Chef Rubber Natural Colors

[eglies]

Hello everyone!

 

I hope you are all safe and well  

 

I have a question regarding Chef Rubber Natural Colours. Its very difficult to get them here in Europe (if anyone has any contacts or knows a company that sells that would be great) and anyone that has used this line, what colours would you recommend? 

 

Thank you!

 

[Rajala]

You can get them in Europe through Home Chocolate Factory. But it's very expensive. Chef Rubber is one of the most rude companies I've ever been in contact with. They must have lots of business in US in order to basically ignore potential sale leads. It took me 6 emails over the span of a month to get a single reply from them.

 

Edit: Oh, don't know if they carry their "natural" colors though.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Rajala (log)

[eglies]

We have tried some of their natural colours and they are really good. If anyone can list the best colour results they had with the natural line would be very much appreciated. Thks  

[Jim D.]

To complicate the situation more, Chef Rubber has recently added a "Zen" line and states that it "utilizes 100% naturally colored pigment."  I'm not sure if or how this differs from their previous natural colors.  They really had to stretch to come up with names for these colors that are vaguely related to the concept of zen ("Sutra Pink"?  "Namaste Purple"?).  The prices range approximately from $2 to $8 more per bottle than the previously existing colors. I am intrigued by the possibility of a white cocoa butter that does not contain titanium dioxide (the smell and taste of which I do not like--and I think it's in all of their opaque colors).

[Kerry Beal]

On 5/2/2020 at 9:12 AM, Jim D. said:

To complicate the situation more, Chef Rubber has recently added a "Zen" line and states that it "utilizes 100% naturally colored pigment."  I'm not sure if or how this differs from their previous natural colors.  They really had to stretch to come up with names for these colors that are vaguely related to the concept of zen ("Sutra Pink"?  "Namaste Purple"?).  The prices range approximately from $2 to $8 more per bottle than the previously existing colors. I am intrigued by the possibility of a white cocoa butter that does not contain titanium dioxide (the smell and taste of which I do not like--and I think it's in all of their opaque colors).

What is the chemical that makes up the white in the natural series?

[Jim D.]

9 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

What is the chemical that makes up the white in the natural series?

 

I don't know. The Chef Rubber website does not (as far as I can tell) list ingredients for any cocoa butter product; the ingredients are printed on each bottle. Amazon does provide the ingredient list for CR cocoa butters, but it doesn't yet offer the Zen line. I plan to get some of the Zen white to find out what they are using (if the label is that detailed). If I could find a white that didn't have the odor and the overspray of the titanium version, that would be a real find and worth some extra money.  Unless someone else reports before my Zen arrives, I will do so.

[Jim D.]

I have received three bottles of the new Chef Rubber Zen collection:  Yang White, Lotus Pink, and Nirvana Gold. In contract to previous CR bottles, however, which listed the coloring agents in detail, these simply say "Cocoa Butter and Natural Colorents [sic]." Fortunately for those who want to know more, someone not an eGullet member saw my post here and wrote me as follows: 

 

Quote

I called Chef Rubber and asked them about their colorings.
The 'Zen White' DOES have titanium dioxide. The lady at Chef Rubber said the 'Divine Ivory' does not have titanium dioxide, but it's not opaque, though apparently very shimmery. The natural powder white does NOT -- it's supposed to be opaque, and they use calcium carbonate for the color. https://shop.chefrubber.com/item/308005S/White/

I hope this helps you,

 

I checked and it would appear that titanium dioxide is considered a naturally occurring mineral, though perhaps one that humans might not wish to be inhaling from an airbrush.

[Kerry Beal]

On 5/9/2020 at 2:10 PM, Jim D. said:

I have received three bottles of the new Chef Rubber Zen collection:  Yang White, Lotus Pink, and Nirvana Gold. In contract to previous CR bottles, however, which listed the coloring agents in detail, these simply say "Cocoa Butter and Natural Colorents [sic]." Fortunately for those who want to know more, someone not an eGullet member saw my post here and wrote me as follows: 

 

 

I checked and it would appear that titanium dioxide is considered a naturally occurring mineral, though perhaps one that humans might not wish to be inhaling from an airbrush.

Interesting!

[Tri2Cook]

I'm just gonna wait patiently for all of you to circle around and come up behind me so I can be back in the pack.  I've got where I'm using less and less of any color at all... doesn't get much more natural colors than that. 

Okay, if we're being honest, I'm not actually proud of the above. I'm trying to boot myself back into working with colors more... but if everybody's moving on to all natural and homemade colors, I'm still gonna be trotting along behind the pack. 

[Jim D.]

I have now used a few of the Chef Rubber Zen colors:  Nirvana Gold and Lotus Pink (have not yet tried the Yang White). They have a kind of pearlescent quality that is nice. I like the pink a lot (it's more of a rose in my opinion). The gold is a dark shade of gold, and I really prefer the gold from the Jewel line. As it dries, the gold takes on a darker hue. As discussed earlier, I had hoped these colors would not use titanium dioxide, but from the smell (and from the information my email contact gathered from Chef Rubber) they do, and the gold at least produces the usual overspray that all the Chef Rubber jewel colors as well as white have. My new spray booth mostly contained the "backspray" that can be really obnoxious to the sprayer, but the task of cleaning the aerosolized cocoa butter off the sides remains for another day.

 

One side observation: There was a hand-written note in the package from Chef Rubber thanking me for the purchase and asking me to send them photos of what I make with the new colors. I've never received anything like that from them before.

 

As for pricing, regular CR colors are $19.95/200g; all of the Zen line is above that, ranging from $21.60 (the pink) to $28 (the gold).

 

All in all, I might purchase the pink and some other colors in the future; I don't think I will get the gold again.  As for the "natural" aspect of the ingredients, it's not possible to tell what substances have been used, so really no judgment can be made.

[Rajala]

Ask them where to send the invoices for the pictures you take.

[eglies]

Ok! 

 

Thanks for the information regarding the Zen line. 

 

I will have to look into it  

 

[SweetSymphonybyM]

Accordign to  chef rubber CS, the Zen line is their natural colors + shimmer. 

[Beckykp27]

On 5/3/2020 at 6:24 AM, Kerry Beal said:

What is the chemical that makes up the white in the natural series?

They make 2 different whites and one is Titanium free. I use it and it's great. Its the only white I've ever, so I'm not able to compare it to anything else, but I like it.