Favorite Molds

[alanamoana]

they also make silicon molds specifically for ganache, but those would be enrobed chocolates.

[Darienne]

Again my thanks for all the answers.

I haven't made up my mind exactly what to buy, but I am feeling less intimidated by the enormous selection now.

[ejw50]

Just to add one thing if you buy from JB Prince. (and Tammy can add or contradict).

I've found JB Prince to have great customer service. I request for them to tell me if it's going to be delayed for whatever reason, and they always do. Once I got a wrong mold (it was labeled wrong). They had UPS pick up the wrong mold and they shipped the correct one immediately, without even shipping cost to me.

[Edward J]

I've got the pyramid molds too, and they can be troublesome if you don't follow a few techniques.

The first is of course to thin out your couveture.

The second is to use a vibrator. I got my table top vibrator from "Chef Rubber". Wait a minute... hope the modertors don't think I'm talking about something else here.

The vibrator is made for medical research, a small unit that is difficult to manipulate with chocoalte-y hands, (obstacles I have overcome by making some modifications...) but it is cheap, think I paid under a hundred for it. The vibration is necesary.

The third technique is to use a toothpick. With the mold in the vibrator, insert a toothpick down the mold until it touches the tip, then go on and do the rest of all the cavities.

[tammylc]

My technique with the pyramid molds is to slam them on the counter a few times, then put on the vibrating table. (There's a thread on eGullet about making your own, cheaper than ordering from ChefRubber.)

I still get a few with bad corners, but that takes care of most of them. My couveture (Cluizel) is pretty fluid to start with, and I'll try to do that mold early in my sequence, since I know it's fiddly (by contrast, I tend to do my domes last, since they're least prone to air bubbles). The toothpick thing sounds way too time consuming for high volume production...

[Desiderio]

Hehe the half pyramid is definately one of my favorite then the smooth dome, cause like Tammy, it allows me to play with my colors. Another favorite is a box mold to make a cocoa pod, it works great with colors all the time. The turban type of mold is one of my least favorite, I have notice the colors tend to stick inside the mold more often, not sure why, maybe I need to polish it better.

[Nawtees]

This is perhaps one of the most enjoyable reasons why I work with chocolate. I learned how to make molds quite awhile ago. Knowing how and liking the process, has allowed me to make different mold from others, and that has kept my items unique to me.

I recently bought a Valentine mold that Barton's used. You can see it on my blog, www.chocolatesandthings.blogspot.com. If you scroll down, you can see the items that will be duplicated and put into the vacu-former for production at Valentine's.

There are original sculptures that Steven Geising made for me that are not up yet. I have cast them in chocolate, and no one wanted to eat them. They can be too nice, and that thwarts your idea of a great looking chocolate that you want someone to enjoy eating!

Because of the Hydroshrink and the Hydrospan products on the market, I am taking puffy heart charms and casting them, enlarging them many, many times, and using them for the Valentine's crunch as well.

I think my favorite molds will always be my own, cause I can also make them the size I need for the chocolate I have planned. I hate them being too small. I hope to post the process of developing molds for chocolate making in the next few months.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Nawtees (log)

[Darienne]

This is perhaps one of the most enjoyable reasons why I work with chocolate. I learned how to make molds quite awhile ago. Knowing how and liking the process, has allowed me to make different mold from others, and that has kept my items unique to me.

I recently bought a Valentine mold that Barton's used. You can see it on my blog: www.chocolatesandthings.blogspot.com. If you scroll down, you can see the items that will be duplicated and put into the vacu-former for production at Valentine's.

There are original sculptures that Steven Geising made for me that are not up yet. I have cast them in chocolate, and no one wanted to eat them. They can be too nice, and that thwarts your idea of a great looking chocolate that you want someone to enjoy eating!

Because of the Hydroshrink and the Hydrospan products on the market, I am taking puffy heart charms and casting them, enlarging them many, many times, and using them for the Valentine's crunch as well.

I think my favorite molds will always be my own, cause I can also make them the size I need for the chocolate I have planned. I hate them being too small. I hope to post the process of developing molds for chocolate making in the next few months.

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Welcome to eG, Nawtees and thanks for your post on molds. I am really looking forward to learning more about these mold making processes you use.

[Darienne]

If I can have only one mold...this is the one. It can be used right side up or bottom side up. I can't find an American source for this one which is from Chocolat-Chocolat in Quebec. If someone can't tell me where I can find this one...or one pretty much like it...in the US , I'll just have to wait until I get back to Canada to order it. That's two of it.

Thanks.

[Kerry Beal]

If I can have only one mold...this is the one.  It can be used right side up or bottom side up.  I can't find an American source for this one which is from Chocolat-Chocolat in Quebec.  If someone can't tell me where I can find this one...or one pretty much like it...in the US , I'll just have to wait until I get back to Canada to order it.  That's two of it.

Thanks.

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Why not just order it from Chocolat-chocolat?

[Darienne]

[Why not just order it from Chocolat-chocolat?

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Hmmmmm..... I suppose the freight charges wouldn't be all that much extra from Quebec to Utah, as from Quebec to Ontario.

Why didn't I think of that?

[mrose]

[Why not just order it from Chocolat-chocolat?

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Hmmmmm..... I suppose the freight charges wouldn't be all that much extra from Quebec to Utah, as from Quebec to Ontario.

Why didn't I think of that?

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Also if you are paying in US$ there is a favorable exchange rate at the moment.

[ejw50]

My technique with the pyramid molds is to slam them on the counter a few times, then put on the vibrating table. (There's a thread on eGullet about making your own, cheaper than ordering from ChefRubber.)

I still get a few with bad corners, but that takes care of most of them. My couveture (Cluizel) is pretty fluid to start with, and I'll try to do that mold early in my sequence, since I know it's fiddly (by contrast, I tend to do my domes last, since they're least prone to air bubbles). The toothpick thing sounds way too time consuming for high volume production...

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Based on advice from thsi forum, I bought a dental vibrator from ebay, which I think is what you use too. $50 or so.

I also do my production like Tammy with regards to difficulty of molds - start with Pyramid and Cherry and squares, end with domes and hearts.

The kugelhopfs though are still the worst.

[John DePaula]

[Why not just order it from Chocolat-chocolat?

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Hmmmmm..... I suppose the freight charges wouldn't be all that much extra from Quebec to Utah, as from Quebec to Ontario.

Why didn't I think of that?

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And although it's not evident from the site, you can request ground shipping - very reasonable cost.

[Darienne]

Probably not many of you make hard candy lollipops, but if you do, you might be interested in this website which I found by accident.

www.lollipopmolds.com

The molds consist of a strip of metal which you place on a marble (or whatever) base, add the little clip, insert the stick and then pour the molten mixture into. The lollies are flat on both sides, but have a lovely simplicity to them. So far I have used only the small round, but was entranced by the results...but then I love to hold the candy up to the light to see the colors shine...so what can I say? Also the lollies are easy to write names on, add features, etc.

Oh, the sets are $7 for 10 molds. And today I am ordering some different sets: Christmas, Easter, Animal, Shamrock, etc...

(I don't have my scanner with me so I can't send any graphic stuff and I didn't take photos before I gave away yesterday's goodies.)

Edited December 2, 2008 by Darienne (log)

[BonVivant]

what else can i mould besides marzipan/almond paste? [don't have a sweet tooth so i don't bake, or make things that contain sugar save for almond paste and 99% pure chocolate.]. i've got 3 of these wooden cake moulds from Chaozhou, just to hang in my kitchen. mould pic 1, 2.

[Darienne]

what else can i mould besides marzipan/almond paste?  [don't have a sweet tooth so i don't bake, or make things that contain sugar save for almond paste and 99% pure chocolate.]. i've got 3 of these wooden cake moulds from Chaozhou, just to hang in my kitchen. 

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How lovely.

I don't eat the lollipops that I make...or much of anything else in the confectionary end of life either. I just like to make these things: the process always seems so magical, and there are always places to give them away. And it makes such nice friends.

[foodrambler]

I'm having trouble tracking down jelly moulds in London. I'm making glow-in-the-dark gin jelly for Christmas dinner and want something exciting to put it in. Any suggestions? Divertimenti has some, but they're not cheap... The only other option for proper copper moulds seems to be ebay. Are there no shops that sell them these days?

http://foodrambler.com/2008/11/13/glow-in-...dark-gin-jelly/

[mostlylana]

Referring back to the Nawtees post - I, too, am waiting with baited breath for your post of the mold making process. Very cool. Good luck finding your jelly mold foodrambler. Your glow in the dark gin jelly sounds wonderful! I, too, have a question about finding a mold - if, in fact, you can call it that. I would like to do decorations similar to what is shown below. I can't figure out what is being used to make these designs. It's an imprint of some sort - it's not added afterward. These chocolates are from DeBrand chocolatier. Any ideas?

[Desiderio]

I think is the same as using textured sheets, just these ones seems homemade, like mint leaf and some sorth of shell type imprint, you can make your own with just about anything you can think, just put the imprint when the chocolate is still fresh.

[gap]

what else can i mould besides marzipan/almond paste?  [don't have a sweet tooth so i don't bake, or make things that contain sugar save for almond paste and 99% pure chocolate.]. i've got 3 of these wooden cake moulds from Chaozhou, just to hang in my kitchen.  mould pic 1, 2.

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Could you mould cookies with them? They don't have to be overly sweet cookies.

[Darienne]

Who else can I tell? Christmas in October.

Confectionery partner Barbara and I were just given 4...that's right...4 cardboard boxes by a friend who bought them for us as a gift at a yard sale for $5. $5.00!!!

Two full boxes of chocolate molds, mostly the hobby variety, but a lot of them very strong (many Canadian made and probably quite old), and even some tin 3D molds. Every season, every theme you could think of, including some which would be considered...'adult'. The other two boxes were full of unopened stuff: LorAnn flavorings, candy colorings, dusts, plastic bags...dozens of different size unopened boxes...lollie sticks, 2 plastic cases of Wilton icing tips. I think that about covers it.

I would love to have the name of the lady who gave away...yes, in my mind, they were given away...all her precious things, her former life. I would love that she would know that they are being given a good home.

[psantucc]

I've come across this topic at an opportune moment. I'm making my Christmas list, and some proper molds are right up at the top! The hobby molds I've been using are limiting my technique.

I've taken some of the notions previously posted - I know I want the JB Price Geodesic, and I've got some good leads on a squarish mold both at Price and Tomric.

I really want a good peanut butter cup mold, a la Reece's. I haven't spotted one that seems right to me, having looked at BakeDeco, JB Price, Chocolat-Chocolat and Tomric. The closest I've seen is Tomric's:

My linkhttp://www.tomric.com/ItemDetail.aspx?cmd=local&item=4060

If you have experience with that one, or a different favourite, please tell!

[Darienne]

That's the very mold I purchased last year.

Long time since I had a Reese's Peanut Butter cup, but I would say the mold is too small. It holds only 11 grams which isn't much. And it's only 1.18" across. Too small, no question of it.

Kerry Beal told me that it's very hard when you first start buying molds to get a good sense of how large they are. I also bought 1-2023 at the same time, to make little wafers. It's only .16" thick, but I realized after making the first bunch that it was thicker than what I was looking for.

[Kerry Beal]

I've come across this topic at an opportune moment. I'm making my Christmas list, and some proper molds are right up at the top! The hobby molds I've been using are limiting my technique.

I've taken some of the notions previously posted - I know I want the JB Price Geodesic, and I've got some good leads on a squarish mold both at Price and Tomric.

I really want a good peanut butter cup mold, a la Reece's. I haven't spotted one that seems right to me, having looked at BakeDeco, JB Price, Chocolat-Chocolat and Tomric. The closest I've seen is Tomric's:

My linkhttp://www.tomric.com/ItemDetail.aspx?cmd=local&item=4060

If you have experience with that one, or a different favourite, please tell!

Can you measure a Reece cup diameter for me and I'll figure out which would be the best mold for you? And if you weigh it too that would be great.

Edited November 7, 2009 by Kerry Beal (log)