Forum Activity for @Andy Ciordia

Summer shipping tips & tricks?

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

Clay asked that I repost this from his LinkedIn group. My father is a retired a doctor and he gave me this idea, save money by asking the hospitals or pharmacies for their cold packs.

Pharmaceuticals are nearly all shipped cold, makes sense. What doesn't is that I have yet to find a pharma or hospital that has a good disposal practice. These centers will get in a crate of products, packed with 8-12oz cold packs--the same ones you buy, but they just trash them when done.

I asked one specialist if he would mind keeping a box of mine in his back office and when they got in shipments to just throw the icepacks in my box. They have no problem with this and now probably have enough ice for the next two years. I supply the office with some goodies as thanks and send the Dr. a few goodies for the family and everyone is very supportive.

So if you're looking for a very cheap way to get your hands on a lot of ice, strike up a conversation with your pharmacist or a Dr. you see regularly and I'll bet you'll have a mountain of ice packs you can have access too. Not to mention it feels like we're recycling a bit further instead of just adding more to the landfill.

How to find Rental Kitchens?

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

Additional ideas, we ran out of church kitchens for quite a while. Knights of Columbus banquet halls. We've also been able to use other bakers kitchens. If you work out at the markets you'll meet lots of people who will have local suggestions and be able to help you with caveats too.

Chocolate Panning, process and equipment

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

Hey Bob, how'd your education, equipment procurement, and first steps go? We're looking into panning but probably not on the scale you are.

Stabilizing Chocolate Sauce

Posted in: Recipes

What a pain. I mean we use certified kitchens (health dept, not ag dept) and we're insured seven ways to sunday but who knew trying to get this further out there would be such a twisted issue. In the states eyes I always considered us a low water activity food, that's what they classify chocolate sauce as--or did. Their new site is confusing me and I should probably talk to the extension office.We currently sterilize the jars through the oven method then we transfer once cooled into a fridge. Which was in line with UGA on Choc. sauce so for general use and early consumption I think we currently meet most criteria, it's the idea of taking this into a wider audience--and outside of cold storage into places that are going to have to go the distance that is deeply worrisome.I think from here we're going to adapt some suggestions ie: switch out some sugar, maybe use some powdered egg instead of total replacement (we're not having good luck with any large % shift), do some testing with Rosemary Oil in very light light use--if we can at all stay in our current textures/tastes/etc, we'll ship it to the state college for testing/evaluating.This has all been talk over chocolate sauces, but what of caramel sauces that use a lot more sugar, then butter & heavy cream. I can't think fructose or dextrose will behave right in a caramel making process. Are there any thoughts on it's safety/stability? I haven't been able to google up much info at all concerning it.

Stabilizing Chocolate Sauce

Posted in: Recipes

I'd really rather not know this route, but it is good to know there are natural additives that can help slow rancidities & microbes.We have a fudge sauce which a vendor wants to have shelf-stabilized so it does not need refrigeration and can sit on their shelves. Our sauce likes refrigeration and when we do not do so it forms mould specs on the surface that I'm sure would become a forrest if we let it.We always start and end a conversation with refrigeration, enjoy in a timely manner, and hell--just buy more, don't conserve! hehe.In an effort to make inroads into certain retail positions we sometimes have no opportunity for refrigeration but the clients still want us in. I'm just trying to find ways of adding longevity to our products (mainly our ganache which is butter/cream & fudge sauce egg/butter) before like you said butter goes rancid (which is around 2 weeks now at room temp), or mould sets in (which also seems to hover in the 2-3 week range).Again being in the startup phase/curve it's hard for us to justify large expenditures in testing labs or equipment of our own. Most of the time we do direct-to-consumer but I'm marketing us so hard we're attracting a lot of diversified interests which do help us pad the bottom line. The more I can satisfy them the easier it is on our growth but of course I won't compromise our mantra and products if it's created in a science lab.

Stabilizing Chocolate Sauce

Posted in: Recipes

Thanks you x2. I've written Yves and told him also that their info@ mailbox must lead to a dead-end. Appreciate the information and quick response. Maybe today I can make progress on something hah!

Stabilizing Chocolate Sauce

Posted in: Recipes

I've tried to contact the Biosecur people and they do not return my emails. Have you seen them in a store? I'll keep trying.For the ROE do you have a product by name you'd recommend? I find a lot for skin-care products and while I'm sure it's food-grade I'd like to find something specific. Most sites definitely talk about how it can impart it's flavor into your products so to steer very carefully.

Stabilizing Chocolate Sauce

Posted in: Recipes

Thanks Jeff for the response, I'll do some research in the directions you've mentioned and report back any findings. Glad to hear there are some natural solutions out there for a variety of these thoughts.

Stabilizing Chocolate Sauce

Posted in: Recipes

We usually don't stabilize anything (we encourage refridgeration and timely consumption) and some of the retail stores we are looking at have asked us to do just that.
updated by @Andy Ciordia: 04/30/15 03:43:02

Water Ganaches

Posted in: Recipes

We don't do water ganaches as it takes away from the texture we desire but I had to comment that each tea is different in how well it can be reflected in an infusion.If you were to try cream again I would steep your tea in the cream for up to 45m and watch how much flavor comes out (and still little to no acrid nature). We make an earl grey, jasmine, & chai tea like this. Last night we just had a chocolate and tea pairing with a white chocolate + green tea & floral, 60% dark chocolate ganache & rose roobios, fudge brownie and chai tea.. Fun stuff!Good luck in your search, trials, and taste! :D

Display cases

Posted in: Opinion

Winter months for us need no cooling, just transportation. Summer months we use multiple coolers to limit humidity exposure. For the table we either do rotation of product or sacrifice a display box or make clay core dummies dipped in chocolate and sealed. Experimentation is always the best. If you search the forums here you'll find some good market threads. Since I'm on my phone it's hard to elaborate as much as I have in the past.

Display cases

Posted in: Opinion

As I read your other requests.. another thing that has worked well for us. You began as a hobby, and now are going directly to retail operation. If you need middle steps to prove your area and market has legs find your local farmers market communities and sell there. We've got two years of positive numbers and a loyal following. It has also given us time to find other retail positions to test out different sectors in our area. I've had enough failures in my life so far to know that I wanted to grow something that had roots and with this I think we've got it. Just a thought on growth patterns and some mitigation for feeling you may get in over your head.Microwave tempering we've never tried. The microwave causes such a fast heating that getting it into that tempering zone.. One thing we do if the need requires it is microwave the chocolate to melted then transfer to a cooktop for getting it in the zone. Clay has some good ideas on using proofing ovens to fire and forget your temper too.

Display cases

Posted in: Opinion

I think humidity control is your biggest concern. If too much humidity enters the case then you're going to see some condensation over time.We store our truffle ganache in freezers, made truffles in fridgerators, and then they get moved into retail positions which have varying cases. We've been in a deli case to very old candy cases. The older the case the more you have to worry about something failing and when it fails, be prepared to have your product go mutant on you ahah.The fridge and freezer / texture argument I think is one based on the composition of your truffles. We use cream only and have never had a textural issue and texture is very important to us.We're looking into our own cases now as well and my god they are so expensive for what you seemingly get. If you find any further information out there let us know. I had started a thread over in StartupCntrl: http://www.thechocolatelife.com/group/startupcentral/forum/topics/display-case-recommendations

How Are You Making These Holidays Special with Chocolate?

Posted in: Tasting Notes

This is our first year for gift boxes and those are doing well. We also came out with a chocolate fudge and caramel sauce which we introduced with a moist chocolate bundt cake . Devilish. During our testing I gained 10# which I'm now working out extra hard to peel back off haha!We also brought out a few new infusions for our truffles: peppermint, winter spice, ginger, mexican cinnamon, and rosemary.All in all it's turning out to be a great season and we're having a lot of fun with it. Already writing down lessons from this year to be applied to next. Now I need to remember to put into the work orders my own gifts for friends and family before I forget!

Local Regulations for opening a Chocolate Shop. Kitchen- Yes or No?

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

Isn't that crazy? With all that you'd think theres some affiliate racket for them to put these in places. The grease trap manufacturers are recession proof.

Local Regulations for opening a Chocolate Shop. Kitchen- Yes or No?

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

God I love the grease trap argument. If all you deal with is cream they still want you have a grease trap. At least that's here in NC.

Local Regulations for opening a Chocolate Shop. Kitchen- Yes or No?

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

This is going to change state to state, county to county. Being classified as a kitchen usually takes ovens and gas stoves. I think Clay has said (and of course correct me if I'm wrong) you can get around the stove top by going induction.You're going to want to talk with your areas health department to find out what defines it all.

longevity, how to make your chocolates last longer.

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

Just know as you tinker with life, you tinker with taste and texture. If you don't mind turning artificial or waxy there is a world of science you can inject but I don't recommend it.We freeze ganache tubs & pre-rolled ganache balls, then when it's time for use we let return to room temp (minus a few degrees) before enrobing/dipping. Once they are enrobed you can no longer freeze without cracking (too much shrinkage) but you can refrigerate them quite well. Sugar blooming will really only occur if you have too much humidity and they begin to sweat. Even then one trick we found was you can pop them with a torch if you catch them early enough.We strive for a fresh and natural product. Your goals may vary.

Chocolate packaging & boxes, something special?

Posted in: Opinion

You need to start somewhere and your packaging is always evolving. Start with something you can feel comfortable with whether paper, plastics, recycled and spice it up with your own flair whether it's in stickers, ribbons, etc.Then when you have the budget you can move into something like Mod-Pac or Glerup and get your boxes built from the ground up custom. It's just a huge burden at the startup phase due to the run sizes.

Nutrition Information

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Many states have a program that will analyze your foods and give you the information from contents to packaging recommendations. North Carolina costs $50 per item.This takes some work but you can assemble the data through the governments website: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ It's going to be relative, not absolute.Doing some searching on nutritional data comes up with a few other sites that require membership (gen. free) that you can assemble your recipes for nutritional breakdown.

I wouldn't limit yourself early on with the duration of life expectancy. Make your product, make it taste great, and have a short shelf period like a cupcake. If you want to go the long haul you can always add science to the mix and find ways of making it last longer but that seems overkill starting at the inception of something which taste and texture should prevail..

Insert - printing solutions

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

Ooh, I like that idea Clay. Allows for a lot of flexibility and you can pick up some really nice paper styles.

Insert - printing solutions

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

We use our Dymo Labeler to do the job. I've made EPS files of all the shapes and then we lay them out on one of the larger printing squares. Self adhease to the top of the box or to the padding has worked well. It's not color but it does allow for a lot of flexibility early on.

How small can a small shop be?

Posted in: Opinion

You might just think about subletting some space from others too.In NYC is chocolate considered low-risk like North Carolina? If so you can use your home for a while if you can get it inspected by the agriculture dept. ($50 here in NC). Then just rent some space from someone else, or start picking up some little table-top cold display cases for $200 and dropping them in stores.Some intermediary thoughts as we're in the similar boats.

Favorite Chocolate Products

Posted in: Opinion

A lot of people here are very focused on the chocolate itself but our shop comes at it from the pastry angle per-say where we enjoy the products just as much as the quality chocolate that is used.We started our adventure (to the public) making truffles and have evolved into covered brownies, tortes, mousse, pate, and cakes.What do you like to see covered in chocolate or made with chocolate as a forefront ingredient?Right now I've been melting bars/nibs/bits down so I can do shavings for some hot drinking chocolates with homemade marshmallows. I can't wait for valentines where we can do heart shaped ones.-andy
updated by @Andy Ciordia: 05/09/15 08:14:13

chocolate tempering machines

Posted in: Opinion

Has this landscape changed any in the last year? Any new reviews or ideas? I was watching our process last night and we're losing a bit too much time getting chocolates setup for dipping etc.

Cool Tool: Chocoflex Spherical Truffle Mold

Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools (Read-Only)

Even freezing them? We've found the mold to work quite well as long as you cool it down. It also takes a little longer to cool down than you'd think, the silicon holds/insulates heat.I just want a bigger one! I think we're getting carpel tunnel scooping our other weights. :/

Cool Tool: Chocoflex Spherical Truffle Mold

Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools (Read-Only)

We recently picked this up, the only dissapointment I have is the weight. I thought this might supplement our 1/2oz line but the weight of a filled sphere is coming in at 3/8, which while it may not seem like much, a side by side comparison is really obvious.My question to those using these, what are you doing for the difference, or is your coating(s) that much thicker?

Cool Tool: Chocoflex Spherical Truffle Mold

Posted in: Geek Gear - Cool Tools (Read-Only)

The stats show a heat tolerance up to 280 C and it's silicone. You should be fine to do just about whatever you can concoct.I like the idea to save some time but a fixed size doesn't work too well for us. We make a few bulk varieties and then have a number of other intermediaries due to tailoring for some customers. Maybe it could help shorten one chain...I'd like to see a lot of silicone products come down. I'd think by now some have a good grade of industrial process but alas, I guess if the market is content we'll be up the wall.Get back to us Katie, I'd like to know some further thoughts.-a

Where to Buy Tools for Working with Chocolate

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

Something to remember about these is they are infrared and only reading the surface of the target. The bottom of your container if on a heat source will be hotter than the top.
updated by @Andy Ciordia: 09/11/15 22:45:04

Where to Buy Tools for Working with Chocolate

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

We started this search about a week ago and I found a few places by just doing a google search for 'natural food coloring chocolate', here's one result: http://www.chocolatecraftkits.com/foodcoloring.php