I'm new to airbrushing molded chocolates. Does anyone use Roxy & Rich cocoa butter to color molded chocolates?

[ShylahSinger]

Hi! I am making molded chocolates at home and just started airspraying cocoa butter into the molds. I only have R & R  cocoa butter. I haven't been able to find any discussions here about using it. I know I am tempering the cocoa butter and I have a Grex Tritium (side feed) with a .7 needle.  I have a California Air Tools compresser 1 HP, with an 8 gallon tank.  The cocoa butter seems to clog  in the airbrush, and I have to heat it with my blowdryer every few (2-3) minutes to keep it running. It seems I have to use high pressures  to get any spray from the gun.  I wish I hadn't gotten the side feed, but I didn't know better. Could the brand of cocoa butter be part of the cause? It splatters a lot as well.

II am loving the airbrush but I know I have much more to learn yet! I would appreciate any help to help improve my spraying!

[Jim D.]

There have been quite a lot of mentions of Roxy & Rich on the forum.  I don't recall that anyone mentioned special problems with that brand.  To have overspray is normal with airbrushing.  You should have some sort of spray booth or arrangement to take that overspray out of the air.  I also wear a respirator, but at least a mask would help keep it out of your lungs.  Your setup sounds fine, except for the side-feed issue.  That adds complication to the path the cocoa butter must travel and thus time for it to crystallize and then clog your Grex.  I used to have a side-feed Paasche brush, and it was a pain.  It is normal to have to reheat the gun, just one of the many issues with airbrushing cocoa butter.  The larger the cup on the Grex is, the longer the cocoa butter will stay at an acceptable temperature.  What size cup are you using?  One major factor you did not mention is the temperature of the room in which you are spraying.  In my opinion (not everyone on the forum agrees), if the temperature is too far below 70F, you will have more issues.

[Kerry Beal]

If you are familiar with the wonderful colour work of Dallas of the Chocolate Lab - he uses exclusively Roxy and Rich.

[MikanPotatos]

I have a similar setup to you as well and use roxy rich. Its normal to have to use a heat gun to warm up the cocoa butter if you are working in a colder room. As for using high pressure, I think I had the same problem but after adjusting the needle by twisting the back of the brush. I was able to find a setting where I could adjust from 20psi - 90psi using my valve and spray cocoa butter.

[pastrygirl]

Agreed, the nature of cocoa butter is to be a pain and need frequent warming, the brand doesn't matter. 

 

Your compressor sounds more than adequate, I just switched to a 1 hp 2 gallon and am noticing a huge difference in the amount of coverage I'm getting.  Really helps with larger pieces like Easter eggs.  I am able to get a splatter when I want it by turning the pressure way down but it doesn't take much pressure to get good coverage. 

 

An airbrush artist I talked to recently said it's not so much the size of the compressor but the Cubic Feet per MInute  and recommended at least 1 CFM with the Grex 0.7mm.

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by pastrygirl (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Roxy and Rich is the only colored cocoa butter I've used (because it's what the 2 main places I get my supplies from carry) so I can't compare it to other brands but I've been happy with it.

 

I use single action bottom feed Paasche brushes (which would have been gravity feed double action if I'd done more research before buying). I'm going to add a double action to the quiver because I'd like to have one brush that can shoot air without shooting color if I want it to.

 

I have a dehydrator with digital temp control and a bottom temp of 85 F I use as a warming cabinet. Set it to the temp I want for my cocoa butter, toss in the colors I plan to work with plus the brushes and cups in the morning or the night before depending when I need it ready to use. The brushes are warm so I can just swap on the fly if I have clogging issues. The clogged brush frees up quickly once back in the cabinet. 

 

The above works pretty well for me but full disclosure, I very rarely do much spraying. I'm drifting more towards bean to bar production and the natural colors of the chocolates. Which is a fancy way of saying all that spraying can be a pain in the caboose and I frequently just don't want to bother with it. 😆