
Rajala
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Commercial kitchen for chocolate production - temperature challenges
Rajala replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
I'm thinking more of the overall cost of running AC and whatever is needed to keep the right temperature and humidity. I got an idea that I should have a shop or something, some time, and I'm just thinking about all the costs to have some kind of budget so I know where I'll end up.- 18 replies
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Commercial kitchen for chocolate production - temperature challenges
Rajala replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Anyone got any experience with AC/Humidity "hardware" to get the perfect temperature and humidity for chocolate? I'm thinking how much running things like that will increase the electric bill. Probaby quite a bit if you have it running 24/7 and even more during summer? Sorry for hijacking your thread Miriam.- 18 replies
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Yeah the single origin ones where really disliked by my colleagues, but I really love Cluizel's Mokaya and Mangaro. Will buy a bit of those when I've cleared out some of my "stock" I have at the moment, and when the temperature is back at normal levels - so that I can work with the chocolate as well.
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What kind of silicone are you using? Feels like it needs to be kind of hard? The silicone I use to make moulds is 28 shore, feels a little bit too soft to use for chocolate moulds. But maybe I'm wrong.
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I recently bought a bag of Opalys and unfortunately it's the best white chocolate I've tried. I've bought some white chocolate at the taxfree shops while travelling that tastes like it, but no idea if those are "couvertures". However, I think Michel Cluizel's Ivoire is good enough.
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Made a blind test with two colleagues just now. 1. They liked the most expensive brand the best (Felchlin), 2nd place for Michel Cluizel and 3rd place for Casa Luker (one of the Casa Luker chocolates scored high though). 2. The variations that I liked the most were the ones that they disliked the most. 3. Takeaway = Sweetness wins over taste with this test with two people.
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I love nuts, so I've made lots of nut pastes and pralinés with mine. Walnut praliné is amazing with a touch of salt. I also made a pecan praliné, but that felt like a bit of waste of good nuts, doesn't really do it. Can't remember if I did it 50/50 or 60/40, but would mos def go with 60/40 if I tried again.
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How small is this small drum? 🤔
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Yeah, we see it differently. I'm thinking more vitamin than drugs. The chocolate cigarettes I had as a kid are long gone. I'm also driving things off topic at the moment. You're staff, tell us to stop. I have that mold, (if it's the Pavoni one by Bachour) and thought about that the taping of it must be quite tricky.
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Sorry to jump into this discussion. I see where you guys are coming from, but wouldn't most people see a pill as something that's good for you? That's exactly how I see it. Pills = good. Is it something with two colors that immediately makes you think of some pill full with flunitrazepam or is it just pills over all that triggers something for you?
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So, I've tried around 10 different variations from Casa Luker, and you're right. Almost all of them have some alcohol taste to them, one of my colleagues think so as well. I did find one of their chocolates that I liked. Tumaco 65%, it have nice biscuity taste to it. I think I might use that for cheap things, since the price for 10 KG is good. One colleague thought all the samples were good. This was Casa Luker, Michel Cluizel and Felchlin. So I guess that it is like some of you wrote, people don't really notice a difference. And we can add to that, that the bonbons will be filled with something as well.
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Thanks for explaining @chromedome So I got seven Felchlin samples today. I tried them all, to much remorse. They're all bloody fantastic. But on a brighter note, they pushed Valrhona off their high horse for me. For anyone who's interested and doesn't know; Original Beans seems to be associated or maybe even owned by Felchlin, the "callets" from Original Beans carry the same logo as the ones from Felchlin.
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Oh! Must've misunderstood what they said to me. Haha, thanks for correcting me. Makes more sense One layer is almond mousse, the other is a pistachio mousse and the center is vanilla mousse with pistachio praliné and raspberry in its center. There's also a hazelnut sponge and a crispy hazelnut layer at the bottom. Lots of nuts!
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Thank you! I was told that you always need to glaze a mousse in order to prevent it from absorb moisture. Eh, I think that I misunderstood the intent of the question. One of the mousse layer is really thin and I didn't really want to pour over it, and from experience - pouring neutral glaze over a frozen mousse often give you a way too thick glaze on the petit gateaux/entremet. This is what this thing looks like when a piece of it is removed, as you can see from its structure, I wouldn't be able to dip it either.
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I haven't even tried the standard varieties from Valrhona, maybe I should. Will get some Felchlin samples tomorrow!
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Haha, I’m not saying it’s not. White chocolate usually is cheaper than real chocolate from all other brands. I guess Valrhona is going to Valrhona.
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The thing with Opalys is that it’s crazy expensive for being a white chocolate.
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Just got a bag of that. I really enjoy white chocolate, but I'm not sure which of the ones I've tried I like the most. The white one from Michel Cluizel I have might be a favourite, I think it's called Ivoire.
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Felchlin is at Valrhona levels here as well. Even the variations you mention, as the cheaper ones, are expensive. I do like that they offer dairy free milk and white chocolate.
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Thanks for all the good advice. There won't be large volumes, at least in the beginning. There are lots of things to do except creating the selection of bonbons, like designing packages, do some coding for the webshop and designing that as well. Based on all the input, I think I'll go with Cocoa Barry in the beginning and see if people asks for products without soy and use Michel Cluizel when needed. I tried some products from a local shop, which I know are using Callebaut, and the texture in that chocolate compared to the mid tier priced products from Cocoa Barry was really noticeable. And it's not like I'm any kind of expert.
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Great suggestions and tips. I have no issues with buying different brands, that will only be a problem when I'm famous and have some partnership with a brand. 😂 At the moment, I do favor Cocoa Barry because I love their Madirofolo chocolate. But I also tried some amazing variants from Michel Cluizel. But I don't really know if the average Jane would notice if you use the standard stuff from Callebaut or Michel Cluizel. At the moment I'm just playing around with different brands, trying to come up with some good recipes, so I can have a selection of maybe 15-20 different bonbons. Maybe an idea would be to offer a selection of some which are soy free - and see if anyone actually is interested in that.
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That is true. But it's always interesting to hear opinions and have discussions.
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What I've heard this is how he treats the cocoa butter; He heats the cocoa butter to 50 degrees, cool it down with movements to 26-27 degrees and then heat ut up to 30 degrees with a heat gun. Then spray the molds.
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I'll let you know. I'm going to have a taste session at work to see what my colleagues think.