Forum Activity for @Alan Crofut

Alan Crofut
@Alan Crofut
09/23/15 09:09:37
4 posts

Hilliard 6 inch coater w/ belt, pump & shaker table


Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

Hilliard 6inch temperer with longer style belt 

Metering pump for molds  

Hilliard shaker table

All in fine shape.

$12k obo  

Delivery within 1000mi of NH possible

In person instructions possible

Alan - 603-661-2377

 


updated by @Alan Crofut: 06/29/23 16:49:02
Alan Crofut
@Alan Crofut
05/24/13 14:15:58
4 posts

Caramel - changed sugars, now it gets grainy quickly


Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

I used to use white sugar and sorghum syrup, now I use organic cane with sorghum syrup and brown rice syrup.

The pieces are stable for a couple of days, then begin to crystalize.

Suggestions? Is it balancing fructose / sucrose?


updated by @Alan Crofut: 04/16/15 22:18:54
Alan Crofut
@Alan Crofut
05/04/10 14:42:29
4 posts

Recent retail scams I've had...


Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

My shop is smallish, but I've had a few fraudulent attempts, I wonder about everyone else's experiences.

First guy...
Emailed "My daughter's birthday chocolates", I sent him a quote for a little over $1200 worth of chocolate. All seemed well as we emailed back and forth regarding the details. He claimed to be travelling out of the country, tight schedule etc. I have many customers like that.

The wierdness started with payment. Of course. He wanted to send a credit card number and charge the shipping amount also, saying he had someone to pick it up when the order was ready. He wanted to charge $600 for shipping and have me give the driver the cash.

That was an easy one to catch. The credit cards these people use are valid for about two weeks and then you get a chargeback for that amount, plus penalties. So, it all looks good, you get the money, then it gets taken away by your merchant account processor.

I Googled the email and physical address, it came up with red alerts from other people they had scammed. I called the FBI, because here I was, in contact with a known group of criminals. The FBI said they had too many of this type of crime, and sent me away.

Second one...
Bride says she's getting married, 600 people, wants samples.
She's from Tulsa, a place I rarely, if ever ship to. I ask her "Why me" she says she found me in a magazine. That's plausable, but I'm already skeptical.

I offer her 4pak truffles, she says great. We agree on flavors & time, I tell her it's $6000 plus shipping. She says "great, I'll send you my credit card information when I get the samples". I responded - I'm sorry, we'll need your credit card number to hold the shipping charges for the sample. If you don't purchase, we charge you $25, if you do order, we take it off the bottom line.

Up until that point, all emails were answered within minutes. Never heard from them again. Maybe, just maybe, it was a real order and I offended them. Highly doubtful.

These were pretty easy to spot. Neither customer was in to the chocolates, like a real customer would be.

Care to share any of your experiences?


updated by @Alan Crofut: 08/19/15 05:29:14
Alan Crofut
@Alan Crofut
09/23/09 10:11:55
4 posts

Chocolatiers = Re-melters?


Posted in: Opinion

I also take offense at this new term "re-melter". Many of us are artisans and it is all about beauty and flavor delivery. Frankly, I have yet to find a good "bean to bar" chocolate that was very palatable. No, I have not had many.But this new bean to bar industry is like the coffee bean roasters of the 1980's. I wish them as much luck. Maybe in 20 years everyone here in the US will be familiar with and prefer GOOD chocolate! Especially as the level of understanding is raised.Who really cares where the chocolate comes from? My customers don't. They just want an exceptional taste, across the board, that is consistent, smooth and exciting. Why get an attitude about the two different types of chocolatier?When I lived in Africa, I learned a term in Yoruba thet translates as "I see that you are working and it is good for all of us". There was absolutely no judgement on the work itself.