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Chocolate Melter/Holder


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Just keep an eye out on ebay. They don't show up very often though. I just got a 12kg Mol D'art on ebay for a pretty good price. The seller was new and listed it under chocolate warmer, that is why I think I didn't have any competition in bidding.

Luis

Have you been playing with it yet?

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I thought about getting a bigger melter because I was having lots of trouble working with chocolate moulds and my round 3kg melter. I could not tip the chocolate out back into the melter without making a right mess. I started tipping out onto a plastic tray but that meant I had to temper far more chocolate than I needed in one go.

I now work around this by only filling about three quarters of the cavities in any mould- as many as I can without exceding the diameter of the bowl. I buy an extra mould so I still get a reasonable number of any one type out.

By buying as many moulds as I can second hand this does not work out too expensive and if I ever get a bigger melter, well I'll be making more chocolates and want the moulds anyway.

Those melters are so expensive

Lapin

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I thought about getting a bigger melter because I was having lots of trouble working with chocolate moulds and my round 3kg melter. I could not tip the chocolate out back into the melter without making a right mess. I started tipping out onto a plastic tray but that meant I had to temper far more chocolate than I needed in one go.

I now work around this by only filling about three quarters of the cavities in any mould- as many as I can without exceding the diameter of the bowl.  I buy an extra mould so I still get a reasonable number of any one type out.

By buying as many moulds as I can second hand this does not work out too expensive and if I ever get a bigger melter, well I'll be making more chocolates and want the moulds anyway.

Those melters are so expensive

Lapin

I use a 3kg melter and fill my molds completely. I wrap the body of the melter in plastic wrap for easy cleanup. When I'm draining my molds, I hold them at a 45 degree angle over the bowl and scrape and tap, then put them on a rack to finish draining. With a little bit of practice, I've learned to do this without much mess - you might try giving that a try!

That said, I borrowed David J's 6kg melter for my Easter production, and it was great to not have to worry about it! (Although my body memory was so ingrained, I found myself using my usual technique half the time anyway.)

Tammy's Tastings

Creating unique food and drink experiences

eGullet Foodblogs #1 and #2
Dinner for 40

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I use a 3kg melter and fill my molds completely. I wrap the body of the melter in plastic wrap for easy cleanup. When I'm draining my molds, I hold them at a 45 degree angle over the bowl and scrape and tap, then put them on a rack to finish draining. With a little bit of practice, I've learned to do this without much mess - you might try giving that a try!

Tammy, its good to hear that method does work .

I was getting very uneven shell thickness when I tried to angle the mould - some too thin, some too thick and assumed it came from not having the mould level when it drained. - I will just have to try again.

I use the cling wrap lots as I still get drips and runs over the side of the bowl whatever I do!

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Just keep an eye out on ebay. They don't show up very often though. I just got a 12kg Mol D'art on ebay for a pretty good price. The seller was new and listed it under chocolate warmer, that is why I think I didn't have any competition in bidding.

Luis

Have you been playing with it yet?

Not yet, I'm low on chocolate and have a shipment coming in soon.

Luis

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while we are on the subject, anyone know where to get an extra pan for one for a dece nt price. They want $100 for an extra pan for my 12kg unit.

Luis

Personally, I'd just spring for the extra pan that custom fits the unit. If you really want to save some bucks, I guess you could try to find a smaller pan and pad the sides with some kind of non-insulating material.

John DePaula
formerly of DePaula Confections
Hand-crafted artisanal chocolates & gourmet confections - …Because Pleasure Matters…
--------------------
When asked “What are the secrets of good cooking? Escoffier replied, “There are three: butter, butter and butter.”

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Hello all,

I am a newbie here on this forum. I just graduated from Ecole Chocolat and want to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge. I feel like I know many of you from reading so many posts!

My graduation present to myself is going to be a 6 kg. Mol d'Art melter. I have priced these through many sources and the cheapest route seems to be ordering directly from Mol d'Art. The price is 350.00 euro which translates into $557.00 CAN. (I'm in Kamloops, BC, Canada). The shipping cost is 100 euro which is $160.00 CAN. I have checked and there are no duties on this item from Belgium to Canada. I'm wondering if there are any Canadians out there who want to do a bulk order? I have put this request out on our Ecole Chocolat graduate forum as well. Maybe we could get a better price on the melters as well?? US and other people - I'm not prejudiced! I just think shipping across the border might incur more costs than the savings would amount to... I've been in contact with Jozef from Mol d'Art and he is a great guy to deal with. As for shipping - all the melters would have to come in 1 shipment in order to split the costs. I would have them all shipped to me. Each melter will have it's own individual packaging. I would then readdress and ship. I figure shipping within Canada would be approx. $25.00 for a 10lb. item so that amount(s) would get added to the $160.00 and divided by the number of people wanting to order. You can order the melter that would be suitable for you. Here is the link to the Mol d'Art melter page: http://www.moldart.be/products.asp?languag...ubgroupid=34981

If anyone is interested - let me know! Feel free to email me if you prefer. I just called Qzina Vancouver to get their price on the 6 kg. melter - $1038.00CAN. Ordering directly from Belgium including the $160.00 shipping charge would be approx. $720.00CAN. That amount would be even cheaper with several people ordering. If just 2 people order the price goes down to $650.00 each. (There will most likely be GST on that amount but I'm not sure...)

I look forward to getting to know everyone!

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Hello again,

I just got a response from Jef at Mol d'Art. He said if we order at least 5 melters shipping will be free! That would make the cost of the 6 kg. melter approx. $585.00 which would include shipping from me to you. That does not include GST if it applies. There are already 2 of us on board. Any others?!

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Wow that sure sounds like a great deal on the melter!!! I'm very interested.

How would we best handle payments so everyone's investment is secure?

Are you certain about import taxes? I got killed ordering stuff in from the states, added over 25% to my final cost.

I have debated the idea of ordering from Mol D'art direct, but just figured the shipping and import taxes would make it close to the same as Qzina sells it.

I'm in the Ottawa area, Ontario. Please keep me posted

Peter

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Hello All,

Well it looks like we have 5 interested Canadian addresses (2 from here - 3 from the Ecole Chocolat graduate forum) interested in the melters which means free shipping from Belgium (if everyone is still in!).

The cost of the 6kg. melter will be approx. $550CAN. (350 euro). I checked with Canada Customs and there is no duty on this item coming from Belgium into Canada. Applicable taxes will be GST (5% = approx. $28) and BC PST (as they will be mailed to Kamloops, BC - 7% = approx. $38). They will be shipped by DHL. I inquired with them about brokerage fees and they said those are billed to the shipper. However, if they do apply they are low - 2.5%. Figure on approx. $25 - $30 shipping from Kamloops to your house. That brings the total to about $660 by the time you get it into your chocolate stained hands.

By the way Peter, I know exactly what you are saying about getting dinged with brokerage fees and duties. I called Customs Canada for that reason and inquired about the melter. He asked me all sorts of questions and then said - "no duty on that item coming from Belgium." Yay!

As for payment I was thinking we could do it the ebay way. I have a paypal account you could pay to or you could send me a cheque. If you're not comfortable with that you could use an escrow service (escrow.com). It would cost about $25 - $30.

Let's start with who's interested for sure.

Please PM me if you're interested for sure now that you've seen the costs.

By the way, I am going to order an extra pan so I can have one pan for dark and one for milk. The extra pan for the 6 kg. melter is approx. $45CAN. Let me know if you're interested in that as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks like a great buy for someone needing a 12 kg. Thanks for the post Tammy. To let everyone know, the bulk order to Mol d'Art has already been placed but I continue to receive requests. Please PM or email me if you're still interested. Please also let me know if you're OK with me sharing your email address with others interested in a bulk order. Right now, there are 2 Canadian addresses waiting.

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Hello all,

I'm passing the Mol d'Art bulk order torch to Deb. You lucky guys and gals get to save an additional 7% thanks to no Provincial Sales Tax in Alberta! Please contact her (prairiegirl) if you're interested. Let me know if I can be of any help at all.

Good luck!

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Hi Mark,

Here is the email address at Mol d'Art: info@moldart.be I dealt with Jozef and he was very kind and accommodating. He told me that I could use a minimum of 3 kg. couverture in the 12 kg. melter and keep it in temper. Oddly enough, the 12 kg. pan is more shallow than the 6 kg. pan...

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have the 12kg unit and I'm still getting used to it. I turned it on last night and let it go overnight. It's been on approx 12 hours. When I looked at it when I got up most of it was all melted, so I just gave a little stir. I checked the temp, and it's at about 100.5 f. My question is am I setting it too low? Shouldn't I bring up the temp to between 113-122f?

Any advice from those that have a melter out there? Another question, once I do get it in temper and it thickens I just bring up the temp gradually right? I think I made the mistake of bringing it up in much higher increments, which of course brought it out of temper.

Thanks

Luis

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I have the 12kg unit and I'm still getting used to it. I turned it on last night and let it go overnight. It's been on approx 12 hours. When I looked at it when I got up most of it was all melted, so I just gave a little stir. I checked the temp, and it's at about 100.5 f. My question is am I setting it too low? Shouldn't I bring up the temp to between 113-122f?

Any advice from those that have a melter out there? Another question, once I do get it in temper and it thickens I just bring up the temp gradually right? I think I made the mistake of bringing it up in much higher increments, which of course brought it out of temper.

Thanks

Luis

Wybauw, in his book and his classes (according to reports here anyway) says if you are able to learn your melter calibration, you can do what you did, give it a quick stir, and have it ready to go. That is, the bottom will be undercrystallized, the top will be overcrystallized, and if you mix it all it will be just right providing the temperature is set correctly.

I have never gotten that to work so I just bring it up to ~110 or so.

Wybauw, in his book and the class reports here, also says you keep increasing the temperature by .5C increments up to a max of 93.5F I think. Alternatively people on here use a heat gun/hair dryer or dump in more melted uncrystallized chocolate.

Edited by ejw50 (log)
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I have the 12kg unit and I'm still getting used to it. I turned it on last night and let it go overnight. It's been on approx 12 hours. When I looked at it when I got up most of it was all melted, so I just gave a little stir. I checked the temp, and it's at about 100.5 f. My question is am I setting it too low? Shouldn't I bring up the temp to between 113-122f?

Any advice from those that have a melter out there? Another question, once I do get it in temper and it thickens I just bring up the temp gradually right? I think I made the mistake of bringing it up in much higher increments, which of course brought it out of temper.

Thanks

Luis

How much chocolate did you have in it? How long did it take for the temp to get down to 88F while seeding?

Does anyone know if you can put 2 half size pans in this unit so you could set up 2 kinds of chocolate?

Mark

www.roseconfections.com

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I have the 12kg unit and I'm still getting used to it. I turned it on last night and let it go overnight. It's been on approx 12 hours. When I looked at it when I got up most of it was all melted, so I just gave a little stir. I checked the temp, and it's at about 100.5 f. My question is am I setting it too low? Shouldn't I bring up the temp to between 113-122f?

Any advice from those that have a melter out there? Another question, once I do get it in temper and it thickens I just bring up the temp gradually right? I think I made the mistake of bringing it up in much higher increments, which of course brought it out of temper.

Thanks

Luis

How much chocolate did you have in it? How long did it take for the temp to get down to 88F while seeding?

Does anyone know if you can put 2 half size pans in this unit so you could set up 2 kinds of chocolate?

I have about 13lbs in it at the moment. It took a couple of hours to get down to where I can seed it.

Good question on using 2 pans, but I don't think it's possible. Maybe someone will know better than I.

Luis

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