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Working Cleanly in the Chocolate Kitchen


digigirl

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I have another question about kitchens you rent. I was curious to know if at all possible, how are the deals you guys get from your renter (for the people that rent a kitchen by the hours). For the kitchen I rent I had to leave a deposit of 250, plus they kinds imply that a weekly usage was preferred, but with the amount of work I have rigth now isn't at all possible, I don't have enough income from the business, I am trying to get more, to afford 100 per 8 hours, wich is still a good price compared to 25 an hour from another place here. Now the problem is if someone shows up to rent the space on the day I choose and they work every week, I migth loose the day etc. Not to talk about the fact that I am due in 6 weeks and still work full time at my job, and the carrying of all those containers back and forth from the kitchen is killing my back. I am really trying to push right now to get more places to sell my chocolates and got couple more stores, I am hoping to be able to rent that darn kitchen evey week next year, but for now I am stressing. What's your experience if you feel like sharing.

Thank you

Vanessa

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  • 3 years later...

Reviving this topic...

I've been having another play in the kitchen, and am running up against some mess with my tempering/dipping. I should have taken a photo but let me instead just describe it, i guess.

When I melt the chocolate and seed and cool it all is going fine, but as it reaches the low temperature of 27 before I bring it back up for working, the chocolate starts getting pretty clumpy - I guess the bits around the side have cooled down quicker and start solidifying. I can either leave all this gunk around the sides, or scrape it back into the mass, but it doesn't remelt much, just sits there in clumps.

And similarly when it starts to cool again while I'm working and I remelt for a few seconds in the microwave, some of the buildup on the side of the bowl remelts but some just sits there (or again comes off in clumps so i don't have a pure pool of chocolate).

I'm trying not to stir much up onto the sides to begin with, but some seems inevitable, and when i'm scraping (i don't have a wire set up at the moment so I use the side of the bowl) it all starts to clump there as well.

Not to mention my tools, which get cooled chocolate all over them which I need to either scrape off (same problem) or melt with the hairdryer, which works, but perhaps is messing with my temper (i'm still getting minor streaking over my pieces).

Is there a trick to all this?!

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Kerry--Obviously the Grewling book is encyclopedic and a must-have. But it has a formality that precludes advice such as hitting the used utensils with a heat gun. I would buy your book. Then I could get rid of all these print-outs I made of your egullet advice.

I agree! As a newbie having no formal training, the Grewling book is almost intimidating and not the most reader frlendly. Kerry, your advice is always easy to understand and so helpful! You seem very approachable!

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Reviving this topic...

I've been having another play in the kitchen, and am running up against some mess with my tempering/dipping. I should have taken a photo but let me instead just describe it, i guess.

When I melt the chocolate and seed and cool it all is going fine, but as it reaches the low temperature of 27 before I bring it back up for working, the chocolate starts getting pretty clumpy - I guess the bits around the side have cooled down quicker and start solidifying. I can either leave all this gunk around the sides, or scrape it back into the mass, but it doesn't remelt much, just sits there in clumps.

And similarly when it starts to cool again while I'm working and I remelt for a few seconds in the microwave, some of the buildup on the side of the bowl remelts but some just sits there (or again comes off in clumps so i don't have a pure pool of chocolate).

I'm trying not to stir much up onto the sides to begin with, but some seems inevitable, and when i'm scraping (i don't have a wire set up at the moment so I use the side of the bowl) it all starts to clump there as well.

Not to mention my tools, which get cooled chocolate all over them which I need to either scrape off (same problem) or melt with the hairdryer, which works, but perhaps is messing with my temper (i'm still getting minor streaking over my pieces).

Is there a trick to all this?!

It is hard with just a bowl and hairdryer - you spend most of your time trying to keep the chocolate at the right heat. I use a warming tank to keep the chocolate at the right temperature and a heat gun every 30 mins or so to melt the temper a little. You could try and replacate this with a heat source on your bowl - say an electric blanket wrapped around. Othersise if you're doing a lot of chocolate work, some type of warming tank would help.

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Yeah it certainly feels like i spend a lot of time heating (and watching it quickly cool again!) which really breaks my flow, and temper apparently. I'll have to have a bit of a think about this since I don't have any controllable heat sources.

Would sitting the chocolate in a bowl of warm water (30ish degrees) work (presumably better than nothing, since the water would take a bit of time to cool at least). Although I guess then there's a lot of water around which may not be such a great idea.

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I keep a sheet of parchment off to the side onto which I scrape the bits from the tools or the side of the melter. I've been doing mostly molds lately, and the chocolate builds up on the scraper, so I scrape it off with a plastic bowl scraper.

When I fork-dip, I wear a glove on my left (non-dominant) hand for touching the centers and wiping off the fork every few dips to avoid build-up. I also wipe down the edge of the melter with the gloved hand. If you do get solidified build-up on the fork, just slide it off the tines.

Water works fine as a heat source, of course just be careful. I usually melt my chocolate in a metal bowl over hot water, then keep the pot of water handy to re-warm the chocolate as needed. I only melt in my melter if I'm doing a lot and I remember to set it the night before.

Edited by pastrygirl (log)
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When I'm too lazy to drag out the heat gun - I just throw the bowl of chocolate back in the microwave for 7 or 8 seconds at a time giving it a good stir between each heating and checking the temperature with my IR thermometer. If I've got a lot of scrapings and bits on the side of the bowl, I put those into a small glass measuring cup and nuke them until they melt completely. Then I add them back in to the mass in the bowl.

I tend to use silicone spatulas that I buy from the dollar store (Dollarama has nice ones) that I can simply leave in the bowl when I put it in the microwave.

For big batches I use the melter.

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