Polycarbonate Molds: Sources, Selection, Use, Care

[pastrygirl]

Looks like they're all the thin hobby-grade, but Kerekes has a Judaica selection.  https://www.bakedeco.com/dept.asp?id=1269

 

 

 

[SweetandSnappyJen]

@pastrygirl - yea, that's all I've been able to find, but I'll give Renee at Chocolat Chocolat a ring and see if she has some ideas. Thanks!

[La Vie Chocolat]

Beautiful day chocolate friends.

 

I'm brand new here on the forum. Almost two years ago, I started making pralines in the Czech Republic. There are not many manufacturers and not at all those who work by hand. I have a big problem with cleaning the molds. I like to work cleanly, so I absolutely clean and polish alcohol before each batch of molds. I use my little helper for this - an accumulation screwdriver with an extension, which I made from a wine cork - it works perfectly. I apply clean make-up tampons and possibly alcohol to it.

But now I have a lot of molds and manual cleaning is crazy. I bought an older dishwasher in a restaurant and I can't find a product (soap, detergent) that would well remove the remnants of chocolate from the sides of the molds and at the same time, of course, would not destroy the molds? Does anyone have any type or advice for any other cleaning machine, please?

 

I bought a special product "Brillform", which is intended for rinsing already washed molds - it should ensure shine without polishing each tube, but first I have to get the chocolate away.

 

 Here is a link to my website and instagram, you can look at my work and I will be very happy and grateful for any advice and warnings on what I could improve, because there is no professional in the Czech Republic focused on pralines, so there is no one to learn from I teach myself by rehearsing and from great books, videos and watching the world's chocolatiers.

 

Thank you again

[ElsieD]

Welcome to the forum.  I'm sorry I can't help you but there are a number of chocolatiers on this forum who can.  No doubt they can give you some good advice.  As for me, I just want to say I looked at your Instagram account and you do beautiful work.  Wish I could buy some.

[teonzo]

Cleaning polycarbonate molds in a dishwasher is risky. The more you put a polycarbonate mold through a heating and cooling cycle the sooner it will break, that plastic is prone to thermal shocks. Besides this, the water pressure is going to erode the cavity surface, ruining its shine, especially if you are using hard water. Don't use the dishwasher detergent.
If you can set the temperature of your dishwasher, then keep it around 45-50°C, not more. Try looking for the "light" cycle, meaning the less aggressive.
You need to place the molds in horizontal position if you want the water to reach all the cavities surface.

I've seen a dishwasher made especially for cleaning polycarbonate molds, but it was really expensive, it takes a big operation to justify its cost.

Your best course of action should be setting your work flow in such a way that your molds will keep far from the dishwasher. Plenty of explanations in this forum, you only need to read the old threads.

 

 

Teo

 

[La Vie Chocolat]

9 hours ago, teonzo said:

Čištění forem z polykarbonátu v myčce na nádobí je riskantní. Čím více vložíte polykarbonátovou formu prostřednictvím cyklu zahřívání a chlazení, tím dříve se rozbije, že plast je náchylný k tepelným šokům. Kromě toho bude tlak vody narušovat povrch dutiny a ničí její lesk, zejména pokud používáte tvrdou vodu. Nepoužívejte mycí prostředek do myčky nádobí.
Pokud můžete nastavit teplotu myčky, udržujte ji při teplotě 45-50 ° C, ne více. Zkuste hledat „světelný“ cyklus, což znamená méně agresivní.
Pokud chcete, aby voda dosáhla všech povrchů dutin, musíte formy umístit ve vodorovné poloze.

Viděl jsem myčku vyrobenou speciálně pro čištění forem z polykarbonátu, ale bylo to opravdu drahé, aby to zdůvodnilo její náklady.

Nejlepším postupem by mělo být nastavení pracovního postupu tak, aby se vaše formy udržovaly daleko od myčky nádobí. Spousta vysvětlení na tomto fóru, stačí si přečíst stará vlákna.

 

 

Teo

 

Thank you Teo for your opinion.  I read a lot here on the forum and I learned a lot of information here.  A lot of major manufacturers use water for cleaning, look at thechocolatelab.  I have to find a reasonable compromise between the time spent with manual cleaning of molds - I open it over a warm plate with paper towels and then polish as I have already written.  But in time it's slow to one day a week for one person.  I'm looking for a way to speed up this process 😉

[teonzo]

Instagram is made to look cool, not to show you the real work flow of an operation.
Easter eggs molds should be washed only at the end of season, when you put them away for almost a full year. The work flow with praline molds is totally different. It's been discussed at length many many times in the past. A thread about this has been opened this same week. I hope you will understand if people get sick of repeating the same answers times and times again, so please search in the archives, you'll find all the answers you need, written and repeated dozens of times.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[La Vie Chocolat]

1 hour ago, teonzo said:

Instagram je vytvořen tak, aby vypadal skvěle, ne aby vám ukázal skutečný pracovní tok operace.
Plísně na velikonoční vajíčka by se měly umývat až na konci sezóny, když je odložíte na téměř celý rok. Pracovní postup s pralinkami je zcela odlišný. V minulosti to bylo mnohokrát diskutováno. V témže týdnu bylo otevřeno vlákno . Doufám, že pochopíte, jestli lidé onemocní opakováním stejných odpovědí znovu a znovu, takže prosím hledejte v archivech, najdete všechny odpovědi, které potřebujete, písemně a opakovaně několikrát.

 

 

 

Teo

 

Of course I understand, I would be upset about that too.

 

 But I'm not looking for instructions on how to wash the molds and how to proceed with production, but rather a functional soap that could wash molds from chocolate residues in a machine dishwasher 😉

precisely because the molds shouldn't be washed at all, but for efficiency I wanted to try it 😉  a long time ago someone mentioned one kind of soap here, but I can't find it anymore.  Otherwise, I would not start this topic here

 

Jakub

[Jim D.]

11 hours ago, La Vie Chocolat said:

Thank you Teo for your opinion.  I read a lot here on the forum and I learned a lot of information here.  A lot of major manufacturers use water for cleaning, look at thechocolatelab.  I have to find a reasonable compromise between the time spent with manual cleaning of molds - I open it over a warm plate with paper towels and then polish as I have already written.  But in time it's slow to one day a week for one person.  I'm looking for a way to speed up this process 😉

 

I too melt the chocolate from used molds with a warming tray and "shop towels" (rough-textured paper towels). I do this mostly to avoid having chocolate go down the drain and necessitate yet another visit from a plumber. You may be fortunate and have a "grease trap" in your kitchen sink that would make it unnecessary to be concerned with how much chocolate goes down the drain. If I did, I would wash away the chocolate bits with hot water and paper towels. After the initial cleaning, I wash the molds with hot water and Dawn detergent, rinse thoroughly, leave them in a sanitizing bleach solution for a while (this step is required by the food inspection authorities), then air-dry them. I polish them with a cloth before using, and in so doing usually manage to find enough bits of colored cocoa butter and/or chocolate to remind me that (1) cocoa butter find corners in a mold you didn't know had them and stays there as long as possible and (2) life is not perfect.

[La Vie Chocolat]

12 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

I too melt the chocolate from used molds with a warming tray and "shop towels" (rough-textured paper towels). I do this mostly to avoid having chocolate go down the drain and necessitate yet another visit from a plumber. You may be fortunate and have a "grease trap" in your kitchen sink that would make it unnecessary to be concerned with how much chocolate goes down the drain. If I did, I would wash away the chocolate bits with hot water and paper towels. After the initial cleaning, I wash the molds with hot water and Dawn detergent, rinse thoroughly, leave them in a sanitizing bleach solution for a while (this step is required by the food inspection authorities), then air-dry them. I polish them with a cloth before using, and in so doing usually manage to find enough bits of colored cocoa butter and/or chocolate to remind me that (1) cocoa butter find corners in a mold you didn't know had them and stays there as long as possible and (2) life is not perfect.

Hi Jim D, thank you for your answer.  Yes, the question about the sewer also occurred to me.  Fortunately, 95% of my products are in a simple hemispherical shape, so I have no problem with cleaning in the folds - I don't have any.  That's why I use a small drill for polishing, which works great.  It doesn't happen to me that I have dirty molds inside, only from the sides, and I would like to eliminate that.  If I do not find a way to wash them perfectly even with polishing, I will be forced to solve the situation the old-fashioned way and arrange some help once a week - a part-time job for a schoolboy, etc ...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Be careful what you wish for.  Years ago we had a school girl help with the cleaning up.  With the best intentions she took steel wool to my tin lined charlotte mold.

 

[La Vie Chocolat]

53 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Be careful what you wish for.  Years ago we had a school girl help with the cleaning up.  With the best intentions she took steel wool to my tin lined charlotte mold.

 

Ou ... I'm sorry about your form.  But I believe she didn't do it on purpose.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

13 minutes ago, La Vie Chocolat said:

Ou ... I'm sorry about your form.  But I believe she didn't do it on purpose.

 

I am sure she did not do it on purpose.