Chocolate Panning - What to Buy

[Miriam G]

I'm looking at investing in a panning machine, but am wondering if it's worth the significant $$ for a more 'professional' one like the Selmi (hello, second mortgage??) or the Chocolate World one.   

OR, if something like the ChocoVision one  (http://tinyurl.com/yxmvl35v) would serve my start-up purposes just as well.   I notice the less expensive ones don't have built in blowers.  Does this mean they would need some sort of other cool air blowing mechanism?     I saw Kerry's ingenious creation in a previous thread, with the hose and the IV pole, but I don't think I'm quite up to being that creative.

 

I welcome any advice, guidance, or amusing anecdotes.

 

Thanks,

Miriam

[pastrygirl]

Do you already know how to use it?  If you're looking to start really small or learn the process before committing to a large, expensive machine, there's this one that attaches to a kitchenaid : 

 

https://www.dr.ca/confectionery-coating-pan-attachment.html

Edited April 9, 2019 by pastrygirl (log)

[Miriam G]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

Do you already know how to use it?  If you're looking to start really small or learn the process before committing to a large, expensive machine, there's this one that attaches to a kitchenaid : 

 

https://www.dr.ca/confectionery-coating-pan-attachment.html

 

I have very limited experience, but an expert ready to provide further instruction when I'm set up.   Have you used the Kitchenaid attachment?  I was also considering that, but I've read a bunch of things from people who said it was more trouble than useful.   The machine will be used in production for a retail store, so I'm trying to decide what the right balance is between volume capability and cost.  

[pastrygirl]

I do have the kitchenaid attachment.  I tried it a handful of times a few years ago but never really got the hang of it and lost interest.  But I blame myself, not the pan.  There is a whole panning discussion somewhere ...

[minas6907]

Hello, I do have alot to say on the topic, so do bear with me, I may ramble...I'm good at rambling.

4 hours ago, Miriam G said:

I notice the less expensive ones don't have built in blowers.  Does this mean they would need some sort of other cool air blowing mechanism? 

Thats correct, cooling is up to you, theres been some creative solutions posted. I will say, however, I have never used any cooling. The cold air would speed things up a bit, but I've been able to produce dragees pretty effectively (I've posted pictures throughout the years in the confections thread, as well as the various panning threads), and this is in my apartment, which usually runs a bit on the warm side, so panning in your shop, which I assume will be climate controlled, I really do think you'd get good results, but I think it also depends on what your producing. I think any chocolate coated center that you finished with a powder (cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, fruit powder, etc) you'd be fine with no cooling or just coming up with a rig that does the job. If your wanting to achieve a perfect gloss using confectioners glaze, or doing any sugar panning, I think you'd benefit from proper cooling. I've done the confectioners glaze thing, it was satisfying at first, but I dont want to do it again, too messy and problematic, especially for me where I cant really control the temperature in my kitchen.

 

1 hour ago, Miriam G said:

I have very limited experience, but an expert ready to provide further instruction when I'm set up.   Have you used the Kitchenaid attachment?  I was also considering that, but I've read a bunch of things from people who said it was more trouble than useful.   The machine will be used in production for a retail store, so I'm trying to decide what the right balance is between volume capability and cost.  

I have a different pan then @pastrygirl, mine is from here:

 

https://www.koerner-co.com/equipment/103096-confi-kit-for-kitchen-aid-.html

 

I'm not sure why the picture is different, but mine didnt come with those clips (thankfully), instead theres three screws that hold the two halves of the pan together.

 

Out of curiosity, what were the comments you've heard about the kitchen aid attachments? For me, it does the job, but I also use it about twice a year, and on other random occasions when I want to try something new, thats very different from having a shop. If you have a shop, I wouldnt consider the kitchen aid pans. I'm not sure how the wear and tear goes, but I have a 7qt kitchen aid mixer, I use it primarily for panning, and while I'm not totally sure what happening inside, it just feels like its giving out a little bit. If/when this mixer dies, the panning unit you linked to from Bake Deco is one I'd seriously consider getting, and thats just because I love panning, I just think its so cool. But for your business, especially if panned items are going to be a normal offering, I'd get the ChocoVision one, at least compared to the kitchen aid pans. To me, the ChocoVision pan built to get the job done, and somehow I feel that it would last longer then the mixer setup, and it costs just a bit more then a new mixer and pan.

 

I cant comment on the Selmi, other then I wish I could have access to equipment like that. What was the Chocolate World model you were looking at, is it the one with the built in cooler?

[Miriam G]

Mina, thank you so much for the detailed response.  I do appreciate all the thoughts and info.  The feedback I've heard about the KitchenAid attachment is that it's cumbersome and takes some finagling to get it to work properly.  All hearsay, not from any personal experience of mine.

 

After more research and your response, I decided to go with the Chocolate World one, https://www.tcfsales.com/products/1527-7-liter-chocolate-panning-machine/.   It has the built in cooler but it's tabletop so not such a huge thing.  And while certainly not cheap, still a lot more doable than the Selmi.  

 

Thanks again for the feedback, I'm happy to give an update once I've used this one!

[keychris]

the kitchen-aid attachment spins faster than a pro model, means the product can slide instead of roll sometimes, but you can still do it. I've used the CW one as well and it worked, but it's blowing just air, not cooled air, so if you've got a warm day you might want to skip panning that day, unless you want to hack it to go through some dry ice or something. Batch size is the issue you run into with the kitchen-aid and even the CW one, if you're looking for volume then the larger Selmi model is the way to go, but you'd need money to burn  

 

Panning is bloody noisy, too!

[Miriam G]

3 minutes ago, keychris said:

the kitchen-aid attachment spins faster than a pro model, means the product can slide instead of roll sometimes, but you can still do it. I've used the CW one as well and it worked, but it's blowing just air, not cooled air, so if you've got a warm day you might want to skip panning that day, unless you want to hack it to go through some dry ice or something. Batch size is the issue you run into with the kitchen-aid and even the CW one, if you're looking for volume then the larger Selmi model is the way to go, but you'd need money to burn  

 

Panning is bloody noisy, too!

Thanks for the additional info!  The tip about not doing it on a warm day is a good insight.  I hope the CW one will be big enough to get me started, and if there's a lot of demand then maybe I'll sell enough to have money to burn    I should be so lucky to have such problems.