bbrizend

Question for you AUI customers: I have an account but I don't think I've ever purchased from them because I find their prices to be high. That said, I am a home-based hobbyist that probably doesn't order more than $500 per year. Do you find AUI cost competitive? Are you ordering on more of a commercial scale and therefore getting better prices?

Afraid I can't help you with this specific issue but I did want to reach out to you because I think we may share some commonalities. I too am self taught, home based, and I live in Florida. Tampa specifically. I don't sell my products currently. I make them mostly for friends/family and on special occasions. If you are interested, I'd be happy to connect more directly, say via Facebook or email, to share information, war stories, supplies/suppliers, etc....

Was there a reason that you made your cutter not as wide as your slab of caramel?

Wow! Thanks for sharing. I've been wanting something like this but didn't want to spend the money. But I can definitely swing this. Thanks again.

You'll have to pardon my ignorance but why is Milk easier to deal with than Dark? And, thanks everyone for the insight. You've given me new options for working out my issues.

Dark chocolate

First off I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone that has assisted me with their knowledge and advice. It is truly appreciated. Now on to my next issue: I've been making chocolate covered peanut butter balls for several years now but I have 2 issues that I cannot seem to over come. The 1st issue is getting the ball, which is about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter, fully covered in tempered chocolate. I use a round dipping fork to hand dip each ball and deposit it onto parchment. But inevitably, once the chocolate sets, the bottom of the piece is no longer covered with chocolate. It's like the center is too heavy and pushes the chocolate coating aside as it rests. The other issue is that while the coated piece is cooling it 'leaks' an oily substance that I believe is coming from the fat in the peanut butter or the butter that is added to the recipe. It leaks from the exposed bottom and, sometimes, from the top where the chocolate shell is thin from where the dipping fork made contact. I've tried reducing the butter in the recipe, but the center only gets crumbly without it and won't hold together. As always, any thoughts, tips, advice is much appreciated.

As it turns out my molds were 9, 10, and 11 gram. So I just ordered the Chocolate World CW1081 mold which is 22 grams. I would think that would be sufficient. Thanks everyone for your help.

Yes these are polycarbonate molds and thanks for the insight.

Not sure. Bought them some time ago and they’re in the wash at the moment. How could I figure it out? Fill a cavity with granular sugar and then weight the sugar?

I have purchased 3 different polycarbonate molds that were supposedly suitable for making cherry cordials. None of the 3 have a cavity that is large enough to hold an entire cherry and some fondant. 2 of my molds will hold about 1/2 of a cherry. The other will only hold about 1/4 of a cherry. The cherries I'm referring to are pretty standard maraschino cherries purchased Sam's Club in a large plastic jar. Typically I drain off the syrup and then refill the jar with Brandy and allow it to sit for 6+ months. Has anyone else had this issue? Are my cherries too big? Are my molds too small? Does anyone have a source for a mold that would hold an entire cherry? Any advice is appreciated.

My advice is to stay away from Frigidaire. I have a kitchen full of their products (installed by previous owner) and would not recommend one of them. More specifically the gas cooktop is hard to light and doesn't not seem hot enough. And, the double wall ovens take forever to heat and seem to cook slow.

I see a pattern here. LOL. Thanks for the input.

One in particular that is kind of a pain is a Snickers-copykat. Otherwise most are caramel or fondant.