The folks over at Cooking Issues have re-sparked our interest in wet grinders. Over at the Quenelle, Francisco mentioned using a wet grinder, actually a melangeur, to make and bring back caramelized white chocolate to its pre-caramelized smoothness. I was hooked and eager to get one at the time. Unfortunately chocolate making was not high on our list of things to do and we were in the midst of book writing.
Dave's recent piece mentioned making ketchup chocolate and shared his recipe here. I read this article just after we finished our brown butter workshop. Ideas connected. Ibet a wet grinder would do wonders on brown butter solids. And since we have continued using finely ground and flavored milk solids as the basis of a number of preparations from a cleaner gingerbread soup to toasted argan oil solids I felt it might be a good time to take the plunge into the wet grinder world. The wet grinder is designed for making small particles of legumes and pulses as well as breaking down cocoa into chocolate. Think about using the wet grinder to pulverize dry spices and then blend them with aromatics from herbs to spices to dried fruits, vegetables or meats. The finer the grind with the least amount of heat will produce incredible flavors and textures.
Now I just need to see if Santa can fit one on his sleigh.
