keychris

heh, I scrape and wipe! Scrape the mould upside down back into the melt tank for the excess cocoa butter, then wipe on a thick layer of paper towels, long enough so I can do a long wipe without wiping off the end of the paper. I always heat before closing, too.

Looks like you're getting a tiny amount of chocolate slipping into the gap that's created between the mould and the shell when it contracts. I'm not sure if there is a fix for that.

yup! It's on my wish-list... depends how much product I can sell before then http://www.savourschool.com.au/classes/guest-chefs/jean-marie-auboine-panning/classes-detail.aspx

He's a great teacher, thinks he's funnier than he is though I'm looking forward to seeing what he's learned about panning next year at one of his classes down here

^^ This. I've had moulds that look perfect on the outside with a lovely bloom on the inside that no-one sees Keep a close eye on the temperature (even though it's not the be all and end all) - if you're out of the working temp range you're more likely to see problems. I find this with my tanks that the temp can slowly creep up even though I don't move the dial, they're starting to get old and worn out (just like me!) Do a test set on a spatula or a knife 10 minutes before you start, if that sets up nicely with no streaks, you should be good to go.

streaking and bloom (what you're describing) means your chocolate wasn't quite right. Was your room a little warm? Perhaps the heat release as the chocoplate set up was enough to cause the problems. I always try to have my ceiling fan on when I'm dipping to improve air circulation around the pieces and allow the heat to dissipate quickly

I'm guessing it's just piped milk chocolate with a very fine hole in the piping bag then cast in dark.

Christmas selection As well as about 10kg worth of reindeer and sleigh

heh, nice to see someone else do that, Kerry If the body is just a fraction too fat, the legs don't go on so good, chocolate not being so flexible and all that! I end up shaving just a little out of the leg cavities with a knife if this happens, makes them fit perfectly

Definitely find a higher quality gelatin.

tbh, I'd go invest in a good set of digital kitchen scales It sounds like perhaps the measurements were off if you were converting the weights to volumes.

Do you have unusually high humidity at the moment? When you last did this, did it work just fine? I use this method and have never had any issues with it.

yup, silicone

Who would have thought that reindeer and sleigh would be so popular? I've already had orders for 6 of them! That's 1kg for each... better go get some more chocolate. Had this mould delivered all the way from the US of A a few days ago - even with the exchange rate and postage, cheaper than moulds here in Australia. Ridiculous.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/18208/Santas-Sleigh-Mould http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lakeland-Sleigh-Reindeer-Christmas-Chocolate/dp/B00F46BZOK "lakeland santa's sleigh" should get you enough hits to start with

The chocolate was contracting around a slightly fluid filling, which didn't like being compressed, so it forced its way out of microscopic gaps in the chocolate that hadn't fully set. I have no idea how to prevent it

Made him some friends

he's a milk chocolate reindeer, yes it's just a cheap silicon mould (perhaps for gingerbread), you then just put it together

'tis the season, and all that. Time to start a collection of reindeer to pull a sleigh...

Mycryo is too expensive for me to waste using it to temper Methods that call for adding larger amounts of seed chocolate are adding it to the melted chocolate when it's at 45C - so the vast quantity of the seed crystals are melted out, the idea being that the right number of crystals will be left when the chocolate reaches working temperature. I think basically all the different methods mean that the process is really not that hard and a there's a wide variety of different ways to accomplish the same result. Despite what people think and say, the tempering process is *not* difficult if you understand what you're trying to achieve (get beta crystals) and how to go about it (seed it, table it, microwave it, use a bane marie, whatever).

I'm not sure I would call anything that has had the cocoa butter replaced with vegetable fats "chocolate"

Chocolate held at it's working temperature will thicken over time due to beta crystal production and need the excess crystals melted out regularly unless you want to have a big thick gluggy mess I vaguely recall a value (I'm sure others will know it better) that 'in temper' chocolate only has a small amount of beta crystals - 2% or something small like that. Sorry, a bit off-topic!

Chocolate, including cocoa butter, can be at 32C and still be solid - try leaving your melt tank at working temp and see what temperature and form the chocolate is the next day (hint: 32C and a solid, due to crystals continuously forming at the working temperature)! So you have to set the temp higher than the melting point, as you found. I personally just set it to 45C and forget it, then stir it down to 31-32C and spray. The stirring step takes <5 minutes. If I'm using a finger to apply to colour, I will use it right when it gets to 32C. Edit: hah, should have read the thread properly before posting. Kerry beat me by a number of days

It sounds to me that you didn't have the finished product properly in temper when you let it set, or you added too much agave and increased the water content too much. I've made 'chocolate' from cacao, agave, vanilla & cacao butter successfully with the following ratios: 28.5% agave 47.7% cacao butter 23.8% cacao powder seeds from 3 vanilla pods / kg final product It's extraordinarily fluid (unsurprisingly, at almost 50% cacao butter), but it sets up nicely and stays set at room temperature, no problems. I used it to make easter eggs (a bit tricky), but it's best suited to simply making solid bars or pieces. As everyone else has mentioned, it will naturally have a more grainy feel in the mouth - this is even more so if you use other forms of sugar instead of agave, say, powdered sugar or rapadura etc etc. HTH Chris

I have no idea on the regulations in the US, but ensure that you're following all the local laws and requirements for selling your product; if you have to have a registration certificate for your kitchen, have it, if you need to include ingredient lists and use by dates, have them! The last market I did I had neglected to have hand-washing facilities available in my stall (for myself), and despite not needing to use them (my hands never come in contact with my products), I still received a warning from our local health department. As for amount to have, it varies so massively here: I've had days where I've done huge turnover (well, I consider it huge) - $1000-$1500, and others where I only do $500 turnover. I have no idea how to guess how much I'm going to need! I usually go with 12 varieties which is a full box for the boxes I use. Definitely have samples of scraps out, eg. just some honeycomb mixed into some tempered dark chocolate or something, really easy and cheap to make. I have a friend who does truffles and uses his actual product as samples and he has days where he gives away 3/4 of his product as 'free samples' without selling hardly any (no matter how many times I tell him this is ridiculous!)