Jim D.

I have done more research on spray booths, specifically those that would fit on a table. Paasche has a couple of models that get mostly good reviews; only the larger one has a fan with a rather high cfm, which is the figure that counts because it is what draws the sprayed material out of the booth. The brand that seems to appeal to model painters willing to pay for quality is Pace, and again, only the largest model (36" wide) has a really powerful fan; Pace booths get some very positive reviews. Nearly all booths (and booths that one might construct from scratch) are designed for model painting and aim at getting fumes out of the air. I am not at all sure this is the same thing that concerns sprayers of cocoa butter as it is not fumes we worry about but the cocoa butter particles themselves. Another issue with the painters' spray booths is that they are usually designed with a sloping "roof" where the filter is, and that slope might make spraying chocolate molds very awkward. But all the setups of chocolatiers I saw in Las Vegas had this basic approach (though their chambers were larger)--use a powerful fan to draw the cocoa butter out of the booth. So, as so often happens in a web search, I was led to a rather different way of looking at spray booths, these being specifically designed for confectioners, and in that rather specific area, one brand seems to be the principal one: CakeSafe. As is obvious from the name, it is aimed at cake bakeries, but it has two basic models, one for spraying airbrush color, the other specifically for spraying cocoa butter. The latter is, of course, what a chocolatier would need. Here is a photo of the least expensive model: What is dramatically different about these booths is that they are not vented to the outside. I immediately questioned that, but the manufacturer's material insists it is not needed. The device consists of a plastic box with several layers of filters and a powerful fan behind them. The company makes the point that exhausting cocoa butter is not the goal; rather, it is capturing it so that it doesn't fly out into the air (and into the lungs). So the "pre-filter" is a piece of filter material that goes in front of the other filters and captures the overspray. Obviously it needs to be replaced rather often. The fan is there to create a vacuum-like effect to pull the cocoa butter toward the filters. The website features a very convincing video from a chocolatier for David Ramirez Chocolates in Orlando who shows off her spotless white chef's jacket after a period of airbrushing a chocolate mold. The downside to the CakeSafe booths is their prices, which start at $710 with a hefty 650 cfm fan. The one in the video is $1,450. Welcome to the world of pricing for special confectionery items. I believe the booth works because this much seems clear from the video, but it is a price tag that keeps a possible customer from saying, "I'll just get one and give it a try and see if it works" (the idea of cleaning and shipping a used booth for a refund is daunting). The CakeSafe deviates so far from the norm (of sucking cocoa butter overspray out of the room and pulling it outdoors), that it makes one question the whole idea, but then again, the norm is spray booths built for spraying paint. I wondered if @JeanneCake might have heard of the CakeSafe spray booths in her bakery or elsewhere. I would welcome any comments from others with spray booth experience.

In spite of the current uncertainty in the world, I pressed on with my plans for Easter chocolates. Below are the eggs. The fillings (clockwise from top) are all simple, mostly traditional ones: (1) strawberry pâte de fruit & strawberry cream, (2) dark caramel with sea salt, (3) coffee ganache with Kahlúa & rum buttercream, (4) crispy hazelnut gianduja.

Thanks for your good suggestions (as usual). How do you know so much about so many things? Rhetorical question. As for the quote above, when I was investigating installing a range vent during my kitchen renovation, I came upon the term "makeup air." It's just what you are discussing. Some localities even have laws requiring a certain amount of makeup air brought into the house to balance what is sucked out by an exhaust fan. I am, however, working in an old house, with many, many cracks, and the basement is even more "ventilated." Do you mean the "in vent" needs some sort of power to bring in air or is it just a passive vent to the outside? If it's the latter, then I (unintentionally) have plenty of those in the basement. In any videos I have seen of spraying booths, I have not seen one that has such a vent or mentions it.

I'm continuing to think about the issue of airbrush overspray and using colored cocoa butter. Even my 3M respirator and the homemade spray booth (box with cutout for filter and fan behind filter) are not dealing effectively with the cocoa butter spray. I used white a few days ago, and there is a fine white mist on just about everything around the area. There is also ample evidence from my nose that my efforts are not proving successful. I suppose COVID-19 has made us all more sensitive to respiratory issues. In any case I am looking into a real spray booth with fan to draw spray to the outside. I have in the meantime at last found a handyman who an do just about anything with quality workmanship and at a reasonable cost, so am looking on Youtube for useful videos to show him what I want. I would be interested in knowing what others on eG have done on this topic and whether venting to the outside makes a significant difference. I assume it does, but so often things don't work out the way one expects. I have always thought there was no way I could cut a hole in the cement wall of the basement where I airbrush, but just today I noticed an obvious solution: There is a room AC in a window, and the unoccupied part of the window has pieces of wood fixed in place--lots of room for a vent. I just don't want to go through this if people haven't found it really useful. Dying is one thing, but to have the autopsy say something about multi-color lung disease is another.

Yes, but don't you have to pay some attention to the chocolate, such as stirring it from time to time so that it doesn't become overtempered too quickly and so that the temp is constant throughout the bowl? And to @curls' point, indeed the round nature of the bowl is an issue. I have, through trial and error, found a method of dumping the contents of molds while holding them almost vertically over the bowl. Supposedly a chocolatier in western Canada was inventing something like the Rev machines but designed so that the whole bowl is available to be "dumped over." The real solution: Someone needs to invent a tempering machine with a square bowl. Sounds like a challenge for a "chocolate doctor"?

I am also an owner of an EZtemper, but I would just add that while it can be used to temper chocolate, it does not deal with the issue of what to do with having a large amount of chocolate ready for making shells or dipping centers. For that, of course, one needs (on a large scale) a full setup such as a Selmi or (on a smaller scale) a large bowl and some method of keeping the chocolate within a temp range or a melter or a tempering machine. The advantage to me of a Rev machine is that, unlike the other smaller-scale methods, it automates the maintaining of the temp through many hours of making shells or dipping.

If you mean praline paste from hazelnuts, I would guess that the paste would overwhelm the speculoos flavor. I think you need to add some chocolate, or the mixture will never firm up. One time I made my own "cookie butter," grinding up speculoos cookies and adding coconut oil. It was not pleasant tasting, and I had to keep adding more cookies. Now I have discovered jars of cookie butter (from the makers of speculoos cookies). I add milk chocolate in a 50-50 ratio, and it's delicious. I prefer the crunchy version of cookie butter for this.

I've gone ahead with the production I had planned. I'm making an assortment of 9 flavors for the various sizes of boxes I offer and 4 flavors for decorated eggs. Orders are down by something approaching one half. One regular customer emailed to explain that he didn't want me to think he is one of those customers who order for a while, then just disappear. But he works in a field where close contact with clients is essential, so all work has ceased. I can easily freeze the boxes for future use (there is nothing Eastery about them); the eggs are a different story. I suppose I could use them to make myself a spectacular omelet for Easter breakfast. I'm guessing that some people, when Easter itself arrives, may feel more of an interest in getting chocolates. And there is always the argument that in Christian circles, the Easter season lasts 50 days, so there is even more time to feel the chocolate urge. As a last resort, these eggs would make very good approximations of Christmas ornaments.

When you get the bug, there's no turning back. I know you work with AUI, which carries the delicious chocolates from Felchlin. Try some Maracaibo Clasificado. With your cake skills, you would be terrific at chocolatiering.

You are a genius. But then, that's hardly news.

That's it, but I'm not sure how that happened. I added the file as an attachment to an eG post, did not include that web link at all. Maybe the eG tech support people can explain this? When I include an image file in a post, the image itself shows up.

I'm surprised the attachment shows up. When I click on it, it just goes to my computer to find the file. And under the name of the file here on eG, it says "Unavailable." When I have added other types of files (such as photos), they appear in the post. Maybe somebody can explain this. In any case, I'm glad you can see it. If you need to order the parts, the best place I found is Jerry Carter Air Tool (since Grex doesn't sell anything directly). I've been using my Grex quite a lot lately with smaller chocolate orders, and I really like it. As long as it's kept warm (I keep it in a dehydrator), it performs very well (and uses much, much less cocoa butter than the Fuji).

I'll post a PDF diagram provided for me by Grex tech support. I'm not sure how well it will show up here. If it's not legible, let me know and I'll try something else. airbrush_setup_diagram.pdf Correction: The PDF did not post, but the diagram is available on my website. airbrush_setup_diagram.pdf

I have this one from California Air Tools.

I'm not Bentley, but I have a 2HP compressor. A more powerful one would have made it easier, but my compressor always managed to produce a supply of air for the HVLP gun. The issue was that it had to keep running almost all of the time.

When your skin turns orange, you will know you have a Vitamin C overdose. What's the opposite of scurvy?

Not sure what you mean by saying it's hard to get a broad opinion. If you mean there are not many opinions on eGullet, then I think that's because very few members have a Fuji. I thought you had definitely decided to get the Fuji back in November. If not and if you have a decent compressor, you might consider going for the Grizzly (with the small cup as Bentley described it). It's inexpensive and would give you a good feel for whether an HVLP gun is for you. It might actually satisfy your needs, but if it does not, you are out only a relatively small amount of money and can still get the Fuji. That's the path that I took.

To confuse things more about polishing molds: When the annual eG workshop last took place in Las Vegas, we visited several chocolatiers and discovered many differences in how they prepared their molds. As described by gfron1, Melissa Coppel takes polishing to a new level. If I recall correctly, Jin Caldwell does not polish her molds at all--in fact, she does not even clean them between uses! You could not have a wider gamut than that. Yet both produce beautiful, shiny bonbons. Andrey Dubovik washes molds in hot soapy water, adding that they don't need polishing unless you see water residue. Have you seen the shine he gets? If not, check his Instagram photos. He loves to show off the shine by including a reflection of himself in the chocolates. He believes the shine comes from being careful about temper--and, most notably, in working in a room that I consider quite chilly. I continue to wash my molds as Andrey says and polish them with a microfiber cloth, but I think the polishing is mostly superstition now. I think the humidity in the work space is a crucial factor as I have seen perfectly shiny bonbons go to a matte look in seconds when they are exposed to humidity.

The noise of the Fuji does not bother me much at all. It sounds very much like a typical vacuum cleaner (maybe more like a Shop Vac). To me, the sound of a regular compressor is louder, although it is not constant like that of the Fuji.

That is a good question, and I don't have a definitive answer. I can say that I have had leftover bonbons sitting around for many weeks, and (knock on wood) I have never seen any mold. The PdF has so much sugar in it that I am not surprised at its extensive shelf life. I use a lot of inclusions in bonbons (cookies, caramelized nuts, cherries), and I think about the air problem. With inclusions I pipe something in the mold first (ganache, gianduja, PdF), then press the inclusion into that bottom layer. Occasionally as a bonbon sets, small holes will form in the top of the filling. I assume those are caused by air bubbles making their way to the top. But, as I say, I have not had any trouble with shelf life...so far. If you are using the PdF as a bottom layer, then I would make sure the top layer is fluid when it goes in because that will help eliminate space. Sometimes I pipe in the top layer when it is very fluid to cope with the issue. This makes a terrible mess, but if your production is fairly small, you can clean up the mold without too much time spent. Perhaps others with more knowledge will chime in with some further insights.

Your PdF looks very good. Unfortunately piping PdF is (at least in my experience) not an easy task. First, it depends on the viscosity of the substance, and there is no way of predicting how firmly it will set--too many variables. You can make it quite a bit thinner than jam/jelly, but then you run into the probability of a high Aw. Second, I am sure you have had ganaches and caramels that just won't level (there was a thread here some time ago about the search for a self-leveling ganache). Like you, I use a gloved finger or plastic wrap or whatever works best to squish the peak as much as possible. And often submerging the tip of the piping bag into the PdF as you pipe can help. I think @Pastrypastmidnight has had the most success piping PdF, judging from the photos of her cut bonbons. Perhaps she or others will share their tips. My only consolation when the PdF has not leveled is that most people don't cut their bonbons before they eat them!

@RWood, those transfer sheets are very nice. I also like those molds. Did you get them from JB Prince? Unfortunately the molds have been discontinued (at least from JB Prince), and I have not been able to find more elsewhere. I had to supplement with some similar ones from Chocolate World.

Are you asking whether overspray is an issue with HVLP guns? If so, then yes, it seems to be. The overspray on the Fuji is substantial, which is why I reserve it mostly for big projects. In fact, I think the only reasons for switching from airbrush to spray gun are the speed of the latter (faster coverage) and the size of the cup (longer spraying without reheating or refilling). And speaking of overspray, I'm less happy with my homemade spray booth (large box with air filter inserted into the back and a large industrial fan just outside the filter). Especially with colors containing lots of titanium dioxide, the cocoa butter released into the air is sometimes too much to put up with. Even with a respirator, I think I need venting to the outside...or a new set of lungs.

Some beautiful work. Hard to believe you learned and accomplished all that in such a short time. I am especially impressed and intrigued by the two stone effects in the designs in this photo. I've never seen anything like it. If it's permitted and not unethical to share his techniques, can you give an idea of how it was done? I also love the mold.

Although practically everyone cautions against using the freezer, I don't hesitate when I encounter the most stubborn bonbons. Quite often I don't just want every one of them, I need every piece for sales. So I pound for a while, back in the fridge for a while, pound again, then it's into the freezer. Occasionally even that doesn't do it, but it almost always does. And I have never seen the loss of shine that is predicted from use of the freezer. My horror story still is an occasion when Kerry said she was at a show or class demonstrating how to shell and unmold chocolates, but they refused to drop out as they were supposed to (you know, the way ALL of Dubovik's do).