Jim D.

Yes, just yesterday I spoke to someone about the "rush-hour" traffic in Staunton. Here we put the phrase in quotation marks. So what are you still doing up there in the chaos?

Now I envy you being so close to AUI.

I meant I see no difference in qualitytaste. When Ponthier offers both an unsweetened and a sweetened version, I always buy the unsweetened one on the theory that a lot of sugar from other sources is added to whatever I am making.

@JonathanI am a huge Felchlin fan but have been, of course, skeptical about sugar-free chocolate. What do they use as a sweetener, and can it be tasted? The only sweetener I have ever tried (not in chocolate) that is not bad is sucralose (Splenda). But there are so many chemical roles that sugar plays in a confection that I am curious as to whether it is a crucial ingredient that can, in fact, be replaced.

I respect @Bentley's views on just about everything, but I started out using a siphon (first a Badger, then a Paasche). To me, the difference between a siphon-feed and a gravity-feed airbrush has been like night and day. I don't think the cost difference between the two types is much if anything.

That's an interesting question. As you can imagine, I obsessed over what had gone wrong. The bonbon had layers of strawberry PdF and lemon ganache. The pieces I left in a storage room (at 60F) were the ones that had the mold (not sure how long they were there). Those I had frozen had no trace. So there were not many that were affected, and no one at the retail outlet where they are sold reported a problem. But I freaked out and contacted anyone who had some of them. Nobody, for what it's worth, had noticed anything wrong. One customer said simply, "Oh, we've already eaten those, no problem." But it was a turning point for me, as you can well imagine. I now refrigerate or freeze (in sealed bags to minimize condensation) everything as soon as possible. And the retail outlet has been taught to keep some of the boxes I deliver in a freezer, others for immediate sale in a refrigerated case. As far as I am concerned, freezing is the way to go. I have never noticed any defect in a frozen and proper thawed bonbon--and no mold!

Perhaps there isn't a minimum for pickups. I would be surprised if there is a charge for in-person pickup. I cannot say enough positive about Felchlin chocolates. Once I tasted Maracaibo Clasificado, I was hooked. And Créole is the best milk I have tasted (thanks again, @pastrygirlfor that suggestion).

I have found that Aw readings differ from one batch to another, always within the same general range but different numbers. Of course that is not difficult to understand since measuring is an inexact science (at least when done by me). I followed Wybauw's recipe without any changes. No, I have never sent a sample for testing elsewhere. I am content with a reading below 0.80 (with a couple of exceptions--both Wybauw recipes too delicious to give up in spite of readings above 0.80). If the reading for a new recipe is too far above 0.80, I look for ways to change it to add some solids or eliminate some water or else I abandon it entirely. I have had one mold episode and have never forgotten the sight! Of all things it was in a pâte de fruit (one assumes all that sugar will protect it), so now I add a bit of sorbic acid to all PdFs. As for the meter, it is the least expensive one that I know of (if $2200+ can ever be called inexpensive), and I don't expect it to provide extreme accuracy. It is a model that many food inspectors commonly carry around with them and so has to endure some abuse. It does come with test vials of salt water, and so far the reading has been exactly what the vial says it is supposed to be. My kitchen inspector is impressed that I have the meter, and that counts for something, I suppose.

That question was discussed in this thread. I order my chocolate from AUI, and they carry Ponthier purées. I have been very pleased and see no difference between those and Boiron (same conclusion was reached in the thread to which I referred). One disadvantage is that AUI has a minimum order of 12 cartons, but the major advantage is that shipping is free (if I meet their minimum--which is hard NOT to do when buying chocolate!). The overnight shipping from Florida (the closest warehouses that carry other brands) is horrible. AUI also has great customer service. Some of the flavors I ordered recently were out of stock in the Maryland warehouse and so were sent from Florida. All were in the process of melting or were totally melted because an employee "pushed the wrong button for method of shipment." They told me to throw away the entire first shipment and sent another one in a day. I must add that it nearly killed me to throw away that first shipment. I was reasonably sure the purées were fine to eat but decided not to take any chances with customers. Because of having to meet the minimum, I experimented with flavors I had never had before, such as guava. Unfortunately it was out of stock for the replacement shipment, but I decided to taste the melted guava and loved it--and am still alive.

Yes, I think the conclusion in past discussions has been to avoid the completely plain molds. Since bars are so popular especially of late, there are lots of interesting designs available. But if someone insists on a plain mold, @gap's suggestions sound promising.

I'm no expert in making solid chocolate bars, but I encounter the same demolding marks when I use magnetic molds for filled chocolates. I am inclined to conclude they are unavoidable. I am sure that is not the answer you want to hear, and I certainly will be interested in your future experiments.

@pastrygirl, any reason you prefer Roxy & Rich over Chef Rubber or Chocobutter (from Chocotransfersheets)?

Thanks, I'll look into those ideas. I ate one of the crème brûlée bonbons. Once the caramel bits and buttercream plus dark chocolate shell get into the mouth, it all melts together. To my relief (since these bonbons were requested for a wedding), there is some crunch and not too much gumminess. I can tell it isn't exactly what was intended, but I don't think most people will notice. I have some time to explore this before I do it again. Sometimes, I should add, it works beautifully. Those times must have been in January or February!

That is an excellent idea. Thank you.

Good idea. It would be a mess, but part of what we do for our art! Thanks.

I make a filling that aims to mimic the tastes and texture of crème brûlée. To get the crunch, I make a caramel (just sugar and water), let it harden, then grind it in a small food processor. I put a 1/2 tsp. or so in the bottom of each cavity, then cover it with melted chocolate (with a little coconut oil to keep it from hardening too much). On top of that I add a vanilla butter ganache (Greweling's eggnog but with no nutmeg or rum, just more vanilla). The issue is the caramel bits. In my notes on this recipe, I say sternly, "Don't attempt this on a humid day." But recently it seems, regardless of the humidity, the ground caramel sticks together and forms a more or less solid mass in the bottom of the cavities before I can seal it with the white chocolate. It makes for a less than ideal mouthfeel, more chewy than crunchy. Can anyone think of something that might keep the bits separate? Confectioner's sugar maybe? I tried it, and it made a mess. Am I simply limited to making this only in the dead of winter when the humidity is something like 30%?

@choc.frogs, I agree with pastrygirl's diagnosis. You can test to see whether this is what's happening by carefully scraping off some of the chocolate that appears on the sides (at the bottom edge) of the bonbons. When I have done this, the colored cocoa butter appears underneath. No one I have ever seen has a remedy for this irritating blemish. For me it occurs mostly with shallow molds, such as demispheres, quenelles, eggs, cocoa pods. What mold were you using?

I don't heat the molds. I tried it for a while but saw no difference. Apple caramel (particularly prone to leaking) leaks with or without heat. The theory of heating (to form a better bond) makes complete sense, but didn't follow through for me, and there is always the danger of easily overheating the edges.

😖 That's the closest emoji I could find for saying I'm jealous. Of course, you do realize how chocolate-related obsessions progress...you're quite satisfied with one Selmi now, but you'll have at least another for milk before the year ends. Think of the holiday production you could accomplish! 😜 The Selmi is definitely a worthy home for Felchlin couverture.

I should have qualified my statement by saying that I don't use my melter for overnight melting, not that it could not be done. I am a new user of the Mol d'Art and so far haven't found its temp controls very accurate (other users have said the same, maybe it's just the one I received). I probably wouldn't use the melter to melt (as un-obvious as that sounds) for one simple reason: As I have described my process previously, I use a Chocovision Delta to temper the chocolate and have found its thermostat to be very accurate. I haven't had a lot of success emptying the melter into the Delta bowl without making a mess. I use the Mol d'Art for dumping molds (as, obviously, the round Delta bowl makes that impossible, or at least messy beyond what even I can put up with). I can keep the melter at a temp of 95F or above, so that it contains untempered chocolate, ready to be added to the Delta whenever overtempering starts. With the Mol d'Art (so I gather from others), the user controls overtempering by turning up the thermostat for a while, then lowering it (or keeping some untempered chocolate ready from another source). With the procedure of adding untempered chocolate at 95F or above to the Delta bowl, it takes a very short period of time (a minute or two) for the temp to come back down to working temp, and at that point the chocolate is noticeably more fluid. A final reason why I don't use the melter for filling shells is that it would be difficult to ladle chocolate into the last molds when the chocolate level is low, whereas the Delta bowl provides a smaller, deeper area so the chocolate level remains higher longer. I try to use as little chocolate as possible for a batch so as to reduce melting time. We don't all have the luxury of having a Selmi at our disposal (ahem, @pastrygirl). I really think it all comes down to what each person finds most convenient and efficient.

This is exactly what I do. Although I love my dehydrator, its thermostat control is far from exact. I set the temp for a little above 100F. I put the chocolate into the dehydrator the night before I am using it, and it's melted by the next morning and ready to temper. When I don't have the overnight time, I have left it in for about 6 hours, and it has melted (or mostly so). If I'm in a real hurry, I put it in two bowls and that helps noticeably. Still better than waiting for it to melt from scratch (whether one is using a melter or a tempering machine).

Excuse my ignorance, but what is "interfacing"? Finding a fabric store these days is another matter, but one thing at a time.

I have the single level Master spray booth, and it is quite adequate in size. The inventor/owner of the company told me the taller ones are meant for tall items (such as chocolate showpieces). If you watch the video of chocolatier Sydney using their two-level one, you will see the booth in action. I phoned her, and we had a long chat. She is extremely pleased with the booth. I am not so extravagant in my praise, but I think Sydney sprays at a lower psi. I have just resigned myself to using a lot of the "pre-filters." I bought a roll of the material and cut it myself, thus saving some money. I change the filter after spraying 6-12 molds (depending entirely on how much cocoa butter comes out of the gun--some colors are much worse than others). Sydney uses far fewer than that. Yes, it is an expensive proposition, but I don't make huge number of chocolates at a time, and I am willing to pay for inhaling less cocoa butter. You might also (as I did) look into a Paasche spray booth. That was going to be my choice before I found the CakeSafe. It is the fan that makes the difference.

SATA has a very good reputation, but sometimes I wonder if that is because they are so much more expensive than most spray guns. If you ever get one, I would be interested in knowing your opinion. I too have been in Melissa's studio and seen her spray booth in action. If the noise is an indicator, then it is indeed very powerful. I have looked into various spray booths (DIY and otherwise) at great length. During that investigation I concluded that virtually all of the DIYs ones (as seen on Youtube) are intended for paint use. The big issue with what we do is that cocoa butter builds up and clogs faster. I made a spray booth out of a large box with a hole cut into the back, into which I inserted an air filter intended for a home heating system, and then I placed a large fan behind the filter. I finally gave up on the box because the filter was clogged with cocoa butter after a short usage and was virtually useless. In my opinion--and others will disagree--it's primarily the cocoa butter spraying into the air and back onto the person that is the worst thing, and I don't think a lot can be done about that. Venting to the outside means that the vent pipe will get clogged with cocoa butter rather quickly. In Las Vegas I wondered who gets to clean Melissa's vent. I am currently using two methods of controlling how much cocoa butter I inhale. I wear a 3M ventilator, and that helps a lot. It looks weird and is quite uncomfortable, but I no longer blow my nose and see blue or red or green. The spray booth I use is this CakeSafe one. It is quite expensive, but it does help. It has a strong fan and a series of filters that manage to keep any cocoa butter from exiting from the back of the fan box. And in addition to the initial cost, I am using a lot of the "pre-filters," which catch most of the cocoa butter. I asked the inventor of the product about this, and he said he envisioned people spraying at 30psi. I am spraying at closer to 60psi, meaning I have to use more filters, but 30psi took too long to cover molds. And even this device doesn't stop cocoa butter flying through the air--it hits the box holding the filter and bounces back--and I don't see any way to control that. A huge spray booth would, I assume, contain it better. Some colors are worse than others--white and colors containing a large amount of white are the worst.

I agree about the fig ganache. I also make one and would probably not make a huge amount at a time. It's difficult enough to pipe when it's freshly made. I second the idea of a strong immersion blender. Especially in a ganache that includes butter, I wouldn't be without one. I am impressed that you make your ganaches by hand. I much prefer doing that, since the blender tends to raise the temp of the ganache and thus increase wait time to get it to a pipeable state. The separation of ganache when reheating applies mostly to white chocolate based recipes. It's easy enough to get it to come back together, but still is a pain. If I have medium to large amounts of leftover ganache, I always vacuum-seal and freeze it.