Vacuum Sealing Chocolates

[sote23]

I have used airtight containers that do not have much extra headspace (about 1.5" high) for truffles with very good success. If I do not have enough to fill container I use wadded parchment to take up space & a sheet on top.

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Hi Mark,

Any specific brand of airtight container your using?

Luis

[Mary F]

Hi sorry, got behind in answering..busy last few days.

Luis,

I use a standard chocolate box to seal them in as I know it does not have a smell that could affect the chocolates. I am able to stop the seal manually, but again have had a timing issue where the box and chocolates were quickly crushed, so it took some practice. I found that I could not get the timing down on anything smaller than a 1/2lb box, (but I use an acrylic slide top for my smaller amounts, so that may weaken it)

John,

I had looked into freezing after the jpw class and started to try it this summer, so havent gone longer than a month or so. And, have only used them for family/friend gatherings so far to get a good idea. As my friends are brutally honest I think I have gotten good feedback. For the most part they have not been able to taste the difference in fresh vs frozen. I really want to start working with some seasonal ingred here in the northwest so this is good news..will continue the testing with more longer periods.

Hope this helps!

[bonbonman]

Hey John, I know you were not suggesting people runa out and buy one. I was just weighing in my opinions, which sometimes, well...often times come off brash. I just hate to see budding chocolatiers an pastry chefs buy things they don't need. As for Kerry, this is what I do; after the ganache is enrobed I put them in trays and then I put the trays in a airtight container. The type of container that the seafood industry uses for fish fillets. Anyone here who has worked in a restaurant or hotel know the box I am talking about. If not, try Packaging Products Corporation in Boston. For you guys on the West Coast there has to be a plastic company out there. Once they are closed I slide them in the roll of film on the machine, center it in the seal area and close the door, the door has a heat strip the cuts it and there is a blast of hot air that shrinks it. So, I gues you can call it a shrink wrapper. And no, they do not melt. I hope this helps.

[jturn00]

I wonder if there would be any advantage to using one of the firm foodsaver containers, such as the rectangular ones or the marinator.  Of course it would take more space in the freezer.

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If I'm not mistaken, I don't think you can freeze the containers.

Luis

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I did not know that. Perhaps the cold air makes the seal fail?

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Before I found out that they don't recommend freezing the containers, I did. I had left some items in the freezer for a few weeks. The containers didn't break but the seals did not hold.

[John DePaula]

Hey John, I know you were not suggesting people runa out and buy one. I was just weighing in my opinions, which sometimes, well...often times come off brash. I just hate to see budding chocolatiers an pastry chefs buy things they don't need. As for Kerry, this is what I do; after the ganache is enrobed I put them in trays and then I put the trays in a airtight container. The type of container that the seafood industry uses for fish fillets. Anyone here who has worked in a restaurant or hotel know the box I am talking about. If not, try Packaging Products Corporation in Boston. For you guys on the West Coast there has to be a plastic company out there.  Once they are closed I slide them in the roll of film on the machine, center it in the seal area and close the door, the door has a heat strip the cuts it and there  is a blast of hot air that shrinks it. So, I gues you can call it a shrink wrapper. And no, they do not melt. I hope this helps.

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Here's a link to the containers:

Fish Fillet Containers at Packaging Products Corp.

[Kerry Beal]

Very interesting. I like the look of those containers, nice straight sides, look like they would stack nicely. It seems to say they aren't airtight, but I guess if your heat seal is good then the package would be reasonably airtight.

I suppose you could vacuum seal the fillet boxes, stopping and sealing when the box is about to crush.

[sote23]

Very interesting.  I like the look of those containers, nice straight sides, look like they would stack nicely.  It seems to say they aren't airtight, but I guess if your heat seal is good then the package would be reasonably airtight. 

I suppose you could vacuum seal the fillet boxes, stopping and sealing when the box is about to crush.

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I suppose it should work, provided it's heat sealed properly.

Luis

[ejw50]

If you decide to get it, let us know how it works out! The Stephan mixers seem a lot more expensive.

[mrose]

If you decide to get it, let us know how it works out!  The Stephan mixers seem a lot more expensive.

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I have used these Tortilla storage containers to store truffles in both the fridge & freezer. It holds approx 60 truffles & is air tight. I put a piece of parchment paper on top before closing that goes over the sealing lip. It leaves minimal head space for air and works very well.

[sote23]

If you decide to get it, let us know how it works out!  The Stephan mixers seem a lot more expensive.

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I have used these Tortilla storage containers to store truffles in both the fridge & freezer. It holds approx 60 truffles & is air tight. I put a piece of parchment paper on top before closing that goes over the sealing lip. It leaves minimal head space for air and works very well.

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That's a very interesting idea. Is it tall enough? can't really tell from the pic.

Luis

[mrose]

If you decide to get it, let us know how it works out!  The Stephan mixers seem a lot more expensive.

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I have used these Tortilla storage containers to store truffles in both the fridge & freezer. It holds approx 60 truffles & is air tight. I put a piece of parchment paper on top before closing that goes over the sealing lip. It leaves minimal head space for air and works very well.

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That's a very interesting idea. Is it tall enough? can't really tell from the pic.

Luis

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It is a bit over 1.25" high. It works great for truffles that are aprrox 1". Seals well.

Mark

[sote23]

If you decide to get it, let us know how it works out!  The Stephan mixers seem a lot more expensive.

←

I have used these Tortilla storage containers to store truffles in both the fridge & freezer. It holds approx 60 truffles & is air tight. I put a piece of parchment paper on top before closing that goes over the sealing lip. It leaves minimal head space for air and works very well.

←

That's a very interesting idea. Is it tall enough? can't really tell from the pic.

Luis

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It is a bit over 1.25" high. It works great for truffles that are aprrox 1". Seals well.

Mark

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hi mark,

I will give it a shot. Looks like a good inexpensive solution.

Luis

[sote23]

Has anyone done a cost comparison between vacuum sealing or heat wrap? It seems to me the heat wrap way is the cheaper of the 2.

Luis