Forum Activity for @chocochoco

Hello Brad,

I am interested.

How does the chocolate get heated up and cooled down?

Regards,

Omar

Hi Trish,

You can send me pictures at (no spaces): omarcastano at hotmail dot com

I would also be interested in the barrel and coffee shapes.

Regards,

Omar

Hi Trish,

I am interested in the CW1388 mould. How many of this one do you have?

What other shapes do you have?

Where in Canada are you? I am in Toronto.

Regards,

Omar

Hi Clay,

Do you know how much will be the new FBM 10kg batch tempering machine? Thanks.

Omar

Hi,

I am interested in the Matfer temperer 20 kg. Am also in Toronto.

How could I contact you for details? Thanks.

Regards,

Omar

If I needed a food gun to just spray coloured cocoa butter (without chocolate)on molds, would the oilSPRAY (LM2) work for this purpose?

Thanks,

Omar

In two courses thatI attended, we made our own praline using a Robot Coupe Blixer 3. The praline was used for filling. The result was very good.

Hi Clay, would a melanger/grinder such as the cocoatown one do this job fine?

http://www.cocoatown.com/index.php/melangers/new-melanger.html

Or this other one:

http://www.nutbuttergrinder.com

Thanks,

Omar

Hi,

Do those mistakes affect recipes (amounts, missing ingredients)?

Thanks.

What about its volume capacity?

Hi Brad, it sounds interesting.

What is going to be the machine's volume capacity?

Is going to have a wheel/scraper attachment?

Thanks,

Omar

Jenny, thanks for the info. Unfortunately, the website doesn't give any detail. Could you help me with it?

What is the cutting area (length)?

What is the total length (including handles)?

Do the handles rotate independently from the wheels and rod/shaft?

How many wheels the cutter has?

Can you adjust the width of the wheels to any need or are you limited by spacers or combination of spacers?

What is the maximum thickness it can cut (wheel diameter - spacer diameter)?

Thanks a lot

Hi Jenny, what caramel cutter did you buy? Thanks.

Omar

Hi Glenn, which one did you buy? How do you like it?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Jeff, what airbrush brandwould you recommend?

Also, what type would you recommend, siphon (bottom) or gravity feed?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Lana,

How much cocoa butter should we add? Previously, you said 10 - 20% butter oil. Would be the same for cocoa butter?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Brian, got it.

Pomati seems to be more budget friendly than Selmi. How did you like it?

Thanks,

Omar

Hello Brian,

It would be nice if you shared your experience. After all, this is a forum. I think communicating privately defeats its purpose. Just my humble opinion.

Thanks,

Omar

Hello Paul,

It would be nice if you shared your experience. After all, this is a forum. I think communicating privately defeats its purpose. Just my humble opinion.

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Antonino,

You are right. My question was not clear, but you already answered it.

I just wanted to know why you are planning to buy a Selmi machine if you are so happy with FBM (and less expensive).

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Antonino,

From your previous posts, we can see that your experience with FBM has been great. FBM also seems to be less expensive than other manufacturers.

What did make you try Selmi?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Melanie,

Martellato also makes this type of guitar, manual,and has more frame sizes.

http://www.martellato.com/scheda.asp?content=1,83,91,1126,chitarra_taglio_a_spinta_40x40,01.html

Omar

Clay,

Savy Goiseau temperers, according to their website,areequipped with a 3-phase continuous tempering system(45 - 27 - 30) which can be adjusted depending on the type of chocolate.

It's my understanding that Selmi and FBM are equipped with a 2-phase continuous tempering system (45 - 30). Is this right? If so, wouldn't the tempering quality be compromised?

Thanks.

Hi Mike,

What is the company in Canada you found that it supplies ammonium hydroxide?

Thanks,

Omar

Hello Magrietha,

Your room temperature is too high. I have never tempered chocolate at this room temperature. It shouldn't be higher than 22C.

Have you tempered chocolate without problem before with such high room temperature?

Maybe the chocolate is in temper, but your confections are not cooling down fast enough because of the room temperature.

For your ganache problem, did you try using a different batch or bagof chocolate or cream? Maybe you had a bad batch.

Regards,

Omar

Hi Melanie,

How is the built of your Martellato guitar?

I think the same. Because the strings are short, they don't stretch very much, making them last longer. And changing the strings should also be easier.

The guitars shown in the links have a wheel mechanism that, as you said,should enable someone apply lot of force with a little leverage.

Hi Clayton,

Thanks for your reply. Do you think this type of guitar would make cutting firm slabs easier and also the broken wire problems would be reduced considerably?

Thanks,

Omar

Pavoni hasmanual and automatic models.

Link for the manual model:

http://www.pavonitalia.com/gestore.php?var0=eng&var1=Products&var2=MACHINES&var3=Cutter_units&var4=Manual_Lira

Youtube video link:

Lira Manuale (UK)

Link for the automatic model:

http://www.pavonitalia.com/gestore.php?var0=eng&var1=Products&var2=MACHINES&var3=Cutter_units&var4=Lira----E

Youtube video link:

Lira Automatica (UK)

Do you think the driving-force system is worth paying more money?

It seems like thistype of guitardoesn't have the broken-string problems (or not as often)thattraditional ones have, which are a pain to replace.

Thanks,

Omar

Hello everybody,

Has anybody tried or used the Martellato guitar? Here is the link:

http://www.martellato.com/scheda.asp?content=2,83,91,1126,chitarra_taglio_a_spinta_40x40,01.html

Its description says the the shortness of the wire ensures more machanical resistance and the possibility to cut hard and frozen products, which seems to make sense. And the cutting frame always keep at an open angle, contrary to the traditional guitar, which angle closes as it cuts the slab, becomingharder as the resistance increases. Unfortunately, the price tag is very high at US$4,939.00 on the Martellato USA website:

http://www.martellatousa.com/product/CSM040/New_Guitar_With_Driving-Force_System_15.74%27%27_X_15.74%27%27.html?cid=30

You can also watch a video on youtube:

Chitarra per pasticceria Martellato srl.mov

What do you think? Any input or feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Stu, who is the manufacturer of the melting tanks?

- Omar

Hi Clay,

I strongly agree with you in regards to what it matters is the consistent throughput and quality. In the mid and long term, the Irinox cabinets will allow to increase productivity by maximizing throughput and minimizing waste, at the end becoming affordable and even cheaper than other short term budget solutions.

Desmon seems to be a good alternative to Irinox. How Desmon's quality compares to Irinox? 60% less is a big difference. Is Desmon's quality not as good as Irinox?

Once again, thanks a lot.

Omar

Thanks a lot for your feedback Melanie.

What price range for wine coolers would you consider cheap? I am looking at this two units (please follow link below). The first one is $755.00, and the second one, which has twice the capacity, $895.

http://www.rosehillwinecellars.com/vintage-keeper-wine-cabinet-110
http://www.rosehillwinecellars.com/vintage-keeper-wine-cabinet-220

How do these two wine coolers look compared to the ones that you have?

Thanks,
Omar

Hello everybody,

First of all, I would like to thank Clay for this wonderful website. It is a great source of invaluable information for chocolate lovers.

I am located in Toronto, Canada, and have been looking at different options to store finished chocolate truffles and pralines, for a small scale operation. It is not easy to find climatized chocolate cabinets, and if I find them, they are very expensive.

I think one of the options would be a wine cooler. According to Callebaut, the ideal temperature for storing finished products is between 12C and 20C, and the maximum relative humidity should be no more 70%. Here is the excerpt from Callebaut:

'Humidity
Chocolate must be protected against humidity. As a general principle, the maximum relative humidity in the warehouse should be 70%. Storage of chocolate products on floors or against walls should be strictly prohibited because this greatly increases the risk of absortion of humidity.'

Based on this, wine coolers manage the ideal chocolate storage temperature range, and their humidity is around 70%, making them an acceptable storage option.

Has anybody used or tried a wine cooler to store finished chocolate truffles and pralines?

If humidity is too high, how could be reduced? Maybe loading a try with rice or salt into the wine cooler?

Thanks for your feedback.

Omar

Hi Javier,

Did you have the opportunity to try them?

How do you like them?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Javier,

May I ask why are you selling the tempering machines?

What country were they manufactured?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Antonino, did the machine arrive?

Omar

Hi Antonino,

Congratulations!! Yes, you are right. Big companies often don't care about small businesses.

Have you talked to people who own one of the FBM tempering machines? What is the feedback?

Thanks,

Omar

Hello Tom,

Could you give more details on how the tempering in the FBM machine is done totally different from the Selmi one?

Would be possible to see a Selmi machine in Toronto, Canada?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Antonino,

Did you order the Fbm/Boscolo Unica?

How do you like it?

Thanks,

Omar

Hi Lana,

Is not worth paying more for a tempering machine with a wheel/dispenser?

Is there any reason that has kept you away from buying one of these machines different from its price (as it is at least twice the price of a big Mol d'Art)?

Thanks!