YetiChocolates

Well it's official, I'm going to the conference! Just booked my flight . Luckily my training is later in May so it works out, already cleared it with my boss. So excited! Planning on getting there Thursday afternoon, so I should be able to make the Morato demo if it is indeed at 5:30.

So will have to check with my work schedule (we might be in shorthaul training that week), but if I can swing it there is a small chance I might be able to make it. Put me in the same category as Rob.

I just had a similar issue with my chocolate, but I used the immersion blender like gap suggested and it totally worked! No more lumps! It was like magic...you should definitely give it a shot

So played with the EZ temper for the first time tonight, wanted to check and make sure my transfer sheets survived the summer! Like Ruth I was a bit nervous when I added the silk, but it set right up...really fast! So awesome! Even though I watched Kerry for 3 days demoing this beast I needed to play with it myself to truly see the magic. So freakin' cool!

I love how many chest shots you got of me in these photos, and of course mid "stuff" with the chopsticks is probably the best one of the whole night

gfron1, on 20 Dec 2014 - 5:12 PM, said: Some food for thought, when I was in school they always had the chocolate/candy kitchens very cold, I would say around 60 degrees or below, enough that I would wear extra layers under my chef coat because it was always freezing (albeit I am always cold), but it was quite chilly in these rooms and it was because they wanted the chocolate and candy to cool much more rapidly than the baking kitchens. And my house is usually 62-64 when I work with chocolate because I'm a cheapskate and don't want to pay for extra heating. Although I'm sure that 68 degrees is fine, personally it seems a bit warm to me. I'd rather have a colder room when working with chocolate than a warmer one. With that said, I always put my molds in the fridge when shelling and finishing because my hands are so hot usually when I mold and cap that I can throw the shells that my hands touch out of temper just by the heat transfer. There is also the latent heat of crystallization to think about, so for me, to err on the side of caution, regardless of room temp, I pop the molds in the fridge when shelling and capping.

For me I stopped adding butter to my recipes because I was adding it in it's solid room temp form at the end and inevitably it would break my ganache. I've been discussing this with Chocolot this weekend and she adds the butter to her cream, doesn't affect the mouthfeel by adding the butter to the cream and melting it, so I might try adding butter back to my recipes. As for adding cocoa butter, have you thought about using mycryo instead of melting cocoa butter or trying to add cocoa butter chips to the ganache? And at what temp are you adding it to the ganache? It might be breaking because it's too cold when you add it?

I definitely would like to do that Ruth! Probably won't be until October, as I'm guessing I'll be needed for staffing until then, but would like to take some time off before I leave Jackson and head down, as the trip from Jackson to Ogden is much close then Wenatchee to Ogden. I think I'd like to get a fancy tempering machine eventually (obviously), but to cut down start up costs initially I think this might do the trick and speed up production time when it comes to ganaches as well, so it's a win win really. I'll probably start out with melters and then switch over to tempering machines once I start making $$ on the business.

I would love to go down and check out Ruth's sometime this fall after the season dies down (not here in WYO but everywhere else), but just seeing the results is making me lean towards an EZ temper in lieu of the auto tempering machine I was thinking about getting for the shop (and it would save me around 8k!) Super impressed Kerry!

Talked to the company on the phone, looks like they don't do refurbs anymore. Shucks! Hopefully I can continue to scan eBay and find one used on there...not sure that I want to dish out $2000+ on a new one just yet

Thanks Kerry, I just requested a quote asking about a refurbished unit, and just noticed that they are based in Pullman, WA, which is a short 3-4 hour drive from me...crazy!

Kerry, what aW meter do you have and where did you get it? Want to figure out best place to get one and the estimated cost for business plan purposes. Not essential obviously, but pretty "peace of mind" handy... So far the current contenders are the Pawkit and the Rotronic HP23AW, the Pawkit seems to be more economically priced, but most places you have to request for a quote which annoys me.

Just wanted to give you an update that I finally took the time to email Tom about the Dedy, and we spoke on the phone today. I also asked him about the Italian enrober, and I think that's what I'll end up going with. Just talking to him about it made a lot of sense. I think having the auto-tempering is going to be so handy, and if I wanted to get the Dedy capable of attaching the enrober eventually I would have to get the upgraded model which would cost only around $1000 less than the Prima, and the Prima comes with the vibrating table, where the Dedy you have to purchase separately for $1200. Given those variables it would be silly to get a batch temperer when I can get an auto temperer for pretty much the same price. And I can add the enrobing set up to the Prima later if I want pretty seamlessly. For now I'll just use my Mol d' Art for hand dipping, until it becomes more cost effective to add the enrober. The Prima also has a doser, so you can set the output for your shells and it will add just the right amount of chocolate to each cavity without all the mess of ladling the chocolate in the mold. It's amazing what they've come up with these days! Thanks for the advice on getting ahold of Tom Ruth, it was really helpful!

I'm with you there Ruth, I only use it for ganaches and some decoration for shells. I think I just had a terrible experience trying to shell with white a long time ago before I learned the beauty of thinning, and by the time I figured it out, I didn't really enjoy chocolates shelled in white anyway. The only one I currently have is the Yeti Ball, and it's more for aesthetics than anything. The only milk shell I have is for my salted caramel, as it is the first thing I've found that is better shelled in milk than in dark, which is a hard thing to admit I'll have to look into the 35% white though.

I use Guittard Gourmet Bittersweet 63% for my dark and E Guittard Soleil d'Or 38% for milk. I really like the Gourmet bittersweet, I've used it for years now, since I started and I like it's viscosity for shelling. I don't have to thin it out at all and I've worked with it some much that even though I still use a thermometer out of habit, I can just tell by looking what temp it's at. The Soleil d'Or I just started using for shelling and I thin it with 5% cocoa butter because it gets a little to viscous for my liking at it's working temper, but I really like the flavor and once thinned out it works rather well. I don't do any shelling with white, it's just not my style, I think white shells make the chocolate too sweet and mask what's inside, but that's just my opinion, so take that as it may. As for white chocolate for ganaches however, I recently switched to E Guittard Creme Francais and have been pleased with it so far. I do use it to pipe into my hob nog shells and I thin it out for that as well. I feel most milk and white chocolates I've worked with are just a little too viscous at their working temper. That's my two cents anyway. I'd be interested to hear what Ruths preferences are.

I've also seen where you can make a pate de fruit, then put it in a blender/food processor and puree it. Makes it pipeable.

Ah yes, I knew it was either Mark or Matt, I'm incredibly terrible with names, which is terribly inconvenient when you have a name everyone remembers . Anyway, yeah it was a cereal milky center, don't remember the exact ingredients they used to make the center from, but it was quite a surprise when you bit into it.

Didn't the Mark(s) do something similar to this at the Niagara Conference, they had a milk center that they froze then dipped in white chocolate and rolled in fruity pebbles I think. It was a very interesting idea and surprising when you bit into it.

Funny you should say that because I always mix by hand and as of late haven't had issues with improper emulsions, other than with my dairy free ones sometimes and I think that's a balance issue more than an emulsion issue. I'm sure once I graduate to larger batches I'll forgo hand-mixing, but for now it's all I do.

Posted 25 February 2013 - 03:02 PM Hi Jim, thanks for the comment - starting piping in the middle of the mold and drag the piping bag along the surface of the mold out towards the rim. In this case, I had to tilt the mold as I was piping so that I could pipe up the side nicely. It's hard to describe without seeing! Basically, you're piping big Y shapes for that one, and the point where the lines in the Y intersect is where I started from. Chris Here's the answer to your question Gwbyls, I knew it had been answered earlier in the thread, so I did some searching...

I like the ones that look like tiger stripes, beautiful work as always keychris!

I just requested more info from TCF about the Dedy mini enrober, but looking at the pic on their website, looks like it has a blower and in the description is says it has a detailer... http://www.tcfsales.com/products/853-Dedy-MINI-ENROBER-for-Pastries-of-all-Kinds/

Oooh, maybe I can take a long weekend when I get down to Jackson and come play. I'll keep that in the back of my mind... And I spoke with Rob first about his Bakon Donna and he feels the same way Ruth does, likes it but does not love it. He's not a fan of how small the bowl is, creates a big mess, and watching the demo online I'd have to agree with him, not impressed with how small the bowl is. If I did decide to go with the Dedy, TCF is in TX, so not too far. Not close, but nothing is when it comes to large confectionary equipment on the west coast. Did you purchase your Perfect in Quebec Ruth and have them ship/import it to you?

Alright, going to revitalize this thread as I need some advice. As many of you know, I'm in the process of putting the plans in place to start my chocolate business. I would like to upgrade my chocolate melter/tempering unit and want to get a unit that I can eventually attach an enrober to, but I'm trying to decide which brand to go with. Price as always is an issue. Of course the Selmi would probably be my first choice, but financially I don't think I can swing it. Looking on TFC Sales, they have a Dedy Mini Moulder that seems like a good choice for my needs, but I've heard some debate on the wheel temperers and how they tend to thicken the chocolate quicker. I also cannot seem to find any reviews on the Dedy Mini Moulder. But the price is reasonable, and they have a mini enrober attachment available. I guess I'm curious the thoughts of the veterans on this thread are on this particular brand, and if it's no good, a decent alternative in the 5-7k range. Any feedback would be appreciated!

I too have to pull my name from the hat. Have to save my pennies for the fall when I'll hopefully be opening my chocolate cafe. Fingers crossed!