GRiker

@Kerry Beal If you did have distilled water, would you you have expected a value of 1.0? For making your own NaCl solution are you saying that one week in a brown bottle is the shelf life? You could use it as soon as it's at room temperature. Is that correct? When you used your aliexpress meter, do you remember how long you waited to get the measurement?

Thanks @pastrygirl. That does make some sense to me. The scant instructions that come with it do say some samples require 20 minutes of settling. I think I will get some pure nacl so I can make a standard. Might give me a little more confidence in the meter. Would you mind posting which Rototronic you have?

It did set some I guess. If I take some out I can roll it into a ball in my hand, but it's not a gel I wouldn't say. I put it in my Chef Rubber silicone square molds and I thought I could just pop them out. Nope. Thought I might have to use a rubber scraper to get them out. My son suggested I try the freezer to at least harden them enough to get them out. That worked! I'm going to turn them out on some parchment. I did get the Boiron instructions here, may have been ones you posted. I did read all kinds of posts about different pectins. I might have to look even more into that as well. I understand most people use apple pectin. I thought apple pectin was a Slow Set High Methoxyl Pectin that would function the same. Thanks @Alleguede for the tips about working with Black Currant. I've got several other purees I'll try before I circle back to Black Currant. I used it all up the first try. Next time I'm going to make smaller batches so I can experiment better. Does the pectin actually help decrease aW? My end goal is not to have a cuttable pectin, but to have a fruit layer in a bon bon. Once the PDF were to gel, I'd just need to make it pipe-able anyway. If my aW value is acceptable (below 0.8, trying to figure that out in a different thread) then is there any reason I want it to gel first?

Thanks for pointing that experiment out. I did read through that. I'm only holding for 20 minutes. Your equipment is many times more expensive that what I'm using, so not sure if I can compare it, but ... when you press the measure button is it an instantaneous measurement? or does it move around and eventually settle? I guess it would be helpful for me to get some standards...

I had three different samples. All the readings under the heading Sample 1 are from the same sample. Sample 2, I only have the one settled measurement. Four different data points from the same Sample 3.

@Elle Bee encouraged me to post my trials here. Thanks I was so nervous to even start I spent hours reading about it and eventually dived in tonight. I used Perfect Puree Black Current and Boiron instructions. I had about 500g left from another project. I should have used less so I could have tried more variations. I used Modernist Pantry Slow Set Hi Methoxyl Pectin. This is the pectin they say to use for jellies. Things didn't got as I expected and in the end I forgot to add the citric acid! This pectin is thermoirreversible, and requires acid to set. I figured since it wasn't really set anyway because I forgot the citric acid, that I would dump it back it, heat it to above 149F (the stated gel temp) add the citric acid solution and pour it out again. It's been a couple hours already and does appear to be setting a little. I'll see where it is in the morning. A couple interesting things to note: Black Currant Perfect Puree starting Brix was 33.7 as measured by my new Hanna Instruments refractometer. (Boiron table says Brix from black currant is 24. I'm guessing 24 means that's their standard) I added the sugar/pectin mix, then the granulated sugar, then the glucose. I microwaved the glucose for a few seconds to make it easier to pour, when I went back to the stove the mixture had thickened considerably. Decided I should test the brix and temp. I found the brix to already be at 80.7 (target was 75) and the temp was only about 185 or so, instead of the 225F target. At this point I forgot what I was doing and decided I was finished and poured it out, forgetting to add the citric acid as mentioned above. I just got a new aW meter off Aliexpress and decided I would use it to test the water activity of the finished product. If I used it correctly, I ended with a measurement of 0.70. My goal is to add some fruit to a two layered bon bon. I'm skeptical that this PDF will end up being firm enough to cut. But I'm not really after PDF that is cuttable. Since I'm wanting to put it in bon bon anyway, does it really matter if it sets or not? I'm not sure what happened that the brix was already so high but the temp wasn't anywhere close to the target temp. Any ideas about why that happened? I'm out of black current but have a few others, I'll have to keep trying.

I purchased an aw meter off Aliexpress and it arrived yesterday. Today I used it for the first time. I used it on my first attempt of Pate de Fruit. The PDF was a learning experience but I decided I could use it to test the aW meter. I did a 3 different samples and got the following measurements: Sample 1 PDF 5 minutes 0.77 10 minutes 0.74 15 minutes 0.72 20 minutes 0.70 didn't change after that Sample 2 PDF also settles at 0.70 Sample 3, simply Heinz ketchup 10 minutes 0.81 15 minutes 0.86 20 minutes 0.88 settled 0.89 So here's my questions. Is it the last measurement that is the "real" measurement? Should I plan on waiting 20 minutes to get my accurate measurement? Feeling a little out of my depth here!

Well almost 2 years and the acquisition of an EZ Temper later, I have done some experimenting. I melted a quantity of cocoa butter. Filled two of the stainless steel containers that came with the EZ Temper. Sample 1: Left on the counter to solidify before putting it in the machine. Sample 2: Put right into the machine in its liquid state. After 24 hours sample one was ready to use. Sample two was still liquid. It took some time for it to become more solid, but it never turned the same color and consistency of Sample 1. Sample 2 consistency is more like a soft jelly. I used sample 1 to temper my chocolate for at least 4. - 6 weeks and now when I'm almost out of the Sample 1 (there's my motivation!), I decided to see if Sample 2 would temper my chocolate. Sure enough, used 1% by weight and it tempered the milk chocolate the same as Sample 1. In this picture you can see the last of Sample one in a small dish and the unused Sample 2 in the stainless steel container. My next experiment will be to see how long it takes a liquid sample placed directly in the EZ Temper to make usable type V crystals. ------- On another note. This batch of cocoa butter in the pictures came from Chef Rubber. I have to set the EZ Temper to 33.7C to get the correct consistency. Getting my next batch in, this cocoa butter from Guittard, I started from solid, but at 33.7C it nearly melted it all out. Just goes to show how differently cocoa butter can behave! Guess I won't be able to keep them in the EZ Temper at the same time.

@RWood I can see that having the light allowed in is a distinct advantage! Thanks for sharing that idea.

Are you saying that you just scrape the sides and edges of the mold? And that's the cocoa butter you save?

Not yet anyway. But in the end it's much less expensive to buy new molds than it is to lose 30% of your products each round. Thanks for sharing in case I do need to go that route. I too like the larger molds. Bought some bon bons on vacation and I was underwhelmed by the tiny size.

Thanks @Jim D. for the response. It's comforting that at least I'm not alone in the difficulty. I will try some of the suggestions to get that side was thicker before I invest in some different molds. I only have two mold varieties. The hemispheres I bought from you and these domes. The hemispheres rarely have trouble releasing. In fact, sometimes they want to slip out when I'm capping them! With the CW1157 I had some cavities on the last mold that I didn't fill, and just left them empty shells. I would agree that there is some vacuum going on. On the attempt when my shells were too thin, I had some of the empty shells that were totally released, I could spin them with my finger, but couldn't get them to come out of the mold! Is the Cabrellon your using the PMC6024? Don't worry the fridge I'm using for chocolate is not my household fridge. I bought a used wine fridge off Craigslist to use just for chocolate. It was a nice idea but doesn't hold a consistent temperature. I have it set for 47 but is usually ends up around 55 no matter what I tell it. In any case, since I started using it my easy release rate has dramatically improved.

Thanks for your insight! I think I understand the different equipment used now. Kind of like learning a new language! @Chocolot in this thread a couple times @Jim D. mentioned you've figured out a way to save your overspray, would you mind sharing it? Having read through this entire forum I know JimD has been using the Cake Safe cocoa butter spray booth with a respirator. Some have tried home made booths with limited success. @pastrygirl and @Chocolot seems like you are doing quite a bit of spraying, what are your most successful ways to contain the cocoa butter that doesn't go on your molds?

I snatched me up this used EZ Temper and now feel like I am cheating every time I temper up a batch of chocolate! I love that it's quiet and I generally keep it on all the time. Then if I have an occasion to need some tempered chocolate, it just takes a few minutes. Love it!

This is a pistachio crunch made in a CW 1157. I'm having an issue with a hairline crack along the base of the molded piece. In my first batch of this flavor I had quite a few of them, and also had a really hard time unmolding about 1/4-1/3 of them. I decided the shell was too thin. Second time around I made the shell thicker and while I had almost all the bon bons release easily, but a full 1/3 of them still have this hairline crack. Luckily, I was taking a tray to an event where they would be eaten immediately so I used the ones with cracks. but, I do wonder what is causing them and more importantly how to avoid them in the future. Any suggestions? Second, I mentioned that almost all of them released easily. I had one tray where about 7 of the 21 wouldn't release. My process is to shell, let start to crystallize, refrigerate ( at around 50 - 55F), fill when filling is 84F, refrigerate then let sit out a few minutes before capping and refrigerating when the cap starts to crystallize. Then I often just leave them for an hour or so while I clean up then I unmold. I was thrilled that they almost all unfolded with no smacking of the mold necessary. Except these few. I could see from the other side that they had not at all released from the mold. My experience has taught me that it's better to put them back in the fridge for a while than to smack them on the counter. So back into the fridge. After another hour or so they came right out. The curious thing is that these are the shiniest pieces. I tried to get a picture, but getting one of shininess comparison didn't work. Anyway, al the other pieces look great to the untrained eye, but the 7 that wouldn't unfold are much shinier. Any insight as to why that might be? Really, I'd like them all to be that shiny, but not to have them be so difficult to remove.