Colored Cocoa Butter: The Topic

[Soleil]

I would like some info on best way to retemper colored cocoa butter. I had some issue with some roxy and rich cb not releasing from my mold. I tried twice to retemper without success. So if anyone is kind enough to spell out exactly what they do to make sure the cb is tempered, I’d be grateful.  Normally, I just microwave the bottles in 10-30 sec intervals until it’s at 87F and agitate to well, then paint or finger swiped the molds. If I’m using my paint sprayer, I will push sometimes to 90-91 and haven’t had issue. Please note, my molds were clean and polished, at room temp, and the cb seemed to set in a few minutes. I tried another color in the same cavity that wouldn’t release the blue cb, and it released fine. So- having to ditch 14 trays has not made me paranoid that I’m playing with fire and not doing something correctly that has now burned me.  Thanks in advance. Btw- I have also used Chef Rubber cb and am confused why they say just to reheat to 86 while the Roxy and Rich says to heat to 95. Any education and advice is appreciated. The picture is the blue that would Not release. 

[Bentley]

 I use the Melissa Coppel method of CCB tempering.  I melt it to 45C then swirl the bottle in cold water to bring the temp down to 28C then spray.  If I'm doing a larger quantity, I'll temper the cocoa butter with EZTemper silk.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Bentley (log)

[teonzo]

That problem is often caused by a low temperature of the chocolate you use for the shells. You want it to be in the higher side of the temper window, if you go on the low side then troubles arise. If you are making dark chocolate shells, then your goal is to pour it in the molds when it's around 32°C, without going below 31°C. Similar thinking for the other chocolates, adapting the temperature for the kind you are using.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Rajala]

I'm not sure why each vendor gotta make up their own tempering instructions. Really stupid.

 

I do it almost as Bentley, but Coppel have updated her methods a bit. Probably after meeting Dubovik. I go 45° > 26° > 29°. I tried it after watching a video. Better shine than ever, but it might also be might little chocolate fridge helping. Can't say for sure.

[Jpcaissy]

Hi all, SUPER useful thread and glad to see it's still alive after so many years. 1st post form me.

We have been experimenting lately with making our own CB colors with R&R powders - initially lot's of issues with transparency and peak through of the dark chocolate affecting the outcome. But adding TiO2 white powder to the colors seem to have helped a lot. And also adding a back coating of white as needed.

Next will be to add some hybrid sprakles dust and / or lustre powders we just purchased and see if we can recreate this "pearl" effect to the color. Need to make a new batch of Orange color so will try 100g CB + 10g Orange + 2g TiO2 + 1g sparkle super pearl dust and see what happens. The science of chocolate making is interesting to me and my wife is the artist so we are experimenting at this stage. We spray with a 0.5mm nozzle

This is the most recent creation of a mint bonbon with green emerald powder that had some TiO2 added to it so it sort of became a different green after the TiO2 was added. 

Does anyone have recommendations on using the lustre and sparkle dusts? 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Nice work - welcome @Jpcaissy. 

 

Where do you hail from?

[Jim D.]

I am interested in the opacity issue and the use of titanium.  I use Chef Rubber's colors (already mixed).  The Ruby Red lists titanium as an ingredient, but the color is not opaque.  It turns into a muddy red brown when dark or milk chocolate are behind it.  Is one to conclude that Chef Rubber did not intend for it to be opaque, and I am expected to spray a layer of white behind it, or is the issue that more titanium is needed?  Kirsten Tibballs frequently calls for adding "titanium or white chocolate" to make colors opaque but doesn't mention proportions.  Some CR colors similar to red (such as yellow and orange) are closer to opaque, and with those one can make do without the white layer.  I was also interested in discovering last Christmas that, in the case of a transfer sheet from Chocotransfersheets.com containing green foliage and red berries, to my surprise the berries were closer to opaque.  But after much experimentation, I have concluded that if you really want the color to be what it originally is from the bottle, a white layer is required.

 

I am willing to try adding titanium to the CR colors but am not sure where to find it.  Amazon lists some for soap-making.  On a related issue, I know that many people are moving away from using titanium and that there are some manufacturers who are working on cocoa butter colors that don't use it but are opaque, but I'm not sure of the state of that research.

[Jpcaissy]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Nice work - welcome @Jpcaissy. 

 

Where do you hail from?

Toronto, Canada

[Kerry Beal]

10 hours ago, Jpcaissy said:

Toronto, Canada

Nice and close to me then 

[Jpcaissy]

9 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Nice and close to me then 

Nice, just saw your also Ont, CA. Will be nice to meet some day once this Covid time passes.

Anywhere that you source powder colors / bonbon making supplies in the GTA? so far we have been getting it online from Qc stores, we know of signaturefinefoods but hard to get there during the week due to a full time non chocolate related job.

[Madsandersen]

I am wondering how to get a metallic/gold finish when spraying chocolate showpieces. When I mix gold powder with cocoa butter it looks amazing when melted, but when it crystalizes it seems like the gold disappears leaving a dull brown color. I am looking for a gold finish like Amaury Guichon on his telescope; 

 

[Kerry Beal]

15 hours ago, Jpcaissy said:

Nice, just saw your also Ont, CA. Will be nice to meet some day once this Covid time passes.

Anywhere that you source powder colors / bonbon making supplies in the GTA? so far we have been getting it online from Qc stores, we know of signaturefinefoods but hard to get there during the week due to a full time non chocolate related job.

I get chocolate delivered from Sweet Market Distribution in east Toronto. But I will run to Signature or MVR but my non chocolate job used to give me lots of time mid week pre Covid. I do order a lot from QC - Chocolat-chocolat, occasionally DR.  Haven't needed powdered colour for a while - I have a bunch in the house already and most recently when I make colors I've been using the Power Flowers. 

[Soleil]

So I’ve done two batches after Tempering the cb. I heat to 45, cool bottle in ice bath while spinning and shaking until down to 30 then warm to 31-32 and hold.  When I’ve shelled using Callebaut 811, I have it at around 32. How long should I let the mold

sit when I’m shelling?  I have been using about 30-45 secs. Is that too short a time to throughly blend with the colored cocoa butter?  First picture I had very little white left in mold. Second picture the lines were painted or finger swiped. Both solid colors were sprayed and had no problems... any other thoughts?  Could it be that I didn’t let the shells sit long enough to crystallize?  The cocoa butter sat for 12-18 hrs before I shelled them...

[Soleil]

Third picture...

[Jpcaissy]

On 10/20/2020 at 7:53 AM, Kerry Beal said:

I get chocolate delivered from Sweet Market Distribution in east Toronto. But I will run to Signature or MVR but my non chocolate job used to give me lots of time mid week pre Covid. I do order a lot from QC - Chocolat-chocolat, occasionally DR.  Haven't needed powdered colour for a while - I have a bunch in the house already and most recently when I make colors I've been using the Power Flowers. 

Sweet Market distribution? nerver heard of these guys, do you have a website or contact info for them we would love to check them out. Can't seem to find them via the good old google search!

[Kerry Beal]

4 hours ago, Jpcaissy said:

Sweet Market distribution? nerver heard of these guys, do you have a website or contact info for them we would love to check them out. Can't seem to find them via the good old google search!

Name has changed recently - previously Savourez Fine Foods. 

 

I think I can safely share the e-mail I got 

 

Hello

 

I hope you are all doing well in this unprecedented time in our life.

We are proud to let you know that Savourez fine foods have changed during Covid for the better.

Savourez is now Sweet Market Distribution inc.

Our goal with Sweet Market distribution inc is to give you the best service possible so it will start with next day delivery service. Starting August 4th we will be able to deliver you the same day or next day depending on what time you send your order.

Knowing the situation everyone is in we Covid, we are also working very hard on our side to find the best deals on the market for all the products we are distributing. To reach this goal we are now importing a lot of products directly which will help us to bring you the best prices possible. 

With Savourez we tried to give you a good service, now with Sweet Market Distribution we will give you the best service.

During the Month of August, I will come to see you in order to present you all new products and prices and to organize the coming fall and winter seasons.

 

Here are all contact information Starting August 1rst

 

Laurent : cell 647-248-7526  laurent@sweetmarketdistribution.com

orders : all orders have to be sent to order@sweetmarketdistribution.com

            or call Emily 647-905-8321

 

 

Every order received before 8:30am will be delivered the same day. After 8:30am it will be next day delivery. Our driver will wear a mask and gloves for everyone's safety.

 

Looking forward to working with you under our new flag.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

 

 

[Jpcaissy]

Hi guys, as a follow up to my above post, we made the orange CB this weekend, here is the result product (pumpkin spice flavor in a pumpkin or nipple design- you choose) , I find the 1g of hybrid sparkle dust (mica) did not give add much sparkle to the end product but you see it's in there.

 

[Jpcaissy]

any of you guys ever used the hybrid dust alone to color cocoa butter? How much of that powder ratio wise would need to be used? I need to make copper color. The hybrid dust copper color is a lot more expensive then the normal food colors and only come in 25g containers. 

Is it still the same 10% ratio? Therefore 25g of powder would only yield 250g of copper cocoa butter which then makes no financial sense and I would be better off just buying the already made bottle of copper color?

[dhardy123]

Savour school just did a video about this.

 

She uses gold metallic powder mixed with 100% alcohol to spray the mold. Then she sprays a thin layer of cocao butter once the alcohol has evaporated.

[Muscadelle]

I have a general question for you guys. Is there a minimum waiting time before you pour the chocolate after painting your molds? In fact I'll go ahead and ask: What are the general waiting times in between steps for you. Do you follow a precise guideline? 

 

Personally, I know you have to wait 12 hours for fillings to crystallize and maybe 1 hour before unmolding, but I've never really though about how long I have to wait after painting or how long I have to wait before filling the shells.

[gfron1]

41 minutes ago, Muscadelle said:

I have a general question for you guys. Is there a minimum waiting time before you pour the chocolate after painting your molds? In fact I'll go ahead and ask: What are the general waiting times in between steps for you. Do you follow a precise guideline? 

 

Personally, I know you have to wait 12 hours for fillings to crystallize and maybe 1 hour before unmolding, but I've never really though about how long I have to wait after painting or how long I have to wait before filling the shells.

For me it depends on the room temp. If I remember your comment correctly, you keep a cold room like me (no higher than 20ºC). That means my color is set quickly so by the time I'm done painting/spraying I'm good to go on shelling - 5-10 minutes max.

[Jurjen]

Does anyone have experience with titanium dioxide alternatives? How do they perform?
Anywhere you can purchase them as a consumer/non wholesale buyer?

[Rajala]

On 12/17/2020 at 3:09 PM, Jurjen said:

Does anyone have experience with titanium dioxide alternatives? How do they perform?
Anywhere you can purchase them as a consumer/non wholesale buyer?

 

The only alternative I've seen is from Chef Rubber, and I can't source it here. It's way too expensive. It's strange that PCB for example doesn't have an alternative, they're even a French company where it's forbidden these days

[Elkyfr]

The second time I try, and little by little more or less bonbons come out.

 

I have to use suitable paints. I think I am going to try a white background for the colours.

 

I have failed miserably trying to make the branches.

 

[curls]

@Elkyfr what sort of colors are you using? Are they cocoa butter colors, water based, or oil based? You need to use cocoa butter colors when working with moulded chocolates. Please tell us more about your process so that people can offer assistance.