Forum Activity for @Ruth Atkinson Kendrick

Sebastian, is it possible for seeds in one pod to be different types, like cross-pollination?

I have one with the enrober. It is a good little machine. Like Kerry says, low tech. It isn't the greatest temper, but for the price, it certainly will get the job done.

If the weather has been warm, I put them in the fridge when I first get them to firm up. After that, I keep in dark, dry room.

Just use a cream fondant. 4 cups sugar, 1 cup cream, 1/2 water, 2 tablespoons corn syrup or honey, pinch salt. Cook to soft ball (238 sea level) Pour out to cool. Stir when about 115 degrees. For chocolate, add 3 oz cocoa mass when beating. A bit of vanilla if desired.

Glucose slows down the crystallization. If you put too much in, you get excessive cold flow. I personally wouldn't use sorbitol because It can cause digestive problems, and I don't want it on my label. It is a sugar that metabolizes slower than sucrose, and binds water in a ganache. Not sure the purpose of it in a caramel. Sebastian???

In my experience, your glucose percentage is very low. I would bump up the glucose and cut out the sorbitol (for a lot of reasons).

My batch makes about 350 pieces and takes about an hour. I have the round-bottomed copper pot and a Savage stove. Cooking caramels can be fast or slow. If you want more color and possibly deeper flavor, it takes a longer time. For me, I want a medium dark color and a nice caramel flavor. I can do it with my recipe in the hour. If I need to slow it down because of not having someone around to help pour, I can cook slower and just let it cook for several hours. As Jenny said, cutting takes almost as much time as cooking.

In Utah, as long as the finished product does not require refrigeration, it is allowed.

Greweling has a good recipe for Cream Caramel that pipes very well.

The first time I tried to load it, it took forever and I gave up. This time it was fast. I am not a fan of light colored text. The blue and pink are a bit hard to read. Personally, I like a darker text. A side note--when a new customer comes in, do you offer samples of the chocolate? How would a customer know which chocolate pairs with a particular flavor? Do you offer a variety of chocolates in your truffles, or just the bars?

I prefer the slab to stand for 24 hours before cutting, but have cut sooner when needed. I want it at room temp.

The roller knife is not time consuming--just the opposite. I can cut perfect sizes in just minutes. Check out Savage.

You can rework them even when too firm. You just cooked out too much water, so add water and recook. It takes a while to get the caramel back in solution. I found the easiest way is to put in the oven. In a few hours, it is in solution and ready to cook again. My mantra has always been "There are no mistakes in candy making---just rename it". I use that when all else fails:-)

I know, I must have too much time on my hands, but I was wondering if anyone "tunes" their guitar. It makes sense that the wires are the same size, and the same length. Shouldn't they play the same note? I figure that it must let you know that the tension is the same, correct? I haven't tightened the wires on my most used frame for a long time, so I tightened it up today. I tried to get about the same note. Am I crazy?

I have observed a local business that uses their fire mixer 14 for their white chocolate. Seems to work for them. Why don't you call Javier at Savage and ask him the differences?

Yup--go to Walmart and buy a $40 Hamilton Beach. Drew Shotts put me on to these. They do a great job and outlast R-C's and Cuisinarts. They have a plastic shaft and all the bad China stuff, but they last and last. The last time I made Praline, I caramelized the hazelnuts and tossed them in. Ran it for about 15 minutes until the oil released. It won't take it down to a totally smooth paste, but much better than the other options.

Forget about a Robot Coupe. It has a duty cycle of only 5 minutes. A cheap Hamilton Beach will work until the oil separates from the nuts.

Check out Albert Uster. They have a large variety of items and you can compare prices.

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.

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

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.

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.

You have Chef Rubber in Vegas that offers courses taught by some of Las Vegas's top chocolatiers. I also like your apprenticing idea. Find out if you really like it as a profession.

I have a Dedy and it works well. It is on a stand with wheels and I have 4 frames. I mostly use the 22.5 frame.

I was asked to run a beta version several years ago. At the time, I owned a Hilliard 80# and an ACMC. The chocolate dude is an ok machine. They didn't use it as a melter, only a temperer. I made several suggestions, and am not sure if they used any of them. I suggested a lid, and either finger holds cut in the sides or pull handles installed so you could grab it and move when you needed to. I think it is better for hand dipping than for molds. It is just a knock-off of the Hilliard design once their patent ran out. I think it would do the same job as a Rev or ACMC. I just prefer the Savage better.

Andy, Anything new to report?

Andy, have you tried different chocolates? If white works, maybe try a different chocolate, either brand or type?

You could always use a little white with the dark and swirl it. Any bloom would look like you meant it BTW I use a 61% and sprinkle with Fleur de Sel, then the nuts.

As a friend in the business once told me, "Welcome to toffee Hell". If you think about it, tempered chocolate releases from a smooth surface, i.e. molds. We want it to release from molds, but not from smooth toffee. I finally decided to place callets on very warm surface and not touch until about 90F. I put on a clean glove and smear. I want it out of temper. I then top with fairly fine almonds. This is to hide any bloom. I have very little if any lifting. I have heard of sprinkling with flour to absorb any oil, but I don't have an oil problem and don't want the gluten in it. I have also heard of dusting with cocoa powder to absorb any oil. Also, I use dark chocolate only on toffee-just personal preference.

As to the blooming after a few days, I had the opportunity last week of taking a class from Chef Greweling and Mark Heim of Hershey. I didn't catch the whole discussion, but it had something to do with leaving the finished product in an 86 degree room for a time and it prevented or made the bloom go away. Wish I would have taken better notes! I think Mark hangs out here on occasion. He would have a great answer for you. Mark?

You should be fine. My experience has been that it is the milk fats that will turn. White chocolate has the shortest shelf live. I can keep that for at least a year if kept dry, dark and cool. Dark can be kept for years.

Do not clean them! Use a hair dryer to melt the chocolate then wipe the outside of the molds with a soft towel. Use a cotton ball to polish the indentations.

The purpose is two-fold. To make it slide on a surface, and so that if the piece is not completely covered by enrobing, the piece will still be covered. (Use the same chocolate for the foot that you enrobe with).

Our humidity here rarely goes over 20% (unless it is raining) and I don't have problems. I rather think it is an advantage. I can take chocolate from a cold room to room temp without condensation collecting. It might be just what you are used to. I don't know if I could produce in high humidity with the same results.

Thanks Mark. I've always wondered why it did that. I never have a problem in the large batches in a copper kettle over an open flame, but have had a problem using an induction burner.

I forgot one very important part. Weight your sugar, don't measure it. You want a pound.

Reduce the water to 1/4 C. Cook in a tall rather than flat pan. I heat the water and butter to a boil, then stir in the sugar. Cook on med to med high, stirring constantly. If it is going to separate, it will do it at about 250. Adding water and continuing to cook will solve the problem. You need to cook to at least 310. Good luck.

Hi Lana, I also have the Perfect and have the cover. I usually don't run with the cover down. I like to see what is going on and it seems like one piece is aways flipping over at just the wrong time. Unlike Daniel, I rarely take my machine apart. When I am finished for the day and not planning on using it the next day, I just shut it down after running the belt with the blower on for a few minutes. I definitely would get the cover. It has a ceramic heater in it to help keep everything melted. Don't expect an operators manual. There are a few pages of instructions, but not much in the way of help. You will have to figure out most everything on your own. I spent 3 months fighting the temperature, figuring that the machine just wasn't made to maintain temp like I wanted. With a little experimenting, I found that the temp probe was wired backwards! After that was corrected, it was much better. Oliver is very good at trouble shooting on the phone As Daniel has said, it is a basic machine. It does most everything I need it to. Freight to Utah was about $700, 18 months ago. That included customs. I also have an 80# Hilliard without the enrober. I think the Perfect is about as easy to temper as the Hilliard. When running the enrober for several hours, I have to add melted chocolate to keep the level up. I just pour this through the wire belt.

Well said. Couldn't agree more!