Does Callebaut 811 work for molding filled chocolate shells?

[wannabechocolatier]

Found a place that sells 811 for a good price. Was wondering whether it's ideal for bonbon shells. I'm open to thinning it out with cocoa butter if necessary, but if it doesn't perform well in general I'll rethink my choice. 

 

Other similarly priced suggestions are welcome (can't afford valhrona, felchlin, etc)

[Kerry Beal]

811 should be fine as long as it's the standard formulation. 

[wannabechocolatier]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

811 should be fine as long as it's the standard formulation. 

I see, thanks. I only ask because I've seen posts around here complaining that it's too viscous for a thin shell.

[Kerry Beal]

Send a picture of the front of the bag and we will be able to tell you if it's the right formulation. 

[wannabechocolatier]

17 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Send a picture of the front of the bag and we will be able to tell you if it's the right formulation. 

The bag in particular comes from a wholesale vendor in alternative packaging so the viscosity indications aren't there, but they do say that it's Callebaut 811 54.5% and I'm fairy certain that's rated at '3 droplets'

Edited June 7, 2021 by wannabechocolatier (log)

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, wannabechocolatier said:

The bag in particular comes from a wholesale vendor in alternative packaging so the viscosity indications aren't there, but they do say that it's Callebaut 811 54.5% and I'm fairy certain that's rated at '3 droplets'

Hmmm - thought it had more droplets but apparently not.

[wannabechocolatier]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Hmmm - thought it had more droplets but apparently not.

Would I be best suited with a different chocolate, then? Or should I just thin it out with cocoa butter? Calculated that I'd need to add 11.8 grams per pound of chocolate to get to 4 droplet cocoa butter %.

Edited June 7, 2021 by wannabechocolatier (log)

[Kerry Beal]

33 minutes ago, wannabechocolatier said:

Would I be best suited with a different chocolate, then? Or should I just thin it out with cocoa butter? Calculated that I'd need to add 11.8 grams per pound of chocolate to get to 4 droplet cocoa butter %.

I think it's probably going to be OK without additional cocoa butter. Likely do a small test first. 

[wannabechocolatier]

38 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I think it's probably going to be OK without additional cocoa butter. Likely do a small test first. 

Sounds good. This is all very far in the future since I don't want to order any chocolate in the heat. Probably November.

 

In the meantime, though, would you happen to have any suggestions for similarly priced chocolate that you know to be good for a thin shell?

Edited June 7, 2021 by wannabechocolatier (log)

[Kerry Beal]

13 minutes ago, wannabechocolatier said:

Sounds good. This is all very far in the future since I don't want to order any chocolate in the heat. Probably November.

 

In the meantime, though, would you happen to have any suggestions for similarly priced chocolate that you know to be good for a thin shell?

I'm a Belcolade fan

[wannabechocolatier]

4 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I'm a Belcolade fan

Thanks! I'll look into em

[Jonathan]

I used to use Callebaut 2815 which has an increased fluidity compared to the 811, have since switched to Valrhona at present but I found the 2815 great for bonbons in terms of workability

[wannabechocolatier]

Just now, Jonathan said:

I used to use Callebaut 2815 which has an increased fluidity compared to the 811, have since switched to Valrhona at present but I found the 2815 great for bonbons in terms of workability

Yeah, I read similar about 2815, but this particular vendor doesn't offer that. I can add 11.8 grams of cocoa butter per pound to reach the same % though, so might try doing that if it doesn't turn out to be fluid enough.

[wannabechocolatier]

On 6/7/2021 at 2:38 PM, Kerry Beal said:

I'm a Belcolade fan

Forgot to ask earlier. Is there an all-purpose flavor of Belcolade that you can suggest?

[Kerry Beal]

Dark is C501/J (noir selection)

Milk is Lait selection

White is Blanc selection

 

[Tri2Cook]

I use Callebaut chocolates almost exclusively. A choice largely based on price but I wouldn't use it if I didn't like it even with the lower cost. I keep my chocolates in large plastic pails so I don't have the original packaging but the 811 is the 54.5%, right? It does fine for me for shelling. I have a slightly strange working relationship with all of the Callebaut varieties I use, they all feel like I'd like them to be thinner when I'm doing the shelling but the shells always end up nice and thin so I think it's just in my head. I need to work with some other chocolates at some point just as a comparison.

[wannabechocolatier]

1 hour ago, Tri2Cook said:

I use Callebaut chocolates almost exclusively. A choice largely based on price but I wouldn't use it if I didn't like it even with the lower cost. I keep my chocolates in large plastic pails so I don't have the original packaging but the 811 is the 54.5%, right? It does fine for me for shelling. I have a slightly strange working relationship with all of the Callebaut varieties I use, they all feel like I'd like them to be thinner when I'm doing the shelling but the shells always end up nice and thin so I think it's just in my head. I need to work with some other chocolates at some point just as a comparison.

Thanks for the input! That's reassuring. 

 

Yeah, 811 is 54.5%. 

 

I found a 44 lb case of it for $188, which seems too good to be true, but the site doesn't seem scammy, so we'll see come winter when I order.

Edited June 13, 2021 by wannabechocolatier (log)

[minas6907]

Hey, I just wanted to ask a question here instead of making a new topic, since its close enough.

 

Generally I keep a bag of Callebaut 811 for my wife to much on. She'll have a handful of the chips every now and then to satisfy her sweet tooth. Recently she went to Restaurant Depot for some stuff, she mean to pick up a bag of 811 for her personal stash, but they were out. Instead she picked up Callebaut Fountain Chocolate.

 

What piqued my interest is when I googled "CHD-N811FOUNUS-U76" which was found on the back of the bag, and I saw this fluidity chart from Callebaut. It says this is 5 drops, which makes sense, but I never really realized that because there are not 5 drop on the bag, just a single drop and a plus sign next to it (see the link in the previous paragraph).

 

Anyways, the fuidity chart says that the fountain chocolate can be used for enrobing and panning. Has anyone use this before for anything aside from a chocolate fountains? Anyways, just curious.

Fluidity_Information.pdf

[wannabechocolatier]

15 minutes ago, minas6907 said:

Hey, I just wanted to ask a question here instead of making a new topic, since its close enough.

 

Generally I keep a bag of Callebaut 811 for my wife to much on. She'll have a handful of the chips every now and then to satisfy her sweet tooth. Recently she went to Restaurant Depot for some stuff, she mean to pick up a bag of 811 for her personal stash, but they were out. Instead she picked up Callebaut Fountain Chocolate.

 

What piqued my interest is when I googled "CHD-N811FOUNUS-U76" which was found on the back of the bag, and I saw this fluidity chart from Callebaut. It says this is 5 drops, which makes sense, but I never really realized that because there are not 5 drop on the bag, just a single drop and a plus sign next to it (see the link in the previous paragraph).

 

Anyways, the fuidity chart says that the fountain chocolate can be used for enrobing and panning. Has anyone use this before for anything aside from a chocolate fountains? Anyways, just curious.

Fluidity_Information.pdf 512.56 kB · 3 downloads

 

If their charts are any good, I think it's safe to bet that you should be able to use it for anything else they say the 5 droplet viscosity would allow. They seem to have a wide range of fluidities that they deem worthy for enrobing, though, so maybe with this highest fluidity you'd get a much thinner coating than you might expect.

[choc.frogs]

On 6/13/2021 at 10:10 PM, Tri2Cook said:

I use Callebaut chocolates almost exclusively. A choice largely based on price but I wouldn't use it if I didn't like it even with the lower cost. I keep my chocolates in large plastic pails so I don't have the original packaging but the 811 is the 54.5%, right? It does fine for me for shelling. I have a slightly strange working relationship with all of the Callebaut varieties I use, they all feel like I'd like them to be thinner when I'm doing the shelling but the shells always end up nice and thin so I think it's just in my head. I need to work with some other chocolates at some point just as a comparison.

I felt the same way in the beginning, especially when you notice the change in the fluidity as the chocolate drops down to 32 C. I've never really had a problem with thick shells but I couldn' get the idea of a higher fluidity choc out of my head and decided to experiment.

Thinking I new better than a chocolate production brand was quite the mistake - Big Homer D'Oh moment for me.

I thinned the 811 & 845 (separately) with cocoa butter and was delighted with the result when casting my moulds and emptying them. 

Once they were "set" or should have been set, I realised I couldn't get them out of the mould.

After much searching I discovered it was because the chocolate shells were far too thin & therefore weren't able to contract enough.

 

Not an experiment I'll be repeating but thankfully it was fixable. Added a bunch of more chocolate to the mixture which fixed the fluidity (I was working with small amounts to begin with which made the fix an easy one!).