Does your chocolate make a bit of a mess when shaking out the excess chocolate from your molds like this photo? Sure, you have parchment paper to catch the chocolate as it falls but it probably still lands in other undesired places. A quick and cheap shopping trip for a small or medium plastic storage tub will help take care of this problem. Set the tub on your work table and set your mold upside down on top of the tub so gravity can drain the chocolate. Be sure to get a tub that has a wide enough opening at the top that your mould will easily fit down into. When you are ready to shake the excess chocolate from your moulds, place the mould down into the tub so that as you shake it all of the chocolate that flies out will land in the tub - not on you, the floor or the table.  Plus, if you line your entire tub with parchment paper, when the chocolate hardens you can easily peel it away to be reused. Less mess and less waste!

 

If you’re considering a new floor for your confectionery manufacturing facility, there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind.

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things to consider when choosing flooring for your facility but it’s a great place to start. You can learn even more by attending our Spring Regional Institute in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida, April 17-20, 2012. We'll have two education sessions presented by Silliker Labs and devoted to Good Manufacturing Practices. Click here for the full schedule and how to register.

 

This week’s tip is quick and easy. If you’ve spilled lecithin while making confections, don’t try and wash it because it will gum up and make it worse. Try throwing sugar on it and it will clean right up.

 

 

We had a great article on lecithin in our recent Kettle Talk, our newsletter magazine for members. RCI members can click here to view a PDF of the issue. If you’re not an RCI member, click here to learn more about joining.

 

If you have easy cleaning tips to share, leave us a comment!

We know how easy it is to let emails and papers pile up on your desk or in your inbox. The following Four Ds of Decision-making will not only reduce clutter but also increase your productivity. You may want to share this one with your employees and colleagues!

 

The principle of the Four Ds is that you must do one of the following upon receiving an email or other item. By deciding what to do upon receipt, you avoid the temptation to say, “I’ll deal with it later.”

 

Delete – Ask yourself if this email or paper contains information you can find elsewhere? If it’s a duplication of information, then you can safely trash it.

 

Do – Is it an item that will take just a couple of minutes to do? Take a moment to do it and you won’t regret it. There’s no point setting it to the side if you can do it quickly. Take care of it and then you can probably delete it. Tip: If the item is something you need to read such as industry articles and news sources, create a “To Read” file and set aside time each week (or day) to read. As you’re reading, don’t just flag pages to come back to later – if you find an article contains information worthy of keeping, tear it out and file accordingly.

 

Delegate – If you can’t delete it or do it quickly, you may need to delegate it to an employee or colleague. Maybe it’s an item that shouldn’t have come to you in the first place, or it could be that you’re not the right fit for what needs to be done. If it’s an email, forward the email to your team member and request confirmation that they’ll take care of it. Then, you can safely delete the original and move on.

 

Defer - Lastly, after deleting, doing and delegating, there may be some items that only you can do and that will take a little longer to do. First, determine your deadline for the item and then put it on your calendar to do in light of the deadline. By deferring items according to deadline, you’ll be sure to first complete the items that are most important. For example, instead of spending useful time on something that you have three months to complete, you’ll be able to focus on the task that is due next week.

 

As a candy and chocolate maker, you have so many things coming to you in one day. We hope today’s tip will help you create order out of what could be chaos.