Molded and Filled Chocolates: Technique Questions [MERGED TOPIC]

[Jurjen]

2 hours ago, GRiker said:

 

I watched the video too.  Those look delicious.  She does say she let them sit overnight at room temp before capping, so that might help.

 

Developing my workflow is a work in progress to make sure I have what I want ready when I need it and learning where patience matters.  I'm getting better at it.   I'm sure you'll figure it out as you practice more.

 

3 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

I just watched the Lemon Drop video.  Indeed the ganache ratio is approximately 1:1. And who am I to question Kirsten Tibballs?  All I can say is that she uses milk chocolate, which is more viscous than dark, and shes does comment that the ganache is quite fluid, but still I am surprised it sets. She does say that she let it sit overnight before sealing the chocolates. This goes to prove, I suppose, that everyone breaks the rules at some point in the chocolate world. If, however, when you wrote "the ganache tries to squeeze out while capping," you meant that some ganache came out of the shell, then the shell is too full and/or the ganache is too fluid. 

 

Huh I swear I watched the video multiple times to make sure I didn't miss anything on letting the ganache crust. I'll try some things. Thanks for the help again!

[jrshaul]

Can I use health food store cocoa butter with pigments, or do I need the more expensive confection-grade stuff?

[Kerry Beal]

On 5/6/2020 at 8:57 AM, jrshaul said:

Can I use health food store cocoa butter with pigments, or do I need the more expensive confection-grade stuff?

that should be fine

[shabakeh3]

Hello
I am Mehdi from Iran
I translate from Google Translate and I don't know much English
I want to start a new business
Regarding the transfer of chocolate sheets
I am fully acquainted with silk screen printing and I know that chocolate transfer sheets are formed by silk screen printing.
But I don't know how to make colored cocoa butter for printing
This must be a special combination
If you have any information in this regard, please help me
Thankful

[Jim D.]

I often use inclusions (such as cookies) in filled bonbons, and sometimes there are little air bubbles that rise to the surface. I assume that means there is space that was not properly filled. In my current batch, however, that became a bigger issue--many bubbles, and as I popped them, more rose through the bottom of the bonbons. The mystery was that each bonbon was completely filled with gianduja, the cookie placed on top and pushed down slightly into the gianduja--in other words, there was so visible space (except for a tiny amount between the circumference of the cookie and the shell). Yet there were still those bubbles. And I had vibrated the molds for a long time. I tried painting on a little tempered couverture to cover them. That worked, but made for an unsightly bottom (and who likes an unsightly bottom?).  The only other thought I had was to cover the whole tray with a second layer of tempered chocolate, a "beauty coat" @pastrygirl has called it in the case of caramels. That, of course, leaves a thicker bottom that is completely desirable.

 

To add to the mystery, the next molds I was sealing contained Greweling's passion fruit ganache, which is not one of those "self-leveling" fillings and so mounds a bit in the shell, leaving space between the ganache and the shell. This time, not a single bubble.

 

Any explanation as to the cause of the bubbles and other ideas for fixing them?

[pastrygirl]

4 hours ago, Jim D. said:

The mystery was that each bonbon was completely filled with gianduja, the cookie placed on top and pushed down slightly into the gianduja--in other words, there was so visible space (except for a tiny amount between the circumference of the cookie and the shell). Yet there were still those bubbles.

 

I'm not quite getting it, where are the bubbles, in the bottom coat?  Doesn't the gianduja set fairly firmly?

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I'm not quite getting it, where are the bubbles, in the bottom coat?  Doesn't the gianduja set fairly firmly?

 

Yes, the bubbles are coming up through the bottom coat (while it's still in the mold). And yes, the gianduja is firm by the time I spread the bottom coat.

[pastrygirl]

4 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

Yes, the bubbles are coming up through the bottom coat (while it's still in the mold). And yes, the gianduja is firm by the time I spread the bottom coat.

 

Hmm, air trapped in the cookie maybe?  Sounds like nothing is oozing out, it's just vexing and not the prettiest?

[Jim D.]

Sorry to take so long to reply. I wanted to take a look at the bottoms in question. I think you are right, that it's an appearance thing, nothing oozing out. Where the bubbles were are now little bumps, but they don't appear to be actual holes in the chocolate.

[GRiker]

On 3/14/2020 at 6:52 AM, gfron1 said:

And Jen Caldwell is correct...if I could have perfect temper and scraping skills as her I would likely not need to ever clean my mold

Yesterday I did molded chocolates for the first time in months.  I polished all my molds the same way but had varying degrees of shine.  I remembered gfron1's comments here, the perfect temper has a LOT to do with the shine.  The second is the temperature when piping my ingredients.  The shiniest pieces were those where I filled some leftover shells with some caramel that I had finished with earlier but decided to pipe into the shells.  It was much cooler than my other piped fillings (and thus a pain to pipe.)   

 

I think as I learn to be more precise in my tempering and more particular in my filling temperatures that the shine will improve.  

[Muscadelle]

I need help! This is a problem that has happened to me too many times. At first I thought the cracks happened because the chocolate I use to cap was not warm enough or I didn’t warm the surface enough before capping but now I think it may be because my shells are too thin. Do you think that‘s the problem??  I can not have that happen to me again! 😥

 

I let the ganache crystallize overnight and I cap with acetate sheets.

[Kerry Beal]

10 minutes ago, Muscadelle said:

I need help! This is a problem that has happened to me too many times. At first I thought the cracks happened because the chocolate I use to cap was not warm enough or I didn’t warm the surface enough before capping but now I think it may be because my shells are too thin. Do you think that‘s the problem??  I can not have that happen to me again! 😥

 

I let the ganache crystallize overnight and I cap with acetate sheets.

What's the wedge we are seeing?

 

[Muscadelle]

4 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

What's the wedge we are seeing?

 

You mean the darker chocolate? That’s the cap ( I use milk for the shell and dark for capping) sorry,  here’s a better picture

[Kerry Beal]

The crack appears to be happening where the interface between the two chocolates is happening. Two questions - are you heating your shells before you back them off. Does the same thing occur when you back off in milk chocolate?

 

 

[Muscadelle]

28 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

The crack appears to be happening where the interface between the two chocolates is happening. Two questions - are you heating your shells before you back them off. Does the same thing occur when you back off in milk chocolate?

 

 

Thank you for responding Kerry!

 

Yes I do heat them before capping. I almost never use the same type of chocolate for shelling and capping so I'm not sure...but most of them turns out just fine. 

 

I feel like the shell is not that thin either... could it be a filling that is too soft even when fully crystallized?

 

[Kerry Beal]

Shell doesn't look to thin to me. Why not try not heating the shells before capping and see what result you get.

 

 

[Muscadelle]

7 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Shell doesn't look to thin to me. Why not try not heating the shells before capping and see what result you get.

 

 

Okay I’ll try heating them a little more! Thank you!

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, Muscadelle said:

Okay I’ll try heating them a little more! Thank you!

Try not heating them at all!

[Muscadelle]

14 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Try not heating them at all!

Oh! I read that wrong! 😵 Good thing you caught it!

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, Muscadelle said:

Oh! I read that wrong! 😵 Good thing you caught it!

Twas that sort of double negative!

 

[teonzo]

I would suggest using the same chocolate for the shells and the bottom. Dark chocolate contracts more than milk chocolate because it has more cocoa butter.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Rajala]

So, I spent the night reading all posts in this thread, maybe skimming a few text heavy posts. My question and what I want to talk about, might have been answered elsewhere. But due to my so-so English skills, I really don't find anything good while searching the forum. Please point my in the right direction if you know where I could find an answer.

 

I've been experimenting with getting my kitchen temperature down to 20°, which works fine, humidity is at around 40% or sometimes hitting high 30s. Which I guess should be fine - if there aren't any issues related with too low humidity that I'm not aware of. The issue I have is that multiple shells really don't contract from my mold at the moment, and I have no idea why - it's not like they're all in the same spots, they can be all over the mold. I've made two tests today with dark chocolate (Cacao Barry Extra Bitter Guayaquil - I had to google that ). With one test I heated up the mold to around 25° before pouring chocolate in the mold, and letting it set in room temperature (20°) - around half of the 21 shells contracted from the mold. With the other test I begun with the same process, but I let the chocolate set in my chocolate fridge at 16°. In this case, only 6 of the shells have contracted as they've cooled down.

 

What do you think? I must also say that earlier I just haven't cared about the temperature in the room. It have been at around 22-23°. Can it be that I don't agitate the chocolate enough while tempering it on my counter top? That it cools down much faster with less movement, due to the lower temperature? Should I don't bother with heating the molds? I'm thinking that maybe the chocolate I'm using also have done all the heavy lifting it can do - it's a 5 kg bag I've used for a while and re-tempered many times. Maybe a few too many? People usually state that chocolate can be re-tempered "forever" (okay, I might be reaching,) but maybe there is a limit after all?

 

Well, I'm going to try some more tomorrow without heating up the mold. Just to see if I get a different result. If I still have problems, I think it's time to open a new bag of chocolate.

 

You may ask why I even do this when it worked earlier? Well, I just want to try other things I guess - also since people say that 20° is the temperature to work at. 😁

 

 

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, Rajala said:

So, I spent the night reading all posts in this thread, maybe skimming a few text heavy posts. My question and what I want to talk about, might have been answered elsewhere. But due to my so-so English skills, I really don't find anything good while searching the forum. Please point my in the right direction if you know where I could find an answer.

 

I've been experimenting with getting my kitchen temperature down to 20°, which works fine, humidity is at around 40% or sometimes hitting high 30s. Which I guess should be fine - if there aren't any issues related with too low humidity that I'm not aware of. The issue I have is that multiple shells really don't contract from my mold at the moment, and I have no idea why - it's not like they're all in the same spots, they can be all over the mold. I've made two tests today with dark chocolate (Cacao Barry Extra Bitter Guayaquil - I had to google that ). With one test I heated up the mold to around 25° before pouring chocolate in the mold, and letting it set in room temperature (20°) - around half of the 21 shells contracted from the mold. With the other test I begun with the same process, but I let the chocolate set in my chocolate fridge at 16°. In this case, only 6 of the shells have contracted as they've cooled down.

 

What do you think? I must also say that earlier I just haven't cared about the temperature in the room. It have been at around 22-23°. Can it be that I don't agitate the chocolate enough while tempering it on my counter top? That it cools down much faster with less movement, due to the lower temperature? Should I don't bother with heating the molds? I'm thinking that maybe the chocolate I'm using also have done all the heavy lifting it can do - it's a 5 kg bag I've used for a while and re-tempered many times. Maybe a few too many? People usually state that chocolate can be re-tempered "forever" (okay, I might be reaching,) but maybe there is a limit after all?

 

Well, I'm going to try some more tomorrow without heating up the mold. Just to see if I get a different result. If I still have problems, I think it's time to open a new bag of chocolate.

 

You may ask why I even do this when it worked earlier? Well, I just want to try other things I guess - also since people say that 20° is the temperature to work at. 😁

 

 

 

I had a similar issue today with some cavities releasing the chocolates without any coaxing at all, others took banging on the counter, still others took time in the freezer.  I also find this very frustrating because there seems to be no logical explanation.  For what it's worth, my space was 20C, the molds were room temp, I don't heat the molds (I have tried it for caramels that tend to leak, but it seems to make no difference).  All molds had been painted then sprayed with colored cocoa butter--all done at the same temp, same place, more or less same time.  I don't think there is any limit to how often you can temper the same chocolate since I don't think Type V crystals know how old they are.  I have not encountered an expert who said chocolate could be too old (as far as tempering it goes--taste might be another matter).

 

The good news was that every single chocolate eventually came out of the molds in question, with only one damaged with cocoa butter left behind in the mold.  Obviously they are not contracting properly.  But with some other molds every piece fell out immediately or with slight coaxing.  All had been done on the same day, same chocolate, etc.

 

In desperation, I'm now looking at two additional factors.  So could you first tell me what molds you were using?  The mold that gave me the most trouble today was CW 1433 (15g dome).

[Muscadelle]

3 hours ago, Rajala said:

So, I spent the night reading all posts in this thread, maybe skimming a few text heavy posts. My question and what I want to talk about, might have been answered elsewhere. But due to my so-so English skills, I really don't find anything good while searching the forum. Please point my in the right direction if you know where I could find an answer.

 

I've been experimenting with getting my kitchen temperature down to 20°, which works fine, humidity is at around 40% or sometimes hitting high 30s. Which I guess should be fine - if there aren't any issues related with too low humidity that I'm not aware of. The issue I have is that multiple shells really don't contract from my mold at the moment, and I have no idea why - it's not like they're all in the same spots, they can be all over the mold. I've made two tests today with dark chocolate (Cacao Barry Extra Bitter Guayaquil - I had to google that ). With one test I heated up the mold to around 25° before pouring chocolate in the mold, and letting it set in room temperature (20°) - around half of the 21 shells contracted from the mold. With the other test I begun with the same process, but I let the chocolate set in my chocolate fridge at 16°. In this case, only 6 of the shells have contracted as they've cooled down.

 

What do you think? I must also say that earlier I just haven't cared about the temperature in the room. It have been at around 22-23°. Can it be that I don't agitate the chocolate enough while tempering it on my counter top? That it cools down much faster with less movement, due to the lower temperature? Should I don't bother with heating the molds? I'm thinking that maybe the chocolate I'm using also have done all the heavy lifting it can do - it's a 5 kg bag I've used for a while and re-tempered many times. Maybe a few too many? People usually state that chocolate can be re-tempered "forever" (okay, I might be reaching,) but maybe there is a limit after all?

 

Well, I'm going to try some more tomorrow without heating up the mold. Just to see if I get a different result. If I still have problems, I think it's time to open a new bag of chocolate.

 

You may ask why I even do this when it worked earlier? Well, I just want to try other things I guess - also since people say that 20° is the temperature to work at. 😁

 

 

 

Among the top reasons why shells won't contract are:  not properly tempered chocolate and a shell too thin. If you heat your mold before pouring chocolate in it, you may end up with that problem depending on the fluidity of your chocolate. (I work in a room at 18C and I never heat my mold before ''shelling'')

 

It's important to let your shells crystallize a little bit  at room temp before placing them in a cold place. As soon as the chocolate start setting (normally it should take like 2 mins, if it's taking more than that, maybe your chocolate is not well tempered enough) you can place it in a colder place to help the shells contract. Your chocolate fridge at 16C is perfect. 

 

For your next batch, before pouring your chocolate in the mold, make sure your chocolate is properly tempered by dipping a piece of parchment paper in it, place it on the marble countertop and let it set at room temp. If it takes more than 2 mins to set and doesn't have that nice velvet shine, you gotta re-temper, otherwise you will waste your time afterwards with shells that wont come out of the molds.

[Rajala]

4 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

I had a similar issue today with some cavities releasing the chocolates without any coaxing at all, others took banging on the counter, still others took time in the freezer.  I also find this very frustrating because there seems to be no logical explanation.  For what it's worth, my space was 20C, the molds were room temp, I don't heat the molds (I have tried it for caramels that tend to leak, but it seems to make no difference).  All molds had been painted then sprayed with colored cocoa butter--all done at the same temp, same place, more or less same time.  I don't think there is any limit to how often you can temper the same chocolate since I don't think Type V crystals know how old they are.  I have not encountered an expert who said chocolate could be too old (as far as tempering it goes--taste might be another matter).

 

The good news was that every single chocolate eventually came out of the molds in question, with only one damaged with cocoa butter left behind in the mold.  Obviously they are not contracting properly.  But with some other molds every piece fell out immediately or with slight coaxing.  All had been done on the same day, same chocolate, etc.

 

In desperation, I'm now looking at two additional factors.  So could you first tell me what molds you were using?  The mold that gave me the most trouble today was CW 1433 (15g dome).

 

Strange this. But as @Muscadelle is writing, it's probably not tempered well enough. But if it isn't, how come some of them contract? Is it that I need to keep it at the end temperature for a bit longer to ensure that most crystals have melted away?

 

I'm using CW1217 - 30 mm diameter hemispheres. The most simple mold of them all? Well with that said, I'm going to try again today in an hour or two when my brain has awoken. This time without heating the molds. Just to see if there's a difference. The reason I'm trying to heating the molds is just to play around, see if there will be less marks on them. Greweling is writing about "uneven cooling spots," and that unheated molds can cause that.