Food Dehydrators, Cocoa Butter, Containers?

[Ciordia9]

I've read some older threads on here about keeping your cocoa butter warm in a dehydrator. We picked up a NutriChef PKFD32 which was the closest we could find to a recommended one (2016/2018) and none of our bottles fit. Which had us ask--are people putting their bottles preset in here or are you using cups/transferring and cleaning your bottles over and over? Also if the PKFD32 isn't what we should be using, is there one generally people like now?

 

We've grown up from cheap airbrushes to the Grex line and we're attempting to get much more serious about our airbrush techniques. It's been long enough. Any thoughts, tips, tricks, or considerations are greatly appreciated.

[Jim D.]

I have the Avantco CFD10 10-Rack Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator. It has stainless steel shelves (unusual for a dehydrator), which support the Pyrex containers in which I keep cocoa butter after the initial melting in the bottles. I melt whatever cocoa butters I want for a session and pour each into its own jar. I put these in the dehydrator the previous night, and they are ready to go the next morning (ready, that is, to be tempered and then sprayed or brushed). I put the spray gun or airbrush in with them, and it is free of clogs. I don't know where you live, but I got the Avantco from Webstaurant  for $170. I can also melt chocolate overnight in it (the racks are removable, so it can hold an enormous amount of chocolate). The temperature control is not as exact as I would like, but I am more or less used to it. Having the colors and gun ready to go has made a huge difference. 

[Jim D.]

3 hours ago, Ciordia9 said:

We've grown up from cheap airbrushes to the Grex line and we're attempting to get much more serious about our airbrush techniques. It's been long enough. Any thoughts, tips, tricks, or considerations are greatly appreciated.

There are many eGullet threads discussing chocolate decorating techniques. This thread is probably the main one for airbrushing itself. A number of us have Grex airbrushes, and there are discussions of their merits (and limitations).

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I have the Avantco CFD10 10-Rack Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator. It has stainless steel shelves (unusual for a dehydrator), which support the Pyrex containers in which I keep cocoa butter after the initial melting in the bottles. I melt whatever cocoa butters I want for a session and pour each into its own jar. I put these in the dehydrator the previous night, and they are ready to go the next morning (ready, that is, to be tempered and then sprayed or brushed). I put the spray gun or airbrush in with them, and it is free of clogs. I don't know where you live, but I got the Avantco from Webstaurant  for $170. I can also melt chocolate overnight in it (the racks are removable, so it can hold an enormous amount of chocolate). The temperature control is not as exact as I would like, but I am more or less used to it. Having the colors and gun ready to go has made a huge difference. 

Wow - that's quite the dehydrator!

[Ciordia9]

On 7/9/2019 at 5:20 PM, Jim D. said:

I have the Avantco CFD10 10-Rack Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator. It has stainless steel shelves (unusual for a dehydrator), which support the Pyrex containers in which I keep cocoa butter after the initial melting in the bottles. I melt whatever cocoa butters I want for a session and pour each into its own jar. I put these in the dehydrator the previous night, and they are ready to go the next morning (ready, that is, to be tempered and then sprayed or brushed). I put the spray gun or airbrush in with them, and it is free of clogs. I don't know where you live, but I got the Avantco from Webstaurant  for $170. I can also melt chocolate overnight in it (the racks are removable, so it can hold an enormous amount of chocolate). The temperature control is not as exact as I would like, but I am more or less used to it. Having the colors and gun ready to go has made a huge difference. 

 

Thank's Jim for the link to the Avantco. I don't think we want something with that much of a footprint at the moment. We've got another few years in our current location then will be working towards a flex space for larger growth. I'd love to find something along the line of the NutriChef for ease of moving around when not in use. We're still a predominantly ganache/cutter/enrober operation.

 

Also looking at the Gourmia GFD1650 but it is 'preset temp' oriented which is it's own issue.

 

Thanks also for the Spraying thread, I'll mine it well.

[tschaefges]

The preset temperatures aren't necessarily a problem. We plug our dehydrator into a temperature controller (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1), turn the dehydrator temp as high as it will go, and let the controller turn it on and off to maintain the target temperature.

[Ciordia9]

On 7/12/2019 at 1:44 PM, tschaefges said:

The preset temperatures aren't necessarily a problem. We plug our dehydrator into a temperature controller (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1), turn the dehydrator temp as high as it will go, and let the controller turn it on and off to maintain the target temperature.

 

Guess it depends on if it's digital and you power on/off you'll just reset the device vs something more static where power just continues what was going on. Then for an extra $30 it makes you wonder what else you can get. Those fine lines of keeping everything on the skinny or just going the full monty and getting the big boys.