IMAGINE CHOCOLATE launches Kickstarter Campaign, seeks referrals on Angels or early stage investors!
Posted in: Tasting Notes
OMG!!!!!! If you retail tests have been off the charts then We Can Expect a Ginormous order this Holiday Serason 
))
Forum Activity for @Chocotoymaker
Posted in: Tasting Notes
I don't get it?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
I am not sure what tempering machine you are using but what you are describing is chocolate going out of temper after either cooling too much or sitting still for too long. Try taking a measurement of your tempered chocolates temperature in 30 min intervals after it has been tempered and you will most likely see what i mean.
Marketing your Chocolates
Posted in: Opinion
Ideally you want to research your area and identify all of the vendors that have the type of business/clientele that can afford higher ticket food items ( gourmet chocolates). Then you would want to ensure that your product will stand out amongst their current selection. Find out who to pitch your product to, show up with samples etc, etc, etc.
Introducing a NEW product through a major distributor would have to mean that you have the manufacturing capabilities that allow you to sell your product DIRT cheap while being 100% compliant with any and all necessary gov't regulations.
Selmi help please
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Thank you.
I actually went back to the shop shortly after posting and did just that. Turned out to be a blown fuse on the electrical board. ( as you said)
Selmi help please
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
If anyone out there has a lot of Selmi know how, please help. End of day today my Top decided to call it quits. The machine was accidentally taken out of temper, and less than a min later the temper button was pressed again. A few seconds later it decided to die. And Die it did. The black/red switch on the right that is usually used to restart these things is permanently stuck on red and the black seems disabled. ( not even a clicking feel when pressed)
Any thought anyone?
Thanks
updated by @Chocotoymaker: 04/21/15 16:14:03
Bar packaging supplier
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
I use this guy
Jerry Hartje
National Sales Manager
Artistic Carton Co.
1975 Big Timber Road
Elgin, IL 60123
(c) 847-409-4138
How does one make a living in the chocolate business?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
A lot of deep thoughts going on here. I started my wholesale oriented chocolate business last Spring and am nearing completion of the first Holiday season. My schedule this first year has been nothing short of insane. I find myself counting the days down to Easter and the 2 week vacation I am going to take. I am supervising and most of the time participating in production. Almost all "items of increased difficulty" are produced under my direct supervision. I am slowly and patiently teaching my staff but its a long process. In addition all of artistic, packaging and other necessary logistic elements of the business are handled by me plus the sales. I find myself being a "jack of all trades". Do I love the chocolate life? YESSSS. Can I handle many more of the seasons like the one I currently bringing to a close? Def Not.
So thank you everyone for the wisdom that you have shared. A lot of truth has come from everyone in this discussion. Especially Brad, you have opened my eyes to a few things that I knew were there, but was sort of refusing to see.
Weird marks on molds after when working with hollow molds.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
No, not on these.
Weird marks on molds after when working with hollow molds.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Did some more experimentation today and actually pre heated my molds, the marks went away so I guess these are water spots. That opens another issue for me-If i can't decorate it I won't make it. How do I decorate it and pre-heat it at the same time?
Weird marks on molds after when working with hollow molds.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
I have recently ran into a problem with some of my molds.After de-molding I am getting weird spots that don't really qualify as water marks. (see attached) I have tried polishing molds, moved the temperature of the work environment to as high as 72 F and as low as 60 F, preheated the molds, washed and did all of the above. The problem first occured after the molds were washed before switching from milk chocolate to dark chocolate. This is not the first time that such a switch too place but a first time that I have encountered such a problem. My molds are all hand painted so I cannot pre-heat them too much anyway just to about 75-77 F. The image attached shows a cloudy area in the middle of an otherwise shiny object. Any suggestions? 
updated by @Chocotoymaker: 05/08/15 04:07:41
How Are You Making These Holidays Special with Chocolate?
Posted in: Tasting Notes
Well even though the "How to Make a Giant Santa" was well received, it did little in terms of boosting the online portion of our business. So without having much hope for boosting the internet, but still in the holiday spirit, here is " How to Make an Easter Bunny and an Easter Surprise Egg" video
How to make a Chocolate Easter Bunny and an Easter Surprise Egg
How Are You Making These Holidays Special with Chocolate?
Posted in: Tasting Notes
I make snowmen in a bunch of different variations, some of which can be seen at the website.
1. Most molds that we use, are spinning molds and we go with a set amount of chocolate that we have determined works for us ( as far as breakage and release times are concerned.) Our tempering machine has a dosing feature that allows us to choose the amount of chocolate that we would like to have deposited.
2. When using non-spinning molds , we typically fill the molds 2 times. Twice has been sufficient in most cases even when it comes to xtra-large molds such as the one in the video. Ultimately it depends on one's individual packaging considerations and weight requirements. I doubt you would ever need to fill anything more than twice, regardless of viscosity.
How Are You Making These Holidays Special with Chocolate?
Posted in: Tasting Notes
This holiday season season will be our third. While there is still much to be desired in terms of positive cash flow, production space and equipment, it has been one hell of a multitasking, 16 hour days with no days off for months at a time ride. We have given dozens of free make your own Turkey/Santa/Bunny classes to over a hundred kids. Here is a short "How to make a giant chocolate Santa" video that we have put together while having some fun and also hoping to promote our website.
How To Make a Giant Santa by EMVI chocolate
updated by @Chocotoymaker: 09/08/15 19:07:11