Hi all,

I have been panning for a while but have opened a shop in Sydney (Australia - not BC) and would like to dabble in making other products including using molds, making bark etc. Maybe even enrobing. I'd like to have a feature in my shop where Customers can come and watch and maybe even do some stuff with their own inclusions.

I have been looking at various options but it is all rather costly given that this is an idea only at this point. I looked at Chocovision but my respected consultant dismisses this as "toys". 

My question is, are these really serious units and is their tempering ability really good - in that it's simple and works 100% of the time?  I really have an open mind but not an open wallet to the degree some systems demand.

Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated please.

Thanks so much for your help!

Colin

I'm always trying new things. Some "flop" and some are really successful. to date I only pan - an enrober is on my "wish list".

I'd like to experiment to see if I can incorporate honey into chocolate. I mean, actually combine these two really popular natural products.

Of course honey contains water which make chocolate seize. So I have not even tried that. Best I can source at the moment is 15% water content - that might be low enough for me to experiment. Any comments? Am thinking it is too high and would be sticky and would not polish.

I have tried some "dried honey" but so far it's not been wonderful as there are around 70% honey solids and 30% glucose. This makes it grainy and has a poor "mouth feel" when incororated into the chocolate itself. It IS "real honey" from bees - not from a plant.

Has anyone tried combining chocolate and honey in this way?

Thanks

Colin