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Fruit purees in the walk in freezer! So many flavors to try!

First item being made in the melanger. @patrismade a banana "chocolate". This will be used as a component in tomorrow's experiments. A number of melangers and melanger parts were purchased and will be heading home with happy chocolatiers. We were joined by the company owner and his chief engineer!

Didn't take many breakfast photos but I'll share the handful that I took. Rodney's breads and pastries are fabulous!

Lunch would be nice but if there isn't much interest I'm also fine taking care of my own lunch Sunday.

Yes, an old fashioned text/SMS group should work. Only disadvantages that I can think of are SMS charges (if you don't have unlimited messaging) and a messier interface (the messaging apps generally do a better job of displaying and organizing group chats).

Sorry, not a WhatsApp user. I am willing to set up a Signal group. Same deal... need to have mobile phone numbers from all who would like to participate. @lironp are you ok with Signal? Or we could create a new Facebook group and limit it to this year's workshop participants.

Almost time! When are we planning to start at Tomric on Friday?

The only reason that I mention macadamia nuts is that I purchased a few pounds when I visited Hawaii (sometime pre-Covid). Some were eaten and some went in the freezer. I need to check what is in the freezer and if there are enough to play with.

@Jim D. I appreciate your comments and welcome any additional melanger knowledge that you share. And yes, we are very lucky to have Rodney at the workshop. When I have made dry caramel for nut praline I have made it with straight sugar. Willing to try the glucose + sugar method.

Woo hoo! I was hoping to work with hazelnuts and pistachios. Will see how much room I have in the car but I may bring almond flour, walnuts, and peanuts for some micro batch experiments. Have you tried macadamia nuts?

I'm thinking about doing some experiments at the upcoming eGullet Chocolate & Confections Workshop and have a few questions for those who have been using melangers. For making nut pastes and praline paste, do you always start with whole nuts, blitz them in the food processor, and then put them in the melanger? Wondering if starting with purchased nut flours has any advantages / disadvantages? Mainly thinking about this approach for almonds since it is easy to find almond flour / almond meal. What nuts have you tried in the melanger and how happy were you with the results? Any other confectionery uses for the melanger other than making chocolate, making fruit chocolate, nut pastes, praline pastes?

I should be able to take some photos this weekend with canning jars and various items. Any particular stuff that you would like me to test?

I am very interested in the new 10 lb. tilting melager with stainless steel holder along with the micro-batch set accessory but I'm not sure that I am ready to buy them. So, I'm a maybe. Thought I was the only one attending this workshop that doesn't already own a melanger.

When you mention the small bowl -- is that the micro-batch set accessory but a new stainless steel version?

Correct. All chamber vac bags will work, no need to buy the Anova bags. You can get the 11" x 10" bags from Anova or Avid Armor (they have a similarly sized vacuum sealer) and purchase other sizes from @rotuts's preferred vendor - Vacuum Sealers Unlimited.

I have one. Purchased it June 2022 during their Father's Day sale when the price was $280. I like it but I still have a FoodSaver that I can use for larger items. I like that it is lightweight and small; it is stored in the basement when I am not using it. It is great for stocks and items with lots of liquid -- the stuff that is difficult (or impossible) to do with a FoodSaver. Also had some fun with compressing fruits and quick pickles and infusions. I purchased 250 each of two sizex of bags 6" x 10" and 11" x 10" bags. 11" x 10" is the largest bag that will fit in the chamber. I wanted to see how much I used it and what I used it for before I bought a case of 1000. Happy to answer any questions.

There you go, tempting me again! I resisted the siren call of the melanger last time. Yes, I was hoping that there would be at least one there to play with. Are you planning to include hazelnuts and/or almonds in the workshop ingredients? If not, I’ll be sure to bring some.

Ok. Will check my inventory and PM you my cocoa butter quantity. Thanks, great timing, I was starting to run low on cocoa butter and that is a great price.

I'm interested. What is the expiration date?

@patris that all sounds wonderful. I'm definitely planning to be there. What time are you planning to start the Friday show & tell?

Has anyone been to the area recently? Any new recommendations?

Here’s a link where this has been discussed I saw an eGullet link earlier today that included a helpful video and more information.

Welcome Sebabh. Are you filling with straight liquor or a liquor ganache? The classic way for doing straight liquor is starch molding. I think that Greweling's book covers the process.

With 19 attendees, that is about another $70 per person. Yes, given the way that costs have gone up, I'm not surprised that the costs for this workshop will be higher. Hopefully others will reply. Perhaps cutting back on the included meals and some additional funds from each participant will put this back on track. Please let me know if I can help.

So, if we take care of our own breakfasts, are the costs covered or do we need to cut some other items as well? Definitely don't want you to be stuck funding the event! I'm fine with omitting breakfast but it was nice to plan the day's events over breakfast. I would also be ok with paying a bit more if that will allow us to have breakfast at Tomric.