CacaoC

Since you mentioned figure molding, do you use thermoform chocolate molds or the polycarbonate molds? How thick is your cocoa butter layer? Those figure thermoform molds are often too flexible and sometime flimsy, so if the figure is twisted, even a little bit, before or during the shelling process, it can cause cracks in the cocoa butter layer causing them to detach in small pieces from the surface.

@Anna N Those brownies look so rich and scrumptious! Did you use muscovado sugar? Smoked sea salt? Or did you use any substitutes? I just wonder if someone, other than ourselves, would be able to taste the smoked salt in them...

@pastrygirl I used to work with Callebaut chocolate a couple of year ago when I started doing quality chocolate bonbons ( then switched to Belcolade until my supplier stopped selling it two years ago and haven't found another one in my area since), I was never a fan of their white chocolate, I do recall that they were a PITA to work with ( too thick, but could have been user error) and had a bad aftertaste, however I don't remember if I used the WNV or the W2 one. Do you use it for chocolate bonbons or bars? The only white chocolate that I use now is ''Zephyr'' from CacaoBarry even it's way more expensive. It's a charm to work with molds and plus, not as cloying sweet than most white chocolate. I find that the ''Blanc Satin'' one from the same brand too sweet, but ''ok'' to use within ganache recipes that have an acidic component ( passion fruit and lemon for example). What brand do you usually use?

Ah yes, I still need to works on the dates. I'll check the other thread!

I had some old bloomed single origin chocolate pastilles that I needed to use. Usually, I would have put up a fight with it...especially that one was hard to work with, so I had a nice first challenge with the EZ Temper. ( I had made the mistake of storing some unopened chocolate packages in a unstable temp storing place - laundry closet...I should have know better, but sometime it's had to find a place to store 50 kg of chocolate in an apartment!) As you can see, mucho bloom: And using a new chocolate bar mold for the first time ( it does have release marks and smalls bubbles, also bad lightning with the cellphone , mostly all due to operator errors!): But hey, it did release easily from the mold and still tasted good after all!

I gifted myself an EZ Temper unit last December just before holidays and wow, I was very happy to do not have to deal with the stress of last minute confection making and tempered chocolate issues. ( Ah work and life...! ) I started doing chocolate bonbons many years ago (mostly for Christmas gifts and sometime for Valentine, I would sell about 60% of my production to parent's colleagues, friends and such, cuz ingredients can be expensive!) and I would like to think that I mostly did well in the tempering department once I started buying good quality chocolate couverture. The seeding method was always either a hit or miss. So I resorted mostly to the tabling tempering method (it worked well 95% of the time, but very messy and I was always paranoid that something could contaminate the chocolate and the ganache) and the ''bain marie'' method. I even used the MyCryo, but it was always an hassle to deal with unmelted cocoa butter particles once the chocolate was well tempered... As everybody know, even if you master all those methods, sometime chocolate has a mind of its own. Using the cocoa silk just make things easier and more enjoyable while doing small chocolate production. I also have moved in a smaller place with a very narrow kitchen and with the the help of my MoldArt melter, I don't need as many tools that I normally would . Definitely less messy and an huge time saver. Plus it's easier to transport an EZ Temper unit than a big Selmi machine!

It's nice to be back. Since I've moved back in my hometown three years ago, I really miss my foodies friends from Montreal. I want to reconnect with my creativity for cooking and chocolate confections, this community is great source of inspiration! Thanks for the answers. Does the EZtemper unit have a timer for the first 12 hours? I sometime cook over my family's kitchen in the country side on weekends where power outage are quite frequent, especially during the night, so it's hard to predict how they last. I'll do a little bit research to see if those uninterruptible power supply devices could be used safely with the EZtemper.

Thank you martin0642 for taking the time to write down all the steps, I can't wait to try this on my next day off. My next challenge is to find a 100% coconut milk that doesn't have any added additives. Those organic brands are the best ones that I could find ( I'm in Canada), but unfortunately have guar gum added: After doing a small research on the Biona Organic brand (which I've never seen before around here), I found it on Amazon.ca for 3.67$ per can with 20.00$ shipping fees! It seem that the Aroy-D coconut milk brand that I've seen before doesn't have anything added, I hope to be able to find it in larger supermarkets.

I've been reading the whole thread for the last hour, I'm fascinated and very impressed about what this device can do! A few questions, sorry if I missed them before- I understand that the cocoa butter need to stay for a maximum of 12 hours in the EZtemper before being ready to temper melted chocolate and ganache, but if in the middle of this process there is a power outage, let's say for 20-30 min, would that affect the cocoa silk before resuming the rest of the 12 hours cycle? Or we would need to take out the whole silk jar and let it stay at room temp for a whole day ( 24 hrs) before putting in back for another cycle of 12 hours? Can the added silk help to prevent the tiny bubbles that I sometime struggle with some chocolate couverture ? ( I'm aware that it's usually caused by humidity and sometime over-crystallization) A few posts back, it was mentioned that filled and capped molded chocolate shells are usually ready to be unmolded after 30 min from the start, how long does it take with molded chocolate bars? I'm thinking that with larger surface, quicker cooling, it should be faster to unmold!

Would that be possible to know each steps that you used to make that vegan caramel recipe? I'm also curious what brand of coconut milk that you used? (I haven't been able to find one without added additives, even the organic ones have guar gum added). I would love to try this for a dairy intolerant friend.

I just came back home. I had a great time meeting everyone and playing with some recipes. I will post the pic sometime this week.

I'm so excited and nervous at the same time! I won't be able to make it for the ChocolateFX tour. I hope to be there for the show and tell. So we start at 8:30 both morning, and do we get a break for lunch? If so, at what time? And what time will be the Saturday dinner? I'm only asking because I'll be traveling with a family member and she is only attending the dinner ( therefore taking the car), so I need to tell her what the schedule is like.

A long time ago, I used to prepare lemon popsicles with lemon juice, lemon rinds, a bit of maple syrup, a bit of salt and I would add few pieces frozen soft bananas in the Vitamix blender for the softer texture. Granted, the lemon flavor was not as strong then those commercial ones, but it was good and the kids in our familiy were mainly happy to have something cold to enjoy during the summer.

I was wondering that too. Especially for Friday. I know that Kerry mentioned a tour at Tomric facility, but I would like to know what time so I can plan the traveling schedule ( driving on Friday).

Good unrefined fats in moderation are good for you. They have been in our diets as long humans have lived on our earth. Heck, babies need saturated fats that are present in their mother's milk to develop their body and brain properly. Here is an great article by a doctor (Dr. Cate Shanahan) that practiced and observed the healthy population in Hawaii and wrote a book from her experience (DeepNutrition). Why good fats are good for you