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Posted

Haha, that's how I do it with the colors as well. Although much smaller containers since I wouldn't be able to fit many of that size in my small little "melter" or whatever it's called. 

Posted (edited)

I was assured by Jessica that the EZtemper would be the best investment I will ever make, in any piece of equipment.

 

How right she was.

 

I'm lovin' it...

 

Philip

Edited by ptw1953
Incoherent sentence (log)
  • Like 2
  • 2 months later...
Posted

So the World Chocolate Master's in coming up at the end of the month running concurrently with the Salon du Chocolat in Paris.

 

Two of these contestants are EZtemper owners and EZtemper has been chosen as a sponsor of the WCM so I will be providing 5 machines for use during the competition and one as a prize.

 

Unfortunately the Canadian contestant Chris Kwok was forced to withdraw in June. I had hoped he would be another EZtemper user at the competition.

 

You can follow the competition live streamed on YouTube here. I'll be there to watch in person!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 9
  • 4 months later...
Posted

I think I have mentioned before that I use the EZtemper to temper colored cocoa butter for decorating molds, but I had to post my experience today. I am making (what is for me) a large batch of chocolates and had several large orders last night just before the deadline for this batch. Of course I had already begun the decorating and had to do some of it all over today with more molds. In a period of about 7 hours, I tempered around 15 different colors (in several cases I had to use additional cocoa butter from the Chef Rubber containers, which took even more time to melt). I would never have accomplished this task in such a short time span without the EZtemper. I melted the cocoa butters overnight in a dehydrator to about 110F/43C. I placed them one by one (carefully) in an ice water bath and got the temp down to around 92.3F/33.5C in a very brief time. I dried off the glass container and placed it on a counter, added a little cocoa butter silk, and stirred until the temp dropped to 86F/30C, then put a drop on the counter to test it. In a few minutes I headed to the spray gun or the paint brush and used the cocoa butter. Truth to tell, the longest wait was in doing the temper test.

  • Like 10
Posted (edited)
On 4/8/2018 at 7:32 PM, Kerry Beal said:

... These are crunchy frogs a la Harry Potter so I know they would sell well....  

 

No desire to produce myself!

And here I thought the inspiration harkened back a bit further... LOL Crunchy Frog

Edited by John DePaula (log)
  • Like 2
  • Haha 2

John DePaula
formerly of DePaula Confections
Hand-crafted artisanal chocolates & gourmet confections - …Because Pleasure Matters…
--------------------
When asked “What are the secrets of good cooking? Escoffier replied, “There are three: butter, butter and butter.”

Posted

Hello everyone, I have been reading about EZTemper, but I am only a beginner, so it is not for me yet, but I have a question. My understanding is that EZTemper produces silk from cocoa butter, I assume it just cooks it for 12/24 hours at 92.5 F temperature, right? There is a way to do the same, it seems, using a sous vide heater, so they say (please see the link to a youtube video below). Is this the same approach? Only less expensive?

 

thanks!

konstantin

 

 

Posted
24 minutes ago, akonsu said:

Hello everyone, I have been reading about EZTemper, but I am only a beginner, so it is not for me yet, but I have a question. My understanding is that EZTemper produces silk from cocoa butter, I assume it just cooks it for 12/24 hours at 92.5 F temperature, right? There is a way to do the same, it seems, using a sous vide heater, so they say (please see the link to a youtube video below). Is this the same approach? Only less expensive?

 

thanks!

konstantin

 

What I would like to know is where he got that white, white cocoa butter. What I get from Cacao Barry is decidedly yellow. Any ideas?

Posted
57 minutes ago, akonsu said:

Hello everyone, I have been reading about EZTemper, but I am only a beginner, so it is not for me yet, but I have a question. My understanding is that EZTemper produces silk from cocoa butter, I assume it just cooks it for 12/24 hours at 92.5 F temperature, right? There is a way to do the same, it seems, using a sous vide heater, so they say (please see the link to a youtube video below). Is this the same approach? Only less expensive?

 

thanks!

konstantin

 

 

Hi Konstantin,

 

Greetings to you.

 

I use 3 x sous vide circulators for everyday cooking; my family eat a lot!

 

I used to (try) to use one of my sous vide circulators to bring cocao butter to the correct temperature. I now have a EZTemper. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is better. Perfection every time.

 

One of the best buys I have made, in a long, long time...

 

 

  • Like 4
Posted
6 minutes ago, ptw1953 said:

I used to (try) to use one of my sous vide circulators to bring cocao butter to the correct temperature. I now have a EZTemper. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is better. Perfection every time.

Thank you very much, ptw1953. Do you mean that for you it was not easy to maintain the correct temperature using sous vide, so you were getting inconsistent results? This is good to know, thanks. I do not need to try it myself now : )

Posted
1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

What I would like to know is where he got that white, white cocoa butter. What I get from Cacao Barry is decidedly yellow. Any ideas?

This might be because of the limitations of the technology (his video camera producing washed out images, or your monitor's calibration, etc). You are comparing what you see on your screen with a real thing. : )

Posted
24 minutes ago, akonsu said:

Thank you very much, ptw1953. Do you mean that for you it was not easy to maintain the correct temperature using sous vide, so you were getting inconsistent results? This is good to know, thanks. I do not need to try it myself now : )

Inconsistency was the issue. I am not saying 'don't try the sous vide method', but I am saying that I have tried sous vide, and EZTemper is the best way for me, by a country mile...

  • Like 2
Posted
Just now, Jim D. said:

Which, his or mine?

 

Just now, Jim D. said:

Which, his or mine?

His - I've had a lot of people complain about the cocoa butter they get from him. Most often due to irreversible form VI formation. When cocoa butter oxidizes it goes white. Rancid lipids are linked to the devolvement or exacerbation of many diseases - among them atherosclerosis, cataracts, kidney disease, heart disease and can cause cellular membrane damage resulting in neurodegeneration and carcinogensis. So these days I throw out my smelly cocoa butters. And make my white ala minute if I have to because it oxidizes so quickly.

  • Like 1
Posted
3 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

His - I've had a lot of people complain about the cocoa butter they get from him.


Hmmm... not that it necessarily automatically translates but I was considering ordering some cocoa nibs from him in a couple varieties I'd like to try making chocolate with. Rancid cocoa butter could suggest not a lot of turnover which could also prove to be the case with the nibs. That would be a shame, I haven't had a lot of luck finding sources for nibs in a wide range of varieties outside of his site and I'm not really set up (with equipment or desire) right now to start working with whole beans.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Posted
9 hours ago, akonsu said:

Hello everyone, I have been reading about EZTemper, but I am only a beginner, so it is not for me yet, but I have a question. My understanding is that EZTemper produces silk from cocoa butter, I assume it just cooks it for 12/24 hours at 92.5 F temperature, right? There is a way to do the same, it seems, using a sous vide heater, so they say (please see the link to a youtube video below). Is this the same approach? Only less expensive?

 

 

 An important difference is that the EZ Temper keeps the silk soft and ready to use, always at your fingertips.  I wouldn't want to mess around with a wet jar,  trying not to drip in the chocolate before the cocoa butter solidifies!

  • Like 2
Posted
1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

EZ Temper keeps the silk soft and ready to use, always at your fingertips

@pastrygirlthank you very much, I missed that information. It says that on the eztemper web site as well. Not that I am arguing, I am only trying to understand: is this essential to keep the silk soft? Why not make a powder from it when it solidifies, like Mycryo?

Posted
4 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:


Hmmm... not that it necessarily automatically translates but I was considering ordering some cocoa nibs from him in a couple varieties I'd like to try making chocolate with. Rancid cocoa butter could suggest not a lot of turnover which could also prove to be the case with the nibs. That would be a shame, I haven't had a lot of luck finding sources for nibs in a wide range of varieties outside of his site and I'm not really set up (with equipment or desire) right now to start working with whole beans.

Were you happy with the nibs you got from Bhavhani? 

Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, akonsu said:

@pastrygirlthank you very much, I missed that information. It says that on the eztemper web site as well. Not that I am arguing, I am only trying to understand: is this essential to keep the silk soft? Why not make a powder from it when it solidifies, like Mycryo?

The solid form, when powdered or shaved with a microplane becomes quite electrostatic - you wear more in your hair than you will get in the chocolate. I did extensive experiments with the solidified form and found that it did not temper as well as at the silky consistency. That's why I chose the name silk for the product that the EZtemper makes - a name that has been co opted for something that I certainly don't consider to be silky. 

 

If you go back to the posts starting March 3, 2017 in this thread you can see the experiments. 

Edited by Kerry Beal (log)
  • Like 2
Posted
25 minutes ago, akonsu said:

@pastrygirlthank you very much, I missed that information. It says that on the eztemper web site as well. Not that I am arguing, I am only trying to understand: is this essential to keep the silk soft? Why not make a powder from it when it solidifies, like Mycryo?

 

I think it's just more convenient.  I don't want to have to micro-plane it to get it fine enough, and bigger chunks are always at risk of not melting.  And I don't have an immersion circulator, so have never tried that method.  There are many ways to temper chocolate, do whatever is easiest as long as you get the results you want.

Posted
6 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Were you happy with the nibs you got from Bhavhani?


Very happy and I'll be getting more from him probably in the not too distant future. I see he has the Morogoro back in stock which is the only one I haven't tried, it was sold out when I ordered. There were just a couple specific varieties I wanted to try that I found at the other place. Bhavhani's stuff is awesome quality but there are only 6 varieties to choose from, the other place has 34 so I felt kinda like a kid on Christmas morning looking at that site. :D

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Posted
7 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:


Very happy and I'll be getting more from him probably in the not too distant future. I see he has the Morogoro back in stock which is the only one I haven't tried, it was sold out when I ordered. There were just a couple specific varieties I wanted to try that I found at the other place. Bhavhani's stuff is awesome quality but there are only 6 varieties to choose from, the other place has 34 so I felt kinda like a kid on Christmas morning looking at that site. :D

 

Bhavani asked if I had experimented with the nibs but sheepishly I had to explain my skills were not yet that advanced.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Posted
15 hours ago, akonsu said:

Why not make a powder from it when it solidifies, like Mycryo?

 

Using Mycryo for tempering gives more problems than not. It takes a lot of efforts and caution to melt all the crystals, if you don't succeed then you end up with little grains in your finished product, far from optimal.

Is it quick for tempering? Yes, if you don't care about grains.

Is it quick if you want a smooth result? No, definetely not.

Last time I heard someone tempered chocolate with Mycryo was years ago. It mostly fell into oblivion, there are better solutions for all its applications.

 

 

 

Teo

 

  • Like 1

Teo

Posted
1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Bhavani asked if I had experimented with the nibs but sheepishly I had to explain my skills were not yet that advanced.

 


Your skills are plenty up to it. I know there are still a lot of tricks I can learn for getting even better results but to be honest, the basic task of making chocolate from nibs using the melanger is really simple. I've learned a few things along the way just through trial and error but the first batch I made turned out great... and it required some thinking and adjusting on the fly to achieve it. The cheap generic nibs I used as my first test run because I didn't want to risk the better ones at that point turned out to not produce a very pleasant tasting dark chocolate so I turned it into a high percentage milk instead by figuring out what I needed to work into the batch with what was already in there to reach that goal. I had zero experience whatsoever with making chocolate at that point and the result was very nice. I even managed to do it without having to pester Kerry with 10 billion questions like I often do. :D You'd be able to handle it just fine.

  • Like 1

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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