Forum Activity for @John E

Hello Chocolate Life !

I'm getting close to that moment that many of you on here may have been at: Launching! After months of development we are almost ready to launch. One thing we are still looking for is a manufacturer or in other words a co-packer.

Information for manufacturer/ co-packer:

• Company:we are a start-up
• Product: is chocolate truffles with ganaches. There are 3 flavors only.
• Batch sizes: about 20 - 30 pounds per week (this is starting off)
• Packaging: we can help with the packaging if necessary or the manufacturer can package it for us
• Location: New Jersey and New York City area
• Storage and Distribution: The manufacture needs to store the product for us. We will pick up the product and distribute ourselves.
• We are 100% done with our recipe. The manufacturer does not need to help with development. We will simply provide the final recipe.

Can anyone recommend a manufacturer that fits our needs?

Thank you : )

Yea I plan on trying it myself but haven't had the chance. Chocolate is very subjective but I always have this feeling that their is a "best." Thanks for the referral btw.

What do you fellow chocolatiers think about deZaan chocolates?

DeZaan positioning seems to be high quality at competitive pricing. One rep mentioned that deZaan is just as good or better than Callebaut but at a lower cost (also comparable to Felchlinand Valrhona).

Website: http://www.dezaangourmet.com

Hey everyone!

I plan on buying pre-made truffle shells for my truffles. I'm not sure which ones to get since everyone I talk to has different brands.

What do you guys think about Chocoduc truffle shells?

Also, I seen Keller, Callebaut, and Pastry 1 (Paris Gourment brand) ----> any thoughts on these as well?

Is there really a difference and does it matter which one to get? Do people typically focus just on price?

Sorry if this is a very basic question for you professional chocolatiers out there : )

Thank You!

Glad you think they are high quality. I have already placed an order.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The chocolatier I talked to said to not buy any products from supermarkets since they are inferior to the products you can obtain from wholesale distributors in the confectionary industry. Following this advice, since Chef Rubber is not carried by any of these distributors, I thought it may be less quality.

It looks as if I have no choice anyway. They are the only company that I'm aware that sells it ---- thanks for mentioning them.

Yeah I am in the US.

Thanks for the reference, I will look into and call the company to ask about its quality. Thank you Jim.

If anyone else has any other companies that would be great! Thanks : )

Where can we buy liquid sorbitol?

It has to be high quality. I checked with some main top food distributors in the area and they don't carry the item.

Other than a few food scientists, we have yet to contact any of these top chocolatiers. We do have to find out if they will be a good fit for us still (they may or may not). I will keep your referral in mind --- as always, thanks for helping out.

Mr. Gordon,

Thanks for the assistance. I'm sure that any recommendation you give will be great. My only concern is that would your consulatant be better at this project than JPW?

Thanks for the input.

We have been to many food scientists all to no success. The way we see it now is that we should go to the best and just get this over with already. When we began on this journey we did not know of any of these authors and because of this we kept going to mediocre food scientists who claimed to know it all but didn't.

Mr. Gordon, thank you for the reply.

The reason I am asking these questions is because we are looking for a consultant to reformulate our recipes. Our recipes taste great, but do not have a very long shelf life and we need it to be at least 2-3 months. Since I have not tried the recipes in the book, I am looking for advice to screen out who we should contact for consulting.

My assumption is that if JPW is world-renowned and published books on extending shelf life, that he would be a great consultant. My questions then are this:

• Would Grewling or Shotts be good consultants? Is JPW better as a consultant?
• I am located in the US, so would working with somebody in the US be better because it is closer? Or is this irrelevant?
• How would you approach this problem we are having? Are we going about it the correct way?

I recently picked up 3 books fromJean-Pierre Wybauw called Fine Chocolates: Great Experience (books 1, 2, and 3). I wanted to make some recipes but I don't have all the ingredients yet. In the mean time I wanted to know if anyone here has tried the recipes that he provides in these books. My questions are:

• I am really interested only in the truffles (not others).
• Are the truffle recipes any good?
• Would you say these truffle recipes are some of the best you have every tried? If yes, which are your favorite?
• IsJean-Pierre Wybauw considered the best chocolatier in the world?

I look forward to everyones input!! : )

I think what you are saying is correct. Everyone says it but I've always had a hard time believing. I thought there was a "best" chocolate but it seems to be its all personal taste. There are rankings online and I seen that Teuscher was ranked #1 as a chocolate company. I did try their champagne truffle and it was amazing.

There is a video from Malcom Gladwell I just seen that mentions how this one person was hired to figure out the "best" spaghetti sauce. After many many experiments, he found out there was no such thing. He mentioned that spaghetti sauce, mustard, etc do not exist on a heir achy but instead on a horizontal plane (also called Horizontal Segmentation). There is no good, bad, or perfect mustard. "There are only different kinds of mustards that suit different kinds of people." There is no universal flavor of any product that is perfect for everyone. It is a flaw to think of it this way.

The link to the video is:Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce | Malcolm Gladwell

(its only 18 minutes long)

The reason I'm writing this is because it related to others responses as well as Jeff's recent comment. I like how you mentioned that we should be original instead of creating a me-too product and play it safe.

Thanks

I really look forward to trying out all of these chocolatiers. I've checked out their websites and the chocolates look amazing. Thanks for all the references.

Hi. I wanted to get everyones opinions on the top chocolatiers. I came across Jacques Torres, Norman Love, and others but I'm not sure what's different between all of them. What makes one better than the other in general?

Also, I just recently discovered Julian Rose. What do you think of Julian specifically? Is he considered one the best and if so why?

If I use invertase in my product would it be effective in stopping lactose crystallization along with stopping sucrose crystallization?

My truffle genache consist of using Sweetened condensed milk and after a while it starts to crystalize. I don't know if the crystals are from sucrose or lactose. Would using invertase be effective to stop both types of crystallization?

Thank you!

Thanks a lot for the help I appreciate it! Say the crystals that are forming are from the Lactose (lactose crystals) will the invertase work to inhibit their growth also?

So this is my issue. I have a truffle recipe I am trying to create and after a few days it crystalizes(sandy texture inside the filling). The ingredients inside consist of sweetened condensed milk, table cream, cocoa powder etc. I then put this in a pot over the stove to cook it until it reaches a certain consistency then cool it off until it is ready to go inside truffle shells.I would really like to extend the shelf life by stopping the crystallization from occurring. Some people told me that invertase is the solution to the problem. I ordered some from Lorann oils but I have no idea how to use it. Please, anyone who may have some information will be helpful!

Thank You!!