Working Cleanly in the Chocolate Kitchen

[Anna N]

Or if you must use a thermometer then switch to an infrared! No contact, no mess. (Thanks Kerry Beal - owe you big time!)

[jfield]

Or if you must use a thermometer then switch to an infrared!  No contact, no mess. (Thanks Kerry Beal - owe you big time!)

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So true, just be sure to stir and stir at the point where you are taking the reading since infrareds only measure the surface temperature.

[emmalish]

Or if you must use a thermometer then switch to an infrared!  No contact, no mess. (Thanks Kerry Beal - owe you big time!)

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Trust me, I'm tempted! Are some better/more accurate than others? Any brand you'd recommend?

[alanamoana]

Or if you must use a thermometer then switch to an infrared!  No contact, no mess. (Thanks Kerry Beal - owe you big time!)

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Trust me, I'm tempted! Are some better/more accurate than others? Any brand you'd recommend?

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either infrared, or if budget is a concern, you can use a probe thermometer. the base can be kept far away from the chocolate!

[emmalish]

I have a probe thermometer too, and it seems accurate when I test in boiling water, but when I had both the probe AND my glass chocolate thermometer in together (as a test) there was about a 2-3° difference. I figured it was safer to stick with the old-school one.

[pastrygirl]

I've never really had a problem with getting it all over myself though. My biggest problem is that my thermometer always tips over in the bowl and gets so much chocolate on it the numbers are obscured.

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My probe thermometer died (gremlins? the white witch that haunts this valley?) so I got a couple of digital stick thermometers to replace it (they were on sale). These require a little tape to keep them in place. Tape your thermometer in place BEFORE you get chocolate all over it, so the tape will still stick!

[emmalish]

Tape! Brilliant.

[ejw50]

FROM EJW 50:  "Lastly, thanks to this forum for explaining how the spatter technique works and some of the difficulties."

ok.  What is the spatter technique please and what are its difficulties?

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Hi Darienne

This old thread, around page 10-12 there is discussion on the spatter technique.

DavidJ shows his spatter tip

Ruth Kendrick explains her modification to the spatter technique.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=56184&st=330

Here is another one where TNChocolatier explains how to do it with the old fashioned way with a whisk

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=117072

Edited September 6, 2008 by ejw50 (log)

[pastrygirl]

Tape! Brilliant.

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Sometimes low-tech is the way to go.

[Gingersnap]

At a recent demo, Ewald Notter said, "Working with chocolate is messy, right?" After waiting for a murmur of agreement, he said, "It's not the chocolate; it's you." Well, he may not be messy, but I am. Heh. I have to say, he works cleaner than I can even imagine being. If I progress from newbie all the way up to novice after enough practice, then perhaps I will become less messy. (Maybe not as neat as Notter. I saw some other people working with chocolate who weren't working nearly as cleanly as he had.)

I started off going the parchment route for ease in cleanup, but after recently watching everyone work straight over granite and simply scrape up drips, I'm tempted to give that a try. Once. One other thing I noticed is how frequently people were changing their gloves. For some reason, it's never entered my mind to strip off my gloves that frequently.

[Chris Hennes]

I also go through massive quantities of paper towel: I wipe up drips as I go, and also use it to wipe the tines of the dipping fork off. I find that using paper towel makes me less likely to try to "conserve" my cloth towel supply (I mean, I only own like 100 of them... ) so I end up being neater. I also try to keep my work area very compact, so that I don't have to move far with dipped chocolates, for example. I have a rolling cart that I sometimes use so I can work in a sort of U-shaped area and all I have to do is turn my body, no real motion.

[Anna N]

I also go through massive quantities of paper towel: I wipe up drips as I go, and also use it to wipe the tines of the dipping fork off. I find that using paper towel makes me less likely to try to "conserve" my cloth towel supply (I mean, I only own like 100 of them...  ) so I end up being neater. I also try to keep my work area very compact, so that I don't have to move far with dipped chocolates, for example. I have a rolling cart that I sometimes use so I can work in a sort of U-shaped area and all I have to do is turn my body, no real motion.

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I use J-cloths rather than paper towels as I get a few uses out of them. I toss them in the washing machine after. I would use my regular kitchen towels but have never figured out how to get the stains out of them.

[Lisa Shock]

I've had good results from putting items in the washer with powdered oxygenating cleaner, allowing the washer to fill and agitate for a minute then turn the machine off and allow everything to soak for a half hour before turning it back on again.

I've also used White Brite on whites, with mixed results. Some set-in stains come out really well with this, but it can also pull color out of trim, embroidery, etc. It definitely gets rid of the yellowing that plagues chef coats over time. I would use it on all-white towels only.

[reenicake]

I use J-cloths rather than paper towels as I get a few uses out of them.  I toss them in the washing machine after.  I would use my regular kitchen towels but have never figured out how to get the stains out of them.

The best stain remover of all time is the sun... lemon juice or this great stuff called Bac-out (with lime) to saturate the stain, then put in the sun (full/direct if you can, indirect if not -- window, car dashboard, lawn, wherever) and within hours the stains are gone. I sometimes soak in oxygen bleach solution, then hang in the sun. in this case, launder on hot once the stains are out. I have saved a few chef jackets this way. there is also a product called RLR that supposedly gets anything out, but I haven't found it.

[alanamoana]

At a recent demo, Ewald Notter said, "Working with chocolate is messy, right?"  After waiting for a murmur of agreement, he said, "It's not the chocolate;  it's you."  Well, he may not be messy, but I am.    Heh.    I have to say, he works cleaner than I can even imagine being.    If I progress from newbie all the way up to novice after enough practice, then perhaps I will become less messy.      (Maybe not as neat as Notter.    I saw some other people working with chocolate who weren't working nearly as cleanly as he had.)

I started off going the parchment route for ease in cleanup, but after recently watching everyone work straight over granite and simply scrape up drips, I'm tempted to give that a try.    Once.    One other thing I noticed is how frequently people were changing their gloves.  For some reason, it's never entered my mind to strip off my gloves that frequently.

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For all of his talent, Notter can be a bit soulless sometimes. I really appreciated taking a class from JP Wybauw, as he got chocolate on himself and his work station and it never bothered him. If a guy with that much experience with chocolate can be messy, then I'm not too worried. I try to work cleanly, but if I get the stray bit of chocolate on me, so be it.

edited to add on topic info: I bought some cheap all-white towels from Costco and use them indiscriminately. I don't worry about them having stains. They're for working in the kitchen after all.

Edited September 7, 2008 by alanamoana (log)

[Darienne]

Hi Darienne

This old thread, around page 10-12 there is discussion on the spatter technique.

DavidJ shows his spatter tip

Ruth Kendrick explains her modification to the spatter technique.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=56184&st=330

Here is another one where TNChocolatier explains how to do it with the old fashioned way with a whisk

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=117072

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Thanks EJW50 for the information.

ps. Can someone please tell me what the snapback thingy means? Not chocolate, but of some importance no doubt.

[Darienne]

Tape! Brilliant.

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My digital thermometer has a little magnet on the back...which took me only a year to find...and so I can hang if on the stove hood and that really helps with keeping everything where I want it.

Edited September 7, 2008 by Darienne (log)

[pastrygirl]

On those rare occasions when I plan ahead, I try to remember to wear the black chef coat when working with chocolate. Of course, I generally fail to plan ahead and get chocolate all over my white jackets and powdered sugar all over the black ones. Chefwear does have a couple of styles in brown now. If you can't get the stains out, might as well just start out with a brown jacket!

[alanamoana]

ps.  Can someone please tell me what the snapback thingy means?  Not chocolate, but of some importance no doubt.

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snapback is a tag that will take you directly to a certain post on a page. you can only see it when you're replying, etc. as it is part of the programming language used on these boards. everything in brackets denotes an instruction.

[rowendrew]

Dish soap will get chocolate out if it's fresh. I only have dark jackets as I don't look good in white

Love the idea about the saran wrap in my melter and on the phone. I would suggest wrapping your ipod or stereo buttons too.

I found chocolate on a plant in my bedroom once.

Heat gun (cheap hair dryer?) will help clean messy molds too. Hit it with the gun and chocolate wipes right off/out.

[Desiderio]

I love reading this thread, it puts a smile on my face! I did find chocolate in unusual places as well, and my lap top got a white chocolate coat once! I got better with time and I am more efficient, I still get chocolate on my forearms for some reason, just a smudge here and there. I bougth a bag of those kitchen/janitorial white rags and I use those and don't care if they got stains, and can be tossed in the washer with bleach etc. My tendency to go fast and be clumsy at times, will prevent me to work 100% spot free, but that's ok I think.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Desiderio (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Dish soap will get chocolate out if it's fresh. I only have dark jackets as I don't look good in white 

Love the idea about the saran wrap in my melter and on the phone. I would suggest wrapping your ipod or stereo buttons too.

I found chocolate on a plant in my bedroom once.

Heat gun (cheap hair dryer?) will help clean messy molds too. Hit it with the gun and chocolate wipes right off/out.

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Last night I was dipping - using lots of extra cocoa butter to get a thin coating - nice slippery big chocolate went 'plop' back into the chocolate - splashed my nice new shirt. Of course I wasn't wearing an apron - cause I was just dipping a couple of things.

Dish soap and elbow grease applied right away saved the day.

I often have chocolate smudges on my face - can't imagine how those might get there!

Edited September 27, 2008 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Chocolot]

After spending the week in chocolate, I have come to the conclusion that cloth towels are the best way to go for me. I bought a BIG bag of them at Costco, washed and bleached them. I grab them all the time while working in chocolate. I used to go through a lot of paper towels. I can use one cloth towel to clean 20 mold trays. I would go through a lot of paper towels to do the same job. I just toss them in the washer with bleach, and don't worry if the stains come out. It also has to be better for the environment than paper.

[Darienne]

FROM EJW 50:  "Lastly, thanks to this forum for explaining how the spatter technique works and some of the difficulties."

ok.  What is the spatter technique please and what are its difficulties?

←

Hi Darienne

This old thread, around page 10-12 there is discussion on the spatter technique.

DavidJ shows his spatter tip

Ruth Kendrick explains her modification to the spatter technique.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=56184&st=330

Here is another one where TNChocolatier explains how to do it with the old fashioned way with a whisk

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=117072

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Thank you EJW. Just got back online tonight so am a little late in my reply.

[reenicake]

I often have chocolate smudges on my face - can't imagine how those might get there!

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I remember having cocoa powder in my ear one day after teaching two recreational chocolate classes back to back. Ah, good times. (NOT!)