Jim D.

Thanks for the info and the videos. While you were experimenting, I was doing more research on the issues. I came across some Instagram photos and videos from Salvatore Martone on some of the techniques you were trying (some of these have been posted previously on eGullet, so I'm just providing the links). The first one shows him making shells with the Grex Tritium. I suspect that--given the speed of the process--he may have one of the larger sizes of needles. https://www.instagram.com/p/BMcaOibDWt9/?taken-by=chefsmartone And another example: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSpkrfcFcHA/?taken-by=chefsmartone In the comments on the second one, he writes: "The airbrush I use is a Grex S5 it has an opening of 0.5 mm that is ideal for colored cocoa butter spray." But in the brief glimpse of the airbrush he is using, it does not look like a Grex Tritium (I don't see the telltale light green color, but I could be wrong). And here he uses exactly the splatter technique you demonstrated: https://www.instagram.com/p/BGsusAfwtRd/?taken-by=chefsmartone In that last one, it looks as if he is using a spray gun (maybe the one that Grex sells, the X4000). I sent some questions to Grex last week and got a very prompt and helpful reply: I saw a video somewhere on the "pumping" process for splatter, but don't recall where it was. It worked really well. It also appears the G-MAC regulator is quite helpful for splatter--and Grex makes the regulator for several other makes of airbrush. I am now wavering between the Tritium with 0.7mm nozzle (with an industrial-type compressor!) and the Grex spray gun, which is sold by Chef Rubber and is a LVLP gun, meaning there is less overspray and less pressure is required. I will probably hear tomorrow from Grex about differences in the two. There isn't a huge difference in cost. With all the Grex costs adding up, I wonder if the Fuji system would just be easier. Meanwhile I'm about to do some spraying with my current Paasche and see if I can live with what I already have.

Just wanted to add that the Breville 16-cup model (mentioned above) is probably fine, but I had to return the 12-cup model--a terrible task that I almost never undertake for such a heavy appliance. The smaller one makes a rather loud "thunk" noise every time you start or stop it (which is often with a food processor). After much back and forth, Breville admitted that yes, it does make that noise, which is a result of the design. Aside from that noise, which I found unacceptable, I was very impressed with the quality of Breville's machine; of course, the company is famous for that. I finally got a Cuisinart Elite 2.0 12-cup processor and am (mostly) satisfied.

It is indeed of interest, and I think this thread is very Important, but I am confused by the final statement: My first reaction is to ask why keep the cloths in the sanitizer bucket if it does NOT prevent the microbial population from increasing. Am I missing something? I may have missed it, but I didn't notice any statement in the thread about whether keeping a cloth or sponge constantly submerged in sanitizer solution (such as bleach and water) takes care of things.

Chris, That's exactly what I ended up doing. Since I didn't get a response here on eGullet for a while and needed the sheets right away, I consulted with a vendor and was directed to get guitar sheets.

@pastrygirl: It's been a while since you described your airbrushing setup, and if you have time, it would be useful to know how it is working out. Do you like the Grex? Which Chef Rubber model do you have and what is the needle size? Thanks for any help.

I'm reviving this topic because, like some of the people in this thread, I am looking for the right kind of acetate sheets for making transfers. In the past I have used the rather stiff sheets (from J.B. Prince) that I use on the bottom of ganache slabs that will eventually go on a guitar for cutting, but those have proved too stiff for successful transfer sheets--the chocolate poured into the mold tends to ooze out between the mold bottom and the transfer sheet. I discovered the proper sheets at this year's eGullet chocolate workshop, but I can't wait any longer for them to be made available through the vendor (in spite of several assurances). So rather than blindly order more acetate, I'm searching for someone who has actual experience and knows a type of plastic that will be flexible enough to work properly. Thanks for any help.

@nickrey, Can you provide a brand name for the disposable towels you mentioned earlier in this thread?

I just wanted to provide an update on L'Epicérie: Still the same message on the website. I phoned, but the voicemail was full, so no message possible. Quite a mystery. Meanwhile I will look into other options; first explorations have not been encouraging, as most vendors (e.g., Albert Uster) offer large sizes and nothing else. If anyone has other options not mentioned in this thread, I would be interested.

Excellent question. I'll try using @leopardots to get the attention of the person who is using the Grex. I am very interested in hearing how this airbrush is working out. It seemed like a middle ground between airbrushes like the Badger, Paasche, Iwata, etc., and the Fuji.

Yes, I freeze nuts and nut pastes. But when I knew (or thought I knew) that I had a ready source, I didn't buy too much at once. Thank for the offer to help. I'll see what happens. I'll also check with Chef's Warehouse and Albert Uster.

Just for the record, where did you get your feuilletine? Thanks for the offer. I have some at the moment; I was just assembling an order for L'Epicérie when I discovered their problem. I like to order as much as I can think of at the same time (feuilletine seems to stay fresh forever) so as to save on shipping and so as not to run out at an inopportune moment. And the same thinking leads me to try to locate a backup in case that site is not fixed. I did see some other places that carry that particular type of pistachio paste, but not a source that had the variety that L'Epicérie has/had. Chef Rubber has some of the basic items, but usually at a higher price.

I bought quite a few things from them: glucose, invert sugar, that sort of thing, but esp. hazelnut paste, hazelnut praline paste (they repackaged the large pails from Cacao Barry), and the "silk" (completely smooth) pistachio paste from Agrimontana. Those last three ingredients go stale rather quickly (there are some inexpensive U.S. ones that are stale on opening), and so L'Epicérie's smaller containers were perfect. Also, Cacao Barry's feuilletine, Michigan tart cherries, small amounts of new couvertures I wanted to try, the list goes on.

Did you find anything in your search?

The website for L'Epicérie (the online ingredient supplier in Brooklyn, NY) has been closed for some weeks now, with a message that suggests something dire happened to the "damaged site" and saying "We'll be back soon." But for a business that I think sells only online, it would seem that a damaged site is a serious matter requiring immediate attention. Does anyone have any info on this? I depend on them for chocolate ingredients in fairly small quantities--something very difficult to find elsewhere, especially at what I consider L'Epicérie's quite reasonable prices.

P.S. In my experience, you can't go wrong with @teonzo's suggestions (earlier in this thread). He does his research, and one of his specialties appears to be "unusual" pairings in confections (yes, I am counting olive oil as unusual). Most of the recipes I found involve a regular cream ganache, with the addition of some olive oil.

A quick Google search provides these links: https://londoneats.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/chocolate-and-olive-oil-ganache/ http://bettysliu.com/2016/12/12/cardamom-persimmon-cookies-olive-oil-dark-chocolate-ganache/ https://www.thechocolatelife.com/community/forums/tech-help-tips-tricks-techniques/16735/how-does-one-make-a-creamy-ganache-with-coconut-oil [read the thread to get to the mention of olive oil] A recipe (involving rosemary) is also in the aforementioned Curley book (page 68).

Thanks for clearing that up. I was having serious inferiority reactions. By the way, we all saw Melissa Coppel in Las Vegas show that her shells released perfectly from the mold before they were filled--and I happened to see some workshop participants testing more of them, and all released.

During the summer I have the AC on most of the time but turn the temp down when I am preparing to make chocolates. As I said previously, I have the temp no higher than 70F and the relative humidity around 45%. I use the airbrush in the basement and have a window AC that I turn on when I'm doing this work, so the environment is about the same. Yes, I do decorate most of my molds. There is no question that adding colored cocoa butter adds a level of possible difficulty, but I do actually make sure the c.b. is in temper (if I heat it too much, I get the temp down, then add some EZtemper silk, and I test it every time, though I know most people don't). So you try to get all the shells to release from the molds before filling them? I am impressed. I have tried that, but sometimes a shell will break, so I mostly gave up on that. Sometimes it is easy to tell that they are not stuck to the cavity wall. In general, I find that if one piece comes out of a mold satisfactorily, eventually they all will--though it may not be a pretty process. All in all, we seem to follow mostly the same procedure, except that, like Kerry, I resort to the freezer for a few minutes if necessary. As I always say, chocolate is a mystery. For example, why will one chocolate release perfectly from the mold and the one next to it will be stuck? I am concluding that the issue that prompted my original post arose from some shells that would not release from the mold, and when I put them back in the fridge repeatedly, they picked up humidity, thus no shine. Here is where one of those cooling cabinets made for chocolate, which supposedly recover quickly from humidity, might have come in handy. Thanks for your response and your ideas.

Daytime temps would be unacceptable for working with chocolate, but I turn up the AC and, as I said, get the temp and humidity down to acceptable levels. I am convinced it is the period of refrigeration that is doing the damage, and thus it is the humidity, probably not the temp (Greweling recommends a chilling temp of 41F, and my fridge is set for 38F, so that isn't much of a difference). The Everlasting chocolate fridge looks like the best option (aside from the Irinox that Kerry mentioned, but that will be for my next life, when I run a chocolate factory), but delivery time is 60 days, so the point would be moot, at least until next summer. Meanwhile I'm going to get some more Moso dehumidifying bags and a little battery-operated fan for the fridge (there is one that gets some high marks on Amazon). For the full benefit of a chilled pizza stone, I wouldn't be able to put the molds on a rack and get circulation underneath, and as I said, I don't think the fridge temp is the issue. All this experimentation may be for nothing (especially considering that Greweling doesn't mention chilling the molds when the shells are first made), but we will see.

I'm not sure how this differs from the Irinox (or the Everlasting), though the Irinox seems much more advanced, with all sorts of controls. Do you know if the Hilliard has a specific humidity control? Their website doesn't give a lot of details. It seems odd to me that a cabinet specifically designed for chocolates would not go lower than 58F/14C. What did you think of my theory that if the room holding the (regular) fridge has low RH, the fridge won't have such a difficult time adjusting to the adding of a mold of chocolate?

I have solid glass shelves, but I add racks to get the chocolate molds off the surface.

I usually suspend most chocolate production in the summer months, but it appears, from some new business prospects, that I may need to change that practice. In some recent summer attempts, chocolates have sometimes been difficult to get out of molds (I have eventually gotten all of them out, but it has not been a pretty process, and the surface of some of them is dull). Therefore I am examining my tempering and cooling procedures to determine if they can be improved, and any advice would be appreciated. I work in a home kitchen, so there are some limitations. With air conditioning I can get the temp down below 70F/21C and the relative humidity down to the 40-45% range. In the first stage of making chocolates (forming the shells) I allow the molds to begin crystallizing at room temp, then put them in the fridge (just my regular fridge, set at 38F/3.3C, for 10-15 minutes or so; I allow for a longer period of time for the second stage, closing the chocolates. I place the trays on racks in the fridge so as to allow for air flow below them. In cooler and less humid months, this procedure has worked without too many problems, so I am looking to humidity as the culprit. In the many eGullet threads on tempering I have seen a recommendation for adding a small fan to the refrigerator to help dispel latent heat, but have not tried that. I have read a lot on humidity in fridges and learned that whereas the RH is quite low as long as the door has been kept closed for a while, it rises quickly when one opens the door (as when putting a mold in), and it stays high for quite some time; testing with a hygrometer has mostly confirmed this fact. One would deduce from this observation that fridges are not the best way to cool molds, yet it is what virtually everyone on eG does. Peter Greweling, whom I think many of us take as an authority, does not (surprisingly) call for cooling the molds below room temp when making the shells and mentions cooling only after the capping stage--where he recommends 15 minutes in a fridge at about 41F/5C, specifying that the fridge "must not have high humidity." All this (especially the humidity quote from Greweling) has led me to investigate cooling cabinets especially intended for chocolate-making, which is probably what Greweling has at his disposal. So far research has led to two options: Hilliard's (a U.S. company) and Everlasting (Italian, but the products are available in the U.S., though at 220V). When I asked Clay Gordon of the Chocolate Life site how these fridges differ from regular ones, he stated that they are specifically built to deal quickly with the humidity "hit" caused by opening the door. The Hilliard's cooler goes down only to 58F/14C (which does not sound low enough, but I have not checked with the company) and Everlasting to 35.6F/2C. The cost of both units is quite high, but I am just investigating at this point. I am also trying to determine whether having the area around a regular fridge (in my case, the kitchen) at a low RH (40% or so) makes a difference in the fridge's "recovery time." It makes sense to me that it would help, but I am not a scientist. Clay recommended trying Moso charcoal bags to reduce the fridge's humidity. And, as long as I'm trying to be comprehensive in this posting, I will add that, on a rainy day in the cooler months, high RH does not seem to affect the chocolates--though logic would dictate that it would. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

You express this much better (and more vividly) than I do, but that is more or less my goal in devising fruit fillings for chocolates, a substance, of course, that presents serious challenges since it overwhelms any flavors that are inclined to timidity. With some, like peach and blueberry, I have reluctantly given up the fight. With pear, however, I did not and found that making my own purée by simply reducing ripe pears and straining, then mixing in puréed dried pears made all the difference. I make pâte de fruit with it and add a layer of complementary almond filling flavored with poire Williams and a little more pear purée (idea courtesy of @Kerry Beal). I use the dried fruit addition in apricot and cherry pâte de fruit as well. Kate Weiser is a chocolatier who achieves remarkable flavors in her fruit fillings. Thanks for your inspiration.

When you use egg whites, you can beat them and the hot syrup together, then let them cool down to somewhere around 90F. At that point the gelatin can be mixed in, will still dissolve at that temp, and you have only a little more cooling to do before a safe temperature for piping is reached. There is no worrying about whether the gelatin is going to jell when the temp is still too high for the chocolate. When you use the just gelatin and syrup method, you can't wait for the syrup to cool down because it thickens too much to beat with the gelatin--or at least this has been my experience.

I'll give using real egg white some consideration. I'm reluctant, but it would certainly make marshmallow fluff easier...and tastier.