Forum Activity for @deborah2

deborah2
@deborah2
02/11/16 12:19:09PM
25 posts

PID controllers: DIY seed generators and more


Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools

Daniel Haran: @deborah2 whoa! A $100 sous-vide controller, that's fantastic :)

In all fairness, I found it a few years ago as a result of Clay's post for a DIY melter , but I ended up using it for cooking dinner instead.  I recently bought another to use for a seed generator.

deborah2
@deborah2
02/10/16 08:34:00PM
25 posts

PID controllers: DIY seed generators and more


Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools

Rice cooker (analog, because the power goes out here in Panama every once in awhile) connected to a Dorkfood sous vide temperature controller set at 93F.  Cocoa butter in small glass jars in baggies.  Probe from the controller into the rice cooker, held down with the lid.  Water in rice cooker up the side of the jars about half way. Total equipment cost about $125.  I've been using this for several months now and it works like a charm.  Perfectly tempered chocolate in minutes.  The water really isn't an issue, but I'm careful to pat the jar dry when I pull it out of the baggie and before I unscrew the top.

deborah2
@deborah2
01/19/16 02:14:48PM
25 posts

Needed: Coconut Sugar Sweetened Couverture


Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

Mac Powell: Bocas del toro, an island near the North border with Costa Rica. My girlfriend's late boyfriend bought some property and discovered it had 10,000 old cacao trees on it so they bought it back to life, I guess it has been organic for a really long time. We mostly use those beans or a neighbors who works on the farm so we know the fermentation is ok. We have an organic coop and sometimes broker their beans. I have been doing the coconut sugar bars for a health food store in Panama city, at first The taste was strange but as the bar ages it mellows. Just not use to the taste of that sugar, It may be the new thing. 

I make chocolate in Boquete.  Organic cacao from COCABO and just regular sugar, though we are currently formulating a sugar free product.  Stop by CHOX if you're ever on this side of the divide.

deborah2
@deborah2
01/18/16 08:53:34PM
25 posts

Needed: Coconut Sugar Sweetened Couverture


Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

Mac Powell: We make bars with it here in Panama, why dont you do it yourself? What is your price point? What percent sugar, cacao, butter ect are you after.

Where in Panama are you, Mac? 

deborah2
@deborah2
07/29/15 10:14:49PM
25 posts

Piping Bag Frustrations. PLEASE Help!


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

A tall, plastic drinking glass that is a few inches shorter than the bag; drape the top over the edge of the glass.  Fill the bag, scrape along the edge if you like and then pull it up and out and proceed to pipe.  Been doing it this way for years.  The reason you get blank stares is that most pastry professionals are accustomed to holding it in one hand and filling with the other...I never could master that.

deborah2
@deborah2
03/29/15 09:26:04PM
25 posts

Cacao beer or wine available in the us?


Posted in: Tasting Notes

Clay, I'm a former Los Angelino now living in Panama (and making chocolate in the Chiriqui Highlands).  I will be visiting family in Los Angeles in mid-May and would LOVE to find Solbeso.  Will be available for purchase by then?  The company website says they are not yet launched in CA.

deborah2
@deborah2
12/26/11 09:40:53PM
25 posts

faux chocolates


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

Depending on how warm it gets without air conditioning, you might be able to do what I have done. I have a farmer's market table and my faux chocolates survived pretty well this summer, as long as they were not getting any direct sunlight. Imelt compound chocolate (I used the Wilton dark chocolate candy melts (they also have a lighter "milk chocolate" color) with soy wax, and pour the melted combination into my molds. I use magnetic molds, so it's pretty easy to get the chocolate out, even though it doesn't crystallize and shrink like real chocolate. The compound chocolate has a higher melting point than regular and the wax is even higher, so together they hold up pretty well and I can display the transfer sheet design in a way I couldn't do with styrofoam, clay, etc.If you do enrobed chocolates, you could use some other substance (e.g. modeling clay) for the shape and dip it in the same mixture to get the real couverture appearance. Just be sure the display is out of reach of direct sunlight from windows and doors.

deborah2
@deborah2
09/07/11 12:50:41PM
25 posts

Cracking cocoa beans using a Brazilian coffee sheller


Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools

John did tweek the Champion by cutting out a grid . If no one else gets to it first, I have both a Crankandstein and a Champion and can try the comparison this weekend.
deborah2
@deborah2
07/26/11 11:56:48PM
25 posts

Adventures with Colored Cocoa Butter


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

What temp is your cocoa butter when you are splattering it? It looks like it might not be warm enough.
deborah2
@deborah2
05/17/11 07:43:50PM
25 posts

Farmers' markets and other mobile options


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

Nat,

You might want to try something like this:melt compound chocolate (which appears to have a melting temp of 110 or so) and soy wax together and mold. I tried this with some bon bons and they survived just fine for a few hours in the low to mid 80's, out of direct sunlight. They got soft but did not appear visibly melted and re-gained their shape when cooled. And, they look just like chocolate:

deborah2
@deborah2
02/24/11 11:57:24AM
25 posts

New logo


Posted in: News & New Product Press

very cool.
deborah2
@deborah2
02/02/11 06:42:15PM
25 posts

First attempt at making truffles


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

I wouldn't call that a truffle...more like a chocolate covered cream cheese ball. You will get the consistency you want by making a ganache with chocolate and heavy cream; no cream cheese needed. Here is a pretty simple recipe you might want to try to start out. Dipping them in chocolate is more complicated, especially if you don't want to have to keep them refrigerated; then you need to learn about tempering. Coating with cocoa, crushed nuts, crushed oreos, etc is easier.
deborah2
@deborah2
01/19/11 07:12:34PM
25 posts

Low Calorie Chocolate Idea


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

I don't think it will ever harden without cocoa butter - which has been removed from thecacao to give you your cocoa powder. And, if you added cocoa butter, you'd have to keep your ingredients in dried form - the liquid milk will cause it to seize and "harden" in a way you don't want. Good dark chocolate should only run you about 150 calories an ounce; you're better off adjusting your diet and eating that in moderation than trying to adjust chocolate to your diet.
deborah2
@deborah2
01/21/11 02:14:22PM
25 posts

Wet grinders in the U.K


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

Andal,

Where would we find information on your ECGC-12 SS melanger? I do not see it on the Cocoatown website.

deborah2
@deborah2
11/17/10 09:44:55PM
25 posts

Bringing cacao beans into the U.S.


Posted in: Travels & Adventures

Thanks! Now, all I have to do is locate some...
deborah2
@deborah2
11/15/10 12:19:14PM
25 posts

Bringing cacao beans into the U.S.


Posted in: Travels & Adventures

very much appreciated, Nat.
deborah2
@deborah2
11/15/10 11:24:33AM
25 posts

Bringing cacao beans into the U.S.


Posted in: Travels & Adventures

I live in California and will be flying directly back here.
deborah2
@deborah2
11/14/10 08:55:10PM
25 posts

Bringing cacao beans into the U.S.


Posted in: Travels & Adventures

I am planning a trip to Costa Rica in a few months and if I'm able to locate some good, fermented and dried (but not roasted) cacao beans, I'd like to bring them back. I've tried the USDA site and the CBP site and I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure out what limitations there are on bringing them into the U.S., other than the fact that one should declare them. Does anyone here have some insight? Are they treated any differently than coffee beans (which, I imagine, would generally be roasted already)? Is there a limit to what I can bringback? Are they subject to quarantine?
updated by @deborah2: 04/29/15 06:05:51AM
deborah2
@deborah2
11/02/10 09:22:35PM
25 posts

Sahagun Coffee Bar


Posted in: Tasting Notes

What an interesting concept! I just ordered one myself ($7 shipping to here) and may also try making it, depending on how I like hers. Cafe au lait might be nice. I wonder if you have to temper it before molding?
deborah2
@deborah2
10/08/10 12:06:06AM
25 posts

Chocolate Wrappers


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

Anything that's food safe. For instance, there's a video on here posted by Rogue Chocolatier that shows them packaging their bars in poly bags and then in envelope boxes. There really isn't a limitation other than the fact that what touches the bar must be food safe. Personally, I like the look of the envelope boxes and they should be more protective than a foil wrapped bar with an outer wrapping of paper. However, they're more expensive too, unless you want to get into designing and producing your own.
deborah2
@deborah2
09/24/10 11:54:16PM
25 posts

dipping machines...


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

Kerry,I have been surreptitiously reading your posts on here and a couple other forums for about a year now and I have to say that one made me wish I didn't have liquid in my mouth at the time!
deborah2
@deborah2
09/24/10 01:28:01PM
25 posts

dipping machines...


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

A ladle. You may have to dip a few times to get the mold filled completely, but it will be less messy and easier than pouring from the bowl.
deborah2
@deborah2
12/07/10 12:29:03PM
25 posts



here's the link to the item; if it doesn't work, try a search for candy slicer: http://cgi.ebay.com/CONFECTIONERY-CUTTER-Candy-Slicer-Cake-Pastry-Guitar-/280597849205?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4154ef6475
deborah2
@deborah2
12/06/10 09:43:55PM
25 posts



I saw one on eBay just a day or two ago...a double frame.
deborah2
@deborah2
02/11/10 03:00:27PM
25 posts

What is the best way to learn to make chocolate


Posted in: Opinion

If you are interested in learning how to make chocolate "from bean to bar", the best way to get a free, general understanding is to read about it on chocolatealchemy.com.