DIY Rolling Caramel Cutter

[The other Sven]

To cut the caramel sheets for our chocolate enrobed caramels we were using one of those expanding 5 wheel pastry cutters to mark the sheet into squares. I was never happy with it - it was awkward to set up every time and not really all that precise. I was looking at one of those rolling caramel cutters from Tomric or Dedy...which are a bit pricey for what they are. Luckily I came across a post on the archived Chocolate Life board about how to make one yourself (https://archive.thechocolatelife.com/community/forums/tech-help-tips-tricks-techniques/12511/caramel-roller-cutter) and decided to give it a go. It worked like a charm (for the most part) and I thought I'd share the results with you: 

 

 

I'll list the sources for all the parts below (mostly copied from the original post). One caveat is that the opening in the center of the pizza cutters is now a little smaller than the required 3/4" and they won't fit on the 3/4" rod. It's just a tiny bit off and used a drill press to open up the holes, which was really very easy. 

 

I tried it today for the first time and am very happy with how it works. No set-up time and very even spacing (depending on your needs you can use differently sized nylon spacers - just keep in mind that the hubs of the pizza cutters add about 3/16")

 

 

Here's the parts list: 

 

American Metalcraft PCW4 4" Stainless Steel Pizza Cutter

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/american-metalcraft-pcw4-4-stainless-steel-pizza-cutter-replacement-blade/69332864.html

 

All the other parts are from McMaster-Carr ( http://www.mcmaster.com ). Just put the part number in the search box: 

stainless steel threaded rod (93250A460)

nylon unthreaded spacers (94639A212) (order whatever size you need)

tapered handle with threaded insert (57455K64) (you'll need 2...they don't come as a pair)

stainless steel hex nuts (92673A125)

 

That's it. Cost me about $100 (much of it for shipping). Let me know if you have any questions. I just didn't want this to get lost in case the Chocolate Life Archive ever disappears. 

[bbrizend]

Wow!  Thanks for sharing.  I've been wanting something like this but didn't want to spend the money.  But I can definitely swing this.  Thanks again.

 

[bbrizend]

Was there a reason that you made your cutter not as wide as your slab of caramel?

[TdeV]

Those would be cook's treat, no doubt. 🤣

[The other Sven]

3 hours ago, bbrizend said:

Was there a reason that you made your cutter not as wide as your slab of caramel?

Not really...you could absolutely make it as wide as our slabs.

 

The reason I didn't do it was because I had no idea if this would actually work and the blades are the most expensive parts. Right now it's about half the size of our slabs, which works out quite well. The beauty is that I could order a longer rod (the part# is actually for a longer rod which I did cut) and some additional blades and I could make it wider. 

[Elle Bee]

@The other Sven thanks for tagging me in that other thread—it reminded me I want to do this! Planning to order the parts this weekend. 👍

[Elle Bee]

@The other Sven a couple of questions:

 

1)  Looks like you ordered the 24" threaded rod. Curious what length you cut it to. I'm thinking an 18" rod would work for cutting a 12x12 slab—4" of the rod would get threaded into the handles (2" per side), and then I could put a 1" spacer on each end next to the handles to take up the extra 2". Does that make sense? Or I could cut the extra couple of inches off, although I think stainless steel is hard to cut and I'd worry about messing up the threads. Did you just use a hacksaw?
 

2)  Since the threaded handles can't turn independently of the rod like regular rolling pin handles do, I'm wondering if they have a tendency to come unscrewed from the rod as you're marking/cutting across the slab?