Forum Activity for @Shannon Campbell

Our demand for caramel at the store was so high that we could no longer manage on the stove top. We maxed out at a 16 lb batch and it was killing us to lift and pour. I finally broke down and bought a Savage Firemixer 14. I can say without hesitation it was the single best investment I have made so far! Like a few other people have mentioned along the site, it did not initially work well with my recipe. We had to make a few adjustments to ingredient ratios -- we would absolutely not change our recipe because it is very very popular, but adjusting amounts of things here and there to help facilitate use of the machine worked to get rid of the graining problem we were having. And the people at Savage are eager to help; it's a small business and they are good to work with.

I'm in the market for an extruder next but I will likely be looking hardest at Savage for this one too (we'll see what the forum folks think!). I know it's a lot of money, and I know there are some cheaper ones out there but Savage has a ton of videos and documentation (plus a good reputation) and we are close to IL so we were able to go there and pick it up, saving a lot on freight. I'm glad I went with it.

If you have the need to dedicate and expand and the money to invest, the Firemixer was wonderful for us. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone.

Hi Clay! Thanks for the article. I just moved into a new baking facility, and had planned on switching to induction. I make large quantities of caramel sauces and brittle. But the burner I have (1800W Itawani) doesn't seem to have a large enough heating element for the 20 qt stock pot I use. Plus it's not a constant heat, so the sugar on top cools down while the sugar on the bottom gets too hot. It's like stirring cold tar, and takes me twice as long as it did on my gas stovetop.

So the shop that you went to, they use the crepe makers as burners, for making caramel? I pretty much just turn the heat on high and leave it, at least with the brittle. The caramel sauces I tend to regulate the heat a little more, as melting dry sugar can be a bit finicky.

Have you had any more experience with the crepe makers? Do you think those would be my best bet? Or a higher powered induction burner would work? I'd love to get something from Savage Bros., but don't have the budget. I'm just at a loss for what to do, and it's quickly going to get in the way of production...

Thanks!

Sooner or later almost every confectioner starts thinking about making caramels. For many, caramels - especially salted caramels - are a cornerstone of their business.

I've seen them made lots of different ways, including on a regular stove top, but one thing I always come back to is that it's important to be able to regulate heat and apply it consistently. My home stove is not very good for this, and I've been contemplating getting an induction cooktop for this purpose. They are efficient and put out a steady, reliable heat. The only downside, I thought, was that induction cookers require special pots.

I learned that this was not the case recently talking to a friend who uses an induction cooker who told me that he has troubles with the cookers maintaining the heat he wants for long periods of time. Apparently, there is a cutoff circuit in some of the devices to keep them from overheating. To be fair, he's got a 120V 1000W machine, and he might not have a problem if he had one with more power, but that's not in his budget at the moment.

I was in my local gourmet shop over the weekend and I started talking to one of the owners, Ben, about the commercial crepe makers they were using. They have cast iron cooking surfaces (they retain heat real well) and, depending on the model, can go up to 450F-570F and keep it there all day long (in fact, the real knock against these machines is how long they take to cool down before they can be handled safely).

It seems to me that these would be a great alternative to induction cookers for people looking to make caramel as they accept any king of pot, get hot, and maintain a specific heat real well. There are versions that are much less expensive that are also made for commercial applications but I don't know if the price difference is a case of being penny wise and pound foolish.

One thing I learned from talking with Ben is that he uses his crepe makers for a lot of different cooking applications, including frying eggs to put in crepes. As long as what you're cooking isn't too runny or render out much fat, you can cook it directly on the surface of the crepe maker. This makes them, I think, a pretty versatile addition to a lot of confectionery kitchens, and in my current project I am recommending that one of the two induction cooktops be replaced with one of these crepe makers - and save a couple of hundred bucks at the same time.

Of course, if I was serious about making caramels and needed to make them all day every day, I'd plonk down whatever cash was necessary for a dedicated machine. The one that people keep talking to me about wanting to own is the Savage FireMixer . It may not be as retro-chic as making caramel in a copper kettle over an open gas fire, but when it comes to all-around convenience (including not having to install venting and fire suppression) this is the one that keeps calling to me.

Hi Edward,

I think that your physics teacher was right but something makes it much harder to get to a low RH at a low temperature. I don;t really understand it but I think it has to do with RELATIVE humidity versus absolute humidity.

I'm away from my business at the moment and don't have the cocoa butter content to hand right now so will get back when I return. The polishig agent is from CAPOL (5021 as I recall) and there is also the shellac layer to consider too.

Colin

According to my old (very old) gr. 10 Physics teacher, the higher the temp, the more humidity it will carry. Thus, when I lived in Singapore, with an ambient temp of 30 C, the rh was around 95 %., but when I lived in Saskatchewan with winter temps of - 30 C the air was so dry my skin would crack

What kind of polishing agents are you using, and high of a cocoa butter content will they tolerate?

To get a good lustre on panned products I need to attain a Relative Humidity of aroung 45% and a temperature of around 17 degrees C. However the two seem to contradict each other - the lower the temperature the harder it is to reduvce the R/H.

What are others doing to achieve this? I have two dehumdifiers and they battle at the lower temperatures, cycling in and out of de-ice mode for 20 minutes in every 60 giving a see-saw of low/high RH.

The dehumidifier people say that I have to increase temperature to 18-20 degrees C but I would rather stay at the lower levels. My chocolate won't polish as well as I'd like it to.

Any thoughts please?

Thanks!

Colin

Good day to you.

I am in the process of setting up a cocoa beans processing plant of 1000 mt per year.

kindly advise me the plant cost and the availability. I am a small scale enterprenuer.

our farmers gather beans and we intend buy from them for processing till powder/butter stage and then sell the chocolate companies who will assess the quality by deputing their personnel in the plant.

reagrds

Mohiddin/Hyderabad/India - e mail: ghouse8@gmail.com

Thank you very much for your help! I am a very little artisan ans i don't need the machine to work for 8 hours a day i envy you a little to read that you have so much work in chocolate making but i am not sur i really want to become so big. My problem is that i can"t seem to be able to have tempered chocolate long enough to enable me to work and fill enough moulds and then to cover the ones i filled the day before, it is very difficult to temper by hand 4 to 5 times a day and it is very frustrating. Don't misunderstand me i love making this tempering it really soothes me but well, it is a little difficult. I am not sure i need a Pavoni because it is expensive in comparison to others machines and now you told me there is problems with their motors... though I am very far from your quantities i don't want to make a mistake and throw away my money.

I have 4 of them.

There are flaws in the design of the machine which I have notified the manufacturer about and will share here:

1. The control board (circuit board) is in the same compartment as the heat and fan. My staff use the machines 8 hours per day, every day. As a result they are subject to very significant heat fluctuations, and EVERY control board in EVERY machine has failed due to lack of protection. I have modified one of our machines to include a barrier between the heating compartment and the control board, and then added a cooling fan and vent opening to the bottom of the machine in the cooling board area. The fan turns on every time the light bulbs turn on to heat the machine. I have done this just a few weeks ago, so it will take 3-4 months to find out if the consistent temperature now maintained is going to save the new control board.

2. The machine has 5 program cycles, which are very helpful in managing the viscosity of the chocolate throughout the day. We start with one "temper" cycle, and then throughout the day as we work with the chocolate it continues tothicken (crystalize). We then have 3 other programs which increase the working temperature of the chocolate by one degree at a time. My staff can very easily control the viscosity of the chocolate as they work with it. However, there is a significant problem with the programming: Every program has a heat/cool/reheat cycle. The minutea newprogram starts, the bowl stops spinning regardless of whether the chocolate is too warm to start with, or needs heating to reach the first temperature mark. REALLY REALLY BAD DESIGN. Our chocolate is already thick and crystalized!!! Having it sit there motionless for a few minutes will cause it to solidify in the bowl. The heat created by the light bulbs on the paused bowl of chocolate takes the chocolate out of temper. Yes... There is a motor "over-ride" button on the side of the machine which allows an operator to press it and start the bowl turning. HOWEVER the switch doesn't lock down. The operator has to stand there, with their finger on the button until all the chocolate heats up! Are you kidding me???? I have swapped that stupidbutton out with one that actually turns on and off. My staff have better things to do than stand there several times a day for up to 15 minutes at atimeholding a button down!

3. Chocolate gets into the inner workings of the machine and into the motor. We have had to replace several destroyed motors as they aren't sealed, such as with the design of the Savage machines (which I also own two of and have been running 24/7 for 4 years without a single issue!).

There are also positives that I will share:

1. The overall construction is solid. ROCK solid. The case is polished stainless steeland easy to clean. I also have 6 ACMC machines and their plastic construction pales in comparison.

2. The ability to define your own pre-set programs is fabulous. If you are working with a consistent product, it takes all the guess work out of tempering and an unskilled worker can make properly tempered chocolate confections with very little instruction.

If I were to purchase more Pavoni's I would stipulate that the design flaws be rectified before I spent the money.

Hope that provides you with some insight.

Brad

hi to everybody i hope that you will help me here to ! does everebody know something about the Pavoni mini temper (little but sophisticated tempering machine) i would like to buy one b ecause i think it suits me very well for the moment et later it can be of help for little quantities, but it is very expensive so i will like to know if soimebody has any experience with this machine?

if i set the ac on 18c i think i will have a general temperature in the room of 20C, is it ok - i willjust have to plug out my display case and leave it...open or closed what do you say? thank you so much! it's so reassuring to see that i am not the only one to have a littke budget et problems. The real light at the tunnel end is that my chocolates are ok, tempering is good,i do it all by hand with the marble tempering method and i learn everyday, i am sorry if my english is not always very good, i leave in Israel but i am french and sometimes i write english but i think in french though i am also a diplomed translator! thank you all very much i appreciate your tips and i will try to ask our electrician if it's possible

cheers corinne

I have seen modified cooling tunnels which use the type of air conditioner that fits in a regular window (Hilliards comes to mind). Hot air rises and cool air drops, so why not use one of those, and tastefully duct it over top of your confections when you are not in the shop? They often run 24/7, can cool a 700 square foot room easily. You could have it built into a box on wheels, and then using flexible ductwork vent the cold air output over your confections. Heck, you could even build it right into your cabinet! For cooling such a long time and a small space you wouldn't even need to run the air conditioner on "super cold" setting. This could be a great, portable, and economical solution, and like I said, if done tastefully, will not detract from the aesthetic appearance of your shop.

Cheers.

Brad

Corinne,

UGH! I just happened upon this post. I totally know what your dealing with! I had installed HVAC in my tiny shop which was 650ft but between customers opening the door (even though my ac guy factored inthat and the sun hitting my shop) in Chicago it would get soooo hot!

I had a dog groomer two doors down and the hair blowing out would sufficate my unit. Then, the cases would over work so I would call a refrigeration guy to refill the freonand cleanthe ac unitsjust because it was overworked.

I had 2 federal chocolate cases and the heat and humidity would still cause condensation on the front of the cases and we left our ac units on 24/7.

If you keep the chocolate in the fridge long term your screwed, or in that "chocolate display" your still faced with condensation which sucks when you are trying to control quality of the product.

When we were faced with the electricity going out we left them in our bun racks that had covers sealed and didn't touch them! The ones in the case we tried not to open the doors and yes, there would be casualties but there is always someone willing to eat free ugly chocolate.

You may have to look in your area and get a regular climate controlled chocolate case which as I stated the exterior will have condensation but the product will be fine. I know, probably doesn't help your situation but I know what your dealing with!

Good luck and hang in there!

Thank you so much yesm sugar bloo; is exactly my problem ! a higher temperature won't work since it's very hot and humid outside. In fact i tried the higher temperature the problem is that this stupid little desktop is n ot able to keep any tmeperature for too long it has to cool down and then to refrgerate therfore the difference between temperature "kills" my pralines and truffles. I mus t say i am considering closing my little shop for the summer and concentrate on workshop for children and teen agers. Trouble is i don't know what desktop to buy, i mean from what company that will assure me, this time, a real desktop for pralines and not for cakes!

Shalom! Your problem, if i understand correctly, is that when you cycle your small display case on/off, it forms condensation. 14C is pretty cold if all you're trying to do is prevent bloom. One possible way to rethink this is to set it to a higher setting - say 25C - would that enable you to leave it on longer?

Of energy usage is your concern, you may wish to consider a peltier chiller for those times when you can't run your conventional air conditioning unit - i've never tried this, but perhaps get someone to modify your AC unit to switch back and forth between AC and Peltier heat removal? Thinking out loud here - i know both approach on their own will work, but require transferring of good from one to another. A hybrid unit may eliminate that - would need to test it to see if condensation is still a concern or not...

hi to everybody i am very new here and it is the first time i am writing something but i have been reading the discussions for sometime now. I am a little artisan chocolatier and i am a self made women in this field. I have a very little shop where i sell my chocolates. I live in a hot country and during the summer it is very very difficult to make chocolate (hot, hmidity and so on) of course i have ac in my shop but i can't leaveworking non stop day and night. I have a little counter refrigerator desktop that, according to the man who sold it to me was specially made for chocolate display (14 - 18C). In fact it seems it only suits for cakes and i have a very serious problem with cold qnd of course condesnsation. My question is : is there any possibility to transform this desktop in something suitable for chocolates, may be somethihng to do in the refrigerating system, i's just that it is very expensive and i don't think i will be able to buy another one so i would have to shut my little shop during the summer. Please help!

Hi, Andy - the answers to your question are long, but the condensed version is that the Kitchen Aid attachment does not work due to the inappropriate angle of the bowl.

I sell new and used pans amongst our many offerings of confectionery machinery and have sold over 1000 table top pans that we build new. I can get you through the panning process quite easily. Email me jim@unionmachinery.com when you are ready to explore your options thanks.

Jim Greenberg, President

Union Confectionery Machinery

Is there any other small panning machine, not the Kitchen Aid attachment, that you can recommend?

Bad post! The ratio should have said 1:1 Chocolate to nutmeats 1.25 hours. 2:1 chocolate to nutmeats 2.5 hours.

Standards do not exist but I see most panning at 2.5:1 chocolate to nutmeats and it takes time to build good layers with proper cooling.

New panners please note that tempering of the coating is unnecessary as tempering causes more problems than good in this process. Tempered chocolate is too viscous and does not coat well whereby untempered coating flow better and the glazing process provides the nice shine later. Many folks just pan and then powder coat - lots of options.

Jim

PS - my company goes by both Union Confectionery Machinery & National Equipment Corp.

The time is takes to 'pan' a batch under optimal conditions is as follows:

1) Nut meats and chocolate = 1.25 hour per grossing. If the final ratio of nut meats to chocolate is 1:1 = 1.25 hour. 2:1 = 2.5 hours etc. If the air flow is wrong, temp off and RH too high then it will take longer and the end result will be poor.

Jim

Thanks Colin for all the information, a lot to ponder. I've read your other thread as well. Interesting thoughts... Since I had written the thoughts off for such a long time I'm not sure anymore of where to start, or when to start, but at least now I have enough information on ways to start. :D

Hi, all. The Kitchen Aid Panning Attachment was, conceptually, a great idea. However, the pan is not situated at the correct angle and the bowl is not properly shaped.

We sell brand new pans in 12", 16" and 24" sizes that are fully self-contained in that they come with a base, drive, speed controller 0-36RPM,removablebowl, and optional blower for both hot and cold panning,removable polishing ribs and extra bowls if needed.

We have sold thousands of these pans around the world to retail confectioners, R & D labs, pharma labs and snack food companies. Comes with instructions, too, and my assistance as needed. I have been involved with panning for years and taught the National Confectioners Association Panning Class. Happy to help.

To view the pans please use this link:

Andy, sorry but that was Union Confectionery Machinery in New York.

Jim hangs out on this forum and has a heap of great advice. That can be invaluable. They have good notes to help you through the processes too.

Colin

Andy - the time depends on what you are panning. Some things like coffee beans have to be done slowly. Other thgings like hazlenuts can be done quickly. It depends on the size of the product, "flat sides" which induce "doubles" (like coffee beans) and temperature you can get down too. If you can do it nice and cold it will be much faster. Also how much chocolate you want to add.

It takes me at least four hours - sometimes six or so - to do 15Kg of coffee beans. I can do razz cherries (try them!) in a couple of hours. But then I am NOT what you'd call an expert. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and have taught myself. I am sure that others here can help a heap to make that better but at least this is an answer of sorts.

I am getting VERY excited about the "Cool Bot" to get low temperatures. Not especially costly and worth looking at.

Colin

Andy, I think it really depends what you need to do with it. I looked at this and eventually gave it away as being too small to be useful. As I see it, it's a hobbiest tool and probably quite fun. But I'd not think commercial at all except maybe to test ideas.

I eventually purchased a "no-name" 15Kg unit on that basis that it was cheap and of a size that I could actually use for some profit. It IS now too small for me but I have learned on it and am ready to move up and I can now retire it as a polishing pan so it was a good investment.

I looked at some units from National Equipment in the USA which looked good too. I nearly bought one but was able to obtain a lower price which although doubtless of less quality did the job to now. They have a couple of small options that may be helpful to consider.

Colin

Anyone hazard a guess at the time from start to finish?

Andy,

We have one and Dianne uses it often. The one issue is cooling like Edward mentioned. We too had gotten a number of requests and we cannot keep them in the shop. It's a good stop gap solution to see if they really want the product enough to warrant a bigger unit.

Pete

I have one, use it exclusively for panning hazelnuts--although it can be used for many other items. Maximum weight of "raw" (uncovered) hazels is around 1 kg, with the shell being around 6 mm thick. Really, it all depends on how thick you want the chocolate shell to be, there's only so much space in the bowl for the nuts to "grow", thicker shell = smaller amount of "raw" nuts to begin with.

You need a cool room (ambient temp of 13 celcius or lower) or an air-conditioner for panning chocolate items, although some have "cheated" by throwing in a hunk of dry ice, or stuffing the whole contraption in a fridge.

The hallway in my commercial bldg is just the right temperature in the winter months, I set the whole thing--K. Aid and device--on a trolley and wheel it into the hallway. In the summer months I do it in my kitchen, I have a cheapo air conditioner that I added a 4" dryer hose to, and can direct a flow of cold air into the bowl.

If you add to much chocolate into the bowl, the surface on your items will be "wrinkly". I like to fill a large squeeze bottle with couvertute and squeeze just enough choc, into the bowl to gt the items wet, then tumble around for a minute or two, direct some cold air in, tumble a bit more, add more choc., etc. etc. etc.

Glazing is lost on me. I tried with gum arabic glazes, but didn't have much success. High glosses with gum arabic is dependant on the cocoa butter content of the chocolate. I hate cheap chocolate so the glazes don't work well with my regular 70% couverture, There are commercial glazes, but I don't know of any sources to get small quantities, and they contain many "funny" ingredients. I finish off my hazels with cocoa powder.

Cleaning the bowl can be easy or hard, all depending on how you look at things. I run the heat gun around the outside of the bowl for a minute or two--or toss it in the oven, and then remove all the chocolate and cocoa powder residue with a plastic scraper. I re-use this on my next batch for the first coating--the cocoa pwdr helps a bit to make the first coat stick. Or you could try to wash the whole thing in the sink and wash about a kilo of choc. down the drain and plug up the pipes.

To be completely up front about this, I do not have what I consider "experience" with this- I saw this panning attachment used once in a class I took. It seemed very handy but you needed to go relatively slowly - adding small amounts of chocolate at a time until an adequate coating is achieved.It seemed to do a good-sized quantity at a time though. I thought about buying the attachment but the last time I checked it was about $500. Not sure what you mean about requirements - other than a Kitchen Aid mixer... Limitations - fairly noisy, slowing going. Now that I think about it I am not sure what cleaning is involved say between batches with different chocolates or different types of nuts (glazed, plain...)

I've looked a lot into panning, and found it to be really too much of a burden for us. Yet I continue to be asked for panned items. I've seen that silly attachment that is sold to make your Kitchen Aid a panner and have written it off time and time again as a joke.

After reading another person panning and I saw a K. Aid attachment mentioned, I thought I should stop thinking about it being a myth and see what you all thought.

1. Does it work?
2. What are the requirements?
3. What are the limitations?

I'm experienced in some wonderful matches to whisky. The complexities of both result in some elevating experiences. I've tried (red) wines, but often found the origine chocolate to strong, it pushed away the wine, even bold argentinian ones. Whisky has more power to make bright balances.

Here's our latest event post: http://www.choqoa.com/blog/2012/07/our-second-whisky-chocolate-tasting-with-anverness/

Soon I'll be trying pairings with cheese as well.

Last week I really enjoyed Askinosie's Davao Dark with Fuji apples, really good combo!

My other fav combo is to have a hot chocolate with any meal or food that has chilli in it. I am not a big fan of putting chilli in my chocolate or in a hot chocolate but alongside is great!

Dear Clay,

As usual, when I read your posts, I keep on thinking "man, this guy's passion is waybeyondmy pay grade." Justamazedat the level of preparation you go to entertain your guests: A HOST to the fullest meaning of the word!.

Your choice of chocolate is simple and superb at the same time. If I have it my way, I also choose a 75% dark from Ecuador with my all time favorite wine which will always be a well cantered Opus One. On yourdiscerningchoice of bresaola over prociutto which I also find fatty (still delicious), have you tried Jamon de Jabubo? Guaranteed you will be hooked for life!

By the way, the other day, I was feeling "peckish" and fooling around with some dark chocolate and a little saffron (goes a long way).Quite interesting and looking for that third "ingrdient" to take me to the next level... and maybe an invite to one of your parties. I'll let you know when I find it.

Thank you for sharing your experiences and yourknowledge.

Regards,

Ramon

Ramon -

This is a very interesting question and one I work on quite a lot when I put together my "Sophisticated Pairings" events. I did one last weekend and here are some of the ingredients and highlights:

I used four chocolates - Felchlin Criolait (33% milk made with beans from the Lake Maracaibo region of Venezuela) and three Rancho San Jacinto (Ecuador) -- 55, 65, and 100%. I made a fondue-like melted chocolate from the Criolait and the 100% with half-and-half that I used because it's just easier to work with and I cut the sweetness of the milk chocolate with the 100%.

There were going to be three wines to drink but the shop did not deliver one of them, so we had only two: a Washington State Gewrztraminer (Chateau St Michelle, both 2009 and 2010) and a California Pinot Noir (2010 Mark West). The wine that did not make it was a Prosecco - which is my all-around favorite wine for pairing with chocolates of all kinds. I prefer it over most Champagnes because it tends to have a softer bubble structure (meshes with the chocolate), and also tends to be less acidic and alcoholic-tasting than most champagnes. Proseccos are also generally much less expensive.

I likeGewrztraminers that are on the dry side (they do exist) and that have a mild effervescence. This particularGewrz comes as a surprise to people who reflexively ask for Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio - both of which I find more problematic for general pairing. I also tend to stay away from acidic whites and in general find it easier to pair whites with dark chocolates. The Pinot is also one I use a lot because it's an "easy drinking" wine. It doesn't demand any particular attention by having too much of any particular varietal character. Thus, it goes with many things. Reds with lots of varietal nuance (and/or that need plenty of time open before really being drinkable) don't lend themselves well to impromptu pairing, I have found. They require a lot more thought to make "work".

The event format was a la minute: I have lots of different ingredients and I prepare small bites to order in addition to combinations that I create based on experience and knowledge of the ingredients I've selected.

One of those combinations is a variation on a Japanese hand roll (temaki) using bresaola (very lean air-cured beef) as the wrapper instead of rice and seaweed. Inside are arugula, herbed goat cheese, and a dollop of the melted chocolate.

Another combination was a rosemary cheese cracker on top of which was a thin shmear of the melted chocolate, cheese aged in cognac (from Sartori), dried apricot poached in simple syrup, curry-flavored salt, and a candied pecan.

As you can tell, I like complex layering of flavors and textures. And people love being challenged by them - in this event format they are open to new ideas for flavor combination and I engage them to push them past the edge of their comfort zone and keep an open mind.

I had one other cheese for the day (for a total of three), a four-year aged Gouda, so I had plenty of variety there. In addition I had:

a good aged balsamic vinegar
a very good olive oil
smoked pink salt
fleur de sel (from a small harvester in Oregon)
poached figs (simple syrup, same as the apricots)
marcona almonds (in oil, with rosemary - phenomenal with the fig)
an Italian herbed sea salt with sage, rosemary, black pepper, and garlic
cherry wood smoked soy sauce
Granny Smith apple (matchsticks)
sun dried tomato (chiffonade)

One of the memorable combinations I made up for a vegetarian guest was to put a dash of balsamic vinegar into a Chinese-style soup spoon and on top of that layer the apple matchsticks, sun dried tomato chiffonade, olive oil, and the smoked soy sauce with a dusting of 100% chocolate flakes.

Personally, I have found that bresaola works and prosciutto does not. In part, that's because of the high fat content in the prosciutto, which results in an unpleasant texture when paired with the chocolate. The bresaola is extremely lean which is the reason it works better (in my experience) in pairing.

Furthermore, I have found that it's more important to have a good taste memory than it is to be a supertaster. Having a good taste memory enables me to "taste" flavor combinations in my head before I put them together for a guest, and it's that skill that turns out to be most valuable when working on pairings.

As we go through life's various sensory taste stages, I am trying to learn from other people's experiences. On average, a child's taste and flavor perceptions are not as mature as an adult. Although, my five year old son, who actually eats almost everything we put in front of him, as most kids, will naturally gear towards sweets and basic flavors such as chocolate, apple juice, chicken, etc. As we grow older, the sense of smell and vision help our taste buds become more developed and adventurous.

We are all different and like many different things. What I might consider spectacular and unique, my wife and children may dismiss as detestable! I have had the good fortune of sampling and experiencing many flavorful foods which yielded a broad spectrum of satisfaction levels. I consider and brag myself of being a chocolate purist. A simple single origin dark chocolate will always be my primary source for happiness fuel. But every now and then, more often then than now I like to find the perfect compliment to great chocolate. I have come to appreciate parings with red wine, peanuts, raspberries, chilly, mint, sea salt, etc. In my case, these are examples of matching two foods that compliment each other superbly. Among all things tried, nothing excites and revolts my taste and senses like the mix of chocolate and passion fruit!

Which brings me to my query in The Chocolate Life: What pairing with chocolate gives you that ultimate taste HIGH?

I've done it a lot. If I'm working with one type of chocolate (milk or white especially, since I don't run those as much), I'll try to get as many molds lined as possible. After they have set, I wrap each one in plastic wrap to keep out dust, and store them in bins I use for the molds. I've had no trouble with them at all. And, I don't have a problem backing the dark chocolate with milk or vice versa. It saves time and who's gonna notice a thin layer on the bottom?

There's no reason at all you can't do this. I make lots of molds at once, use what I need and store the rest for later. You need to make sure to keep the filled molds cool and dry, keep pests/rodents out as well as dust. I will often loosely wrap them in plastic wrap once they are totally cooled and set. I store them in a cool dark room (that was intended as a wine storage area). I've never had an issue using a mold like this at a later date.

BTW, there are no stupid questions here. We all started at the beginning of the learning process with chocolate. It just nice to have a place to go to seek answers.

This is probably a stupid question but I thought I'd run it by you experts anyway!

Is there any reason why you couldn't fill multiple molds at one 'sitting'? I mean, assuming you're willing to use the same chocolate could you fill - i.e to create the initial outer shell - scores of different molds in one go? Then you could just reach for them as and when you need them, which presumably could save some time and effort further down the line. Surely better to blitz the issue in one big go than do the odd few molds here and there? You could store the molds as you would empty ones, perhaps with some parchment paper in between. There would be no shelf life questions as it's only chocolate (so no water activity issues) and if stored correctly I can't see why you couldn't do it and then not have to mold (beyond backing them when needed) for months.

Any thoughts?

is it expensive? we are experimenting with sugar-free chocolate, using a beet-based sweetener, but coconut sugar sounds great

Hi Cristine,

Have you tried using coconut sugar it has a Glycemic index of 35 has the texture and taste of raw sugar. We are now using them for our dark chocolates

Ernesto

Hello everyone..

I was wonerding if anyone can help me and list some ideas of sugar free inclusions for diabetic people.

I already bought chocolate for tempering that has been substitued with sugar substitute for diabetic people. But what can I include in the bombons? ganache with what? and if I do sugar free chocolate clusters, could the inlusion be almonds or any other kind of nuts? is that suitable? what else is? raisins? cranberry seeds? fruit purees?

thanx.

Hello!

For my chocolate I use cocoa beans from Venezuela, and I would like to try to make chocolate with Ecuadorian cocoa beans. Have you ever tried to roast Ecuadorian cocoa beans? The taste of the raw beans is not acidI think I will try to roast them at low temperatures ( 260F-280F).

What do you think?

Thank you in advance!