Andrey Dubovic online classes

[gfron1]

Those turned out great @Kerry Beal

Edited June 20, 2018 by gfron1 (log)

[Jim D.]

I finally had to deal with the molds used so far in the Dubovik course (that is, washing them). Then I came to this one:

 

 

It does not take much imagination to realize what those sharp corners that had been filled with black cocoa butter were like to clean. Everything had unmolded successfully, but many bonbons left behind little bits. So I'm looking for ideas for getting into those corners without, of course scratching the mold. If I were never going to use it again, I might not be concerned, but (embarrassing to admit, but I hadn't cleaned it at the time) I have ordered more because the shape was extremely popular. A curse on Davide Comaschi for designing this mold!

[Jim D.]

On 6/19/2018 at 7:53 AM, Jim D. said:

I would have thought Cacao Barry would have changed to a clear material long ago. It would be (will be?) very difficult to decorate a mold when you can't see the bottom of the cavities--just have to hope for the best. Dubovik's techniques require frequent inspection of how the project is going (as with spraying gradients). My cacao pod molds arrive in a few days--I'll report.

Alas, the molds have arrived, and they are white and completely opaque. I smeared a little red cocoa butter in a cavity just to test, and it was completely invisible from the other side. I am very disappointed--these will be a struggle to decorate.

[pastrygirl]

4 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I finally had to deal with the molds used so far in the Dubovik course (that is, washing them). Then I came to this one:

 

 

It does not take much imagination to realize what those sharp corners that had been filled with black cocoa butter were like to clean. Everything had unmolded successfully, but many bonbons left behind little bits. So I'm looking for ideas for getting into those corners without, of course scratching the mold. If I were never going to use it again, I might not be concerned, but (embarrassing to admit, but I hadn't cleaned it at the time) I have ordered more because the shape was extremely popular. A curse on Davide Comaschi for designing this mold!

 

I've heard of people using cotton swabs aka Q-tips to get into tight corners.  Just make sure you have the softer paper sticks, the plastic ones might scratch.

[keychris]

4 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I've heard of people using cotton swabs aka Q-tips to get into tight corners.  Just make sure you have the softer paper sticks, the plastic ones might scratch.

 

this is how I do it.

 

also give them a hit of heat so the cocoa butter is soft, it's a pain in the donkey to get them out of those corners cold.

[Kerry Beal]

On 6/20/2018 at 6:46 AM, Tri2Cook said:

Those are really nice. I especially like the granite look of the first one.

Got my evaluation back on that one - asked to send a little movie so he could see the shine - and he is correct - that one (while it looks really neat) - hasn’t got the mirror shine we are after. 

[RobertM]

Does he go into detailed analysis and critique of a piece of work or is it more direct to the point....like “hasn’t got the shine we are after”?

[Kerry Beal]

The one if mine he felt didn’t shine enough generated a long explanation of room temperatures and tempering techniques

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

8 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Got my evaluation back on that one - asked to send a little movie so he could see the shine - and he is correct - that one (while it looks really neat) - hasn’t got the mirror shine we are after. 

I understand, for the purposes of the class, he has to evaluate results based on what he's trying to teach and how he expects them to look (although they look shiny to me). But I like the natural look of it. I personally, outside of doing what was asked if I was taking the class, would omit the stripe and let it look like a chunk of granite... but I'm not sure if that's for the rock effect or out of plain ol' laziness in not wanting to have to tape all those molds.  Rob posted one of his pieces in this thread not too long ago that had a natural rock-like look to it, albeit a shiny, well polished rock, that I really liked. I've never known myself to have any particular affinity towards rocks but for some reason I really like the look on the chocolates.

[RobertM]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

The one if mine he felt didn’t shine enough generated a long explanation of room temperatures and tempering techniques

 

 

Wow.  As if he was restating a lesson??  Interesting.

[Kerry Beal]

28 minutes ago, RobertM said:

Wow.  As if he was restating a lesson??  Interesting.

Back to basics. I'm very quickly learning my areas of weakness in these lessons. The first is clearly my lack of patience! The second my failure to RTFM.

Edited June 22, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Jim D.]

18 minutes ago, RobertM said:

Wow.  As if he was restating a lesson??  Interesting.

Yes, Bob, and I found irony (not sure that's the right word in this case) in an explanation of tempering to Kerry Beal ("We need a stable crystalline grid in cocoa butter"). Maybe this could be used in a future ad for the EZtemper.

[Tri2Cook]

11 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Back to basics. I'm very quickly learning my areas of weakness in these lessons. The first is clearly my lack of patience!

That is, has always been and will probably always be, my biggest weakness. It was tempered to a degree by it being one of Ann's biggest strengths... now it just runs free and causes me no end of trouble. 

[RobertM]

23 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Back to basics. I'm very quickly learning my areas of weakness in these lessons. The first is clearly my lack of patience! The second my failure to RTFM.

 

There is something VERY WRONG in this post.  Am I the only person to see it??

Kerry has NO areas of weakness!!  She has, IMHO, one of the best minds, talent and skill I’ve ever been fortunate to be around.  

[curls]

@RobertM it appears that Kerry is human. Just find a way to accept that and then you may, if you like, challenge yourself to be as good a human as Kerry.  😃

[gfron1]

Here's the thing about this course for me, and really any course - give yourself over to doing what the instructor is saying whether you agree or not and see how things turn out. That's a good way to expand your knowledge. I thought my tempering skills were pretty solid, but I've always had a few chocolates cling to the mold,, or cocoa butter pull off in the mold, or what I now know is not a great shine. This course has taught me so much about temperature control, and a side conversation with Kerry and Jim has reminded me of the inconsistency of thermometers. Each rough edge that I hone off (room temp, calibrating thermometers, time before fridge, to polish or not polish) have all upped my game little by little. But, I can still see a clear difference in Andrey's shine versus mine. Now, is that simply his photography skills or tempering...I think the latter. I think I can go even further with what he's teaching.

 

Secondary comment - I'm not big on his fillings and quite frankly will stick to my preferred sources and my own arsenal.

[gfron1]

Here's a basic change that I have made because of this course - I now keep all of my cocoa butter in these plastic containers instead of all of those chef rubber bottles. So much easier to melt and use. Being a restaurant I have cases of these things, and I'm sure they're not hard to find. 

[Pastrypastmidnight]

Do you melt them in the microwave or some other way?

[Jim D.]

I agree totally with what @gfron1 said about his attitude when taking a course: if you are going to profit from the experience, do what the instructor says. You can refine or deviate from those instructions later if you want, but you will never know if he has special insights unless you try them. For instance, I still don't think I agree with his rather strict room temp directions (primarily because low temps make airbrushing really difficult), but I'm giving it a try. And when as in this case the results are as stunning as Andrey's are, who am I...?

 

I keep my colored cocoa butter in small Pyrex bowls with plastic lids. I can put the jars in the microwave or over hot water if needed. I got tons of them at a kind of overstock store.

[gfron1]

20 minutes ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

Do you melt them in the microwave or some other way?

micro.

[gfron1]

Quote

 

. For instance, I still don't think I agree with his rather strict room temp directions (primarily because low temps make airbrushing really difficult), but I'm giving it a try

 

The funny thing about this to me is that with my old Badger I never could have pulled it off - not enough pressure. But now that I have the big ol' California Air Tool that YOU suggested I buy, I'm blowing through the gun with no issues whatsoever. I did also switch to a gravity feed gun at Andrey's recommendation and that i am sure is helping. 

[Kerry Beal]

I think some of you already know my choice in containers

 

 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, gfron1 said:

The funny thing about this to me is that with my old Badger I never could have pulled it off - not enough pressure. But now that I have the big ol' California Air Tool that YOU suggested I buy, I'm blowing through the gun with no issues whatsoever. I did also switch to a gravity feed gun at Andrey's recommendation and that i am sure is helping. 

Oh, I did not mean to ignore that airbrushing has improved for me greatly since I switched from a siphon-feed to a gravity-feed model, and, as you suggest, the compressor makes a huge difference. But having the room a few degrees cooler seems to make the procedure more difficult (more reheating with the heat gun)--which makes sense. I also think (something I haven't mentioned specifically before) that sometimes there seem to be little bits of cocoa butter that get stuck in that 0.7mm opening they have to get through. I say that because at times it's as if, after I heat enough, the cocoa butter suddenly becomes unclogged and starts flowing beautifully, a flow that lasts through an entire mold or even a second one. Which all leads me to wonder if there is enough of a market out there among chocolatiers to make worthwhile the development of an airbrush with a 1mm or even larger nozzle. Maybe such a thing already exists (I'm not speaking of spray guns).

[Tri2Cook]

Of course I hear this about the gravity feed after I' already have 2 siphon feed airbrushes...

[Jim D.]

8 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

Of course I hear this about the gravity feed after I' already have 2 siphon feed airbrushes...

Sorry about that. I don't know when you got those siphon-feed ones, but I posted a review of my Grex airbrush some time ago. As you undoubtedly know, siphon-feed ones work fine, just require a little more attention.