Choky

Thank you both for your answers as these are important aspects. As for waiting more time, I've tried it, but concluded that even if given all the time to release alone, marks still exist (supposedly in the points were it had difficulty to release). We rechecked our hand placement, concluding that fingers don't touch the bottom of the mold. We are testing with cold molds with partial success. Mold heating seems to be the way to go, but to get the right temperature with a heat gun is not easy and it's time consuming...

After searching this one and other forums I found a number of reasons / solutions for release marks: 1 - mold should be cold and go right away to fridge 2 - mold should be cold and only go to fridge after beginning of crystallization 3 - mold should be heated 4 - because of over crystallization 6 - not professional molds (too much flex) 5 - use cooling tunnel instead of fridge so that mold is cooled gradually I'm having trouble with release marks, as seen in the photo: I've tried numbers 1, 2 and 3 above without success, number 4 I'm not sure how to control, number 5 is not the cause as I'm using professional molds and number 6 is not an investment that I can do right now. Any help would be appreciated!

That is an interesting point. In this case I'm using a chocolate that is 40% fat and has a molding suitability of 2,5 out of 5. If I well understand, fat amount is not the only thing influencing viscosity.

Yes, I'm using a continuous tempering machine like Selmi. This photo from today shows 2 attempts, the tempering temperature of the right one is 2 or 3ºC less than the left one. Chocolate in the right one was rather thick, the one on the left have some kind of microbubbles that vibration don't eliminates. How thick should a tempered chocolate be? And microbubbles are a symptom of what?

Thanks, but what I was trying to ask was if it's possible a chocolate to have 2 completely different temper temperature pairs, like 49ºC / 32ºC and 54ºC / 34ºC, or only one.

Can a chocolate have 2 possible tempering settings? For example, using a continuous tempering machine, it can be tempered at 49ºC / 32ºC, but eventually also at 54ºC / 34ºC ? Thanks in advance!

I've also thought about custom molds, but the cost is too high.

At least in Europe comercial chocolate tablets are getting thinner. Usually 6mm thick and of course bigger in area. But I don't manage to find that kind of molds at manufacturer's sites (80 or 100g). Or at least choice is very limited. Why? Maybe too thin for manual unmolding? Or they just use bigger molds and fill partially? Thanks!

Thank you for your interest. - continuous tempering machine 25 kg with removable screw. - 50 molds of 3 cavities (won't be using tempering machine full capacity for now) - 18 levels trolley equipped with grids (each grid fits 4 molds) - cooling chamber: local refrigeration / air conditioning company is projecting it, should fit 2 trolleys and be designed to lower from 30º to 15º celcius (how much time it will take to cool is a good question). Hope that humidity won't be a problem. - packing by hand in flat heat seal bags and then custom printed cardboard. If something seems strange or missing please say so...

OK, I understand that this can be a problem for Belgium pralines (bonbons), but shouldn't be for solid tablets.

Thanks for your answers! I'm in the process of setting up a small chocolate production business, so this question is to better understand the workflow and acquire necessary equipment. In a month or two I should have hands on issues

When working with tablets and bar molds how necessary is to heat the molds? What will be the difference doing it or not? How do you heat them when working with a large number? Air gun, heating cabinet? Your help is deeply appreciated!

Glad to be useful and welcomed! I found the thread (and forum) a couple of weeks ago when I was googling for chocolate mold manufacturers. Then yesterday I found myself in the Prefamac website and there was the Bubble bar looking at me. Now that I have registered in the forum I’ll probably ask some no so smart questions, chocolate related. Cheers!

I think I have found it: Prefamac Bubble bar Weight mould : 376 g Dimensions mould : 275x175 mm Weight model : 44.5 g Dimensions model : 120x30x17 mm Cavities : 2x4 pieces http://www.prefamac.com/webshop/default?lang=en All the best! Ref Nr : S2BD0078N