Jim D.

I have had some difficulty with that and the silk. Two of the chocolates I regularly use become over-tempered easily, and I haven't yet found the perfect amount of silk for that situation--1% is too much.

Kerry, Do you have ideas on why this would be the case? Obviously living where I do makes humidity a real issue. I can get the % down somewhat with air conditioning, but it helps only so much.

To echo what Kerry said, the all-important Type V crystals are melting out until you get down to around 93F, so it's the last few degrees that are crucial to providing enough of those crystals. I find it takes very little seed (contrary to the directions of many people), and I don't add it until close to around 95F. But it has to be there (unmelted) for the final few degrees.

That foil is a very interesting idea. I looked at the Foilman site and did not see the thickness of the paper-backed foil. Could you describe approximately how thick it feels? How does it compare to regular foil (such as Reynold's)? I'm looking for something to cover chocolates in a box, and because I'm dealing with a custom size, regular candy pads won't fit. I would need something fairly rigid, or at least something that would not bend easily.

Perhaps you will find these ideas an unacceptable compromise or even cheating. But as @keychrispointed out, the release marks happen to just about everybody when molding bars. eGullet and other sites are filled with questions on how to fix the problem, and--as is usually the case with chocolate--one is never sure of what causes the issue. One "solution" is to give up and try to disguise the problem as much as possible. You could, for example, purchase molds with texture; then the marks won't be as visible. Or you could try decorating the bars to draw the viewer's eyes away from the imperfections. One simple example is a familiar technique when people are decorating the outsides of bonbons: with a paintbrush or toothbrush, fling colored cocoa butter across the molds in a Pollock-like design. Or if using colored cocoa butter offends you, you could fling a contrasting color of chocolate (milk or white). Splattering is another option, as is piping thin lines across the bars.

I use Felchlin Maracaibo (65%) as my dark chocolate, and I love it. Because of increasing customer requests for "all dark" or "mostly dark" (a request I cannot easily fulfill at this time because I have a wide range of customer tastes to satisfy, and many like milk, some are white devotées--and I do a very limited production by myself that doesn't allow for a lot of variety). But after Christmas is over, I plan an "all dark" assortment. I am looking for a dark chocolate to offer a contrast to Maracaibo, something probably in the 70% range (my impression is that most people who think they like dark, dark chocolate don't really when it gets much over 70%). Once before I tried Valrhona Caraibe as a darker chocolate, but it really isn't, and no one seemed able to tell any difference. I purchased a tasting sampler of many Valrhona darks but was not thrilled with any of them except Caraibe. I know many people swear by Manjari, but I don't recall in detail what I thought of it. I would be happy to offer a second Felchlin but am not familiar with other darks from that company (and now that AUI is the distributor for Felchlin in the U.S., their products are available only in large amounts-- and for this experiment I am interested in a few kilos, such as Chocosphere has available). Any advice and opinions would be most welcome.

Yes, the purchase of the remote is the of the many helpful ideas you provided when I was buying.

It's odd but the noise of the Fuji does not bother me. It sounds like a vacuum cleaner (and, unlike a compressor, is a more or less steady noise).

That's a possibility, but my setup does not allow for that option. In addition, I read somewhere that the strength of the air flow is diminished with distance.

Kerry beat me to it. There are also some very helpful Youtube videos on this subject--they range from a very professional build to using a cardboard box. I took the latter route, adapting tikidoc's technique with a home heating system filter and a very powerful fan. If you have the option of venting to the outside (which I don't without spending a large amount of money), then, of course, that is much better. I do not qualify as a health fanatic, but I also use a 3M-made respirator.

I too had the SmartJet Pro and found it very quiet and satisfactory as long as I was using a regular airbrush. But when I introduced a more powerful airbrush with a larger needle (to get better and faster coverage) and later tried a paint gun, the Iwata, as Chris pointed out, struggled. I then got a California Air Tools model that is also advertised as quiet (which is "quiet" only in comparison to an industrial compressor, but does not bother me). It handles an airbrush without a problem and a paint gun with some struggling (it runs a lot more of the time). If you can imagine ever moving to something more in the paint gun category, I would suggest getting a compressor with more horsepower now (covering an entire mold requires it or you will be driven crazy by the time the process takes)--if you can stand the noise in your situation. If not, the Iwata may be fine. Many posters have expressed satisfaction with less expensive compressors found in home improvement stores. There is more discussion of these issues (including noise) in this thread and in several others.

That is exactly what Rose Levy Beranbaum (I'm not sure if it was really she or someone working for her) recommended. But she didn't say whether she had tried them, and tellingly, there is no apricot.... Correction: I just looked at that site some more, and among places/people that use the flavorings is none other than Rose. They are priced at the same high level as those at La Cuisine (apple is $22 for 5 ml). I guess that if I can't locate a source for the latter, I'll give Aftelier a try. I wish Sosa sold samples. Since you have used Amoretti, have you tried any flavorings such as the ones I listed?

I aim for 86F/30C and make sure it is in temper.

This seems an appropriate place to post an inquiry about flavorings. Ever since I saw, in one of her "bibles," Rose Levy Beranbaum's recommendation of some French "essences" (she says they are distilled from fresh fruits), I have purchased them from the small shop, La Cuisine, in Alexandria, Virginia, she recommended. Recently I went to the shop's site only to discover that it closed at the beginning of 2018. I have written the former owner (on the Facebook page) and to Rose's blog for more information on those essences. I have not heard from the owner, while Rose acknowledged the great loss of this shop, she did not have an alternate source. I even wrote to the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, but have not heard back. Rose recommended the apricot, and I also love (and use frequently) the pear, green apple, and mango. Does anyone happen to know what I am talking about and have any ideas for pursuing another source? If I cannot find one, I will need to look at other options. I bought several apple flavorings when I was first making apple caramel, and all but the La Cuisine one tasted like varnish. I have used some Amoretti natural flavorings that are quite good and very authentic tasting (pineapple, mango, raspberry), but have not looked into all of the flavors I listed above. I know Sosa's reputation (and have seen a huge array of their flavorings in Melissa Coppel's kitchen), but they are very expensive and therefore make experimenting quite a proposition.

How much fruit purée do you have to buy? I saw online that there is a minimum of 12 pieces, and my rep confirmed that. Their price for people with accounts is unbelievably low (compared to the various places in Miami--Florida seems to be the fruit purée capital of the U.S.), but 12 kilos requires more freezer space than I have.

I don't know what the service areas are for AUI reps. but Robin Sullivan is mine, and she is terrific (sent me samples of all the Felchlin milk chocolates). Also not sure if you are already familiar with AUI. I can send you by PM her information if you want that.

I certainly don't blame you for being annoyed. You would have to calculate whether you save more by using the promotion or by saving the shipping costs--a difficult calculation. The only other reputable flavorings (including compounds) I know of are from Sosa (available from AUI Fine Foods), but I think their prices are much higher than Amoretti's.

I really like that purple. Do you mind describing where you got it or (if you mixed it) how you came up with the color? I just spent quite a bit of time trying to achieve a "royal purple" without success. I started with Chef Rubber's Jewel purple color, which is very dark (and therefore looks a lot like dark chocolate--so what's the point of having color?), and added some white and red. But I ended up with a Victorian "dusty rose "color--OK but not very purple.

This looks like a brilliant idea, perhaps just what @gfron1 is looking for. The manufacturer offers samples and templates. And I also like @pastrygirl's idea of an edible magnifying glass--a foraged magnifier that fits the restaurant's theme (would probably be more work than the night's dinner).

And all this time I thought your cooking was decidedly "outside the box." 😜

If you are referring to the eye effect with a somewhat vague definition of the eye, that was, as gfron1 stated, taught in the class (whether all students mastered the technique is another question entirely!). If it is the well-defined eye (often black) in the middle with other colors around it, I asked Andrey about that design and whether he would share a general description of how he does that with the students in the course. Although his response was polite, he didn't answer my question directly, but he said he might include that in a future version of the online course.

I am one of those too involved in holiday production right now to be able to answer your questions in the way you seem to desire, but I do have a suggestion: You might say whether you are looking for a paid mentor or not. If not, then I would just post my questions one after another; you will almost certainly get answers (it helps if you first look for a topic that is relevant and add your post to that thread). If you are willing to pay, you will probably get some responses as well and wouldn't have to submit post after post to the forum--you could just email back and forth with the mentor and get more individualized attention. I have thought of going the paying route myself to improve my caramel-making skills but have not gotten around to it.

I mostly use Felchlin Maracaibo Criolait (a bit sweeter than the Creole pastrygirl mentioned). I was recently given samples of just about all the Felchlin milks. The Sao Palme is delicious but comes only in what are for me gigantic amounts. So I stick with Criolait. The very best I have ever tasted is Fortunato No. 4 from Peru (available only in the U.S. from Chef Rubber, made by Felchlin--thus the incredible smoothness--but not labeled as made by that company). It's 47% and is smooth as one could ever want (IMO) with no sour dairy notes. BUT (and this is what kept me from using it for everything) it contains no lecithin or added cocoa butter, meaning that it is very difficult to use for shelling--it will go from a bit too fluid to very viscous in minutes--and I wasn't willing to add things to it. So I use it sometimes for fillings. Before I became a Felchlin convert (perhaps fanatic), I used Guittard's Orinoco (now called Eclipse du Soleil); it is lower in cost and widely available.

I think you two are probably correct. I have never been very good at explaining optical illusions.

Very nice design. It is similar to the one you did (and very kindly explained to everyone) with black and a gold stripe. But in this case the black appears not to be splattered but applied some other way--it looks like little curlicues of black from a pastry bag. But that sounds incredibly complex.