Cake and mousse rings

[NickLam]

Hi everyone, hope to get some advice from pastry chefs regarding cake and mousse rings.

Is material and thickness that important? That is, aluminum Vs stainless steel, and thin metal Vs slightly thicker ones.

Been using rings from Europe made of stainless steel with a weld seam, instead of a bolt seam. Its pretty good and the stainless steel is of good quality too.

Right now, I've got 2 scenarios to consider:

(1) Purchase imported ones like Mafter or De Buyer at around US$3.50 to 5.50 for the sizes I'm looking at. BUt I'll have to buy it from Singapore and lug it back to Thailand in a few suitcases to avoid the 15% to 30% tax on European goods.

(2) Get it manufactured in Thailand for the same price and if I choose to use a lower quality stainless steel, can get a 40% reduction on price.

Using a European ring as a guide, my guy in Thailand has made several rings of similar quality. I've not been seen the cheaper quality steel yet, but reckon it'd be slightly thinner.

Would a lower quality stainless steel affect the ring's performance and durability ENOUGH to make a noticeable difference on the bottom line?

A majority of the rings will be used only for preparing entrements, and only 1 type will be used for baking.

Any advice and help on this issue will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Tweety69bird]

I would think that as long as the stainless steel that is used is thick enough to keep it's shape, then you're ok. To me, that's the most important factor.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

In my experience you want stainess steel, but as TweetyBird points out, they only need to be sturdy enough to hold their shape over time. The ones I use in high volume production kitchens (which got a lot of abuse) are probably about 30% thinner than the Mafter. (That's a guess.) But they hold up just fine. Don't spend a fortune. It's just not necessary.

[NickLam]

TweetyBird and WhiteTruffleGirl, Thank you so much for the replies! It clears up a big headache of mine.

[Tweety69bird]

So glad I could help! Happy cake making!

[freddurf]

Can you use PVC pipes for the mousse rings? or are the too difficult to work with? They certainly wouln't loose there shape, but since I don't see them used much there must be a drawback.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

You cannot put them in the oven...only drawback.

[NickLam]

There's a chef from a 5 star hotel who uses PVC pipes he buys at a hardware shop in Bangkok. When I asked if he lined it with acetate, he said nope and said his method of getting the frozen thingies out was to line em up in a row, and use a blowtorch to quickly go over the pipes.

Isn't using unlined pvc dangerous coz of the possiblility of chemicals leaching into the food?

[freddurf]

Isn't using unlined pvc dangerous coz of the possiblility of chemicals leaching into the food?

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That was my concern too. Anyone have an answer?

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Can't answer your question about the leaching...I personally would be a tad bit concerned. I use PVC and line it with acetate. He probably doesn't go this route for a) cost and b) speed, but given the carcinogens in PVC, I wouldn't risk it. Perhaps somebody else has a more definitive answer.

[Sugarella]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride

Some of the additives and plasticizers can leach out of certain vinyl products. Even though soft PVC toys have been made for babies for years, there are concerns that these additives leach out of soft toys into the mouths of the children chewing on them...... .....According to some medical studies, the plasticizers added to PVC may cause chronic conditions such as scleroderma, cholangiocarcinoma, angiosarcoma, brain cancer, and acrosteolysis. It is worth noting that PVC products have been widely used for many years without significant health effects being demonstrated.

In 2004, a joint Swedish-Danish research team found a very strong link between allergies in children and the phthalates DEHP and BBzP, commonly used in PVC....  .....According to the EPA, "vinyl chloride emissions from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene dichloride (EDC), and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plants cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to result in an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen which causes a rare cancer of the liver.

In summation, there is believed to be some risk of leeching carcinogens, and of course any food product being porous and absorbent coming in direct contact with PVC could be risky. And as ascertained in the article, heating the PVC will definitely release carcinogens. I think it'd be better just to not risk it.

I had an argument on another message board about this very same issue..... the general consensus amongst the others was that PVC is used for water pipes carrying drinking water, and therefore PVC in contact with anything edible must be 100% safe, because "THEY" would never use anything in construction that could possibly present a health risk.

Oh no.... "THEY" would never do that!

[Patrick S]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride

Some of the additives and plasticizers can leach out of certain vinyl products. Even though soft PVC toys have been made for babies for years, there are concerns that these additives leach out of soft toys into the mouths of the children chewing on them...... .....According to some medical studies, the plasticizers added to PVC may cause chronic conditions such as scleroderma, cholangiocarcinoma, angiosarcoma, brain cancer, and acrosteolysis. It is worth noting that PVC products have been widely used for many years without significant health effects being demonstrated.

In 2004, a joint Swedish-Danish research team found a very strong link between allergies in children and the phthalates DEHP and BBzP, commonly used in PVC....  .....According to the EPA, "vinyl chloride emissions from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene dichloride (EDC), and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plants cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to result in an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen which causes a rare cancer of the liver.

In summation, there is believed to be some risk of leeching carcinogens, and of course any food product being porous and absorbent coming in direct contact with PVC could be risky. And as ascertained in the article, heating the PVC will definitely release carcinogens. I think it'd be better just to not risk it.

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There's only one problem with your analysis -- rigid PVC pipe, the type that would be used for cake and mousse rings and water pipes, does not contain plasticizing phtalates. These are only used in soft plastics made with PVC.

Edited February 10, 2006 by Patrick S (log)