Forum Activity for @Chocotoymaker

Hilliards has excellent customer service. Call them, I am sure that they will be happy to help

Hi Virgilio,

      Do you still have these ? I am looking to get the 60 Kg unit.

     Thanks

      Best

          Victor

Thank you Clay !

HAHA,

        Brad, I am with you on the eating chocolate for the health benefits a one part joke and one part a marketing ploy by the industry to sell more of it. Lol. I get people walking into my store and asking me for healthy chocolate all the time, I used waste my breath and try to explain the " fat and sugar" issue, but now I just tell them to go to their local supermarket and buy cocoa powder. I suppose that if the choice is between eating a supermarket pumpkin, pecan of apple pie, or a chocolate bar, the  chocolate bar is in theory a healthier alternative.

Hi Clay,

      Where did you find this portion of the info ? I followed the link to the FDA website, but must have overlooked where they discuss " the size of the packaging" 

 " However, if the total is over 100,000 then each size of the product needs a nutrition facts panel — unless the total area is less than 12 sq in, in which case you need to indicate, on the label, a way for the customer to get the information should they so desire" 

     Thank you

  Best

Get your self a Selmi with a removable screw. You will be able to use small inclusions and that should alleviate most of your scaling up concern.

  Also, before you start spending $$$, I would suggest toughing it out for 6 months or so to get an idea of how many bars your new accounts are going to move. The bar market is ultra crowded and insanely competitive. 41 or 500 accounts does not necessarily mean several thousand bars a month or several hundred a day.

    Best

Hi ,

    I am interested, where are you shipping from and how will you be shipping it ? Please contact me a victor@emvichocolate.com

    Thank you

    best

   Victor

    best

        Victor

Sebastian,

       Do you have a chocolate shop ?

Brad Churchill:
Hi Adrienne I hope to be able to increase volume enough in the new year to offer my bars over the web all over North America.  I've already bought some of the equipment.  Now I just need a place to install it and put it to work!   The reason I don't ship right now, is because I can't meet local demand.   Cheers Brad

Brad,

      I d love to try some of your chooclate as well. I trade you some of my santas and snowmen for some samples!!!!

Sarah,

    You can get red beet, annatto, tumeric powders with ease on teh internet, but just like Clay said, they will not subsitute for luster and are best used as mixed or steeped into white chocolate and or cocoa butter.

Get yourself one of these, if you work cold 85 F or colder in a 65 F room, you can spray most colored cocoa butters with no prob. If cocoa butter starts getting too thick, get a heat gun and heat the brush. I prefer the open flame one. IF YOU WORK COLD, YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFULL IN GETTIONG SOLID RESULTS ON 3rd or 4 th try.

  http://www.shopchefrubber.com/GREX-1-8-HP-Psi-Type-Mini-Compressor-120V/

here is the same item using just red beet blend, also suspended in oil. The item in this pic is about a year old there is no migration ( made thousands of them )

https://www.thechocolatelife.com/chocotoymaker/gallery/9867/img-6901#gallery_img

I have no idea why the pics are not posting. I have added them to my gallery page under " Natural Colors" you should be able to see them there.

I understand what you are saying about liquid fat. My colors arrive to me already suspended in canola oil. I receive three; Red Beet, Tumeric, Annatto. For soem reason it is only the Annatto that migrates. The other two remain stable ( with the exception of tumeric fading ( another headache)

I have been using different combinations of red beet, tumeric and annatto for a while now and have been getting some really great results. One problem I have is the visual shelf life. When ever annatto borders white chocolate ( see attached pics) it tends to migrate into the nearby area affecting my product's appearance enough to be a problem as far as longer shelf life is concerned. Any thoughs on the reasons for migration as well as ideas on how I can slow the migration down ?

30 - 60 days later

I am use Belcolade and Callebaut. I make mostly hollow, decorated articles. I like to work a little on the hot side in a cool room and let molds finish the tempering for me. The molded items are then packed in a plastic box ( that is not air tight) and there after placed in a cardboard box ( which is airtight). When I taste freshly molded items they taste fantastic with strong chocolate flavor and great melting. As the pieces get older 1/2/3/4 months the flavor becomes weaker and they no longer " instamelt".

Sebastian,

When you say " over time". How long before the still liquid cocoa butter begins to solidify and at what rate?

I currently use fairly expensive chocolate that happens to agree well with my pallet and the pallets people that I have surveyed. Most of my products have at a minimum 3 months from being made to being eaten by the customer and in many cases customers hold on to our products for 6 months or longer (as they do not change much visually). When comparing my day old products to my month old products to my 3/6/9/12 month old products I have noticed " huge peaks and valleys" turning into foothills, which makes me ask two questions;

Since 6 months to a year later the difference in flavor is not as easily noticeable, should I keep using such expensive Belgian chocolate or switch to something domestic.

Is there a way that I could maintain the "peaks and valleys" for a longer period of time?

I appreciate your thoughts

Best

Victor

Industry Average

Broker 2-5%

Distributor 15-15%

As far as a salesperson is concerned, unless you have a well established mix of product/pricing/historicals, it will be difficult to obtain a qualified person, even if on a part time basis.

59 th street Food Emporium has a great selection as does 2 Beans. NYC is loaded with great chocolate shops representing numerous styles and countries, but most of what they carry can be ordered on line, for chocolate experiences that you can not order on line, stop by;

FIKA on Washington street, but only if you get to see them make chocolate

CACAO PRIETO in Red Hook, make sure that you ask them for a tour. Their equipment and factory are super cool, as is the distillery.

The smell in Mast Brothers alone is enough to warrant recommending a visit. Not being a huge fan of Bean 2 Barianism myself and caring little for the home ground delicacies, I must admit that the smell of roasting cocoa beans is incredible, addictive and works really well with the vibe of the place.

Sugar and Plumm has a very cute shop on the Upper West side, and their creme brulee cookie ( although devoid of chocolate) is to die for.

Eataly NYC has a great Italian selection and some of the cutest local chocolate bunnies in the city as well as adorable chocolate surprise eggs.

Assuming that you are not working at the warmest of the range, for ex you can comfortably work with good dark at 29 C or at 31.5 C, deduct a degree for milks and whites. If you are working with dark at lets say 30-30.5 in a 67 degree room you should at the very least be able to add 2 lb of 40 C melted chocolate for every 10 that you have in. Give it an extra good stir for 7-8 seconds and check to make sure that it did not leave the acceptable working temperature range. Ultimately, it is going to take a little trial and error and then you should have no problem.

I use a bunch of high quality poly molds. Some of them are carried by Tomric, you can see many in my photos and on my website. If you work them right they are well worth it, some require a great deal of finesse and a bit of a learning curve.

I may have the exact space that you are describing become available in late spring. You can view a part of it in a video that I recently posted. PM me for contact info or send email to info@emvichocolate.com

How To Make a Giant Santa by EMVI chocolate

A great, informative post. Thank you.

Julie, If you are seeding you DO NOT need to bring chocolate down to 27 and then back up. Cool it down to 30-31 for dark (WHILE SEEDING) or 29-30 for milk/white (WHILE SEEDING)

Cooling it to 27 then raising to 30-31 is for tempering without seeding.

Most couvetures available in distribution(That I have worked with) will not solidify at 27 in their untempered state.

If you want to follow the 45-27-30 guideline then STOP SEEDING.

You can generate barcodes with GS1datadriver

https://datadriver.prod.gs1us.org/dd2/auth/Login.action

You will have to purchase a membership and there is an annual renewal fee.

https://www.google.com/search?q=colored+cocoa+butter&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&client=firefox

chef rubber pops up first, I ve used it before, its fine, but they pretty much all are the same.

You want to be using colored cocoa butter and either be mixing it with white chocolate or airbrushing it.

Contact us through the website.

You can intern with us in a month or so.

emvichocolate.com

If you are willing to pay 2.5 x the price of TT go with a small continuous tempering machine. You can get more info and discounts through this site.

I have a few for a couple of years now, I am not in love with them, but they work, haven't had any technical issues. They are no different from any other wheel machines out there.

You can just as easily use a pairing knife and a ruler. A little bit of practice and you,ll be able to get at least 100 square in 20 cuts. Total investment $ 5

Even though it is true that you don't need to temper colored cocoa butter you want to work with it at as low a working temperature as possible. You can still easily spray it at 28-29 degrees. Working at that temperature will give you ability to work up close with your mold as well as apply a thick coat. You need to practice a little bit to find a perfect balance between your cocoa butter and the conditions of your room. I am sure you know this already , but if possible you should always in exactly the same temperature/humidity setting. If you would like to be able to spray for a long time (large mold, multiple molds) you can momentarily heat your brush with hot air (( hair dryer, kitchen torch( I prefer the later)

I am def watching your show

i ll try one ASAP if they are any good will def get a few more.

You can get Belcolade from Puratos USA. I believe they deliver nation wide. Their typical pallet is 40 cases x 55 lb, but you can order less. ( like 30 x 55) They will charge you a few 100 bucks for delivery though

Def has a ton of potential. The food network would be crazy not to give this one a shot for at least a season.

Either your room or your molds are too cold when you pour your chocolate. Plus there is no need to wait a few hours before de-moulding.

Take a hair dryer and heat the molds with it for about 3 seconds that should take care of your release marks. Leave them in the fridge as long as needed for them to completely release and then just take them out without letting them sit for hours.

I second that , Maybe you can take advantage of the winter months and ship a box or 10 to NYC.

Y is it that you do not ship outside Calgary agn?

Your " Our Difference" page made me want to get on a plane and fly over to experience the difference first hand LOL. Text on the other pages sounds very inviting as well and I actually wanted to order some undoubtedly delicious truffles only to discover that I couldn't . Bummer.

P.S. Not smart phone friendly at all.

Good Job!