586 replies to this topic

[FWED]

Just recently Mette,another contributor to the pastry and baking forum, posed a question related to the making of bon bons. I am bringing this topic up to the top again because of the photo of the beautifully finished bon bons that were included in the other topic. Hope that makes sense. Here is the photo.



The questions that I had were in regard to the finish of these beautiful bon boons in the photo. I have been reading this topic since its inception and have used the techniques included here such as; spraying cocoa butter, either plain or colored, adding lustra dust, transfer sheets, and polishing the molds. I have been happy with the results but am always looking for further refinements.

Now getting down to the photo. The thing that intrigues me is the finnish. It seems to be of greater depth than I am used to seeing. I have found that when spraying cocoa butter into the mold that the thinner the better. I was wondering if Mette was using some special sort of tinted cocoa butter or if the entire shell was a very thin layer of cocoa butter and I was also wondering how she got the speckles in the finish. Maybe Mette or someone else can enlighten me.

I did want to bring up another thought concerning the close up photographing of bon bons. I have been using a camera with a flash and a diffuser on it. At close range it produces a soft fuzzy highlight. In the photo that Mette posted it seems that a flash was not used, only natural light thus producing highlights with crisp edges and making the finish appear more glossy. Something to think about the next time I photograph my bon bons. Included here is a photo of some of my latest bon bons.

[Mette]

The questions that I had were in regard to the finish of these beautiful bon boons in the photo.  I have been reading this topic since its inception and have used the techniques included here such as; spraying cocoa butter, either plain or colored, adding lustra dust, transfer sheets, and polishing the molds.  I have been happy with the results but am always looking for further refinements.


Now getting down to the photo. The thing that intrigues me is the finnish.  It seems to be of greater depth than I am used to seeing.  I have found that when spraying cocoa butter into the mold that the thinner the better.  I was wondering if Mette was using some special sort of tinted cocoa butter or if the entire shell was a very thin layer of cocoa butter and I was also wondering how she got the speckles in the finish.  Maybe Mette or someone else can enlighten me.

Thanks for the compliment. The technique is pretty much as described in lots of posts above. Polish the clean molds with cotton wool. Wipe the cavities very thinly with cotton wool dipped in cocoa butter. My limited experience tells me that the harder one presses the cocoa butter into the cavity, the shinier the bon bon. The cocoa butter is of unknown origin, bought through a local candy making supplier. The colour is ruby colouring powder from PCB. I sprinkled it in with a paint brush, and for some reason there was lots of static electricity which helped spread the powder evenly in the molds. Bash them upside down to get rid of excess powder and mold the chocolate as usual - I used Sao Thome fro Callebaut.

I did want to bring up another thought concerning the close up photographing of bon bons.  I have been using a camera with a flash and a diffuser on it.  At close range it produces a soft fuzzy highlight.  In the photo that Mette posted it seems that a flash was not used, only natural light thus producing highlights with crisp edges and making the finish appear more glossy.  Something to think about the next time I photograph my bon bons.  Included here is a photo of some of my latest bon bons.

I'm no master photographer, but for this kind of work, I'd avoid using a camera mounted flash. It will give unsightly reflexes. A north facing window or similar on a bright day, and a camera with a good macro is all I used. Your bon bons look great - photographing them from the side instead of from above will show them off more. A subdued background will set them off.

(This is fun - chatting about chocolate!!!)

Get photographing!!!

/Mette

[Genny]

I am completely inspired! I'm off to order molds, colors, chocolate...the works! This looks like so much fun and I'll have holiday gifts for friends and family!

Truffle Guy, have you decided if you are going to switch careers or just use your passion as a side job yet? I'm super interested to learn of your progess and ideas.

Thanks everyone for your contributions to this thread, it has been most enlightening!

[bradyvickers]

whoa, took me a while to get through this thread. there are some really beautiful chocolates here guys. i am very impressed!! i've only been posting for a couple of weeks but the amount of talent in this "online community" is amazing. i've been thinking of getting into chocolate work more, and was wondering what kinds of tempering techniques you guys prefer / and use on a regular basis? also what kind of tricks to you use to hold your chocolate in temper? heating pad? bain marie? i think it would be interesting to hear everyone's methods.

thanks,
brady

[escry]

... was wondering what kinds of tempering techniques you guys prefer / and use on a regular basis?  also what kind of tricks to you use to hold your chocolate in temper?  heating pad?  bain marie?  i think it would be interesting to hear everyone's methods.

thanks,
brady

I use a bain marie both to melt and then hold couverture in temper. Assuming your room is air conditioned (see below) a large bain marie should hold your chocolate in temper for several hours. I have a 21 kg (45 lb) bain marie. Problems begin when the bain marie is / becomes only one third full. With more than 7 kg (15 lbs) of chocolate, the chocolate has enough bulk (remember chocolate is a very poor conductor of heat - so takes some time to over heat/cool) to withstand the lack of precision of a bain marie's thermostat and hot air heater.

Water bain maries (mine is hot air) have an advantage (more even and constant transfer of heat) and two disadvantages (potential of adding moisture to atmosphere - and more cumbersome to move around the laboratory).

Heat pad and glass / plastic bowl. I use a glass bowl (there is a thread here somewhere that discusses the merits of glass versus plastic). After much practice I now place the heat pad inside a larger plastic bowl, cover with two thick tea towels, then place on top my smaller 3 litre (5 pint) glass bowl, nearly full of tempered couverture.

As you use up your couverture, the effect of the insulated heat pad will vary, making it very difficult to keep the couverture in temper for very long. I only use this method only for testing and samples, not for sale items.

Re: Air conditioning. Couverture will absorb water from the atmosphere if the atmosphere's Relative Humidity is greater than that of the melted couverture, ie about 30-40%. The greater the atmospheric humidity, the greater the differential, the greater the rate of absorption. Water causes the sugar particles in you chocolate to bind together, thickening your couverture over time.

[Genny]

I did it!!!!!!!!!!! I made my first batch of bon bons and now I have some questions.

First the method: I used a bain marie and a glass bowl for the heating process and an ice bath for the cooling part of the process. This actually worked beautifully. Taking into account that the glass bowl retains heat/cold I was careful to remove the bowl to the ice a couple degrees early and vice versa. (I met Exec. Pastry Chef Mohan DiSilva who suggested the ice method) I melted the cocoa butter and used a cotton ball to rub the cavities of the mold. I then went back thru with a clean cotton ball to remove some of the cocoa butter because I was afraid there may be too much. I also added a sparing amount of gold luster dust to 1/2 of the molds since I had 2 kinds of ganach and I wanted to have visual difference between the two. To fill the mold I spooned the tempered chocolate onto the mold and slammed it on the counter a few times to remove get rid of air bubbles then I tipped it back into my bowl to remove the excess chocolate. I used a bench scraper to clean off the top of the mold. This was pretty messy but fun! I wrapped the mold in cling wrap and popped it into the fridge to harden. Removed it, piped in ganach, re tempered my chocolate and filled in the bottoms, scrape with bench scraper again.

QUESTIONS:
1) How do you get the molded shell thinner? My chocolate was pretty thick still and after I drained the mold the walls of the bon bons were pretty thin in places and the bottom of the cup was pretty thick.

2) I couldn't tell which ones had the luster dust, how much do you usually use? Would it be better to add it to the melted cocoa butter and rub in that way?

3) Is there some other way to color cocoa butter? What with?

4) Although my temper was perfect (yea!!! I must admit I'm proud of myself for this, I thought it would be harder to do) the bon bons still were not really shiney. Do I need more cocoa butter for that? The stuff I'm using was from the bakery store. Does this need to be melted to a certain temperature or tempered?

Thanks to anyone who can help me make the next batch better!

[Trishiad]

Okay....
1) spin your mold around while holding it upside down. I do this over a sheet of parchment with an apron on. Get a good spin goin' and you'll see why.

2) use more luster dust or less cocoa butter.

3) there are a couple of threads I think about PCB colors and other cocoa butter color. Maybe someone will help me out with a link.

4) shine has to do with cooling as well as temper and it may just be your mold. are you working with a good professional mold? did you polish it first?


keep trying, chocolates take some time to master. there are a lot of variables

[Genny]

Thank you Thank you Trishiad for responding! And for the encouragement.

I did order a polycarbonate mold online. It is beautiful! Perhaps I need to be patient (not a long suit) and let the mold 'season' with a few uses to build up a better shine. Hmmmm.

I think I'll have to break down and schill out the $17/bottle for the colored cocoa butter from Chef Rubber website.

I'll do the spin trick to empty out the molds of more chocolate the next time around. That will likey work.

I'll keep you posted of my results!

[Sebastian]

I'd like to try my hand at making some of the 'norman love' type shells - i've ordered a number of the chef rubber tinted butters - the packaging suggests not to heat the product over 86F, which suggests it's coming to me in temper and that it should be used in temper. Is this the case - before i rub it into the molds or spray it in, does it need to go in tempered? Or can i simply melt it and run with it...

[choux]

I've never tempered colored cocoa butter and it always works just fine. I've certainly heated it way beyond 86* in my microwave with no ill effects. The only temperature related problem I've had is when the cocoa butter starts to get too cool and hardens up. Don't be afraid.

[Sebastian]

Thanks choux - i gave it the ol' college try today, and while I learned lots (i didn't really believe the cocoa butter would look good if not tempered - you were right, it works!), i'm a far, far cry from what i was after. After seeing how mine turned out, my technique must be way off. I'd be interested in hearing how others are getting the nice swirls that are present on Norman Loves products. Multiple folks indicated they'd put on a glove and swirled it in with their finger, which didn't yield near the same definition as i see in his photos (i essentially put on a 'medium amount' of the colored ccb, and in a single movement, made a nike swoosh type design, with a little more rotation). Airbrushing them in gave a nice effect, but again, not what i was hoping for. Can anyone share in further detail than what's already been shared your techniques?

[jturn00]

My chocolates were a failure!

I polished the molds with a little coco butter and then air brushed the molds with PCB colors and Chef Rubber colors. When I went to unmold the chocolates they came out ok but some of the coloring stayed in the molds? So they didn't look too nice.....

My molds are the polycarbonite molds from JB Prince.

Does the colored cocobutter in the molds have to be warm and wet since I sprayed the molds saturday with the colors but finished up the process on sunday. I didn't think this was necessar based on what I read on this post....

Any ideas?

It was such a mess and I was so fustrated I ended up washing the molds :-) Which means I will be polishing the molds tonight!

Thanks!
Jeff

[Wendy DeBord]

I've had that happen to me too jturn00 when I began learning how to make these. It is really frustrating, but don't give up, it's just a small glitch you'll get past.

I attribute it to the molds not being clean enough/polished clean before applying your cocoa butter and colors. Or......possible scratches in your mold.

How did you polish your molds before you began?

I currently use cotton balls to polish my molds between uses. When I used a cotton cloth, I didn't seem to get it as perfectly pushed into my mold to polish every angle as perfectly as needed.

Having your molds at room temp. or warmed effects the shine (positively) but to the best of my experience it doesn't effect it so that they stick to the mold. Sticking (for me) has always related back to how well polished my molds were.........or if they weren't completely set when you unmolded them.


But perhaps someone has a different answer..............

[John DePaula]

It's important that the mold is clean. JB Prince says that the molds are dishwasher safe as long as you don't use an abrasive. Running them through the dishwasher, (where the water temperature doesn't rise above 50C and no heated drying) helps me keep my molds spotless.

It's most important that your chocolate is properly tempered. If it's not, then your chocolate will not shrink enough as it sets and will stick.

If you're having some problems getting your chocolate out of the mold, try flexing the mold a bit, or try tapping the inverted mold with the handle of your palette knife. If that doesn't work, pop it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. This can help the chocolate contract a tiny bit more and ease the release from the mold.

The PCB colors need to used between 86 to 91.5°F (30 to 33°C). Also room temperature plays an important role. For me, around 70°F (21°C) works best.

Keep at it and have fun!

Edited by John DePaula, 21 November 2005 - 10:20 AM.

[jturn00]

I may have done my polishing correctly... I used a paper towel.. I also added some cocobutter to the paper towel. The molds were at room temperature when I sprayed and filled them. The chocolates did not stick to the mold but the coloring I sprayed (using an airbrush) did not fully adhere to the chocolate so a lot was still on the mold when the chocolates popped out. They have a chipped paint/antique look.

Next time I will polish my molds using cotton balls and no cocobutter. The molds that I used with no coloring came out great. Oh how I would have liked to get that great airbrush sprayed look.

Thanks,
Jeff

(I lent my out my digital camera so I wasn't able to take any picutres but I hope to get it back after the holiday weekend and then I can post some pictures.)

Edited by jturn00, 21 November 2005 - 10:10 AM.

[John DePaula]

I may have done my polishing correctly...  I used a paper towel.. 

Yikes! I hope that the paper towel hasn't scratched your molds...

[jturn00]

I don't think I scratched the molds using the paper towel only because the chocolates realeased from the molds. It was the coco butter coloring's that I sprayed into the molds that didn't adhere competely to the chocolate making the chocolates look like chipped paint.

[jturn00]

Upon re-reading John DePaula's post, I think I may have identified the cause of my "chipped paint" on the chocolates. I have PCB colors and Chef Rubber colorings. I did not pay attention to the temperature of the cocobutter as I sprayed it. I don't know if the chef rubber coco butter colorings has an ideal temperature but the molds I sprayed with the chef rubber colorings came out ok. The PCB colorings did not. I will check the temperature of the PCB colorings before I spray...

Jeff

[Truffle Guy]

I have had similar problems before and found it was the cocoa butter I was putting in the molds. If you are getting pieces of colored cocoa butter left in the mold and the chocolate lacks the normal shine, it might be the cocoa butter you use to polish the molds themselves. At least that seemed to be the case for me. I now just polish the molds well with cotton and get much better results. I'm in Florida and I suspect the temperature/humidity may have cause problems with the "polishing" cocoa butter.

I experimented by not polishing some of the mold with cocoa butter and was able to see that was where I was getting the defect.

Upon re-reading John DePaula's post, I think I may have identified the cause of my "chipped paint" on the chocolates.  I have PCB colors and Chef Rubber colorings.  I did not pay attention to the temperature of the cocobutter as I sprayed it.  I don't know if the chef rubber coco butter colorings has an ideal temperature but the molds I sprayed with the chef rubber colorings came out ok.  The PCB colorings did not.  I will check the temperature of the PCB colorings before I spray...

Jeff

[Truffle Guy]

It's important that the mold is clean.  JB Prince says that the molds are dishwasher safe as long as you don't use an abrasive.  Running them through the dishwasher, (where the water temperature doesn't rise above 50C and no heated drying) helps me keep my molds spotless.

It's most important that your chocolate is properly tempered.  If it's not, then your chocolate will not shrink enough as it sets and will stick. 

If you're having some problems getting your chocolate out of the mold, try flexing the mold a bit, or try tapping the inverted mold with the handle of your palette knife.  If that doesn't work, pop it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  This can help the chocolate contract a tiny bit more and ease the release from the mold.

The PCB colors need to used between 86 to 91.5°F (30 to 33°C).  Also room temperature plays an important role.  For me, around 70°F (21°C) works best.

Keep at it and have fun!

Chocolate is like golf. When you hit a good shot, it is the best game around but most of the time it is frustrating but the good feeling keeps bringing you back.

I've been working on molded chocolates for about a year now. Sometimes they come out great and I would put them next to anyone's chocolates. But...I keep running into problems with the chocolate not coming out of the mold cleanly or having "chips" of cocoa butter. I seem to be fine with white chocolate in a rounded mold. On other molds, the cocoa butter is "sticking" to the mold, especially in cracks and crevices. When I use dark chocolate, the problem seems to be even worse.

I have a Rev X and Rev 2 and so I believe it is tempered properly. Also, all my palets with transfers come out fine. I've had problems with some couvertures but I've been using El Rey with good results. It is disheartening to spend hours airbrushing only to see muddled results. I'm open to any ideas. I have washed the molds, they don't appear scratched. I then polish them with cotton. Sometimes I use a small amount of cocoa butter but it doesn't seem to matter. When they work, they are very shiny and beautiful.

I suspect humidity might be an issue. I live in Tampa and they normally are "sticky" when cooled at room temperature and don't normally pop out of the mold on their own without using the freezer.

I also suspect the cocoa butter may be out of temper but then why does it work sometimes. Also, I got a brand new mold on Friday and polished it up thinking it was scratched molds and got the same results.

I'd love any ideas that might help me be more consistent. Thanks All.

[Sugarella]

But...I keep running into problems with the chocolate not coming out of the mold cleanly or having "chips" of cocoa butter.  I seem to be fine with white chocolate in a rounded mold.  On other molds, the cocoa butter is "sticking" to the mold, especially in cracks and crevices.  When I use dark chocolate, the problem seems to be even worse.  ............ I suspect humidity might be an issue.  I live in Tampa and they normally are "sticky" when cooled at room temperature and don't normally pop out of the mold on their own without using the freezer. 

You know, I've read all through this thread in the past and other threads using cocoa butter in the molds first, (with PERFECT results now every time - thanks everyone!!) but I'm not gonna reread it all today so forgive me if you've already covered this point. But it sounds like you've got one major problem:

Your cocoa butter isn't completly firmed up/hardened back to its solid state when you're pouring the tempered chocolate in, hence the stickiness in the crevices. Even if you're not heating it to apply it, the heat generated from rubbing it in there will be enough to turn it to a semi-liquid state. Think of it exactly like regular butter.....cold butter when you rub it on something will soften and stay softened at room temp, so you need to solidify it again. Try popping the molds into the fridge for a few minutes after they're coated, then allow them to come back to room temp before pouring your chocolate in. If it's terribly warm where you're working, try keeping the molds in a cool, but not cold, place. (You don't want to pour the tempered chocolate into a cold mold, of course.)

I hope that helps solve your problem. If I stated the obvious here for you I'm sorry.

Edited to add:

I also suspect the cocoa butter may be out of temper but then why does it work sometimes.

Cocoa butter is not in temper/doesn't need tempering.

Edited by Sugarella, 04 March 2006 - 01:56 PM.

[Truffle Guy]

But...I keep running into problems with the chocolate not coming out of the mold cleanly or having "chips" of cocoa butter.  I seem to be fine with white chocolate in a rounded mold.  On other molds, the cocoa butter is "sticking" to the mold, especially in cracks and crevices.  When I use dark chocolate, the problem seems to be even worse.  ............ I suspect humidity might be an issue.  I live in Tampa and they normally are "sticky" when cooled at room temperature and don't normally pop out of the mold on their own without using the freezer. 

You know, I've read all through this thread in the past and other threads using cocoa butter in the molds first, (with PERFECT results now every time - thanks everyone!!) but I'm not gonna reread it all today so forgive me if you've already covered this point. But it sounds like you've got one major problem:

Your cocoa butter isn't completly firmed up/hardened back to its solid state when you're pouring the tempered chocolate in, hence the stickiness in the crevices. Even if you're not heating it to apply it, the heat generated from rubbing it in there will be enough to turn it to a semi-liquid state. Think of it exactly like regular butter.....cold butter when you rub it on something will soften and stay softened at room temp, so you need to solidify it again. Try popping the molds into the fridge for a few minutes after they're coated, then allow them to come back to room temp before pouring your chocolate in. If it's terribly warm where you're working, try keeping the molds in a cool, but not cold, place. (You don't want to pour the tempered chocolate into a cold mold, of course.)

I hope that helps solve your problem. If I stated the obvious here for you I'm sorry.

Edited to add:

I also suspect the cocoa butter may be out of temper but then why does it work sometimes.

Cocoa butter is not in temper/doesn't need tempering.

I actually have not been using cocoa butter on the molds except the colored cocoa butter and it hardens completely before I put in the chocolate. I actually hit the mold with a hair dryer before putting in the chocolate to get the mold closer to the temp of the chocolate. But...as I've mentioned what throws me off is that sometimes it works fine. The white chocolate seems to work best. I'm also not sure about rubbing the mold with cocoa butter then applying colored cocoa butter and then chocolate, seems like too many layers.

When I pour the chocolate into molds with cocoa butter...won't the temp of the chocolate "soften" the cocoa butter anyway? If anything, it seems the bonding between the cocoa butter and the mold is firmer than the bond between the colored cocoa butter and the chocolate. Thanks for the reply, I'll look into it and see if it helps but I suspect it must be something else.

[alanamoana]

in watching jean-pierre wybauw give a demonstration, he states that molds do NOT need to be cleaned all the time. people spend all this time polishing, etc. which is silly. the only time you probably need to clean your molds is when your chocolate was totally out of temper and you have crap stuck everywhere.

he states that the mold sort of gets seasoned by being used (like a good cast iron pan or wok), if necessary, some of the residual cocoa butter should be warmed up with a hair dryer gently before being filled/coated with tempered chocolate.

he is also a proponent of cooling tempered chocolate. chucking it into the fridge for a short period of time based on the size or thickness of the mold or coating. as long as you let the tempered chocolate set a bit at room temperature, it shouldn't be a problem to refrigerate it to help it along. he did make sure to specify that if you can't "ventilate" your refrigerator, you can leave the door open a tad so that moisture doesn't collect on your chocolate from the fridge. i'm assuming with large chocolate operations, the chilling process is done with some sort of venting to prevent humidity/moisture from coming into play.

at any rate, this might not help, but it is just another point of view. maybe it will help lessen the amount of elbow grease you expend on that one particularly tedious task

[Sugarella]

I actually have not been using cocoa butter on the molds except the colored cocoa butter and it hardens completely before I put in the chocolate.  I actually hit the mold with a hair dryer before putting in the chocolate to get the mold closer to the temp of the chocolate.  But...as I've mentioned what throws me off is that sometimes it works fine.  The white chocolate seems to work best.  I'm also not sure about rubbing the mold with cocoa butter then applying colored cocoa butter and then chocolate, seems like too many layers. 

When I pour the chocolate into molds with cocoa butter...won't the temp of the chocolate "soften" the cocoa butter anyway?  If anything, it seems the bonding between the cocoa butter and the mold is firmer than the bond between the colored cocoa butter and the chocolate.  Thanks for the reply, I'll look into it and see if it helps but I suspect it must be something else.

A-HA! You're melting the cocoa butter when you hit it with the hair dryer; you're supposed to use the dryer (if you choose to at all) in the molds before rubbing the cocoa butter in.....that does 2 things..... cleans any dust/lint out of the mold, and warms the mold so the cocoa will spread more smoothly and this also results in a shinier finish on the finished chocolate. (Well, a shinier gloss on the cocoa butter, actually.)
....And yes, you'll have had less problems with white chocolates doing this because the cocoa butter content of white is so high and the 2 are melding together easier.

I'm not recommending using both plain cocoa butter then the coloured ones over top..... either/or is sufficient.

And chocolate, in temper, is not warm enough to melt the cocoa butter in the molds.

Try this:

1 - Clean and buff molds with cotton
2 - Hit molds with hair dryer (optional step)
3 - Apply cocoa butter by rubbing or spraying
4 - Chill molds to solidify cocoa butter
5 - Bring molds back to room temperature
6 - Fill with tempered chocolate

[Sugarella]

And to clarify, technically yes, the tempered chocolate IS warm enough to soften the cocoa butter in the molds, making it adhere to the chocolate.....it just isn't warm enough to actually melt it like the hair dryer would. Hope that clarifies.

[nicolekaplan]

to add:
1. never give your molds to the dishwasher, the soap is abrasive. if you must wash them, by hand, you can use a little dawn if you need. spritz the cleaned molds with a little distilled water and let air dry.
2. never use paper towels or dish towels or any towels, the best is those pure cotton makeup pads, not the balls and not the fake ones either
3. chef rubber color is beta 6, that is the best, the rest of the products out there are who knows what, so don't mix them, just dump the rest, you'll save yourself some frustration

[choux]

I have started putting my molds in the dishwasher and my chocolates come out even shinier and with less sticking than when I didn't wash them between batches. It's just a home dishwasher, maybe commercial ones have harsher detergents. I do polish them, just to get the water spots off.
I have found that the coloured cocoa butter sticks more often when the layer is too thick. When swirling colour in with your finger or whatever, I have to be careful that it doesn't pool in the bottom, because that is a recipe for sticking. I rarely have any airbrushed chocolates stick.

[Wendy DeBord]

I have started putting my molds in the dishwasher and my chocolates come out even shinier and with less sticking than when I didn't wash them between batches. It's just a home dishwasher, maybe commercial ones have harsher detergents. I do polish them, just to get the water spots off.

I echo Nicoles comment, don't ever put them thru the dishwasher. You maybe just lucky Choux. But that's definately a risk you shouldn't take.

I had similar problems with spots sticking, when I began. I was using a clean cotton towel to polish my molds. After I switched to cotton balls to polish, none have gotten stuck.......so I think the cloth wasn't polishing the surface as throughly. I haven't heard about using make-up pads......but next time I'll make that switch. Thanks Nicole.

I also ditto Sugarellas steps. I do the same with-out the blowdryer step.

[choux]

Has anyone else tried putting moulds in the dishwasher with no ill effects? I had heard the warnings about not putting them in, and someone else told me it was fine to dishwash them. So I tried it, works great, chocolates come out better. Has anyone else tried it or are we all following someone else? Maybe the myth needs to be busted.

[Sugarella]

I think a lot of it really depends on how hard your water is. Minerals in hard water will etch glass and your drinking glasses will turn whitish over time in the dishwasher.... it'd happen to plastic quicker I would assume.