I'm torn. I seriously doubt these are better than the chocolate covered caramels that I make myself, however I am willing to bet I will not end with 2nd degree burns from these. Decisions, decisions.

A tip for anyone who makes candy out there, if you get the scalding hot liquid onto your hand, resist the urge to lick it off quickly. Trust me.

did you read the quantity? 2lbs vs 4oz

hurray! my 96th woot!

and a chance to use a jumbowoot $20 coupon!

pureval wrote:I'm torn. I seriously doubt these are better than the chocolate covered caramels that I make myself, however I am willing to bet I will not end with 2nd degree burns from these. Decisions, decisions.

A tip for anyone who makes candy out there, if you get the scalding hot liquid onto your hand, resist the urge to lick it off quickly. Trust me.

LOL! Yeah, I didn't mention the other danger to doing it yourself... the inevitable burn now and then.

If your homemade chocolates are firm, then these will be a different consistency. (They're kind of in the middle between firm and creamy, esp. if kept slightly cool). I've found that sometimes homemade chocolates tend to be firmer so that, if you bite the caramel, the chocolate can break off another side. I haven't had this happen too much with these. (Little pieces have fallen off, but not a whole side.) Plus, the fleur de sel really does make a difference in the taste.

Just picked up a box based on all the recommendations here. I usually don't give chocolate for V-Day, but I'm very excited about these.

They look tasty!

I bought two of these last time. These are amazing!!! Soft, chewy, salty-sweet... mmmmmmm now I'm drooling.

Woot, I love you so hard.

I bought two boxes last time, and I am just about to finish my last box, so this is perfect timing!

These caramels are so good that I will be in for two more. I took a few to work to share with coworkers before Christmas, and several people raved that "Those things are magically delicious and so soft!"

I just cannot justify spending over 10 dollars a pound.. On chocolate. =/

theonesource4 wrote:Freeze the other 2 orders for emergencys!

And then sit down to enjoy a nice, quiet afternoon of studying how to make plurals.

I must prove myself - I'm in for two.

I wonder why they keep changing the box each time they offer this. The first time it was gold, second time it was white/blank, and this time it's white with red label.

loulou66 wrote:This isn't a deal. They're the same price online: http://www.recchiuti.com/108.html?area=01&gclid=CLG2lKL3-a0CFYFgTAodXHyymw

Except that these are NOT the same thing, cost $23 for 14 oz (and 16 pieces) vs. 32 oz and 56 pieces in the Woot!

FWIW, Trader Joe's Salted Caramels are NOT the same thing either. A pathetic attempt to cash in on the salted caramel phenom and one of the few TJ items that was an utter disappointment. These are priced VERY favorably to high end confections (like Godiva, etc.)

These are great chocolates, but the packing is really cheap looking. If you want to give this for Valentine's Day, this is your chance to come up with some clever packaging.

I freaking adore good caramel. Can't find a better price on these anywhere else. I'm in for one because I can't afford 3 =(

pureval wrote:I'm torn. I seriously doubt these are better than the chocolate covered caramels that I make myself, however I am willing to bet I will not end with 2nd degree burns from these. Decisions, decisions.

A tip for anyone who makes candy out there, if you get the scalding hot liquid onto your hand, resist the urge to lick it off quickly. Trust me.

Agree.

and

Agree. Culinary napalm.

It is such a shame that you are required to buy lowbrow milk chocolate to get the high society dark chocolate. Come to the table with an all dark chocolate offering and I'll be all over it.

aaa121 wrote:$28 for a box of chocolates!!! This is supposed to be a great deal???

$28 for 2 lbs of high quality chocolates is actually a good deal. A pound of See's is around $16+ if you buy it in the store and that's only mid-upper quality.

Good chocolate is expensive, even in bulk 15 lb. blocks. I make chocolates, and salted caramels, for my family and friends a few times a year and I've calculated that I would need to sell a pound for close to $50 to turn a profit worth the time it takes and the thing is I probably could sell then for that much. If you don't think this is a good deal then you can go back to wax based Dove "chocolate". Seriously though, most of what people think is white chocolate doesn't even have any chocolate in it.

I've never had this brand, but the best chocolate salted caramels I've ever had are from Sugar-Luv Confections! Their caramel is very soft and buttery and made from scratch. Here is a link to buy online http://www.sugar-luv.com/Chocolate-Covered-Caramels_p_37.html

2 lb. Box of chocolates = 2 lbs fat will cost you $22.99 + $5 Shipping-what a deal!

Everyone complaining about The cost of these chocolates have never had good chocolate. Do yourself a favor and splurge on something high quality. There is a big difference. I wouldn't call these high end, but they're easily worth the cost. If you want to taste great chocolate without spending too much, I recommend Leonidas, especially the gianduja.

fait wrote:In my opinion, wine.woot is w-a-y overpriced, too because, as we all know, wine is really only fermented grape juice, and that's super easy to make at home.

You know, those snobby wine people go on-and-on about "varieties of grapes" and how stupid things like "soil" and "barrel wood" and "weather conditions" supposedly impact the taste of the final product. Hogwash! We all know that in the end, it's just grape juice that was tweaked a little.

All you need is some grape juice (the local food warehouse has big bottles of it real cheap) and some yeast. You can buy that at the grocery store. Throw some yeast into the grape juice, throw the cap back on, and let it sit for awhile at room temp. Strain out the junk, and -voila- you have wine that is every bit as good as they sell at the 7-11 - only cheaper because you're so much smarter than those high-faultin' "professionals".

No need to buy that expensive stuff on wine.woot. You have exactly the same thing.

+1
This made me snort tea out my nose. Decidedly unattractive and really not tasty. Unlike these chocolates of course (see what I did there?!?) which I have had and repackaged small amounts of for christmas gifts and then polished off all the leftovers. Delish! And, I am a self-confessed chocolate snob - Hersheys *ptooie* does not ever enter my house - I had a priest bless my property so anyone attempting to bring that nasty stuff onto my property finds instead that it has melted and turned into vegetable wax, which is pretty much what it is anyways. I typically get all my chocolate straight from England or Belgium, but this is just as good as those, particularly with that sprinkle of sea salt. Plus I LOVE a good caramel.
I wasn't going to get any this time (down 2lbs from christmas! I'm trying!) but I might have to give in, then have my husband ration it all out for me.

Will they sell at a lower price when 'CONDITION: Refurbished'?

radicalgirl3000 wrote:Just to point this out, each individual chocolate is 240 calories. The entire two pounds is 13,440 calories. Sooooo...going by how many days of sustenance this can provide, it's a bargain?

Math > you

120 calories PER SERVING, and the serving size is 2 pieces. That's 60 calories per piece, not 240 (small edit)

I'm just glad to see there are folks who are as passionate about confections as I am with my beer geekery. I can't wait to tell my wife that it's not just me!

And I guess I'll buy these too.

Joining in to say what many already have - these are AMAZING. I've bought several boxes every time they've come up - always a big hit at home and at the office.

Fightin' words for a chocolate nerd...

The flavor of chocolate depends on a lot of things: geography, weather, fermentation....like coffee.

The flavor of pure cocoa powder depends on its alkalinity (i.e. is it "Dutch" process or not).

I don't know what kind of chocolate you eat but any plain/dark/semisweet/bittersweet chocolate that doesn't contain cocoa butter is not going to give you a prime eating experience. Use your cocoa powder for drinking chocolate (though that's not the best hot chocolate you'll ever have) or brownies, or amazing hot fudge sauce (my recipe is a bit more complicated than yours). But chocolate worth eating contains cocoa butter and must be tempered, a somewhat tricky process which accounts for a lot of the cost of premium chocolates.

And good caramel is much trickier to make than you think.

I speak from the experience of making truffles for more than 25 years. Guittard is one of the brands I use for dipping; they make good quality couverture. You can get it for around $6/lb. in bulk. Not $.55.

In Europe it's easy to pay over $100/lb. for fine chocolates. You don't have to pay that much, but to some degree you DO get what you pay for. Just sayin'.

andrelook wrote:Words

Will they melt in my mouth and not in my hand? Oh sorry. That be the M&M.

Add me to those wishing for the option to purchase just the dark chocolate. I keep eyeing these, but I really want just the dark chocolate caramels.

How do I get a coupon???

fait wrote:In my opinion, wine.woot is w-a-y overpriced, too because, as we all know, wine is really only fermented grape juice, and that's super easy to make at home.

You know, those snobby wine people go on-and-on about "varieties of grapes" and how stupid things like "soil" and "barrel wood" and "weather conditions" supposedly impact the taste of the final product. Hogwash! We all know that in the end, it's just grape juice that was tweaked a little.

All you need is some grape juice (the local food warehouse has big bottles of it real cheap) and some yeast. You can buy that at the grocery store. Throw some yeast into the grape juice, throw the cap back on, and let it sit for awhile at room temp. Strain out the junk, and -voila- you have wine that is every bit as good as they sell at the 7-11 - only cheaper because you're so much smarter than those high-falutin' "professionals".

No need to buy that expensive stuff on wine.woot. You have exactly the same thing.

In skimming I missed fait's post but saw it through mawy's reply. Really funny, and makes the point very clearly. Thanks!

JRRB wrote:Add me to those wishing for the option to purchase just the dark chocolate. I keep eyeing these, but I really want just the dark chocolate caramels.

Solution: Make a friend who only wants milk chocolate, buy a box each, swap the half you don't want, and voila! Two pounds of tasty, tasty caramels.

722lad wrote:In skimming I missed fait's post but saw it through mawy's reply. Really funny, and makes the point very clearly. Thanks!

Glad I could be of assistance! As a dedicated wine.wooter (with 3 wine deliverys expected on Friday from the last wootoff) I had to support fait's point! Mmmmm fleur de sel chocolate caramels with some soon to be delivered twisted oak... Can't wait!

mawy wrote:Glad I could be of assistance! As a dedicated wine.wooter (with 3 wine deliverys expected on Friday from the last wootoff) I had to support fait's point! Mmmmm fleur de sel chocolate caramels with some soon to be delivered twisted oak... Can't wait!

I have 4 arriving on Friday and will probably get fired due to my boss thinking I am alcoholic.

Looks like all of our wives/girlfriends are going to be getting a little fatter on Vday. Either that or they might actually USE their gym membership for once.

I'm wondering if these are anything like Seattle's Fran's Chocolates - Her best-selling and award-winning Gray and Smoked Salt Caramels?

lostaxic wrote:Using corn syrup is not necessarily a sign of low quality. Corn syrup is primarily glucose (and different than high-fructose corn syrup), and often used in caramels because the glucose interferes with the crystallization of the sucrose molecules. Without it, you can end up with grainy caramel.

Also, there's nothing wrong with chocolate liquor, as it is pretty much just pure ground cocoa nibs. (Cocoa solids are simply the liquor with the cocoa butter removed.)

Aww, man, you beat me too it. I wanted to be the one to point out how wrong his entire post was! :D

For those wondering why the change in packaging - I have a theory. I didn't see the gold box of yore, but I did get the plain white box around christmas time (BTW Candy Basket people - fabulously sturdy box! I almost kept it as a useful box to keep things in, but it smelled of chocolate and made me sad that it was empty...). I feel that the nice white box was put there to deceive unknowing spouses as to what was really under the christmas tree.

Beats the one year my husband filled and beautifully wrapped a box with tools and screws from the garage to make me think I had more gifts than I did... Tho the main gift was a lovely cast iron dutch oven, so I forgave him for fooling me!

North316 wrote:I have 4 arriving on Friday and will probably get fired due to my boss thinking I am alcoholic.

That's why I have a boss who supports my alcohol intake with regular team happy hours! My issue is convincing the husband that really truly there is space for the incoming...