[dhemberg]

Apologies that this isn't a serviceware topic per se; I wasn't sure where this would better fit.

I'm working my way through the Cookbook while living abroad in New Zealand; this presents a level of challenges above what people in the US might face. One of them has been sourcing spherical molds. The only two sources I could originally find for commercial sale of these was Chef Rubber and JB Prince. The latter does not offer international shipping on their website, had a very small selection of molds, and was completely unresponsive even after more than several emails to them asking them for some information. The former was much more responsive and fairly friendly, but I felt the quality of their molds did not match the cost of them.

Finally I discovered the Chicago Mold School (which is a school specializing in exactly what you might think). Their selection is massive and their products are very good. I ordered a 1" and .75" mold from them; the 1" one is built like a tank, and works wonderfully. The smaller one, unfortunately, leaked quite a bit when I used it for the Hibiscus recipe. I wrote to ask them what I might try to get a better seal, and a very nice man named Michael wrote basically offering to recast the die from which the mold is made, and recast the mold in a stiffer silicon to try to make it more suitable for this particular recipe...all at no extra charge.

In addition to appreciating the recipes themselves, doing this from New Zealand has also given me an appreciation for good customer service in an area where so little information abounds. Bearing this in mind, I thought I'd pass along these comments in the event that anyone else finds it useful.

[Martin Kastner]

silicone is not the best mold for the hibiscus spheres, unless it is is contained within a hard shell to reduce flexibility and create a seal, not to mention high cost of silicone.
the tripod spheres were made using simple plastic spherical molds along the lines of these: http://www.gourmac.c...ceballtray.html