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Scratches in chocolate molds

sarah72

By sarah72
in Pastry & Baking

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sarah72

sarah72

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

 

I just received a box of shiny new chocolate moulds from Chocolate World in Belgium, but while giving them their first clean and polish I noticed that a lot of the cavities have light scratches in them. I contacted the manufacturer and they asked for pictures, but the scratches are hard to pick up on a camera. I don't have a huge amount of moulds as my business is tiny, but I've not had this problem with moulds from other manufacturers, or even other Chocolate World moulds I have.

 

The moulds in question are model 2207 (I think a lot of people will be familier with that one as it's a popular dome shape), and I'd say accross all the moulds I received, about 1/4 of the cavities have some sort of light scratch or imperfection. I'm being super picky here, the scratches are very light and a lot of them are at the base so won't be too visible on the product, but you can definitely see and feel them in the cavities, and I don't want that appearing on my chocolates.

 

Has anyone else experienced this problem with Chocolate World moulds? Is it something you just accept or should these be going straight back? If it was just 1 or 2 cavities/moulds I'd pass it off as random scratches and return them, but being so frequent on all the moulds I received has thrown me a bit and I don't know what to make of it.

 

Thanks,

Sarah

 

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
Just now, sarah72 said:

Thanks for the advice, glad to know it's not just me being picky.

 

I got in touch with them again and apparently there was a problem with that batch, so back they go!

What a colossal pain in the butt!

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the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...
sarah72

sarah72

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)

Resurrecting this topic because I've just had another shipment of moulds directly from Chocolate World and for the second time in a row I've found scratches in the moulds. Along with a number of small blemishes randomly throughout the moulds, there are a couple of marks which appear in the same place on each mould of a particular design.

 

I contacted the agent I buy them through who said that they only send back around 5-10 moulds per year, so for me to get this many problems back to back is unheard of. They actually downplayed the problem, and suggested that these small marks might just be a fact of life. They even went so far to say that if the moulds aren't up to my standards then Chocolate World "might not be the company for me", which I can't believe is true as just about every chocolatier seems to use them.

 

To make sure the marks I was seeing were actual scratches and not just marks in the polycarbonate, I cast one of the moulds in dark chocolate and have attached a picture of result. The "A" shape mark on the left and the series of "C" shaped scratches on the right are present in the same place in every mould I received in this design, so it's clearly a manufacturing fault. There are also a number of similar marks in random spots on each mould.

 

The simple question is: are small defects like this "normal" and I'm being too picky? Or should these be going straight back to Chocolate World?

 

Would be grateful for any advice as this is driving me (and the agent I bought them through) insane.

 

Thanks x

 

scratches.jpg

Edited by sarah72 (log)
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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted

Those definitely look like scratches. Or maybe a hair or bit of fiber got caught in the mold-making process?  It must be a pain to have to deal with returns to Belgium but I agree that imperfections are not acceptable. 

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curls

curls

Posted
Posted

Agreed, not acceptable.

 

Thankfully this has not happened to me & the majority of the molds that I buy are Chocolate World molds that I buy through Tomric and Chocolat-Chocolat.

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LisaS

LisaS

Posted
Posted

I discovered a small blemish in some Chocolate World moulds that I'd been using for a while, same place in each mould. I got on to my agent -Vantage House in the UK, I can't recommend them highly enough, lovely people - who got on to Chocolate World who investigated and found an error in the form used to make the moulds. They said they were going to have to recast the form, which they must've done because a couple of weeks ago a box with 14 new moulds turned up out of the blue. So definitely worth getting back to Chocolate World if my experience is anything to go by. 

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sarah72

sarah72

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Glad to hear they got your problem sorted out. Unfortunately I'm having some trouble. Chocolate World have looked at the picture I posted here and their response was that those marks are caused by "hairlines" in the polycarbonate which they said were an unavoidable part of the manufacturing process when you have a flat surface such as the ones in that shape. That seemed a bit far fetched given that I have tons of moulds from them and other manufacturers with no such issues, and the marks are exactly the same in each mould. I'm just going to get a refund on these as they said that any replacements they sent out would have the same issues, so apparently they are happy to sell moulds with manufacturing defects O.o

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  • 4 years later...
no10

no10

Posted
Posted (edited)

I purchased a mold from Chef Rubber (CW2295), and it arrived with scratched cavities (first two images). I went through the exchange process with CR and received a replacement mold. Upon inspection, the replacement mold also has scratched cavities (last three images). I contacted CR and they stated

 

“These can appear in the manufacturing but not affect the chocolate. We inspected it before it left and although we saw these lines they did not feel palpable to the touch and should not affect the chocolate. If they are not palpable they are just defects within the mould and wont hurt anything.”


I plan on casting the mold this weekend to see if the scratches show up on the product. I’ll update my post with the results.


Until then I have a question for @pastrygirl (and others that have purchased CW2295). @pastrygirl, I’ve read in other (older) posts that you frequently use(d) CW2295. Have you ever encountered these scratches before? If you don’t mind me asking, where do you purchase your CW2295 and other CW molds? Also, do the tops of the molds typically arrived scratched? As you can see from the last image, there’s a huge, deep gash on the face of the mold. This was also the case for the first mold.

 

IMG-1330.jpg

IMG-1334.jpg

IMG-1373_replacement.jpg

IMG-1372_replacement.jpg

IMG-1371_replacement.jpg

Edited by no10 (log)
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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, no10 said:

I purchased a mold from Chef Rubber (CW2295), and it arrived with scratched cavities (first two images). I went through the exchange process with CR and received a replacement mold. Upon inspection, the replacement mold also has scratched cavities (last three images). I contacted CR and they stated

 

“These can appear in the manufacturing but not affect the chocolate. We inspected it before it left and although we saw these lines they did not feel palpable to the touch and should not affect the chocolate. If they are not palpable they are just defects within the mould and wont hurt anything.”


I plan on casting the mold this weekend to see if the scratches show up on the product. I’ll update my post with the results.


Until then I have a question for @pastrygirl (and others that have purchased CW2295). @pastrygirl, I’ve read in other (older) posts that you frequently use(d) CW2295. Have you ever encountered these scratches before? If you don’t mind me asking, where do you purchase your CW2295 and other CW molds? Also, do the tops of the molds typically arrived scratched? As you can see from the last image, there’s a huge, deep gash on the face of the mold. This was also the case for the first mold.

 

IMG-1330.jpg

IMG-1334.jpg

IMG-1373_replacement.jpg

IMG-1372_replacement.jpg

IMG-1371_replacement.jpg

Is it a genuine CW mold?

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
Just now, no10 said:

@Kerry BealThese are from Chef Rubber, which seems like a reputable place to purchase, so I assume so? Any way for me to tell?

Are there markings on the molds?

 

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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wannabechocolatier

wannabechocolatier

Posted
Posted

I don't know what it is, but every mold I've ordered so far has had scratches in it. Both in the cavities and on the rest of the mold. 

 

Ordered the same molds from two different vendors, scratches everywhere on both. Chocolate World and Martellato molds from bakedeco and pastrychefsboutique. No idea what's going on.

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no10

no10

Posted
Posted

FYI, I cast the mold, and the scratches appear on the chocolate (I had to take one photo in the washroom for lighting purposes). I'll contact CR to let them know and initiate a return.

 

@wannabechocolatierThanks for sharing your experience. This is useful information.

 

@Jim D. I can't feel the scratches, but as you can see from the images below, the scratches are on the surface of the cavity.

 

 

IMG-1402**.thumb.jpg.07324a38ea850bd5fca49f99e0c3ae87.jpgIMG-1373_replacement.thumb.jpg.ba741d28689595ca9ed746887f2be0d9.jpgIMG-1405.thumb.jpg.111266e19d847b216ae66edeb8dd6270.jpg

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Jim D.

Jim D.

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, curls said:

Those scratches are not acceptable! I have purchased Chocolate World moulds (and other brands too) from Tomric and Chocolat Chocolat and the moulds always arrived in perfect condition.

 

I agree.  TCF Sales is another source, and at a lower price (you do have to buy a minimum of 5 molds).

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www.santiagochocolates.com

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