Miriam G
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Posts posted by Miriam G
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Hi folks,
Can anyone recommend a company or person who makes custom thermoformed chocolate molds? I want to do certain designs for the holidays but don't want to spend a fortune on custom polycarbonate molds. I've also gotten requests in the past to do custom monogrammed chocolate coins but had to turn it down because I don't have the capability. It would be great to be able to offer this.
TIA!
Miriam
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Hi Kerry, can you please add me as a tentative attendee?
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Take a look at this:
Though I find the concept of talking to my food containers creepy. Guess I'm old school.
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Thank you again, Teo. Really helpful ideas and information! 🙏
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On 5/10/2019 at 8:19 PM, teonzo said:
Probably she is thinking about condensation forming on the ganache surface during re-warming. If you store your ganache correctly (in a vacuum bag, or in a box with a piece of cellophan / shrink wrap / whatever_it's_called_in_English on direct contact with its surface) then there are no risks of condensation forming. If you store your ganache in open contact with air then she is right that you are risking to raise microbial activity: the dew caused by condensation is the perfect environment for microbes, especially in the danger zone (the temperature at which ganache sits while getting re-warmed).
If you store it correctly, just point her out that microbial activity is much slower at 4°C (fridge temperature) than at 16°C (bonbon storage temperature). 2 days at 4°C correspond to few hours at 16°C, so it's really a tiny tiny fraction of the planned shelf life of your bonbons (with those Aw readings).
Teo
Teo, that is super helpful, thank you. I can definitely be more careful and consistent about covering with a piece of cellophane before closing the containers, as I have noticed condensation when I open the containers, sometimes. I will pay close attention to this going forward, as well as look into the vacuum bag option.
Thank you again, everyone, for your feedback and guidance.
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Thank you all so much for your responses. This is very helpful and I'm breathing a little easier now.
Jim, I don't actually use any dairy products. Everything I make is vegan (dark chocolate only) and the liquids for my ganaches are either coconut milk, coconut cream, soy milk, or some combo thereof. So I would think that would decrease the risk even further, right?
Yes, she is assertive. And I'm fine with assertiveness as long as it's based on facts and data (and a touch of humility doesn't hurt either). I'll tell her what the 'old broad' said 🤣
Thanks again!!
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I've been having a discussion with an assistant in my kitchen about the potential dangers of cooling and then rewarming ganaches and other bonbon fillings, before actually filling the molds.
The issue is that I usually make all my fillings over the course of 1-2 days, and then the shells after that. So that means that my fillings are refrigerated immediately after making them, and then I gently rewarm (and re-emulsify with an immersion blender) before piping into my shells (which happens anywhere from 1-3 days after making them).
My assistant says that in her 7 years of working in chocolate shops, she has only ever piped fillings on the very same day they were made, as cooling and rewarming encourages bacteria growth. She's very adamant about it and says that my process is risky and incorrect.
I have an AW meter and ensure that all my fillings are between 0.65-0.8AW. Is this not sufficient? Is she correct that I am creating additional risk for bacteria by cooling and rewarming?
I don't want to put my customers' health at risk or damage the integrity of my product. But I'm also a very small operation and do not have the people power to make exactly the needed quantities of all the fillings for 10-15 flavors in one day and ready to pipe exactly when the shells are ready. I am open to changing our process if necessary, but would like additional verification and not rely on one person's limited experience. I am also looking for a food scientist or lab to talk to about it.
Thank you for any and all input.
-Miriam
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3 minutes ago, keychris said:
the kitchen-aid attachment spins faster than a pro model, means the product can slide instead of roll sometimes, but you can still do it. I've used the CW one as well and it worked, but it's blowing just air, not cooled air, so if you've got a warm day you might want to skip panning that day, unless you want to hack it to go through some dry ice or something. Batch size is the issue you run into with the kitchen-aid and even the CW one, if you're looking for volume then the larger Selmi model is the way to go, but you'd need money to burn
Panning is bloody noisy, too!
Thanks for the additional info! The tip about not doing it on a warm day is a good insight. I hope the CW one will be big enough to get me started, and if there's a lot of demand then maybe I'll sell enough to have money to burn
I should be so lucky to have such problems.
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Mina, thank you so much for the detailed response. I do appreciate all the thoughts and info. The feedback I've heard about the KitchenAid attachment is that it's cumbersome and takes some finagling to get it to work properly. All hearsay, not from any personal experience of mine.
After more research and your response, I decided to go with the Chocolate World one, https://www.tcfsales.com/products/1527-7-liter-chocolate-panning-machine/. It has the built in cooler but it's tabletop so not such a huge thing. And while certainly not cheap, still a lot more doable than the Selmi.
Thanks again for the feedback, I'm happy to give an update once I've used this one!
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1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:
Do you already know how to use it? If you're looking to start really small or learn the process before committing to a large, expensive machine, there's this one that attaches to a kitchenaid :
https://www.dr.ca/confectionery-coating-pan-attachment.html
I have very limited experience, but an expert ready to provide further instruction when I'm set up. Have you used the Kitchenaid attachment? I was also considering that, but I've read a bunch of things from people who said it was more trouble than useful. The machine will be used in production for a retail store, so I'm trying to decide what the right balance is between volume capability and cost.
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I'm looking at investing in a panning machine, but am wondering if it's worth the significant $$ for a more 'professional' one like the Selmi (hello, second mortgage??) or the Chocolate World one.
OR, if something like the ChocoVision one (http://tinyurl.com/yxmvl35v) would serve my start-up purposes just as well. I notice the less expensive ones don't have built in blowers. Does this mean they would need some sort of other cool air blowing mechanism? I saw Kerry's ingenious creation in a previous thread, with the hose and the IV pole, but I don't think I'm quite up to being that creative.
I welcome any advice, guidance, or amusing anecdotes.
Thanks,
Miriam
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1 minute ago, Kerry Beal said:
Ontario
That would work. I'm definitely interested.
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5 minutes ago, Jim D. said:
One additional thought: If you go to the archive of The Chocolate Life (it has fairly recently moved to its present format, but the old forum was really useful), there is this link, where Clay Gordon mentions his relationship to a display case manufacturer--and that company is located in New Jersey, no less! Might be just down the block from you.
Oh fabulous! I knew of them but didn't even know they were in NJ. I will definitely reach out. Thanks again!!
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2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:
I know someone who has a case like that they are looking to sell. It's in Canada.
Thanks, Kerry! Do you know if it's in Western or Eastern Canada? If Eastern, it may be feasible (I'm in NJ). Would love more info. Thanks!
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2 hours ago, Jim D. said:
Miriam,
Have you posted this question on The Chocolate Life forum/classifieds? If you don't know that site, it's https://foodmaven.io/thechocolatelife/. It's moderated by Clay Gordon, who (along with others on that forum) knows a great deal about equipment related to chocolate. If you don't get the information you seek on eG, you might try that.
Jim
Thanks so much, Jim! I didn't know about that site but I will definitely check it out.
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Hi! We are opening a retail location for our chocolate business this spring, and are in the market for temperature/humidity controlled chocolate display cases. We prefer the jewelry style displays.
Everything I've looked at in the U.S. is so expensive (over $10K). I'm willing to invest in quality but I also have a budget for this project, that I'd like to stay within.
I've seen similar looking cases from Asian manufacturers (on Alibaba) for a fraction of the U.S. prices. Is this a case of 'you get what you pay for?'
Does anyone have recommendations for U.S. vendors who you feel provide good value and service? I'd also be open to buying used cases if we found the right one, but then I'm concerned with how to get it serviced if anything goes wrong (same issue with the Asian ones).
Attached is an example of the type of cases we're looking for.
I appreciate any help or advice!
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Love the 'mad scientist' sensibility...great videos!
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3 hours ago, Darienne said:
Twenty-five years ago I was a knitter/designer when Carpal Tunnel syndrome hit. I've worn braces at night since then. I gave up knitting and took up a craft called coiling which had a different direction to the stress factors. although it too is small movements which are repetitive. I decided some years ago, that despite my great interest in chocolate that I could not become a chocolatier, which I had intended when I first joined eGullet ten years ago. I've now had to give up all coiling also and am now finally facing surgery as I have nowhere else left to go for relief. I've also left my involvement with the internet pretty much because even typing causes problems. I realize that this post is not encouraging to you but it is what has happened to me. Just typing these sentences is likely to result in a worse morning than if I had not typed them.
I wish you all the best.Thank you, Darienne, for sharing your experience. I'm sorry you've suffered so and had to give up things you enjoy doing. I hope the surgery is successful and that you do find freedom from the pain.
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2 minutes ago, JeanneCake said:
I'm a baker/cake decorator and have had carpal tunnel problems for years; during the worst of wedding season I wear the splints faithfully at night and it's a huge help. If I don't, I find that the pain/numbness can wake me from a sound sleep. I've also been told that Aleve works better on the extremities but I haven't had to use that yet.....
Thank you! I think it's time to take some pain killers along with the splints
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7 minutes ago, demiglace said:
I'm not a chocolatier but I wore splints through the night for a few months and it really helped my pain. Had to change the way I did some things but was able to avoid a surgical solution. Good luck.
Thank so much demiglace, really appreciate the input!
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Ok, good to know. Thanks again!
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Thanks, Kerry. I've only been wearing the splints during the day....maybe I should try at night too. The pain is definitely worse in my right hand, which I use to hold the Grex. And I agree that in the left hand it's because of the lifting/flipping molds. Are brushes like the Iwatas or Paasches easier to trigger?
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Hi friends,
I'm more a reader than a poster, but I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. I am a relatively new chocolatier, and was fortunate enough to have a huge amount of business for the holidays. About 7,000 bonbons produced, packed and shipped in two weeks. I had some help, but the majority of the work was done by me.
The downside is that I started getting some pain in my wrists, which progressed to numbness and tingling in my hands, which is now even worse pain and limited mobility in my wrists and between my thumb and forefinger - essentially, carpal tunnel syndrome.
Since this is my chosen career and I'm just at the start of launching what I hope to be a very successful business, I need to find a solution to this ASAP. I've rested a lot over the past week and got some wrist braces, but I went back into the kitchen today and after about 6 hours of work I had to stop because of the pain.
I've been working a lot with my Grex air brush, and I use a chocolate melter and EZ temper to shell and close my bonbons (i.e., it's manual, not a continuous flow machine).
Have any of you experienced something like this? Did you find any work modifications that helped? I'm thinking to try an air brush with a different trigger mechanism so I'm not using the same motion as I am with the Grex. And while I know a shiny new Selmi would help with the shelling/closing, it's not in the budget right now.
I appreciate any words of wisdom or experiences you can share!
Happy and Healthy New Year to all!
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That is helpful to know. Thanks, Jim. And yes, you never know until you need to use it...
Custom thermoformed chocolated molds
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
Thanks, Kerry!