superhappyfuntime99

Hi All!

I wanted to introduce myself as the Chocolate Maker at Cacaoworks, an Airdrie-based bean-to-bar, craft chocolate maker! Calgary has literally only a handful of chocolate makers (lots of chocolatiers, though!) , but now we are going live as a maker from Airdrie!

I will be at Supplement King off Main St. from 10:30am-5:00pm as a participant in the Cocoa Trail if anyone is looking for something to check on out Feb 15th and woudn't mind trying something different like our Spruce tips chocolate bar, Saskatoon Berry Pie white chocolate bar, Maple whisky bar or even think you can handle our experimental Pemmican Bison Chocolate Bar! No flavorings, just clean label, whole ingredients infu

I am looking to infuse cacao nibs with various spirits/alchohols, etc and see that many culinary professionals use a vac chamber (i.e. VacMaster). I have a Nesco suction vacuum sealer and a Harvest Right Freeze dryer already. By using the vacuum function only (no freeze) on the FD or using the suction from a bag, isn't essentially this the same process as the vacmaster? If so, can I just vacuum seal the bags for a day or two and it will infuse the alcohol vs. waiting weeks/months by just putting them in a continer?

Looking for the best way to do this without having to buy another piece of equipment if I already have it!

Coming from a small business startup view, has your membership paid off either from benefits, networking or exposure for your business? Has it helped put you in front of more faces/customers and attention to your brand? Curious!

Hey all, I have an inkbird 1k right now and it works great, but an issue I have is for the case I am using the SV for, I need to do a 'routine' where I set one temp, and then once it 'hits that one temp, in <x> minutes later, I need it to do a new temp. Then repeat that action one more time (tempering chocolate in a water bath).

Does anyone know a model that would work great for this? I would think something like Google alexa/etc can help with this, but I think those are more for timers and not 'when hit <x> temp, run new routine)... options

Hey everyone, I have a 50 amp DC to DC charger that I have connected with 4 gauge positive and negative wires running from the battery to the back of the truck.

I also have solar hooked up but it's pretty much nothing coming through since it's a cloudy day..

I have it connected through Anderson connectors and grounded to the bumper so maybe I have some voltage loss there but I'm more concerned that when charging from the truck I get about 10 amps out of 50 to my trailer lithium battery, but when I plug in my trailer plug to my truck immediately the DC charger charges at 22 amps.

Is there a reason why the renegy mppt would change based on the trailer plug and being put in? And being t

Hey all..

I'm trying to freeze dry sugar which I read will make amorphous sugar which is a kind I want to use in confection. I made a one-to-one sugar syrup and freeze drying them but have noticed that it's severely bubbles up to the point that it's hitting the front acrylic, making a huge mess inside.

Does anyone have any tips on how to freeze dry this without creating such large bubbles? Add less water? Just make it a paste instead of a one-to-one syrup?

Hi Everyone! I am a startup chocolate maker and looking to make Mexican drinking chocolate, but want to stick to the more authentic recipes for the foreign nationals up here in Canada! I have tried cascabel, guajillo, cayenne but would like to see what the 'go to' chili's are! I also add cinnamon direct as well.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

I am a startup chocolate maker and want to add whisky directly to the chocolate (dark/milk). It's known that you can't add any water/moisture to chocolate otherwise it will seize, but I'm thinking that I don't want to simply 'infuse' the nibs, as I want to really concentrate the flavor by a direct add.

Would it theoretically work to boil down whisky and create a 'caramel (1:1 sugar?)' out of it that would essentially boil out the moisture but leave the tannins, vanillins, etc infused into the sugar? If not, what would you suggest would be the most effective way to keep the whisky notes in the medium to add to the chocolate yet eliminate all moisture from the equation?

Last year we were BLITZED with boxelder bugs more than any other year.. it was bad. Many people I know struggled with them as well. The weather got warmer here and I am starting to see them pop up again. I know the upcoming cold snap will help things out, but I have a feeling we are in for the bug apocalypse this year.

Anyone have any tips for prevention before it gets out of hand this year? I dusted the living hell out of my place last year near the end with diatomaceous(sp) earth which kept them at bay, but save prespraying with tonnes of pyrethrins... any ideas on stopping them before they start?

As a startup, looking at keeping costs low, but believe in spending $ for quality that will last. Planning on using this to roast cacao, primarily. What roaster(s) do you recommend will fit the bill for this application? I see the good ol reliable large diedrich or probats, but unfortunately I don't have 30k to work with to start :\

I've scoured through the almighty oracle (google) and have only been able to find one in North America, Choc N' Boxes. I love what they do, but looking for others who do this? Whenever I find ones that claim it, they are not true T2B makers as they still buy from farming collectives. Hoping Reddit will have my back on this to support these fully vertical and transparent suppliers!

I recently looked on the ingredients to my product and saw several offenders for 'not great' ingredients which included Homosalate, Octinoxate and Octocrylene. I prefer just to stick with the tried and true zinc and titanium oxide for SPF...Is there any go to moisturizers with SPF that would address the above, and be a great quality product?