GRiker

Thinking about pricing…I’m in a tourist town on vacation. Went to the local chocolate shop to check it out and try something new. From a google review several months ago I knew their products had no prices on them. Their online response was that they were moving to a new system. When I asked them about it in person they said they were going to some kind of barcode where customers could scan it if they wanted to know the price. At the same time they explained that high end chocolate shops don’t mark their goods and implied that they were going to work under that model. I’ve probably been to more chocolate shops than average but am not generally a high end shopper so I don’t know much about that market. I understand that chocolates are a luxury but it does feel like not making prices readily available excludes all but the customers who don’t think about how much something costs. Is that pricing strategy one you’ve heard of before? Does anyone here use that strategy and if so, why?

Those are so beautiful! What’s inside and how did you get the coconut to stick so evenly on the outside?

Happy to once again have found this useful information on the forum. Also decided to try a fabricator in my area looking for a scrap piece. I was looking for a particular color on which to take some pictures of chocolates then was planning to have it on the table in my workspace. Found a 33" x 27.5" x 1 1/8" just the right color, Alaska White. Looks like it was going to be installed - all the edges are polished and the corners are softened - but there was a chip on the bottom of one of the edges. Wasn't free, but at only $20 was a bargain. So grateful for everyone who shares what they learn!

Update: Just ordered a Cocoa Barry 6.6 pound container from Pike Global Foods this morning. Wholesale application to Pike was quick and easy. Pricing delivered to TX was $17.38/pound. I waited until now to order as we are finally dipping below 80 degrees F! When I looked this morning Canadian Vanilla Food Company's cocoa butter was sold out.

I used a Blue Stripe chocolate bar as part of a chocolate tasting experience with some friends. No one liked it, including me. It all sounded good on paper but if it's objectionable to eat it's a waste.

Guittard makes a 72% coconut sugar wafer, Sante. I've hand dipped with it and it's pretty nice. They are selling chip version of this at the grocery store in a blue bag. Guittard also makes a sugar free (malitol) milk and dark chocolate. I haven't had these. These links just to go a store I know carries it. You may be able to find it somewhere else less expensive.

@pastrygirl Thanks for all those suggestions about places to look. ~$20/pound is more reasonable. @Saltychoc I submitted a wholesale application to Pike Global Foods so I'll see what shipping is to me. Thanks for the lead. @AAQuesada I have been to Restaurant Depot in Austin. Last time I was there they only had Callebaut chocolate and I think they also had cocoa powder. My Guittard rep told me that right now they are not selling the smaller tubs of cocoa butter (7.5 lb x 2) so I think that only the 40 pound pail is the only size available for Guittard, unless someone is repackaging it. I am placing a bulk Guittard order next week, so I could buy the pail, it would just take me too long to use it all so it doesn't make sense to buy that much. Edited to add: I'd be open to buying the 40# pail at Guittard and repackaging and shipping to anyone at cost. Let me know if you'd be interested in this. I'm comparing prices and seeing if I can get a wholesale account at Pike. Does seem like pricing is still on its way up. I did read that the harvest that started October 1 is expected to be better than last year, but still down from previous years.

I’m thinking about where to buy my next batch of cocoa butter. Several years ago I purchased 14 pounds from Guittard when I did a bulk chocolate order. Last year I paid $32 for 5.5 pounds from Chef Rubber. This year they want $250 for the same amount. Guittard’s minimum container size this year is 40 pounds at about $10/pound. Chef Rubber is way more than I want to pay, but Guittard is way more than I need. Anyone have a more reasonably priced source for cocoa butter where you don’t have to buy so much? Where are you sourcing your cocoa butter?

@Elle Bee, When you make your pate de fruits, do you use a refractometer or do you cook to temp only?

Agreed. I have only a few types. One that shape that is a pain and your hemisphere mold that I have to work with carefully because the piece sometimes wants to come out before I’m ready for it to. Quite the contrast.

The piping dot on the heart made me think they were piped on, but the symmetry made me think otherwise. They look so nice.

Those are beautiful! What did you use for the small pink heart on the dark square? Did you just pipe it on when you were finished?

My new guitar needed 10 new bolts/nuts. They run $6 each from TCF Sales. My resourceful husband spec'ed out the nuts and bolts, ordered replacements and drilled holes in them for about $2 each. (Price doesn't include the cost of a couple new drill bits!) Here's the specs: Metric Socket Cap Stainless Steel M6x25mm bolt Nut, Metric Stainless Steel M6-1.00 Also just to circle back around, I ended up with 22 gauge (0.65mm/0.025in) Stainless 316L wire. Decided I know I'm going to attempt to cut a thin soft caramel with this guitar so I went a little thicker than standard.

@Jim D. Thanks. I was just wondering how you do it since I know you think things through. There is a limit to how much to worry about!

@Kerry Beal Thanks! I did read through that but got lost in the wire gauge vs. inches vs mm not all of which seemed to agree with each other!

Thanks @Jim D.. I understand that when you're making a two layer ganache you put the 3/8" on the bottom since you'll be spreading your untempered chocolate there. By using the larger ruler on the bottom, you ensure that your finished product has equal thicknesses of the two different flavors. When you're making a 1/2" ganache, are you concerned that using an untempered foot at the base of your ganache leaves you with a ganache layer that is less that 1/2"? I'm finding that stainless steel bars are pretty pricey, hoping to buy the right ones the first time!

Thanks @pastrygirl for this video. My new/used guitar needs to be fully restrung so I appreciate the tutorial, it does still work. I'm going to pick up some wire and replacement bolts from TCF Sales. Some of the nuts vibrated off during shipping so I lost a few of those. TCF sells wire at .5 mm x 60 M .6 mm x 60 M .8 mm x 60 M After reading here I'm wondering if I'm better off purchasing a slightly thicker wire, 0.6mm? Standard is 0.5mm. Right now I'm only planning on cutting ganache and meltaways, but since I'm new at this who knows... Do you all use standard 0.5mm wire? Any reason to not use a thicker wire?

@Elle Bee That's a lot of hand dipping! Currently I use these square candy silicone moulds from chef rubber for making my caramels. By volume they are pretty close to yours, but might a less expensive option than a cutter? I have two and scaled my recipe to just fit. they Sounds like I'll need to be careful if I try cutting caramels on a guitar. May just stick with the caramel moulds. I looked into a caramel cutter as well. The commercial ones are so expensive so also thought about making my own but only got part way down that path. Was the one you made similar to this one?

@Elle Bee Thanks so much for sharing your experience here. I too have really appreciated the people who've posted and whose knowledge has helped me figure out many things. I've got my own used guitar en route to me thanks to pastrygirl. I too am a mostly Christmas season chocolatier without much formal training. Would you mind answering a few question for me? What are you using to frame your confections before you cut them? Do you use caramel rulers? Are you hand dipping all these once they are cut? Are you using your guitar to cut your caramel?

Consider your enabling successful. I've got that guitar from Maine on the way to me! Thanks for pointing me in that direction. Can't wait to try it out!.

I have limited experience but from what I’ve read I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.

Hadn't even thought of that! Thanks for mentioning it.

Savy Goiseau, It's a Savy Goiseau AS Pro The 45 mm frame is threaded every other nut. So I think it's actually configured to cut 90. Just asked.

@pastrygirl@Kerry Beal Thanks for your input and pics. I appreciate the food for thought. I communicated with the Etsy seller. He cautioned me that his is not a professional grade tool. He has plans to develop one in the future but hasn't yet. Being patient to find a used professional grade guitar sounds like a better plan than buying a new piece of equipment that will likely limit what I can do with it. I did join the FB group for equipment. The guitar in Las Vegas is sold. The one in Maine looks like it's in good condition. It's a brand I hadn't heard of before, but upon researching, it looks like a reputable brand. It's biggest issue is the frame sizes - 30, 45, 82.5 - most bigger than what I would choose. The 30 is good, but I'd be interested in 22.5 and 15. Have any of you reworked a frame adding holes, bolts and wires? Seems that buying new frames if the used one doesn't have the ones you need defeats the purpose of saving money buying used.