....I would be really grateful if you could answer these questions about hot knifing (dipping a knife in hot water and making the cake smooth) your ganached cake.

1. What container do you use to hold the hot water in. I ask because I am interested in knowing whether the whole blade needs to be immersed in the hot water and if so how tall are your containers.

2. Do you wipe the hot blade dry before applying it to the ganached cake. I saw a video where the blade wasn't dried. I was wondering whether the water would effect the chocolate.

3. Finally, how do you keep the water hot? Do you keep changing the water. I am finding that the water goes cold after only a few dips, and I start losing interest .

Really hope all this makes sense.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I've not used it on ganach but I've used it on buttercream and it's awesome. Boil water in you can empty it into another container but I just use the one I boiled the water in. Have a papertowel handy and after you dip the knife in the hot water, dry it with the papertowel and use it to smoothen the cake.
The water stays hot and if it cools down before i'm done I just reheat it on the stovetop.

Thanks for that

So i take it your pan is deep enough to immerse the knife in? I use a long knife and do not have a deep enough pan that will hold the knife. A trip to the shops is in call for, I think.

I just use my 6 inch spatula. It's more than long enough to use for smoothing.

Theresa

Thanks. So do you wipe the knife with a paper towel?

I usually wipe the blade, but it doesn't really matter if you don't. The water doesn't affect the ganache like it might for just melted chocolate. Many people spray the ganache with water later anyway to attach the fondant. It would only be a problem if the board got to soggy.

I usually just run the blade briefly under the hot tap rather than using a container of water.

I use a tall coffee bottle to store my hot water. should it lose heat place it in the microwave for two minutes. Atleast 8" of the spatula is immersed in the hot water. heat will travel along the blade.

we use it mostly for buttercream, but this method can also be used for ganache. Boil water, pour into coffee mug and dip your offset spatula in the hot water. No need to wipe because prior to this you would have already spread a generous amount of buttercream/ganache and put in the freeze to firm for a few minutes.

As long as when you lift the offset spatula you tap it on the side for water to drip and ensure that the water is always hot.

thank you for all the tips

If I remember correctly, in Sharon Zambito's vidieo she uses a hot plate to keep her water warm and use a bowl big enough to submerge the spatula you are comfortable with using. She uses a smaller one.

I use 2 saucepans at a time & always have one boiling on the stove. After a few minutes, I switch pans & reheat the first so I'm always using one that's super hot. I use my bench scraper instead of a knife & only submerge an inch of the edge.

I have used hot water in a tall glass, hot running water and the flame on my gas stove. I wave my cake knife briefly over the flame and then smooth works great.