curls

Another loaf of sourdough bread. Slice thru the center was a bit rough this time. I'm getting better at this... starting in the CSO and finishing in the regular oven to avoid burning the top of the loaf.

spanakopita pie

caramelized peanuts

Just curious, in your area what regulations do you need to comply with to sell online? Issues that I would have are sales tax collection, approved labeling for my product, working in a licensed kitchen, etc.. Did you build your own website? How many flavors do you plan to have available? Are you supplying flavor guides? What sort of packaging are you using for your chocolates? Interested in how this works in your area. I’m in Virginia and working under the cottage food laws of my county and Commonwealth. This limits me to in person sales but also means that I can work out of my home and don’t need extensive ingredient labelling. So far this works for me. If I want to expand, I’ll need to move beyond the cottage law rules and comply with additional regulations.

Yup, so did I.

If it is too hot I turn on the air conditioner. I wouldn’t want to work with chocolate in a kitchen hotter than 74F / 23C.

@Anthony C based on your response I have another suggestion. To give your customer the colorful chocolates with a bit less work on your part you may want to look into adding a selection of chocolates that uses magnetic moulds and cocoa butter transfer sheets. You’ll have to run the numbers but this may be a way for you to make more pretty chocolates in a lot less time.

Hi Anthony and welcome to eGullet. Pretty looking display and bonbons. As for your questions, I think you need to look a little bit larger picture than can I produce more. It is concerning that you mention that if you increase production by an additional 4,800 bonbons per month that you might actually make some money. So, some questions to ask yourself (and share with us if you feel comfortable). Is your current business profitable? What are your current bottleneck areas? Would it help to add additional staff or equipment to your business? Would having more moulds make your more efficient? Would having more tempered chocolate available each day help or do you have more than enough each day? Do all of your pieces need to be airbrushed? Would adding some other decorative techniques be helpful to your efficiency/cost? How about selling additional products that are not as labor intensive and/or have higher profit margins (barks, pate de fruit, enrobed bonbons (assuming you purchase a guitar & enrober), other enrobed product, bars, panned items). Can you make more product and keep some frozen inventory? I would suggest that you be more strategic. Constantly working long hours on highly repetitive tasks is going to wear you down.

Understandable! Amazing space and hopefully a super place to work.

EZTemper seen and mentioned in a tour of the Modernist Kitchen!!! referenced at about the 23 minute mark They also show a homemade spray booth that looks interesting. I have an EZtemper, wish I had some of the other equipment that is in the Modernist Kitchen. If I win the lottery… enrober, freeze dryer, vacuum sealer, and who knows what else!

Also have him check with Chef’s Warehouse for the Valrhona and Barry Callebaut. AUI for Felchin.

Did they puff and then collapse or did they never puff at all? Nevermind, I see you posted in another topic with more details and are getting some potential solutions.

Wonderful that you were able to visit with your mother pre-covid and thank you for sharing that trip. My condolences to you on your mother’s passing.

What are your temperature ranges? It is starting to sound like your chocolate may be overtempered or too cold when you are molding and working with it. Pictures and/or a more detailed description of your process would help with troubleshooting.

There goes another year. Hopefully we can meet again in 2022! I miss chocolate workshops and social gatherings with friends.

I’ve gotten the power flowers from Chefs Warehouse, a US distributor.

Yup, I use the same cherry pitter / olive pitter. It works on the Castelvetrano olives... there is some meat left on one side of the pit (makes a great cook's treat).

I would recommend looking at the automatic tempering machines. If you were in the USA then, you would probably be working with Tomric for a Selmi machine (https://tomric.com/confectionery-equipment/tempering/) or TCF Sales for a temperer from one of the other manufacturers (https://www.tcfsales.com/products/c248-automatic-continuous-tempering-moulding-and-enrobing/).

@Altay.Oro what type of tempering machine are you talking about -- different machines work differently. Is this a wheel machine, a bowl machine, a semi-automatic machine, etc.. Do you own a tempering unit? Are you planning to purchase one?

Yup, I keep seeing that advice... I just have to follow it! 🙂

Tried a recipe from Buzzby Bakes that uses yeast and sourdough discard. Made a very nice white sandwich bread that is just a smidge too tall for the CSO. Need to do something else next time to prevent the top from getting scorched. link to video with bread recipe: https://youtu.be/BYXTtALjKLQ

Late to post but I made Nach Waxman's brisket recipe (omitted the flour) . First time making this particular brisket recipe https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/nach-waxmans-brisket-of-beef-394571. but I'll definitely make it again. ready to cook sliced and continuing to cook

sour cream coffee cake

Yes, can be done and has been done. At one point a few people on eGullet had done that and some documented the process. If I find the topic I’ll link to it... have to finish some other stuff before I wade into an eGullet search. I think that they were all happy with the resulting shaker table. I picked up a nice shaker table made by Bakon that I bought from a chocolatier who was closing her business. It is great for getting rid of air bubbles in my more detailed moulds.

Maybe they were using it to keep colored cocoa butter and an airbrush warm. Why not ask the other employees or previous confectioner what they used it for.