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Looking for help in getting a better shine on my dragees


MoonChild

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Hello everyone!

 

This is my first post in this forum.  I'm hoping to find some nice people who can help me troubleshoot my dragee problems.  Nice to meet you all!  So here I go.......

In this picture , I have 3 dragees I've made using a commercial panning machine.  The gold and the blue ones are dark chocolate centers and the yellow one on the right is a passion fruit chocolate center.  My chef wants me to use luster dust, gold, blue, and yellow respectively, before I apply the pre-glaze and shellac.  I am using Capol products.  Here is the procedure I was instructed to follow:

 

1)   Spray plain melted cocoa butter onto centers (so the luster dust can adhere I assume)

2)   Add luster dust while tumbling

3)  Spray another layer of plain cocoa butter (my chef says to lock in the dust)

4)  Let set for 30 mins

 

Polishing:

1)  Apply 0.3%  total weight in Capol pre-glaze while tumbling.  Continue to tumble until dry with dry air blowing (17-18 degrees Celsius)

2)  Once dry, apply 0.2% total weight in Capol pre-glaze while tumbling.  Continue to tumble until dry with dry air blowing (17-18 degrees Celsius)

3)  Once dry, apply 0.1% total weight in Capol pre-glaze while tumbling.  Continue to tumble until dry with dry air blowing (17-18 degrees Celsius)

4)  Once dry, apply 0.2% total weight in Capol Shellac while tumbling.  Continue to tumble until dry with dry air blowing (17-18 degrees Celsius)

 

The humidity in my room is 65% at around 18 degrees Celsius.

 

Here is my question:  Why do gold (left) and blue (middle) dragees not look as shiny and the yellow one on the left?  I am assuming that all of the tumbling during the polishing and drying process is pounding the luster dust into the chocolate and giving it a duller look.  My chef is persistent that he wants to use luster dust and I can't change that.  How can I apply the luster dust, pre-glaze, and shellac in order to attain the glossy dragees I always see professionals make on Instagram?  Any help is appreciated.  Thank you for your time.

 

 

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@Kerry Beal  Thank you very much for your response.  I have so many questions.  To be honest, I don't really understand what the purpose of the pre-glaze is nor why it's added in stages.

 

1)   What rotation speed (0-100%) should I run the panning machine?

2)   Is dry air at 17-18 degrees Celsius the best?  I've seen other procedures/ online videos from people like Kriss Harvey and  Kirsten Tibballs who apply and dry the pre-glaze and shellac with cold air.  Around 9-12 degrees celsius.  I've tried that, but seen no difference in my results.

3)   I notice that once I add the shellac at the end, I get the shine I'm looking for.  However, as I tumble and dry it, it loses it's shine the longer I run it in the panner.

 

 

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10 hours ago, MoonChild said:

@Kerry Beal  Thank you very much for your response.  I have so many questions.  To be honest, I don't really understand what the purpose of the pre-glaze is nor why it's added in stages.

 

1)   What rotation speed (0-100%) should I run the panning machine?

2)   Is dry air at 17-18 degrees Celsius the best?  I've seen other procedures/ online videos from people like Kriss Harvey and  Kirsten Tibballs who apply and dry the pre-glaze and shellac with cold air.  Around 9-12 degrees celsius.  I've tried that, but seen no difference in my results.

3)   I notice that once I add the shellac at the end, I get the shine I'm looking for.  However, as I tumble and dry it, it loses it's shine the longer I run it in the panner.

 

 

Generally rotate at a speed that brings the product to around 10 or 2 o'clock before it falls back down. 

 

Air can be a little cooler than 17-18 if you can get it there.

 

Here's the numbers I've used in the past -


polishing - 0.004% first charge, 0.002% second then 0.001% any further charges required to get the shine - let each run for 30 seconds to distribute then cold air to polish until dry.

shellac 0.2% - let run 5 minutes no air - then air to flash off the ETOH

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Hello Kerry!  Thank you again for taking the time to answer all of my questions and sharing your knowledge.  I'm actually polishing some dragees at work today and I'm very excited to give all of your tips a try! 

 

When applying the shellac, about how long do you run it with air to flash off the ETOH?  Is this something that takes 5-10 minutes or am I looking at running it for an hour to get it completely dry?  I guess what I'm asking is, how can you tell when the dragees are done after applying the shellac?  Am I supposed to get them completely dry or is slightly tacky okay?

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Hi Kerry, I've been able to try out some of the tips you gave me.  It's still a work in progress for me but, I'm definitely seeing improvements in my product.  It's a step in the right direction and I'll post a pic when I'm finally able to achieve what I'm looking for~

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