Recommended chocolate molds?

[jrshaul]

I need to get some decent molds for filled truffles, but the reviews for most of the stuff on Amazon are all over the map. Can anyone recommend some for home use?

[pastrygirl]

Any solid (i.e. not flexible) polycarbonate mold in a shape that you like.  Avoid silicone.

 

Good sources for mold shopping include Chocolat-Chocolat, Design & Realisation, Tomric, and Kerekes.

 

I recommend a simple dome if you're just starting out.  Easy to clean and no corners to trap air bubbles.  CW2295 is one I like - a nice size and deep enough to do multiple layers of filling   http://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/home/chocolate-molds/chocolate-molds-chocolate-world/cw2000-to-cw2400/p17532691.html

[Jim D.]

I second everything pastrygirl said and would add that a half-sphere (also referred to as demisphere or hemisphere) is very easy to use and very forgiving (they usually fall out of the shell with little or no coaxing). Or if you want almost unfailing success, try a magnetic mold, for which you will need transfer sheets.

[jrshaul]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

Any solid (i.e. not flexible) polycarbonate mold in a shape that you like.  Avoid silicone.

 

 

 

Some of the polycarbonate molds on Amazon have some very poor reviews. They're substantially cheaper, but I suspect the Chocolate World molds might be worth another few bucks.

[pastrygirl]

32 minutes ago, jrshaul said:

Some of the polycarbonate molds on Amazon have some very poor reviews. They're substantially cheaper, but I suspect the Chocolate World molds might be worth another few bucks.

 

What are the bad reviews saying?  Are they from people who actually have a clue about chocolate?  I was shopping for a printer last weekend, it seems like none of them had much more than 50% 5 star ratings and even those had their share of haters.  I decided that everyone hates their printer sometimes.  We all get frustrated with chocolate sometimes, it's a tricky medium and not always cooperative.  It sticking to the mold is not necessarily the mold's fault.

 

But yes, Chocolate World is a very reputable brand, worth the $20-30 per mold.

Edited September 4, 2018 by pastrygirl (log)

[jrshaul]

4 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

What are the bad reviews saying?  Are they from people who actually have a clue about chocolate?  I was shopping for a printer last weekend, it seems like none of them had much more than 50% 5 star ratings and even those had their share of haters.  I decided that everyone hates their printer sometimes.  We all get frustrated with chocolate sometimes, it's a tricky medium and not always cooperative.  It sticking to the mold is not necessarily the mold's fault.

 

But yes, Chocolate World is a very reputable brand, worth the $20-30 per mold.

 

Some of them noted the polycarbonate was unacceptably soft. Some people may have been idiots. The price premium isn't huge , though the time factor does make having a lot of molds appealing.

[Jim D.]

If by "time factor" you are referring to the time it takes to have a mold delivered, then I completely agree. There is one major vendor that takes weeks to get molds (they don't seem to have very many in stock), but bakedeco.com and chocolat-chocolat.com are fast. And if you want a great price on some brand-name molds, check out The Chocolate Life classifieds, where two companies are selling used molds at $10 apiece. If you are ever interested in somewhat larger half-spheres, I had some custom made and have extras I am selling on the eGullet classifieds forum.

[pastrygirl]

Granted, there are different thicknesses of polycarbonate.  Thermo-formed molds are going to be thinner, cheaper, and more flexible than injection molds because it's a different process.

 

Are you planning on just a few bonbons for holiday gifts or ?  Sometimes there's a discount on multiple molds at chocolat-chocolat or JB Prince, and if you are in the US the exchange rate with our friendly Canadian neighbors is currently in our favor.  Chocolat-chocolat and Design & Realisation are both Canadian.  I recently got 8 large hemisphere molds and a bunch of cacao butter, $401 Canadian was $306 US.  🍁❤️

Edited September 5, 2018 by pastrygirl (log)

[pastrygirl]

19 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

check out The Chocolate Life classifieds, where two companies are selling used molds at $10 apiece

 

Dammit, Jim!

 

I mean, thanks for mentioning that, one of the sellers is in Seattle, and a few more of the turban molds just happened to be something I was contemplating on my last order before I restrained myself.

[Jim D.]

1 minute ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Dammit, Jim!

 

I mean, thanks for mentioning that, one of the sellers is in Seattle, and a few more of the turban molds just happened to be something I was contemplating on my last order before I restrained myself.

Yes, I was sorry I came across those listings. Even though I had a firm resolution not to buy any more molds, I saw a CW cube that I couldn't resist, especially for $10 each. But I was saved by the fact that the mold was listed incorrectly and wasn't what it said. The other seller had the same mold, but by then I had overcome my temptation...at least for now. It's a sickness, you know.

[jrshaul]

1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

If by "time factor" you are referring to the time it takes to have a mold delivered, then I completely agree. There is one major vendor that takes weeks to get molds (they don't seem to have very many in stock), but bakedeco.com and chocolat-chocolat.com are fast. And if you want a great price on some brand-name molds, check out The Chocolate Life classifieds, where two companies are selling used molds at $10 apiece. If you are ever interested in somewhat larger half-spheres, I had some custom made and have extras I am selling on the eGullet classifieds forum.

Thanks for the link! I'm more worried about having to do one tray at a time, though 2-3 should keep me pretty busy. I'm used to dipped chocolates, but it's just too labor intensive and never looks great. Might take a look at yours, too..
 

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

Granted, there are different thicknesses of polycarbonate.  Thermo-formed molds are going to be thinner, cheaper, and more flexible than injection molds because it's a different process.

 

Are you planning on just a few bonbons for holiday gifts or ?  Sometimes there's a discount on multiple molds at chocolat-chocolat or JB Prince, and if you are in the US the exchange rate with our friendly Canadian neighbors is currently in our favor.  Chocolat-chocolat and Design & Realisation are both Canadian.  I recently got 8 large hemisphere molds and a bunch of cacao butter, $401 Canadian was $306 US.  🍁❤️

 

I'm trying to re-learn something I haven't done in some years, so they're gonna get a bit of a workout. Not commercial by any means, but "five runs and done" just won't do.

[Bentley]

Any polycarbonate mold by Chocolate World, Martellato, Pavoni or Matfer Bourgeat will be great.  

[Kerry Beal]

Or JKV

Edited September 5, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[pastrygirl]

@Jim D. see what you made me do?  There goes all the money I saved by shopping Canadian last time  😂

 

are you sure you don’t need more hearts? They had a wide one that might be up your alley ... 😈

 

@jrshaul and anyone else looking for used molds, I will vouch that they all look super clean and in good condition. I bought 5 of the turban/beehive/devo hat and six medium eggs, not that I need them but ...  

 

They do have a lot of shorter molds, shorter domes and squares that would fit in shallow ‘artisan depth’ boxes. The store is Chocolopolis in Seattle, via the link at The Chocolate Life that Jim shared above. 

[Jim D.]

I like the look of the heart, but it's smaller than I like--I'm now between 10 and 15 grams. I deviated recently and got a cocoa pod and quenelle as I needed them for the Dubovik course, but they are too confining for me. But thanks for thinking of me. 😜

 

Seriously, these molds and the others from a Canadian source are amazing bargains.

[Tri2Cook]

10 hours ago, Jim D. said:

Seriously, these molds and the others from a Canadian source are amazing bargains.

One of those ads was in Canada? I'll have to look again. I saw some stuff that might interest me at those prices but figured by the time I did currency exchange, duties and shipping from the U.S. it wouldn't be nearly as much of a bargain.

[Jim D.]

53 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

One of those ads was in Canada? I'll have to look again. I saw some stuff that might interest me at those prices but figured by the time I did currency exchange, duties and shipping from the U.S. it wouldn't be nearly as much of a bargain.

 

Yes, the business selling the molds is in Vancouver. I assume the stated price of $10 is in U.S. dollars.

[Tri2Cook]

8 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

Yes, the business selling the molds is in Vancouver. I assume the stated price of $10 is in U.S. dollars.

Still a good deal if cross-border shipping, duties and taxes aren't involved.

Edit: so not the one I'd hoped. Nothing listed that is of interest to me but I sent them an email asking about the "others available, contact us at..." part. So we'll see how that goes.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Tri2Cook (log)

[jrshaul]

I just bought a bunch of molds from a suggested vendor for rather less than I had expected. Thanks, everyone!

[eugenep]

I'm trying to buy the molds CW2295 - Chocolate World sphere dome. 

 

But if I'm making 2 lbs of chocolate will I need about 3 of these molds?

 

I was planning to buy just one. I'll check out the recommended vendors above but so far JB Prince has it for ~$23 each plus free shipping and no tax 

 

thanks

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, eugenep said:

I'm trying to buy the molds CW2295 - Chocolate World sphere dome. 

 

But if I'm making 2 lbs of chocolate will I need about 3 of these molds?

 

Depends on how many batches you want to make...  Its a 12-13 gram piece, at that size you need more than one mold’s worth to make a pound. 

 

Chocolat-chocolat might be a few dollars less depending on the exchange rate, but international shipping might be more than JB prince. 

[Tri2Cook]

That's the mold I use for 99% of my non-bar stuff but I've never molded solid chocolates in it, they're always filled. But 13 grams per cavity x 32 cavities is pretty easy to calculate if you're doing solids. That's 416 grams, so a little less than a pound per mold. So theoretically, 2 should cover you for your 2 lb. batch size if you're not filling them (with a little left over chocolate so a third mold is probably worth getting even though the 2 lb. batch won't completely fill all 3). But I thought 3 would be sufficient for what I was doing when I first bought them and very quickly learned that, at least up to a point, more is better with the molds you use most often.

Edited February 16, 2019 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Jim D.]

14 hours ago, eugenep said:

I'm trying to buy the molds CW2295 - Chocolate World sphere dome. 

 

But if I'm making 2 lbs of chocolate will I need about 3 of these molds?

 

I was planning to buy just one. I'll check out the recommended vendors above but so far JB Prince has it for ~$23 each plus free shipping and no tax 

 

thanks

Are you making a solid chocolate piece or making shells to be filled? If the former, then I would caution you about something I learned recently: a solid piece needs to be thin for people to eat it safely. Thick crystallized dark chocolate can be threatening to teeth! If, on the other hand, you are making a filled bonbon, I use Tri2Cook's method of calculating the amount of chocolate needed. For shells, you will be dumping most of the chocolate out but will still need enough to fill the cavities before they are emptied. I also add a little more to the weight to take care of the chocolate that lands between cavities. Another complicating factor: Are you dumping the chocolate back into a bowl/melter (whatever you are using to melt it)? If so, you will need less chocolate because you will be reusing some of it for a subsequent mold. Then the calculation becomes more complex. I think that using and reusing a single mold for multiple chocolates will turn out to be much more trouble than you can stand (washing the mold, probably retempering the chocolate).

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 I think that using and reusing a single mold for multiple chocolates will turn out to be much more trouble than you can stand (washing the mold, probably retempering the chocolate).

 

Agree, get as many as you can afford and have space for. Shipping cost for 3 or 4 molds is probably only a little more than for one mold ... that’s how I usually justify it! 

 

If the pieces come out cleanly, you don’t really need to wash and dry between uses, but on the other hand if you have build-up of chocolate on top of the mold and solid pieces get scraped back into your melter/bowl of tempered chocolate it can turn into a chunky nightmare. 

 

I'm a fan of the 2295, nice size & number of pieces and easy to polish and decorate. I think I have 6 of them. 

[eugenep]

I was planning to make chocolate molds with different fruit puree fillings based on the book "Making Artisan Chocolates" by Anders Garrison Shotts

 

Author makes 2lbs of chocolate per batch and he said you can't scale down or up and needs to be exact. 

 

So that's why I was planning to make exactly that much each time. 

 

Umm..I made chocolate truffles and fudge and just cover up the fat bloom with nuts 

 

Just got this overpriced burner - Control Freak by Breville - so wanted to start tempering the chocolate and start with chocolate molds. 

 

So far the best price I'm getting is from JB Prince but they don't specify if it's from Chocolate World / Pavoni etc. just some unspecified "European brand of high quality" that they won't name. I want the CW 2295 but the one I'm seeing that looks like it isn't the same and the dimensions are bigger at 

 

https://www.jbprince.com/pastry/sphere-chocolate-mold-24-molds.asp

 

I think I might get a bonbon size that's closer to 1 inch diameter rather than the above 1.44 inches diameter (too big?) 

 

Also, instead of a $30 chocolate scraper, I was planning to buy a $5 bench scraper to use to scrape chocolate off the mold. You think that'll work as a cheaper substitute?