mostlylana

My goodness, I just had to eat tablespoons of ganache after reading this post! I want that recipe! You should consider a second career as a food writer. You brought that cake to life. It's a good thing the ganache has appeased me for now...

Absolutely you could retemper it and it should be just fine. Remember, most chocolatiers keep their chocolate melted or in temper in their tempering machines/melters. The chocolate is basically never solid again until it is processed. Also, the fridge isn't an issue if you wrap properly and bring it to temperature properly - just like you can do with bonbons in the fridge/freezer.

Well I'm back with a little more info on spraying. I was in Vancouver over the week-end and popped in to Thomas Haas. He came out all smiles so I ventured to talk to him. The company that I was talking to about silent compressors had sold him a unit last year so I asked him about it. He invited me into the kitchen to show me how he has it piped into the wall and to show me what he thinks I should be using - an airbrush. He uses the airbrush for cocoa butter. I asked him if he tempered the cocoa butter. He said he uses it 1 degree warmer than tempered for the airbrush and 4 degrees warmer than tempered for the spraygun in order to compensate for the air flow tempering the cocoa butter while spraying.

John, thank you so much! I want to try that gold leaf heart. I've used gold leaf but added it AFTER not into the mold. So much to try...

Thanks Kerry that's awesome! Unfortunately I didn't see a lot about molding techniques. Maybe it's time for a new topic... It'll have to wait until I get back from Vancouver. Too much to do but I can't pull myself away from here!

Thank you Kerry and cmflick - you have no idea how helpful that info is! I've been tossing A LOT of shells back into the melter. I was searching for a topic on molding as I'm a new at it but couldn't find one. Anyone know if there is one? I'll pose my question here in the meantime... I did a course with a chocolatier on Bowen Island (Cocoa West for those in the know...) and she taught a 2 shell molding procedure: 1)Fill/ Scrape/ Vibrate Empty while tapping for 10 sec./ scrape upside down/ turn up and scrape/ vibrate Place open side down and let set (fridge or counter). 2)Do everything all over again after hitting quickly with the hair dryer except empty for 15 seconds and after approx. 3 minutes on the counter setting - put in fridge for 8 minutes. Does anyone else do a 2 shell mold? If not, how do you get your shells thick enough? After filling to you let the chocolate sit for a minute or so in the mold before dumping? My chocolate is pretty fluid so just 1 layer is a little too thin. Thanks again!

Interesting humidity observation... hmmmm... Thank you so much for outlining your procedure Kerry. It really helps. I am quite confused about the chocolate separating from the mold. I am waiting for my SHELLS to do this and often about a third of them don't release. I then pop them into the freezer so they will release and deem it a failure. What I'm wondering is should I go ahead and fill and back off even if not all of the shells have released? Or is this lack of release within - say 10 minutes in the fridge - a sign that something went wrong? I'm worried that if I use these shells then I'll have filled bonbons stuck in the mold! I'm a dipper not a molder so this is new to me. Thanks so much for the help!

Kerry, it sounds like you're successful getting a shine. That's great! Care to quickly run through your technique from spraying to unmoulding for us dull people...?? Thanks!

Yesterday I tried Derrick's advice and didn't have a very successful day. I am just spraying for shine right now. My moulded hearts came out like your bar John - not very shiny. The gun was giving me trouble when I was spraying too - like it was clogging up. Hmmmm. What I did was increase the cocoa butter to 40% and then shook the container until it reached 32C. I didn't put my sprayed molds in the fridge - left them on the counter. They set up within 5 min. I then did my shell molding at the high end of temp. - around 32.5C. It took them forever to release in the fridge and many did not - I had to put them in the freezer. I'm away until Sun. so no more playing for me right now. I'd love to hear others experiments if you have time to play...

Wow - fantastic! I wish we all lived closer together so we could play together. I would love to watch you do those.

I just remembered something else he said: the gun needs to stay warm but not too warm. He said he sprays about 10 molds and then heats the gun. He said the gun shouldn't feel hot - if so, you've heated it too much.

No and no. I wonder if you're getting air bubbles because you haven't thinned enough or your cocoa butter is too cool? I hear what you're saying about warming the molds. I think I'm going to put them in the oven with the oven light on. Derrick would probably use a Mol d'Art melter - but who has an extra one of those sitting around???

With the pressurized cup you can easily do effects as well...

I just got off the phone with Chef Derrick Tu Tan Pho from Callebaut in Montreal. I'm so excited! I figured I would post the info here instead of the 'Spray Gun' topic as the info is more relavent here. What I've come away with is there are few hard and fast rules - hence all of the conflicting info... First, he said thinning with 30% cocoa butter is not quite enough. He recommended 40 - 45%. He said if you want it very dark, use cocoa mass (unsweetened chocolate). He said you don't notice the bitterness when it's a light spray like that. He said the chocolate/cocoa butter doesn't need to be tempered. What he said is most important is temperature. He said to shake it until it reaches 32C -33C. He said the shaking is putting it into temper. However, he said if you are using a high volume spray gun at 40 - 50 psi and you have a cool room 18 -19C, you can get away with having the chocolate/cocoa butter at 45C because the high velocity of air is tempering the chocolate as it sprays (like an automatic tempering machine). He recommends a spraying distance of 10 inches to give the chocolate time to temper as it flies through the air (my words!). He said if the chocolate is closer to the temper range you can spray closer to the mold. See what I mean by few hard and fast rules... He also talked about the temperature of the mold before spraying. He said it needs to be warm but not too warm. I know one of the posts here said 27C. He said that is too hot and will cause release problems. He said too cool a mold will also cause release problems. His advice - no warmer than 24C - somewhere between 22C and 24C. Once you've sprayed your chocolate/cocoa butter it should be left to set up on the counter - not the fridge. He said if you put such a thin layer of cocoa butter in the fridge it sets too fast and creates Beta 6 fat molecules which are very hard. Then when you fill your mold with chocolate to make shells, it doesn't bond well with the spray and you have release problems - the sprayed layer will stick to the mold. He said it should set up between 3 - 5 minutes on the counter just like when you do a temper check. He said if it doesn't set up in that time you haven't been successful. Make sure they are set up completely before molding. Before you make shells he said it's no problem to leave the sprayed molds for awhile as long as they're at room temp. He said do not use the hair dryer to warm them before molding! He said the hair dryer will melt such a thin layer. He suggested to have your molding chocolate at the high end of the temper range to create a good bond with the sprayed chocolate. He even recommended around 33C for dark AS LONG AS IT'S STILL IN TEMPER - that's key. And gosh darn it - I forgot to ask him for suggestions about wiping the mold after spraying. I can't wait to try his suggestions today! I'll report back. Edited to clarify the last paragraph about molding...

I have a question for you spraying experts... once you've sprayed, how do you let it set up? In the fridge or at room temp.? Do you think it's important to fill the mold to make shells right away or can you leave your sprayed molds for awhile and get to them later? I figure a quick hit with the hair dryer before filling should create a good bond if you haven't left it for too long. Is that logical thinking??

Nice splatter Kerry! Wow!

Wow, those are beautiful and so shiny! Can I ask what 'too cool' is? What temp. do you usually work at?

My hubby uses those blue paper towels and gets them at Costco. They're much stronger than the regular ones. I've been letting the overspay on the mold harden and then scrape it off with a bowl scraper before I fill. That way I can reuse what comes off. With chocolate, there's probably more of a build-up than with coloured cocoa butter. I learned this trick from a course I took with a chocolatier in Vancouver. She always does a 2 shell mold. She told us to 'clean' molds by scraping after finishing the first shell. The little bits fall that fall into the cups you can shake out - what's left doesn't matter. Then do your next layer. What a great way to keep molds clean if you've been messy.

John I love your spray booth. You have some wonderful ideas. Thank you for sharing. I actually bought velcro to use on my plastic. I'm definitely going to try magnets first. I think you can buy some pretty powerful ones. And the shower curtain - genius! Love it! I think it is necessary. Paul DeBondt said the spray gun must be at the same temp. as the chocolate. He said to use little blasts of the heat gun quite often to keep the gun at temp. What I do before spraying is put my gun in the oven on a cookie sheet with the oven light on. If I turn on the oven light first thing in the morning it's nice and warm in there by the time I need it. I try to leave the gun in there was at least 15 minutes before spraying. There is such conflicting info about the temp. of the cocoa butter. As I didn't get any concrete answers to my earlier quandry about the molds not releasing properly, I called Callebaut in Montreal as we were told after our course to call with any questions. The Chef (Derrick) is calling me tomorrow so I'll see what he has to say about release problems and working temp. of the cocoa butter. The last few days I've been using dark chocolate thinned with 30% cocoa butter that I keep in my yogurt maker. The temp. of the mixture is 40C. By the time I get it in the cup and am ready to spray it has cooled a few degrees. Everything is working fine and the chocolates come out shiny. Paul DeBondt said you can add up to 30% cocoa butter to tempered chocolate without having to temper the cocoa butter but it must be at the same temp. as the chocolate. It's odd you say that a Callebaut video said you must temper the mixture first. Here is a link to a Callebaut tutorial saying to melt to 40C and then let it cool to 35C... http://www.callebaut.com/uken/2625 Can you provide a link to your Callebaut video? I was told by the fellow who sold me the guns to turn down the fluid knob and turn up the air knob to get finer atomization. I have read the same thing many times (I read quite a few autobody painting sites!). The first time I sprayed, mine was orange-peely as well. I've now found the settings for a nice atomization. Keep playing! I have a question... once you've sprayed, how do you remove the overspray from the mold? Scrape while wet? Wipe while wet? Scrape when dry?

Yes, I wonder about the hair dryer on the very thin chocolate... I also just reread the 'chocolates with that showroom finish topic' (apparently I wasn't too tired!). 2 different people said they had more success when the sprayed layer was thin. Paul DeBondt said he does 7 or 8 very thin layers and then uses a brush to brush in chocolate before filling. I did 4 or 5 layers but maybe they were too thick?? (I didn't do the brush though...) Do you just do 1 layer of spray before filling? I'll do more experiments tomorrow and report back. I have 1 more question: What is the best way to spray so the sides get evenly coated and the chocolate doesn't pool to the bottom? At first I had my mold on the counter and was spraying directly downward. That didn't get the sides very good. Then I tried keeping the mold on the counter but angling my gun more toward the wall rather than down and turned the mold to get all of the sides. Then I held the mold and sprayed more accurately on the sides. Problem here is that it's more difficult to keep the chocolate contained and off of the walls! Anyone have a successful method? And how many layers do most of you spray when spraying chocolate or coloured cocoa butter? Thanks!

I think the bag sounds like a great idea. I thought you had ordered several mini containers for different colours - will that not work out? I FINALLY tried my gun yesterday with water. It can do some pretty cool things. I have 4 knobs to play with - the fluid knob (how much chocolate comes out), the atomizing air knob (the knob that makes it eliptical or round), the air to the gun knob and the air into the cup knob. I can completely turn off the air to the gun and just have air to the cup which gives a straight line. Different amounts of cup to gun air pressure give different types of splatter. More atomizing air with lower fluid gives a smooth even surface. Today I tried it with chocolate but my makeshift spray booth wasn't finished. Yikes. It wasn't too bad but I won't do that again. I was playing around which made it worse. I'm sure once I'm proficient I can spray with little mess. I wish I had a plastic room that I could just go for it in. There are so many things I want to try! I used acetate to practice on but that got covered up in a hurry. Anyone have any other ideas for practice? I was just working on getting an even atomization today. I did some heart molds and had a glitch. One of the molds come out perfectly - very shiny. Here's a photo - but not a great one. They look better in person! The other mold didn't release properly as you can see. I know this was discussed somewhere but I'm too darn tired to search for it. I did 4 or 5 thin layers of spray putting it in the fridge for just a minute after each. I would hit it quickly with the hair dryer before doing the next spray and before I filled. I wonder if I overdid it with the hair dryer?? Paul DeBondt said that after doing the layers of spray you need to dab in chocolate with a brush before filling as the layers are too thin and need some backing. I'm thinking making the shell will provide the thickness - and provided you've softened the chocolate slightly with the hair dryer - there should be a bond between the thin sprayed chocolate and the rest of the shell... right? I'll be experimenting again tomorrow so would love feedback if someone knows what's going on.

Chocolatiers start your engines! I just fired up my compressor for the first time today. After just a little screaming on my part everything went quite well. The house didn't blow up - I was glad of that. I am now completely outfitted for my guns and I am almost finished making my spray tent to drape over my stove fan. I plan to try my guns tomorrow. You'll probably hear me squealing in most parts of Canada and the States when that happens! I'll keep you posted!

I froze a bunch of caramel experiments by plopping dollops on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Little did I know that caramel doesn't get hard! So don't bother with the little dollops - put the lot in a container and scoop directly from the freezer as needed.

Thanks for the tips. I was hoping to make it from paste and chocolate without having to make gianduja first. Ejw50, do you use any butter in your recipe? He has a few with cream and a few with butter but none with both. I guess I'll experiment and try a bunch of combinations.

I want to do a hazelnut ganache for a molded chocolate - very smooth and soft - using hazelnut praline. Wybauw has recipes for both butter based and cream based hazelnut ganache. Has anyone tried either type of recipe? Comments? Thanks!