tikidoc

Input wattage is not a measure of the strength of a mixer. It is a measure of the amount of power used, not the torque provided by the mixer. An efficient motor that uses 400 watts may do a better job mixing than an inefficient mixer that uses 600 watts. For example, my old KA was 575 watts, yet was essentially useless for making bread. It overheated in less than 3 minutes, even with very soft dough. My smaller, more efficient Bosch uses 400 watts, yet can handle kneading even a very stiff dough with no problem at all. When I was looking to buy a new mixer, I did a bunch of research (I get a little obsessive about this kind of thing), and I spent a lot of time reading the archives of the Yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo....p/Mixer-Owners/). I had never seen the Compact in person before buying it but after tons of reading, I saw nothing but positive feedback on the mixer from people who owned it. And from what I have read, they pretty much last forever. I also did searches on pizzamaking.com and thefreshloaf.com, and saw more positive reviews. One other thing, the 4 quart bowl size is slightly misleading, because you can run this mixer with a fuller bowl than you can with a Kitchen Aid, so the "effective size" of the bowl is greater. I would very highly recommend this mixer to anyone who wants to replace a home KA mixer, who is not looking to upgrade to a larger capacity. It can do anything that a Kitchen Aid can do, and many things that it can't. A couple places in Canada that sell this mixer: http://healthykitche...&ca_id=1089 http://www.kitchenhe...rt&Itemid=1 http://www.boschmixe...pact-mixer.html The last one has free shipping. I also found this: http://kitchener.kij...QAdIdZ366932777, it's an individual near Toronto selling it, and it comes with a ton of attachments. Looks like a great deal. Jess

I weighed the base of the Compact, and it is 5#14 oz. The base without the bowl has a footprint about the size of a standard drip coffee maker.

Bosch Compact mixer. I love this little guy. If looks are important, skip it, it looks like it was made by Fisher-Price. If not, this is the mixer you want. The motor outperforms KA by a mile. The outside housing is plastic but this machine has a serious motor inside. I killed my KA Pro600 (just out of warranty) making a very soft, wet bread dough. My Bosch makes easy work of big batches of bagel dough, a very stiff dough, without even getting warm. My only criticism other than looking cheap is that it is so light that it has a tendency to hop around on the counter so I have to hold it still a lot. But it is also so light that it is very easy to carry around, or to lift out of a cabinet. And small enough to fit into an upper cabinet easily. I got this mixer after my KA died, when I was waiting for my Electrolux (waiting on the new model, which was delayed and delayed). I got a good deal on the Bosch, and I figured it would be sufficient until I got my Electrolux, then would be handy for small jobs. Honestly, this little mixer can handle anything a KA can do, and without overheating. Love, love, love this mixer. A few good places to research mixers - yahoo group on mixers (they generally like Bosch, full sized and compact, and Electrolux, which is full sized but an awesome mixer), thefreshloaf.com, pizzamaking.com. You will see close to universal hatred for KA (except the old Hobart ones), and virtually no complaints about the Compact. ETA I got mine on overstock.com. For a little while, they were hard to find in North America, and ovestock had them. I got my Electrolux from Pleasant Hill Grain (http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/bosch_compact_mixers.aspx is the link to the Bosch), and they have great customer service and have the Bosch in stock. Not sure about costs to ship to Canada though, you may find a better price locally, due to shipping. Jess

Hey Mette, those are gorgeous, how did you make them??? Jess

Thanks, lironp. I'd love to hear more about use of luster dust too. I have used it on dipped chocolates with good results, but never successfully with molded chocolates. Jess

Gorgeous! Those belong in the showroom finish thread! What's in them? Jess

I recently found a deal on a used ACMC tabletop temperer for $400 plus shipping. The seller had two of them, and as of a couple days ago, still had the other one. I had been tossing the idea of getting a new Chocovision Rev1 or Rev2 around when I found this, and it seemed like a better deal to me. I can't see my chocolate production ever outgrowing the ACMC, unlike the Rev. They also are, from what I understand, easy to fix, and all the part can be purchased online. Anyway, if anyone is in the market for one, drop me a line and I will pass along the contact info for the seller. She shipped very quickly and packed well. I have no relationship with the seller but thought I would pass along a good deal, and I have already taken the risk of buying from her (it was a CraigsList ad), and it worked out fine. If this is an inappropriate post, please just delete, mods. Jess

Seriously? You think that people only make messes in bathrooms that are already dirty? That's nuts.

Microbial rennet. Most internet cheese supply retailers sell it. Do you have a link? I've only seen animal and vegetable rennet on the cheesemaking sites. Look upthread, I posted a link.

http://sargentwelch.com/product.asp?pn=IG0047250&sid=mercent&mr:trackingCode=902814A8-85EB-E011-8116-001517B1882A&mr:referralID=NA From Wikipedia, "CHY-MAX® is bovine chymosin produced by the biotech company Chr. Hansen A/S. CHY-MAX® is produced by fermentation of the fungus Aspergillus niger. Bovine chymosin is an enzyme that causes milk to curdle. Being a non animal derived product, CHY-MAX® is suitable for consumption by vegetarians, as well as for production of cheese certified Kosher or Halal."

Vegetable rennet just does not work as well as animal rennet, at least in my experience. Even at a higher "dose", the curd is just not as firm. If you want to give this a real try, I would get online and order a small bottle of animal rennet and give it another try. It's pretty cheap, since it takes very little to make a batch of cheese. http://www.cheesemaking.com/LiquidAnimalRennet.html

I would try the milk processed from lower temp milk first, and see if you are successful with that. If not, you know the process is the problem. If you are successful, then you can be reasonably sure it was the milk. Things that I noticed as different than what I do: 1. I use raw milk. We have a couple cows (none milking at the moment though) and goats (also makes a nice mozzarella). That said, I have done 30 minute mozz with pasteurized milk from the grocery and have not had an issue (without adding calcium chloride), although the flavor is not quite as good. 2. I just dissolve the citric acid in a little water. That said, I have seen a bunch of recipes that use a cup, so I doubt this is an issue. 3. You don't mention cutting the curds and stirring before spooning them out. Did you do this? You need a lot of surface area for the whey to drain out properly. You can't skip this step and if you did, I would bet this is the problem. 4. I use a mesh strainer at this point and stir them around in there for a bit before I start heating the curds. It seems to help get some of the whey out. 5. Not sure you got this far and someone else has mentioned this, but you really need to heat the cheese to an uncomfortable temperature to pull them. I have pretty heat tolerant hands, as I suspect many on eGullet do, and I generally put on rubber gloves. You might try following the tutorial on New England Cheesemaking's site, http://www.cheesemaking.com/howtomakemozzarellacheese.html. It is very detailed with lots of pictures. ChrisZ, traditional mozz in Italy is made with a culture to acidify the milk rather than by adding citric acid. So doing the traditional way will likely make things harder at this stage. I think the idea of keeping notes so you can look back and see exactly what is done differently is a fantastic idea, and a great introduction into scientific method for the kids. Oh, and re pH meters, I have never used one making mozz. Thinking about getting one for cultured cheeses but if you are adding citric acid to acidify, I can't see it helping you.

The blood orange is pretty much the same as what Mette made at the conference - dark chocolate, cream, butter, and the blood orange compound from Amoretti. They were nice enough to send me a few samples to play with.

The domes are dark chocolate and blood orange ganache in dark chocolate shell, the tear drops are milk chocolate hazelnut praline in a dark chocolate shell.

The rose is beautiful, and the snowman is adorable!!!

Thanks! I have some awesome teachers, Ruth and Kerry! Looking forward to learning more from y'all next year!

Was the milk pasteurized or ultrapasteurized? My internet connection is slow, so watching the video would take forever. What did you use to acidify the milk? Jess

I've made 30 minute mozz like a gazillion times. PM me if you want to troubleshoot...

Never thought I would be able to post something on this thread, but here are today's chocolates! I also dipped some wonderfully tart dried apricots from Trader Joe's with the tempered chocolate I had left over after capping, but those are considerably more, um, rustic. They sure taste good though!

For a gallon or two, I would use about 1/4 tablet. But liquid rennet is much easier to deal with, so I rarely use tablets.

Not that I have ever seen. Ours does not even have liquid rennet, just the tablets. I get all my cultures from the internet. I assume if he is doing a one time project, he is making some sort of a fresh cheese, like a 30 minute mozzarella or a paneer. Whatcha making, Fat Guy?

Don't know specifically about NYC, but I can tell you I have bought rennet tablets at Whole Foods. But I usually order liquid rennet online. http://www.cheesemaking.com/ is in New England, so should get to you fast.

I'll check Whole Foods the next time I get a chance!

Not really, I love dark chocolate. I'd be interested in trying whatever I can. I only buy milk and white chocolate to make stuff for other people!

Panaderia Canadiense, I'd be interested in hearing more about the Kallari as well.