Tricks for making uniform chocolate non-pareils?

[Bentley]

Is there an easy way to make large quantities of chocolate non-pareils that are uniform in size and nicely round without factory depositors?  Or is it just a matter of practicing with a piping bag?

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Don't know that I've got the patience for doing that with a piping bag.  

[gap]

I've seen a few places do them with moulds like this

https://coco88.com.au/products/caramel-chocolate-freckles

Obviously the hundreds & thousands are on the other side though . . . not sure if that's an issue

[teonzo]

You can try using a chablon with round holes with the desired dimension:

- lay chablon on a pan with parchment paper / silpat;

- pipe chocolate inside the chablon holes until it reaches near the sides;

- sprinkle with that colored stuff;

- lift the chablon;

- repeat.

Not many other solutions besides using a pipin bag. The chablon helps to give the uniform dimension. The weight of a single piece will depend on the fluidity of the chocolate you are using, so that's a factor to consider.

 

Otherwise you can look into volumetric dispensers, like the ones for adding a filling (pastry cream, jam...) to pastries (krapfens, doughnuts, croissants...). There are a lot of choices. The small manual ones should be affordable, depending on your production volumes. With these you will get exact weight each time, so you still have to consider the fluidity factor (the final dimensions of the pieces will vary depending on chocolate fluidity).

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Jim D.]

I was also going to mention chablons.  Martellato makes all sorts of shapes, including circles of varying dimensions.  Chocolat chocolat had the size I wanted and might be able to obtain others.  You might have to layer two of them to get the height you want.

[JeanneCake]

My first response was "no".

Then I wondered how other people do them and this video popped up in a search.  I don't know what others call this device, but I would refer to it as a sauce gun.

 

[Kerry Beal]

Confectionary funnel - I really like the one I have with the stick vs the one with thumb control