Dark side

Which brands are you using?

Amazing! So how has your process changed? have you stopped using other machines/tools in favour of the tempering machine? Do you use it for dipping, or just molding?

Which Selmi model did you get @pastrygirl?? are you loving it?

Thanks Kerry, I will try melting it to that temp and cooling before trying again. Is the little black plug meant to be in or out during operation or does it matter?

Hello! after reading everyone's glowing reviews I finally ordered an EZtemper, and though I am still very excited, I haven't yet dialed it in and was hoping for some guidance. I've tried a couple different cocoa butters, one from a local distributor, and the other Belcolade pellets from Chococolat-Chocolat. I realise they may have different set point sweet spots. To focus on the Belcolade pelllets, at this point I have my EZ as low as 33.1, and the silk is very melted (pourable even), but yet grainy, and doesn't seem to be doing the trick of tempering. I've tried melting/cooling/remelting and also ensured my fan is on 🤦‍♀️ (thank you @Kerry Beal). I was expecting a smooth, frosting-like consistency. Am I looking for the wrong consistency? -Does anyone use this Belcolade cocoa butter? What set point are you using? -Should I continue trying lower set points 33.1? -Does anyone use grainy silk sucessfully? -Should the little black hole in the top of the unit be plugged?? is this my issue? ahhhhhh help!

I was trying to be mindful of energy use and avoid extra heat production during summer. I would hope they are fairly efficient though. Max temp is 155. Melters have more precise temperature control correct? I did find it almost redundant that then I had to use my tempering machine for temperature control after melting. I was just trying to experiment with my new eztemper silk. Love to hear your full process Jim.

Wondering about using a dehydrator to premelt chocolate overnight for me to temper in the morning. Any suggestions of temperature to set and timing required? I figured I would have chocolate in bowl inside dehydrator, set to desired temp, and plugged into a timer to come on with enough lead time to be melted when I arrive. Suggestions?

Hello! Is there such thing as a machine that you can dump a hunk of ganache into and it will pop out individual portioned balls or chunks? As opposed to a depositor for more liquid ganache, looking for a doser of sorts for firm ganache to then be dipped. I thought this existed... am I imagining it?? We currently do a lot of hand scooping of set ganache with a very small ice cream style scooper. Looking for an upgrade. Thank you!

Do you have a link for the chef rubber molds you're using? Thanks!

Im just learning about guitar usage... What does the measurement on the base refer to? And there are cutting frames- are the measurements there regarding the spacing between the strings or can you change that yourself when youd like?

These are great points to consider, thank you. Our caramels are our top seller followed by truffles. I'm happy hand dipping them at this point, but that may just be because I cannot fathom how much more amazingly efficient enrobing might be. But something that would streamline those processes while sticking with our "handmade" values would be great. A guitar could be handy for that especially if strong enough for caramel, though I would have to rework some ganache recipes for setting up in pans in appropriate dimensions. Do you have a recommendation for a tough guitar? Airbrushing looks fun, but feels like a whole other arena of confection that I'm not really ready to perform in lol.

There really are!!

We dip everything by hand now, but it is all just scooped ganache. That or molded. Mold extras is a good consideration. Will a guitar cut caramel? That would be our most convenient use for it, if so. I was assuming a chill sesh between layers of chocolate with a panning tool. Havent done any airbrushing yet.. kind of daunting at this point. But fun?! Not issues with bubbles, just thought it might save some time by not having to do all the tapping? West coast

Hi! I have a SMALL chocolate shop/cafe in Canada and I've just received a grant that I need to apply to my business and am trying to decide where best to put it. I have a chocovision rev delta and it serves us well, but I am planning to upgrade to a 3Z, as that is a higher capacity and will be within my price range. That will leave me with approx $3500 cad to spend on other items. We so far do most things small batch/small scale/by hand. Considering a panning machine or kitchenaid attachment? a vibrating table? an airbrush setup? Guitar cutter? Any other thoughts or suggestions??

That's an interesting idea.... I'll have to look into ratios of gelatin to booze, as I've never made a jelly before. Any recipe suggestions? Don't think it'll make for as pretty a picture of the insides, lol, but it might do the trick! thank you!

Thanks! I think my mold is a 2.25"? Yeah, wasn't sure about including the mallows in with the liquor, but even a shell with just liquor seems like it'll eventually soften the integrity of the shell. From what I've been reading it seems most suggest to a sugary liqueur that will crystallize a layer inside the shell, but unless the bomb was full, i don't know how the layer would build up evenly around the inside of the shell, even with rotating it....

Ive just hopped on the bandwagon and started making them for our shop. We're using homemade marshmallows, which definitely adds to the workload. Id like to start shipping them, but i do have packaging concerns. Any thoughts on best way to protect them? @pastrygirl I like the white idea too, for a festive design. Is that white chocolate, or cocoa butter, or confectioners sugar? Your packaging looks great as well :) Im also wondering about putting some booze in them. Can anyone comment on whether there is a trick, or considerations to be made, when housing straight liquor inside a tempered chocolate shell? Will a decent thickness be enough to prevent the liquid from softening or disintegrating the chocolate?