Forum Activity for @George Trejo

BBFDirect.com is great for buyers, you can see wholesale pricing and recommended retail from a HUGE number of chocolatiers and bean to bar products.

Hi

I am currently writing a business plan for a new retail chocolate shop. This will be 180* from anything I've done but I am ready to make the leap. However, I am having difficulty projecting my costs for goods - I cannot apply for a wholesale account anywhere as I don't have a business yet. But I can't finish the business plan without at least some ballpark estimates of purchasing high quality chocolate bars and products, globally, wholesale to ship to California. These would be consumer-ready products.

Can anyone point me to a resource for data? Many thanks!

We do regularly very large amount of hand piped/rolled truffles. we started with the 2:1 ratio and we adjusted to have a nice consistency/fat content. We know that if we change cream supplier we must adjust the recipe by reducing cream+adding milk.

Best trick to speed up process is to melt completely the chocolate; warm up cream/gluco etc stir together and pour on a tray covered with glad wrap. about 3-4 hour later you can already pipe them. Crystallize overnight, roll and dip day after...

my 2 rand.....

Nino

I'm no expert, but my understanding is that ganache typically breaks for two reasons: too much fat or too low of a temperature when agitating. Since you are having more breaking with less cream the fat content does not appear to be the issue for you. So it's probably the temperature. If your liquids fall below 90F before mixing with the chocolate you're asking for trouble. I'm guessing that may be what happened in your previous breaks, especially since it happened with less cream (which was the warm part). You don't want your liquid so hot that you lose your Form V crystals, but you want it above 100F before adding to the chocolate so that you can avoid breaking.

Another trick to toughen up the ganache by the way is to wait until it gets down to about 72F, and then table it for a very short time. I've never done this myself, but I've read that this will make the ganache less soft. Apparently it's really easy to overdo this however, so you want to be careful (and quick) if you try this. But it may help you out. As for the recipes you've seen, those sound like they are intended more for glazes, frostings or fillings. Of course you have to do what works for you, but 2:1 is definitely the standard, and I would give it another test.

What is your time frame? A 1:1 will not hold more than a few days. It also depends on your chocolate. I agree on the 2:1.

I used to do 2:1 and found that the ganaches would break a lot or become too soft, and somehow using less chocolate made them hold up better? All the recipes I've found are closer to 1:1. . .

General rule of thumb is 2:1 ratio for dark chocolate and cream. So you're a little light on chocolate with the above. Also, butter tends to soften the ganache. So unless you're adding a liquid flavoring (and in the above you're not) or using a low-fat cream I would consider leaving that out. You might try another test batch with 250 g choc, 125 g cream, 30 g glucose and see how that works out. And of course do not cool it in the fridge. That will make the ganache softer too. Let it cool at room temp (65-70). 24 hours. Anyway that's what I was taught. Others here may have different advice.

Hi everyone, I've actually been out of commission for a while, in the process of slowly closing my business. But I had someone place a large order- 3000 truffles- and I need some help. I've been using truffle shells for a while now but this customer wants a larger truffle which means I have to hand-roll. I've had problems with dark choc ganaches in the past being too soft, so I was wondering if anyone has a reliable recipe? I did a test batch of 200 g 74%, 125 g cream, 16 g glucose, 32 g butter, and I'm waiting for it to cool now. . .

That's pretty interesting Brian. Thanks for that. So I assume that all of the chocolate coating the pan interior melts off and adheres to the product? Don't you get "dents" in the product where it comes in contact with the hard stainless steel pan without the cushioning effect of the chocolate lining? I assume that you still need to seal with shellac? If so, wouldn't the product lack "grip" without the chocolate lining or ribs? Or is that in another pan?

Heat into the pan, in addition to the cheat, allows you to use the same, non-ribed, pan for polishing without the use of a commercial glaze.

brian

Thanks Edward. I wondered if something like that may be the answer. I DO find it helpful to be able to add a dab of heat from time to time but don't think this is industry practise.

Anyway, I have ordered my pan and now await for it to arrive!

The Germans and the Swiss love thier "Gebrannte Mandeln", or sugar coated/carmelized whole almonds. Some of these panning machines can be very elaborate and expensive affairs

I am buying a pan to increase capacity in my small chocolate set-up. Most suppiers stress that they have heating on their pans but I fail to see why. It has the effect that a pan drawing 1.5Kw needs a further 4Kw for the heater and as I am already having to consider installing a three phase power converter too it ups my price significantly.

On my current small pan (15kg) I have no heating although I do sometimes cheat and smooth out the choclate covered coffee beans with careful application of heat from a blower. But I consider that a "cheat" - not a requirement.

I saw on another post here that a member assumed that he'she would need heating - so I hesitate as I don't consider myself an expert in this area. But as I say, I just don't see the point!

Is it that other forms of confectionery (ie, not chocolate) need added heat and that is why it's supplied? Or am I missing something that might become glaringly obvious when I get to the much larger volumes (70Kg load) that the new system will hopefully deliver? I really acn't easily afford to do this wrong. Thanks!

Invertase as an enzyme will continue to work until forced to stop. One way is heat as mentioned above, another is pH, but not a problem with fondant unless you've added acid for a fruit flavor. The final way it's stopped is if there is not enough moisture in the fondant.

Invertase will work until the moisture level of the syrup phase falls below 20%. Most fondants are about 50:50 crystal to syrup (but can range to 60:40, and about 12% total moisture. So if 50% syrup phase, it's about 24% moisture. So you should see significant softening.If less moisture, just a couple percent, will result in minimal or no noticable effect. However, it all depends on all of the above.... age of the invertase, temperature seen, pH, and then moisture level of the fondant and resulting syrup phase. The level of invertase will effect speed to the end result, not how far. A lot more involved but the above should hopefully help.

Remember, invertase is an enzyme. Enzymes can go bad (if old, or if hot). Enzymes will work much more slowly when they're in a cold environment (ie they will work slower in a fridge than they do at room temperature). Enzymes require some moisture to work (if you've got a formulation without any water in it, for example...), and invertase will only do much for you if you've got sucrose present (ie if you're formulation is with other sugars or sugar free, don't expect much)...

Keeping the invertase in the fridge will extend it's shelf life; however if you've got 10 year old invertase or invertase that spent the first 2 weeks of it's life in an egyptian garage at 140F, it's not going to much matter....

I am not an expert, but my understanding is that the ratio of invertase to fondant should range between .1-.3%. The larger amount will make the process speed up a bit. So for a pound of fondant (454 grams), you would want to use .5 to 1.5 grams of invertase. I'm guessing this is about 1/4 tsp, but you should of course do things like this by weight not volume.

As for keeping it cold, I don't think so. You want to make sure you don't add the invertase into a fondant mixture that is too hot (nothing over 150F), but once the final pieces have been dipped storing them at a cold temperature actually slows down the process. So if you want to move the process along keep them at the same general room temp you keep your other confections. Others here with more experience may have more (or better) info however.

The first of the O's looks like it is for a Savage Firemixer

The first bunch look like some sort of extruder for fondant or ganache. http://www.savagebros.com/p.24/carousel-cream-center-extruder-cutter.aspx - watch the video.

K thru M show the depositing heads for the Selmi - http://tomric.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=3275

No clue on the 3 O's.

We bought out the remainder of a chocolate company and we basically have this stuff and lots of foils left. I am trying to identify what this stuff is called, names of the parts, what brand, etc. I've googled and googled and not found anything.

I have one mixer part and then a bunch of parts that I think are a Selmi brand. I think some are called depositing heads but I am not positive. Not sure what all thecylindricaltype parts are for. Anything you can identify would be helpful. I have lettered them to make it easier to identify them.

Thanks for the help.

A.
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
O
O

I noticed that some people were referring to auctions where used bean to bar equipment might be purchased. Can anybody list those sites. I see people buying those antique melangeurs and having them refurbished, but where are they buying them from?

Thanks Solis, I'll be talking to them over the next 48 hours. All the best.

Tomric, ditto. They are light weight, but you would have to spend thousands to get them in hard plastic.

Will do Brian, just finalising an outline of what I require and then I'll send it over to you. Thanks for the interest. Speak soon. Clayton

Clayton.

If you need help with Tomric feel free to contact me directly.

Brian Donaghy

bdonaghy@tomric.com

Greatly appreciated cheebs. Thanks for the heads up.

www.tomric.com

Hey guys, I'm pretty new to the chocolate caper and was wondering if anyone has any experience/knowledge regarding where is the best place to get customised molds made? I'm located in Australia but am more than happy to use a provider in the US or Europe.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Our new website is coming together ... and we welcome comments and suggestions ... www.mexican-chocolate.com . Thanks!

Hi Andy,

i'm having the same issue here in SA but i know few factories that produce papers.

My enrober is arriving any time soon from Italy, but then the problem starts with the paper...

Could you please let me know what are the paper specs in general for enrobers?

Thanks in advance

Nino

20 cm is about 7.8 in, which is about 1.8in too large. These are 6" wide (15cm).

Nothing's ever easy, hehe.

Andy-

What's the size of the rolls? Tomric Systems ( www.tomric.com )sells a 20 cm roll designed for the Selmi equipment but should work on any appropriately sized enrobber.

Brian Donaghy

Nice. I wonder if I found a roll of something too large I could get them to cut it down to size for a nominal charge instead of having them source a large amount. I'll do some further research and report my findings, and if I come back to square one, well we'll be having a large paper buy soon hehe!

I just remembered--they are called paper converters.

Here are three in NC

Any paper salesman for print shops etc. can get to a supplier. They just get it on large rolls and cut it down and rewind it. That is why they need the large numbers. When I found out the amount needed, I too thought I would just keep buying from Canada. I go through about the same amount as you. When I bought the machine, I had them fill up the extra space in the crate with rolls.

Wow, 30 rolls? Goodness. I'm cutting through 1 every 2 months currently.

When you say your paper guy, who are these paper people? I'm at a loss for who to even look up locally, even if they source it far out. I feel though if I'm sourcing it from Seattle that's just as far as Canada at this point. Each state has paper producers, this shouldn't be rocket science to get on a local level you'd think.

Definitely a group buy consideration, spending $1500 +/- for a 3 year supply seems a bit extraneous. hehe. Like to continue to look local first though.

Andy, I had my paper guy source it from Seattle. They needed to know the spool type so I took a photo and showed them. They sent (at no charge) 6 rolls as a test. The paper was a little too shiny and thin. They said they can do other papers if I send in a sample. The cost was a bit cheaper, but you had to order like 30 rolls at a time. If several of us got together, it would be doable. I know 5 people just bought Perfects and might be interested in a group buy of paper.

I tried to bring this older thread back to life , but was unable to. I've had a heck of a time finding a paper supplier. My search queries must just be off, most people don't talk about custom paper spindles or cases-- and the person mentioned in the old thread I can't find hide nor hair of.

I'd like to stop ordering what I consider parchment paper on a 6" spool from Canada to the Carolina's. The freight and distance make it unreasonable on cost. (Enro2 Perfect owner here)

Anyone have some further ideas on where to source spools for their enrober?

Hi Sebastian,

I wasn't sure if a simple calculation of percentage by weight would work. I am making these using a "water ganache" where the only liquid is the wine with only enough butter (about 10%) to hold it together. The result isa little over25% wine by weight, so in theory that would give me about 3%ABV, well within the limits of the Liquor commision.

Thanks for your help.

well, sure.... your vintner should be able to tell you the alcohol content of the wine they want you to use - let's say it's 12%.

Put together an excel spreadsheet, and list your ingredients for your truffle. Weigh your centers both before and after dipping (shell moulding, whatever) 10x to get an average of the amount of chocolate shell. If the wine in your finished chocolate works out to be, say 10% (that's awfully high, but the math is easier), and the alcohol of the wine is 12% - your ABV of the chocolate = 1.2% - and that's going to be on the high end, assuming no alcohol boiled off during the ganache preparation (better to estimate high with the liquor control board involved).