I was wondering if anyone had successfully used one of these for ganache or pate de fruits. Three models that I've seen are around $200, $400 and $850 with the more expensive ones being able to cut thicker items.
Hi Jim
Did you get anywhere with this?
I am thinking along the same lines of buying a caramel cutter to use for ganache slabs.
Cheers
Lisa
The vendor of the most expensive one said their cutter would work, but I was also looking for the opinion of someone on the forum who had used one and so far no one has responded. Assuming any of them might work, I would have thought more people might have used them as a cheaper alternative to a guitar or until a guitar was necessary. The mid-priced one is adjustable without having to remove the blades and add spacers. I think you probably need to buy extra blades for the $400 cutter so the price is probably closer to $485. It would be nice to know if the $200 scored caramel/toffee and also cut ganache up to a half inch thick, at least better than I can do freehand.
I have not had good luck with rolling cutters for ganache; the ganache tends to stick to the side of the roller. However another chocolate life member has pictures showing good luck...as well as their home-made roller cutters.
http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/diy-guitar?commentId=1978963%3AComment%3A134163
I have also made my own rolling cutter; materials for one 12" wide with cutters on 5/8" centers would cost about $90.
I used the following components:
replacement pizza cutter blades, http://www.katom.com/166-PCW4.htm l
parts from McMaster-Carr ( http://www.mcmaster.com ):
stainless steel threaded rod 93250A460
nylon unthreaded spacers 94639A212
tapered handle with threaded insert 57455K64
stainless steel hex nuts 92673A125
They have different sized spacers. It is trivial to make a couple of different cutters for the different sizes that you need.
-Jon
I'd be curious to know as well! Also, if something like this pastry cutter wheel set would work...
In any case, when i use a knife, i rarely get a full cut in one knife length which requires lifting and moving (the 'frames' i use are clearly the wrong size for knife cutting). so eager to find alternatives that don't cost such a mighty amount!
I'd advise against using pastry cutter. We tried that and had terrible issues with the spacing between the blades. There is too much play in the accordion mechanism, and the wheels are wobbly. If you do use one, the best thing I've seen is to screw the spacing to a piece of hardwood. This will eliminate most of the play in the accordion, but won't do much for the sloppy wheels.
- If you would like to buy my pastry cutter, I'll sell it for $10. 
We ended up building a roller cutter similar to what Jon posted above. (The part numbers are FABULOUS!) Thank you Jon.
I tried using all-thread with various spacers, but found the pizza blades would get stuck in a thread and get cock-eyed (non-parallel). So, we went witha length of bar then used cap nuts to hold it all together.
I imagine we could get our bar threaded and thus be able to have nice handles. That will be a great step up.
Interesting about the pizza wheels getting caught.
I guess I got lucky with the pizza blades that I selected. They have a hub in the center, about 1/8" thick and 3/4" in diameter, with a 3/8" hole. They ride perfectly on the all-thread.
I was just doing a search for something else, and found this:
http://www.wasserstrom.com/restaurant-supplies-equipment/Product_432703
They sell the central rod and the blades separately. The central rod is $30, the blades are $16 each (ouch!). If you only need a few blades (say for scoring bark) then this might be a reasonable way to go.
-Jon
Thanks! 9 blades (plus rod) will cut a 12" toffee at 1.25 inch increments (leaving .75 inch) for $177.59. This could be the best deal out there and it appears to be the same or pretty close to the one that retails for $485. Unfortunately they are out of stock.
Please see my parts list above for a cheaper/more diy solution.
9 blades $25, rod $10, handles $14, spacers $7, nuts $4, giving a spacing of 1.375". You would need to pay about $7 more for the spacers (and stack pairs) to get 1.25". Give or take $65 for a cutter to your specifications.
-Jon
