they are the most popular and best selling beers. And at major sporting events, right here in Vancouver, its Bud coming out of the taps. O.K. so taste is one thing, but paul-ticks is another. Bud and Miller etc are brewed here under license by the major CDN "big three": Molson, Labatts, and O'Keefe. I doubt if you can buy 5% alc/volume Bud or Miller in the States.... I grew up in a time when there were only the big three breweries around. I witnessed a major brewery being mothballed in my home town, the workers got together and leased the brewery for 5 years and started to produce decent beer. The big boys took them to court and tried to close down the brewery, didn't have much of a case, but they tried and eventually lost. I only drink microbrewed beer.

Uhhhh........... I'm not a Iphone user. Matter of fact I don't have a phone--well I have a land line. But-tum....aren't Iphones kinda small? And prone to water and temperature damage? And aren't the screens kinda tiny? And wouldn't you have to wash and dry your hands every time you wanted to scroll up or down or use any buttons ? I'm not really sayin, but I'm just sayin....

www.dr.ca I temper by seed method. The wheel is a separate unit and sits in the tub. It just spins around and at the top there is a comb and a chute. Couverture flows out of the chute and back into the tub. Not a bad set up for smaller places, and the units are pretty much bomb-proof.

Tabletop Mol d'arts are fine but they are melters,not tempering machines. Both Kelly and I are thinking tempering units, as in, press the button and walk away, and 20 minutes later, the couverture is tempered. These are usually coupled with an enrobing device. I am still small volume,top capacity per day for me is 500 bon-bons, 240 50gr bars, and maybe a couple dozen hollow molded figures. For this,I have 2 large melters from D & R, and one cheap-o 5kg melter from Martillato for my white couverture. The D&R melters take a full size deep hotel-pan, I think 20 kg capapcity. I have one for dark, and one for milk. I also have the electric wheel, which usually sits in the dark, but sometimes I have an "all-day milk day" and swap the wheel into the milk melter. All temperature changes on the melters and tempering is done by me, manually. The units are bomb-proof, but as simple as a regular soup warmer. I work alone, and also produce pastries and high teas during the day as well. Mol d'art makes a full line of s/s behemoths, from 40 kg and all the way up to institutional. Savvy makes a line of tempering and enrobing machines as well. Both of these companies are European, and nothing will be under 15 thousand. The units are well constructed, beautifull, really; but are complicated and computerized, and regular kitchen equipment repair guys will have no clue as how to service/repair them. D & R (design and realization) is located in Montreal, and is geared towards the smaller artisan producer. Hope this helps,

Eh...No. Porcelanized grates suck, royally. They don't hold up well to heavy pots and pans sliding around on them, nor do they fare well around naked flames. They discolour easily and quickly and craze, then flake off. They suck for grates. D.A.M.H.I.K.T. ..............

Exactly. That system relies on national standards--apprentceships-- for cooks(3 yrs) waiters(2 yrs), and a food service operator's license, which requires an extensive course and tests. It's certainly obtainable here in N. America, but both the Gov'ts (fed and state) and the Unmions have to buy into it.

Mano, it's not that simple. In many of the U.S. States have minuimum wages as well as sub-minimum wages for Servers, normally called a "tipping wage". Who introduced this double standard? May hazard a guess that it involved lobbying and not intelligence? Here in B.C. Canada the minimum wage has gone up from $8 to $9.50 and will go up to $10 by next year. Some of the Foodservice owners have petitioned the Provincial Gov't to introduce a "tipping wage". I am dead-set against this for a number of reasons, but mainly because a tip is based on a percentage of the entire dining experience , and everyone in that business, including the waiter, is responsible for the entire dining experience. I also believe that if you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys N.America has no standards/benchmarks for cooking, for service, or for foodservice owners. Because of this, the hospitality industry is one of the lowest paying sectors, and will remain so until standards/benchmarks are establsihed.

Prdroinspain, Nice post, some good cooments and insights This is what I see: In N.America there is no support for hospitality workers. We might have Unions, but the lack of anything done for the hospitality industry is pretty much clear for the hosptitality workers. Basically, we have no standards for waiters, cooks, bakers or butchers. No standards or benchmarks, no payscale. No support, and the owners can pay what ever they want. IMHO, the tipping issue won't go away until ther is a clear standard for a waiter/ess. The ball is in the Hospitality Union's court to develop and impliment such standards

Fat migration. All nuts contain oils, and with time the oil will migrate to the outside of the confection--past the chocolate shell. This happens mainly with dark chocolate, for some reason the milk powder in milk and white chocolates prevent or slow down the oil migration. Gum arabic is available in "tears" or the natural droplet form (basically dried plant sap) or in ground form. It is graded by colour, with the lightest colours being the most expensive. It's usually mixed 50/50 with water, and allowed to stand and dissolve overnight. I usualy give 1 kg (2 lbs) hazelnuts about 1 tsp of this, and while still wet, a handfull of cocoa powder while rotating in the panning drum. This also helps the chocolate to stick better. Afer that, succesive applications of untempered couverture. I haven't found a good glaze for panned items. I was using a recipie of gum arabic and corn syrup, but this only works with couvertures lower than 45% cocoa butter--and it is not perfect. Maybe CHefRubber has some stuff, I'll have to check

Uhh, Sote 23, I usually don't post anything negative about manufacturers, but Ihave a real beef with Martellato. I bought a 2/3 insert melter from them when I first opened my store. It melted one night, about 3 mths after I bought it. I mean the whole thing melted, a plastic stinking blob on my counter when I came in one morning. I got it replaced by the local dealer, but he was not compensated by Martellato. The dealer had one other unit from the pastry lab at VCC, with the same problem when I visited him. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper. The unit has an on/off rocker switch at the back. Very often you will inadvertantly switch it off when you move or nudge the machine. The unit is made from a one piece cast polystyrene with a plastic base screwed onto the housing. The plastic is very thin and has no bridges or "beefier" sections cast into it. Within one week of using it, it had developed stress cracks around the screws at the bottom of the unit, and a month later, cracks in the inside corners. After my "meltdown", my replacement unit cracked in the exact same way and same time frame. The s/s insert is designed to hold around 6 kgs of chocolate--the plastic housing can not handle this kind of weight, it was not designed to handle any kind of substantial wieght. I still have it, even though I have moved on to larger s/s melters. The cracking on the plastic housing was so bad, and the cracks ran so far, that I finally took it apart, and glued on pieces of 1/4" plywood to the inside of the housing, giving it some ridigity and stoping the cracks from spreading further. Just my personal experience...