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Not so common tools???

post #1 of 20
8/20/01 at 9:02pm
Thread Starter 
Could some of the pastry chefs give me some ideas on not so common tools that you use for creating desserts?
What is it, how do you use it, where did you get it?
I use a syringe(not my idea)to inject chocolate covered strawberries with Grand Marnier, works great and people love them.
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post #2 of 20
8/21/01 at 5:36am
tool box for carting equipment around, a paint spray machine for chocolate work. pvc pipes cut for cold and frozen mousses.
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post #3 of 20
8/21/01 at 5:54am
If you live near a bookstore, check out Chocolate Passion. Nifty tools used for chocolate are featured.

Author: TISH BOYLE | Co-Author: TIMOTHY MORIARTY
ISBN: 0471293172 | Publisher: JOHN WILEY & SONS
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post #4 of 20
8/21/01 at 6:53am
O.k. ....not common items in the pastry department...I use copper plated or tin fish molds (or anyother shaped ones)to bake in and mold mousses in, like cake pans.

I collect the coated cardboard from between layers of tart shells to cut my own stencils from....for special items instead of bought shapes. I also use stencils from the craft store to make items, like leaf stencils and make hippen leafs from them. Or I use them to sprinkle xxx sugar or cocoa thru on my plates.

I have bought soap molds at the craft store to mold chocolates in, their made from the same plastic as candy molds....

I have a couple cheap plastic hats that I use as molds. Even plastic serving trays and boxes.

I also use a large plastic egg decoration I bought to mold an enormous sugar panoramic egg out of. I found these things at the grocery store in the seasonal decoration section. You can also use plastic holloween masks to mold desserts in.

I have a couple clear hard plastic molds that I mold sugar in that I got at a card store. Like a santa's boot, train and toy soldiers.

The metal grill sheets you can buy for grilling fish on the barbie work great as a dot pattern for joconde.

Lot's more...........
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post #5 of 20
8/31/01 at 1:46pm
For not so common tools to use for decorating (cakes, desserts, chocolates, plates...you name it!) go to your local hardware store! Wood grain tools are a cheap buck or two and are excellent for chocolate. A small foam paint roller 2", 4" or 6" are great for "painting" on sauces for plate design. A power spray gun with compressor can be used to spray chocolate over cakes, centerpieces, plates, etc. Just take a good long walk up and down the aisles and you'll find many useful tools at a fraction of the price of "specialty" tools.
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post #6 of 20
8/31/01 at 3:04pm
What inexpensive method do you guys use to make the stripes on the sides of cakes (jaconde)? I know you can buy a pastry comb for about $41 - $75 but I am curious to know what inventive ideas someone has come up with.
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post #7 of 20
8/31/01 at 5:41pm


[ August 31, 2001: Message edited by: Anneke ]
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post #8 of 20
8/31/01 at 5:41pm
Oli,
Got mine for $1.99. Never got to use it because my pastry teacher thinks the combed look is cheesy and cheap looking. Go figure.. :rolleyes:
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post #9 of 20
8/31/01 at 10:18pm
Oli: A pastry comb shouldn't cost that much.

Anyway. We got one of those cheapy combs that cost about $4. But we didn't use it because we wanted something a little more interesting than stripes. So we colored some cigarette batter and used our fingertips to smear it onto a silpat. Then we froze it. Then we made the joconde batter and spread it on the silpat. The freezing keeps the cigarette in place. The design we got looked a lot more interesting than the stripes. Plus we didn't worry about matching up the seams as much. That was a real bonus.

I've been trying to figure out how to transfer the restaurant name on a silpat with cigarette batter so that we can spread joconde on top of that. Any clues anyone?
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post #10 of 20
9/1/01 at 4:31am
i think if you take a silpat and divide it into strips and write the name of the restaraunt backwards and then freeze it and spread the batter over it and bake it, i think this will work. not to sure though
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post #11 of 20
9/1/01 at 5:30am
For decorator jaconde - again I say go to the hardware store! Buy aluminum (meant for radiator protectors) for $4 a sheet (24" X 36"). They come in many different designs and work great. The specialty stores will charge at least $35. for the same thing, only plastic!
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post #12 of 20
9/1/01 at 10:04am
In The Pie And Pastry Bible Rose Levy Beranbaum use bbble wrap to make the Honeycomb Chiffon Pie. She press bubble wrap on top of the filling, then putting the pie in the freezer for 3 hours or until the bubble wrap can be remove without sticking to the creme.
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post #13 of 20
9/1/01 at 10:22am
putting chocolate on bubble wrap works great. we also bought something similuar to bubble wrap at home depot but it was hard plastic. both will work great.
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post #14 of 20
9/1/01 at 9:42pm
I guess I need to redeem myself...

How about a piece of perforated aluminum lattice from the hardware store and/or bubble wrap (plastic wrapping material) to form interesting chocolate shapes as part of a centerpiece. Dark and white chocolate. I can fill you in if you want!

:rolleyes:

[ September 01, 2001: Message edited by: Kimmie ]
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post #15 of 20
9/1/01 at 9:48pm
Have any of you tried that technique with putting chocolate on bubble wrap? I haven't, chicken for some reason...just wondered if you'd have a problem with it breaking as you peel it off the plastic?
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post #16 of 20
9/1/01 at 9:57pm
LOL, I'm not a pro like you W. but I didn't find it as difficult as you might think.

Try small first just for the feel of it and view the PBS Video tapes with Julia. Find Jacques Torres on In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs. You will see how the master does it.
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post #17 of 20
9/2/01 at 3:19am
iza

that is a neat idea. i suppose you could do that with a mousse too.

i was talking with another pastry chef and we were talking about sugar boxes. he said when he was youger, he used to use the egg boxes and made his own sugar box. very interesting really
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post #18 of 20
9/2/01 at 8:37am
Thanks Kimmie & gang:
Thanks for the suggestions. I've been to the hardware store (Home Depot) and saw registers that cover the heating and air conditioning ducts and I think thats what you were meaning by aluminum radiator protectors or aluminum lattice? If they are, don't the louvers have an angle to them to transfer air down or up or are you guys talking about something else? The reason I am asking this question stems from the baking books called the French Professional Pastry Series books. In there, the chefs have created their cakes with the stripes on the sides of the cakes but the jaconde is wide perhaps 1" or more and the cigarette paste is 2mm or so. Thats more of the look I am shooting for. I have a cake comb, $4, that I believe is the other tool mentioned, that you pull through your frosting that I can use but it won't create this 1" vs 2mm design but would create wide cigarette paste and narrow jaconde design. Thanks :)
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post #19 of 20
9/2/01 at 5:07pm
Isaac I'm not sure I'm following you on the egg thing...
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post #20 of 20
9/2/01 at 9:50pm
No Oli, it has nothing to do with louvers; it's more like a grid with little holes. For example, on a dark chocolate base, you can use the little holes to make white chocolate polka dots.

Let me refer you to Julia's Videos

Scroll down into the Prime Video Cuts, in the chef's box, click on Jacques Torres and the series is In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs. A video is worth a gazillion words!

:D
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