Airbrush help

[mebinsf]

Hey all. I've been essentially teaching myself  the art of airbrushing polycarbonate moulds for my bon bons. I have sporadic luck, at best with success. I test the cocoa butter for temper before I begin. 8 times out of 10 the shells do not unmold, or if they do, various areas of the cocoa butter stick. I make sure the moulds are clean and I polish each area with a cotton ball before I begin. I use a paasche airbrush. I notice that the metal part of the airbrush gets very cold after a painting a few moulds. I hit it with a hair dryer to rewarm it, trying to not overheat it. I can literally have 4 cavities in a row and have 2 perfectly unmould and 2 stick. I'm beginning to get very discouraged. Can anyone recommend any videos? Online step by step instruction? A local resource in the San Francisco Bay Area that teaches the techniques?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[Kerry Beal]

What is the temperature of your cocoa butter? Which Paasche are you using?

[mebinsf]

I haven't been checking the temp on the cocoa butter. I go by the temper test and it "seems" in temper to me. I use the single action, external mix Paasche, the box says H#3.

[Chocolot]

I am a firm believer that the chocolate temper is more important than the CB temper. If your chocolate is in good temper, you can get away with a lot with the CB.

 

[Kerry Beal]

I like the H paasche - but prefer the 5 tip.

 

Since compressors blow cold air you might want the cocoa butter warmer - the process of spraying brings it into temper.

 

And as Ruth says - well tempered chocolate - at the top of the working temp if possible..

Edited March 4, 2016 by Kerry Beal (log)

[keychris]

55 minutes ago, mebinsf said:

I haven't been checking the temp on the cocoa butter. I go by the temper test and it "seems" in temper to me. I use the single action, external mix Paasche, the box says H#3.

 

by the time your test has set, your cocoa butter has cooled even further. I personally cool my cocoa butter to 31C with stirring then spray, spraying temperature by the time I actually spray is probably more like 29-30C I imagine. I rarely have issues with cocoa butter sticking to the mould, but I think that's more likely your chocolate temper, as Ruth and Kerry have said!

[gfron1]

Ruth convinced me long ago. I heat my CB, shake it good and spray. I never check temp. Once I got my chocolate tempering down, I haven't had any issues. 

 

I do my best to keep my room and molds at 20º

 

I use Kerry's trick of immediately after pouring, placing molds in fridge for 30 (at least that's what I think Kerry recommends)

[Kerry Beal]

I actually wait until I see the chocolate starting to crystallize on the edges of the mold - then pop them in the fridge for 15 minutes or so.  

[gap]

I really think you need to know the temperature of your cocoa butter before you spray it. I typically spray at 32C but the range is often given as 32-34C.

[gfron1]

If we're going to be precise  Auboine teaches 30-32º so maybe that range is 30-34º

[YetiChocolates]

I'll jump in...I have my cocoa butter in a food dehydrator set at ~100 F, I also put my airbrush in there so it's nice and warm when I start.  When I'm ready to go, I take the cocoa butter out of the dehydrator, shake it for 5-10 seconds, pour it into the airbrush and spray.  Then when I'm done spraying, I pop the molds in the fridge for 5 minutes or so to set the cocoa butter, and if I'm doing multiple layers, I fridge between and then warm back to room temp before the next layer, then repeat the process.  

 

I'm not sure about what temp the molds are, I never check that, but my house is around 64 F, so I'm guessing the molds are close to that.  

 

I also agree with Kerry and Ruth that the temper of your chocolate is the more crucial element as it seems that many people have a different process with cocoa butter spraying and achieve similar results, but if your chocolate isn't in good temper then it's a nightmare...trust me!  I've also found that because of the way I hold my mold when I shell the heat from my hand will heat the mold up enough to throw things out of temper.  When that happens the molds head to the freezer for a bit once they are finished.  I also chill my molds after I shell them, once they've started to set, which will counteract the heat from my hands most of the time.  Latent heat of crystallization can be a bugger!

 

I hope this helps!  Good luck, and don't get frustrated, (I know that's easy to say as I've been frustrated plenty of times airbrushing), but I'd focus on getting a really good temper and see if that doesn't help with the airbrushing.  And I wouldn't worry so much about the cocoa butter being in temper, as like Kerry says, the cold air tempers the cocoa butter as it goes through the airbrush, just get it warm, give it a couple shakes, then go for it!