I find a tray is more stable than a bowl with a small bottom.
Yesterday, I have to grate a large amount of chocolate (curly effect for decoration), not easy as the chocolate are in chips. Tried using a peeler, but it took very long, and melted fast.
In that case, Iād melt and temper the chips and form a block, then shave or grate the block.
When I grate quantities of anything itās usually cheese. I use a box grater. I set it on a piece of waxed paper, grate as much as I need then lift the grater off of the pile of cheese after grating and use the waxed paper to transfer it to a bowl or storage container.
Whatās your favored method of tempering if you donāt have a tempering machine? Is there a minimum amount you would temper (this is home use)? Iām trying to replicate a chocolate I had recently. I have a lot of experience with chocolate in baking, but not in confectionery.
by hand I use a box grater - and anyone who has issues with build up of grated stuff on a solid surface has many issues of undefined natureā¦
otoh, I use a tapered āold styleā Kitchen Aid mixer attachment for quantities that exceed my wrist toleranceā¦
btw and fwiw and fyi . . . the straight barrel attachments are regularly dissed - for max usability go with the tapered cone shredding/cutting disks - the shredded stuff rotates out of the tapered disk, one needs a āstickā to remove/clear the shredded stuff from a cylindrical shredding disk.
Remember that if grating potatoes for latkes, knuckle blood is a required ingredient.
I have really bad hand/wrist/elbow/shoulder arthritis, which makes me even more vulnerable to fear of shredding knuckles/fingers when doing the last bits of box grating.
I agree box grating is superior in many respects. Butā¦any advice on how to go the last bits without grating fingers? Is there a kind of shield to handle it such as those that come with some of the more expensive mandoline slicers? Should I just get the gloves? If so, which ones?
I love the microplane zesters; however, I have the same problem with them.
I had one of those āKing Kutterā graters and that thing drew more blood from me than any other grater. I got rid of it.
As far as grating or slicing large quantities, I use the shredding or slicing blade on my Cuisinart.
It makes a big job quick & easy, all of the (dirty) parts can go in the dishwasher and Iām not bleeding when finished.
Seeding or incomplete melting. Either way, you want a few un-melted pieces to add stable cocoa butter crystals as the chocolate cools from 95F to working temp of +/- 89F. You can temper as much or as little as needed, though for many things it helps to have extra you can re-temper the same chocolate over and over.
What are you trying to replicate?
Or get a vintage sauerkraut cutter
https://www.ebay.com/b/Cabbage-Cutter-In-Antique-Primitives/1217/bn_7022427138
I use the shield from my mandoline.
I use a box grater for cheese, but for other things I use this. I have probably had it for 30 or 35 years.
one has to accept, or regretā¦ using a mandolin or a box grater entails a certain amount of ālossā / āwasteā
I save the last little bloodless chunks for later use - fine diced & melted in souffle/toppings/etcā¦
I would love to find one of these. I look occasionally on eBay but havenāt had any luck.
Thanks for the info.
This is what Iām trying to replicate. I really like it, but itās expensive, and Iāve never made chocolates, so I thought Iād give it a shot. I was thinking of putting Madeira into plum preserves, and using that with marzipan in chocolate. It would be trivial to make it in a cake.
Itās $16.95 plus the usual usurious brokerage fees. Amazon is only slightly cheaper.
I use something like these for opening oysters and using a mandoline. I donāt know what brand I have but they look similar to these. I also have a pair of chainmail gloves, but I like these better. They are more comfortable and allows for more dexterity. I think they would work well with a box grater.
Thank you! I hadnāt looked for awhile!!
When I have to grate a lot of something Iāll just use the food processor. I bought it for that purpose and chopping a zillion years ago when I had carpal tunnel problems in both wrists ( it was very hard even to hold the babies!). After the hand surgeries I went back to using the old straight grater. The roommate has sharpened the holes over the years. I will put the grater in a big Tupperware bowl with a grip pad on underneath the bowl to keep it from sliding around.
