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Help With Dipping Ice-Cream


Ylee

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I'm about to embark on the task of dipping several hundred ice-cream balls in chocolate (milk and white), and was wondering if anyone had any tips? Also, is it possible to dip the ice-cream (which will be impaled on skewers) in plain melted chocolate, or should I add something like cocoa butter to the chocolate?

Any help with this would be much appreciated!

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I'm about to embark on the task of dipping several hundred ice-cream balls in chocolate (milk and white), and was wondering if anyone had any tips? Also, is it possible to dip the ice-cream (which will be impaled on skewers) in plain melted chocolate, or should I add something like cocoa butter to the chocolate?

Any help with this would be much appreciated!

I do not envy you.

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Ah yeah that sounds like something you make a stage do and then watch him and giggle. I'd say do it in the freezer but then of course the choc will sieze.

I would definetely work in the freezer and wrap the ice cream balls in something else first, like mochi, powdered nuts or rice paper, before attempting that. Otherwise you're going to get a really streaky temper from all the dairy melting into your chocolate.

Tiny ice cream balls are going to become un-handle-able pretty fast. I would adjust your recipe to account for that...no dextrose, trimoline or anything else that would depress the freezing point. I would also be sure to scoop all the balls and then give them overnight to re-freeze (on sheet trays, not touching each other).

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two words: Magic Shell!

actually, i probably wouldn't use real chocolate for this. i'd probably use 'pate a glacer' otherwise known as coating compound for this. you won't have to deal with thermo-shock or tempering issues and this is what it is made for. it is much more fluid so that you won't have to worry about overly thick shells either. i just went to a restaurant that had an ice cream ball skewered and dipped in white chocolate. the shell was nicely thin, but because it had been stored in the freezer it was ridiculously hard (in other words, they didn't coat it right at service time) and it wasn't the easiest thing to eat. but commercial products like dove bars and stuff all use pate a glacer and the coating is thin enough and melts nicely so isn't too hard when frozen opposed to real chocolate.

since you're doing such a large quantity, you might have to make this sacrifice in terms of quality to make your job easier. i've had to scoop (with a small melon baller, no less) and roll in nuts about 500 sherbet balls, so i can sympathize...and yes, i did it inside a freezer :shock: !

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  • 2 weeks later...

the skewers might give you trouble as the ice cream melts and they become all "slippy" when you're dipping the ice cream balls. Maybe you should "impale" with popsicle sticks before refreezing the balls so it will go quicker.

Make sure your chocolate is nice and thin, and sitting over a good bain marie to keep it runny because once it starts to thicken, that will slow you down. You will probably have to work in half-sheet sized batches. You might even add some (gasp) vegetable oil, to make sure your chocolate is thin enough to do the dipping fast enough.

I did a bunch of "ice cream cupcakes" with meringue that I froze and dipped. I remember having to breath in and out a few times before I started each pan.

Good luck.

Stephanie Crocker

Sugar Bakery + Cafe

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Freeze water inside hotel pans or sheet pans and transfer the ice cream from one to the other. If they are small enough I do not see why you cannot use a truffle dipping method.

Dean Anthony Anderson

"If all you have to eat is an egg, you had better know how to cook it properly" ~ Herve This

Pastry Chef: One If By Land Two If By Sea

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Now that summer is fast approaching I'll be slowly re-introducing chocolate-dipped ice cream bars into our line of desserts. I simply combine 7 parts dark chocolate to 1 part oil (by weight) - don't overheat. Hold the dipping chocolate between 86 to 89 degrees farenheit for optimal dipping (won't melt ice cream, minimum of bubbles etc.). The temp is a few degrees less for milk/white chocolate. Make sure your ice cream is rock solid before dipping - I have my down to -20oC in the walk-in freezer. I hope this helps and good luck!

"Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where all the fruit is?" -Frank Scully
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Thanks for all the tips. It ended up going pretty well - maybe too well, because they want me to do another 400 this coming week :P

I did a combination of things, including freezing water in pans, as was suggested.

At first I contemplated working in the walk-in freezer when scooping the ice-cream, but decided against it because the last time I went in there to look for something, I had to run out thirty seconds later - my fingers felt like they were about to fall off from the cold.

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Thanks for all the tips. It ended up going pretty well - maybe too well, because they want me to do another 400 this coming week :P

I did a combination of things, including freezing water in pans, as was suggested.

At first I contemplated working in the walk-in freezer when scooping the ice-cream, but decided against it because the last time I went in there to look for something, I had to run out thirty seconds later - my fingers felt like they were about to fall off from the cold.

i donated an old winter coat, hat, scarf and gloves to my pastry department so that we could spend time in the freezer cleaning...you might consider bundling up if you plan on being in there!

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two words: spray gun. Actually, make that spray gun and blast chiller.

If you get good enough or desperate enough at hand-dipping, try dipping two or three in each hand at once.

This is what we did many years ago when someone decided that it would be a spectacluar petit four to have chocolate ice cream truffles in carved-ice goblets for a VIP New Years' dinner. It was 90 degrees outside.

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