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Everything posted by jbates
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PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2019
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
BTW can I get a link to the FB page please? -
PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2019
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Bulrush for me as well. -
PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2019
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Me too, count me in! -
Ooh, I like the idea of using bigger molds like those. Are they something I can buy directly or a custom order?
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Noticed that the chocolate pooled in one spot, I have that problem often as well 😊. I’m a fan of thicker shells, makes for less worry when transporting them. What brand of chocolate did you use and how long did you spin it around?
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I drove around to all of the TJs in my local area (6 or 7) before Valentine’s Day, and managed to find a few at each store, and finally a big stash half-hidden at one of them. So I started with about 30 bags to play with (but some went into the chef for “testing”). I’ve been using it for Easter as well, made up a few bigger bars using the CW1936 mold and some maple candied nuts: (Couldn’t get rid of all the glare from the bags)
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The unfortunate thing with the CW1906 is that there’s only two cavities per mold. If they were the wider 175mm size then there could have been 3 or 4. I bought 6, but I probably will have to buy a bunch more so I can decorate the entire batch all at once. The snacking bar is magnetic and it’s 100% ruby. It’s the Chocolate World 1000L37, $50 each at the moment. https://www.pastrychefsboutique.com/CHOCOLATE/Chocolate-Molds/polycarbonate-chocolate-molds/bars-napolitains-molds/chocolate-world-cw1000l37-magnetic-polycarbonate-chocolate-mold-rectangular-bar-80x13x10-mm-1x10-pc-11gr-275x135x24-mm-bars-napo
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Best Spray gun for commercial use , spraying chocolate mounds
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
I have two, but I might get a third later. I just got a melter for keeping everything warm so I’ll keep the alternates in there. For each gun I pour any extra CB back into the bottle, and run through whatever is left that is in the pipe onto a random samples mold until it draws air from the cup. Then I use paper towel to get rid of as much CB as I can from the outer surfaces and inside the cup and lid. If I’ve still got more colors to do then the mostly-clean one will go back in the melter to keep warm and swap to a fresh one. Once I’m done for the day I plug the gun back into the air, run the whole thing under hot water and spray the colored CB/water mix into the sink to clean out the CB path. Then I usually disassemble the pattern head to wipe that out, dry the whole thing with more paper towel. I usually don’t bother disconnecting the cup. When I pour in fresh CB into a gun I spray a little onto paper towel to ensure that any of the old color (or drops of water from the cleaning) that stuck around doesn’t make it onto my target piece. -
Best Spray gun for commercial use , spraying chocolate mounds
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Good idea, thanks! I could try to combine both ideas by putting the Silpat on the warming tray and the towel on top of that (and maybe hold them together with a couple of binder clips if it drags/crumples too much). Then I could slide the mold over it one-handed without too much pressure. -
PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2019
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Is there anything I need to bring? I have spare luggage capacity if needed. -
So much gorgeous detail in the flowers. Your artistic skills are waaay better than mine.
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Best Spray gun for commercial use , spraying chocolate mounds
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
I currently use the cheap 4oz spray gun from Harbor Freight ($14) along with a California Air Tools 4610AC compressor (very quiet and reliable). I usually spray several complete molds at a time, or more if I’m doing partial coverage, before giving it a blast from the heat gun. I have the cup at ⅓ to ½ full. My speed is limited by needing to stop and clean the overspray from each form using paper/shop towels while it’s still wet. I need to find/make some sort of clamp to hold the edges of the towel in place so I can rub the mold one handed without putting down the sprayer (and without tearing the towel). -
Working on a bunch of stuff for my Easter charity sale at the office. Some tasting bars made from TJs Ruby: I found the little mendiant/disc characters at Michael’s (US craft store), the missing third one is a bunny face. They were the lids in a small dough shaping kit for kids; threw away the dough and the containers. Metallic eggs, with a handful of candied pecans inside: The luster was lovely and shiny (a thin spray of pure CB, then luster dust, backed with off-white pearlescent CB), but a bit muted by the dark chocolate shell. I think I’ll do another layer of white CB or a very thin white chocolate shell before casting the dark next time. And some milk tablets using Cacao Barry’s new mold for Ruby: More to follow.
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Good for me!
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Not on mine, probably due to the smaller cost. I would have to do some research to figure out when it would apply.
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I just got a small order from them. A handful of open-bottom 3D hand molds for Easter, a bit over $300 worth. The order was shipped by DHL, with a $75 shipping fee on top. So not exactly cheap shipping for a few molds (about 2Kg / 3 pounds). Quality is great. Only the tiniest amount of movement when the two sides come together. The molds I ordered weren’t magnetic, so they included clips. Their ordering is a bit old fashioned. I placed the order with the shipping initially quoted as equal to the price of the molds (had me worried initially), with the only payment option being a quote. They sent me a quote via email and then I had to accept the offer. Once you accept you’re locked in (pages of legalese). I had to email back the card details. No online payment options. I could have wired the payment, but the bank would have hit me up for more than the credit card’s foreign exchange fees. Because not all the molds I ordered were in stock at the time I chose to wait instead of substituting. They gave me a week number when the order would be ready (week 13, March 25, in this case). The order was shipped last Thursday and arrived in San Francisco a few days later, on Monday just gone. (Will post some images in the “what are we making” thread at some point.)
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Tasting works for me as well, any time is OK.
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Do you have a brand and/or model number?
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@Kerry Beal what brand/model is that warming tray please?
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PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2019
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
I’d like to hear about ganache balancing, thanks for the offer. -
PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2019
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Sounds great, I’m in. -
I’ll be there!
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I can also recommend the ChocoTransferSheets cocoa butters, I’ve used them since I started (mainly because they’re not far from where I live in the SF area). You can get reasonable quality molds from AliExpress.com cheaper than Amazon but you trade money for time; takes weeks for a delivery. I recommend searching for “polycarbonate chocolate mold” to find the range of stuff. I use a “2124B” bullet head shape a lot, cleans really easily (the “2124” is the same shape but smaller, at 8 grams per cavity instead of 13 grams).
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I don’t put any of mine in the freezer, just the fridge for 5 mins. Then I leave the bars in the molds for a day or so at room temperature before during them out, which seems to help to reduce the marks. I also found that the microfiber cloths ended up smearing around a small bit of any leftover cocoa butter from the previous use. So I now use the 70% alcohol square swabs and push them into sharp corners, etc with a toothpick or a q-tip.
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Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )
jbates replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
My first attempts using the dendrite technique in a snack mold. Unfortunately the nicer ones with the red were liberated before I got to take their closeups 😄. I figured out that less is more when doing this, I started with more on the brown/gold bars and less on those with the red backspray. Used a 50:50 mix of chocolate and cocoa butter, and a food-safe putty imprinter.