Chocolate Mold Sizes

[Bentley]

I've been looking at some new chocolate molds and am not sure what is the right size.  I see some shapes I like with various shapes from 10gr to 20gr.  I can't visualize how big the finished bonbon would be.  What size is the typical chocolatier using? 

Edited March 6, 2016 by Bentley (log)

[Jim D.]

When I first started making molded chocolates, I too was confused by the measurements.  I began by purchasing quite a few molds that were, it turned out, very small.  The only available indicator of a mold's capacity is the weight (of--I learned from Kerry Beal--the amount of dark chocolate one cavity holds).  Some vendors don't even give that (J.B. Prince, for instance).  The problem with the weight is that it isn't really the measurement one needs--it's the volume. I have since switched to molds that hold approximately 15 grams per cavity.  That is larger than many other people use, but I like a chocolate that provides a couple of bites, not just one.  If I am making a filling that has two layers or, as in Peter Greweling's hazelnut praline, contains a whole hazelnut, I will use something larger (such as Chocolate World's larger 18-gram dome).  If I am doing chocolates for a fancy party where neatness counts, I use those small molds I still have.

 

What I have done is to record how much (in teaspoons) is held by each cavity of my molds.  I use water to measure, so it isn't very accurate for ganache, but it gives some idea.  For example, Chocolate World's medium dome (#1433), also sold by Tomric in the U.S., is listed as holding 15 grams of chocolate.  In volume it holds 2.38 tsp.  My system may not make sense to others, but it helps me a lot when estimating what percentage of a ganache recipe I need to make (I also weigh a teaspoon of each ganache to help with the calculations).

[Chocolot]

Everyone is different. I like molds that hold about 11 gms. Some of mine are smaller, some larger. 

Edited March 7, 2016 by Chocolot
Punctuation (log)

[curls]

For most of my collection I like to use 10 to 13 gram molds. Easter calls for larger molds... my filled molds for Easter are 24 to 27 grams. It only really starts to matter when you need to deals with packaging and sales. If you are doing this for fun, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

Where are you located? There may be some shops nearby where you can look at the molds and get a much better idea of the finished sizes.

[pastrygirl]

My ideal would be about 12 grams but I think a lot of my molds are slightly smaller, maybe 10g.  I tend to keep a ruler near me when shopping for molds so I can try to visualize.  Many sites do give the cavity dimensions in mm.

[Kerry Beal]

I've found in the years I've been working with chocolate that the size of the molds has decreased - some of the first molds I purchased make a much bigger bonbon than the ones I more frequently use now. I think they were probably selling off the molds because they were downsizing their bonbons. I'd say that most of the molds I use frequently are in the 10 to 15 grams size. I would agree with curls that easter calls for bigger molds! 

[Tri2Cook]

This question isn't directly related to mold size but it's in the general area of mold shopping so I'll ask it anyway. I'm looking at Chocolate World molds trying to figure out which one I can use for making half eggs for Easter (not this year) but I'm not sure what it means when a mold is listed as a "double mold". Does that mean it's two parts that clamp together to form full 3d eggs? I'm assuming that's what it means since they're significantly more costly than the molds not designated "double".

[Kerry Beal]

Yup - most of them have holes that line up to align them. Only problem can be the ones that have pegs or raised edges - they don't scrape well. They are generally twice the cost of single molds.