Molded and Filled Chocolates: Troubleshooting and Techniques

[Casey H.]

On 5/15/2018 at 6:57 PM, keychris said:

it's simply called "chocolate showing you who's boss"

Yes, chocolate is a cruel mistress. But so enticing, we keep coming back!

[YetiChocolates]

Ok... I’m now a convert. I decided to wash my molds with soap and buff the water out with a cotton ball (because of the calcium content in my water) and I have to say the chocolates do come out pretty shiny! Here’s a couple photos. And it cuts my cleaning time in half so I’m pumped!

[RobertM]

willow - what type of soap did you use?

 

beautiful shine!

[YetiChocolates]

3 hours ago, RobertM said:

willow - what type of soap did you use?

 

beautiful shine!

 

Green works dishwashing liquid...

[gfron1]

Curious case that I could use some help with. So, I was getting ready to fill a decorated mold, and accidentally filled an empty mold (don't know where my mind was). The mold was clean - I had just washed, alcoholed and re-wiped with a dry new cosmetic pad. It was clean and dry. For sure. Realizing what I had done I ploughed ahead and filled it (cardamom caramel and Rawandan espresso ganache). When I popped them out, they released immediately and had an appropriate shine - the temper was spot on...so was the other decorated tray which came from the same piping bag. I don't do plain brown chocolates so I went for the save by doing a gold luster white chocolate button and texture sheet. But here's the thing...they're sticky. Every one of them.There's no seepage. They're completely solid and crisp (I ate one to perform r&d). My kitchen runs a dehumidifier 24/7 at is holding steady at 35% like it always does. So what do you think happened? Why would the exterior be sticky?

[Kerry Beal]

I’ve had that happen before inconsistently. I think it has been caramels if I’m not mistaken.   And I think it has been dark chocolate.

Edited August 16, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[gfron1]

10 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I’ve had that happen before inconsistently. I think it has been caramels if I’m not mistaken.   And I think it has been dark chocolate.

 

Yes and yes in my instance. Why and more importantly how?

 

[Kerry Beal]

Well dark chocolate is more ‘leaky’ and caramel is syrup.

[understandingcocoa]

@gfron1 Were these left to set in the fridge? I've had this on exposed chocolate i.e. bars when i've left them in too long, or truffles have sometimes developed a sticky sheen after tap out due to being left too long in the cold (I have the memory of goldfish) 

[gfron1]

58 minutes ago, understandingcocoa said:

@gfron1 Were these left to set in the fridge? I've had this on exposed chocolate i.e. bars when i've left them in too long, or truffles have sometimes developed a sticky sheen after tap out due to being left too long in the cold (I have the memory of goldfish) 

No. These didn't spend any time in the fridge. I keep my room colder than most (19º) but that's a far cry from my fridge.

[Daniel D]

@gfron1 are the shells on the plain bonbons significantly thinner than the shells on your other painted pieces? That’s the only thing I could think of since you said you didn’t refrigerate and hit the dew point.

[gfron1]

5 hours ago, Daniel D said:

@gfron1 are the shells on the plain bonbons significantly thinner than the shells on your other painted pieces? That’s the only thing I could think of since you said you didn’t refrigerate and hit the dew point.

They weren't. In fact, they were a bit thicker than normal. I'm glad I'm not crazy for not knowing what happened.

[Nickos]

Hello!

 

what do you guys use to make your bonbon filling last for like months?

 

do you maybe add some alcohol? or other tips and tricks? to improve the shelf life.

 

thanks

[Tri2Cook]

8 hours ago, Nickos said:

what do you guys use to make your bonbon filling last for like months?

I don't mean this to sound as flippant as it probably will but, in all honesty, I don't want my bonbons to last for months. Putting aside spoiling in a manner that would make you sick if you ate them, because I know that can be done, there has to be a degradation of flavor and texture over that much time. If not, I probably don't want whatever it takes to prevent all those things happening in my bonbons... because it's going to be something a lot more powerful than a bit of booze.

[Kerry Beal]

I suspect a good wander through eG would lead to lots of suggestions - but longer life can be had with nut paste containing fillings (but then you may fall victim to fat migration and rancidity), adding alcohol as you noted, adding glucose, invert sugar, sorbitol, sugars. Making a caramel based filling also helps with shelf life. 

 

But like Tri2Cook - I will settle for a several week shelf life in the majority of cases.

[Tri2Cook]

12 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

But like Tri2Cook - I will settle for a several week shelf life in the majority of cases.

Yeah, you said it better than I did though. I came off sounding more snooty than intended. I've just had leftovers start losing flavor and texture quality long before they showed any signs of being unsafe to eat.

[pastrygirl]

Another vote for giving up on "months".  I mean, I might hope for 2 or 3 but I'm not usually going for 6 plus.  I am making bonbons for Valentine's, and along the lines of what Kerry said, they are all caramel based.  Plain old sugar is still a good preservative!

[Jim D.]

If you are serious about shelf life, I would suggest consulting Wybauw's ganache books (they are not inexpensive, which is why I included "serious"). He writes about it a lot and uses ingredients (mentioned in Kerry's post) that extend it. Caramel is, as pastrygirl stated, about the only filling I would expect to last for months. But after all that has been said in earlier postings, the fact is that a chocolate producer cannot control what the customer does with the chocolates after purchase. I've had people buy large boxes and tell me later that they ate one piece every few days "to make them last." To my involuntary expression of horror, they tell me (in much kinder language) to mind my own business. And all this is why I have food safety insurance.

[MoonChild]

Hello everyone!

 

I was wondering if someone could give me a link to a thread where I could put my bon bon questions and troubleshooting.  I tried using the search engine, but only found forums with beautiful bon bon discussion.  I have questions from the other side of the spectrum, like where things don't turn out right.  If there isn't a place for it, should I just post my questions here?

 

Thank you!

[MoonChild]

Hello everyone!  I've been having a similar problem as @SweetandSnappyJen.  I made 10 molds of these bon bons.  Four of the molds came out (or well, didn't come out) like the first picture.  The other six molds came out great like the second picture.

 

1) Molds were polished with alcohol and then once again with dry cotton rounds.

2) Cocoa butter colors were tempered and sprayed at 30C and allowed time to set properly.

3) Room temp was 17-18C.  Humidity was 65% constantly. 

4) My dark chocolate was tempered properly and tested.  My shelling/working temp was 32-34C.  I suspect this is where I went wrong .  The molds that didn't come out were shelled first closer to 32C.  I felt my chocolate was getting a little think and cold so I heated it closer to 34C with a heat gun and then proceeded to shell the other 6 molds what came out fine.

5) The temperature of my ganache was around 30-31C when I filled them and left to crystalize overnight.

6) I capped them the next day and put them in the refrigerator for 15 mins and then took them out at come to room temp before unmolding them.

 

I'm guessing that the reason cocoa butter has been sticking to my molds is because my tempered chocolate is too cold when I am making the shells and that the cocoa butter isn't able to adhere to the chocolate.  Can someone confirm this?

 

My next question would be.......For dark, milk, and white chocolates each(I mainly use Valrhona if that helps)  what is the ideal working temperatures to be making the shells for molded bon bons?  I'm always worried about too cold and cocoa butter will stick to the mold.....too hot and I'll be out of temper.

 

Any help or advice is appreciated.  Thank you!

 

[Kerry Beal]

As you noted - the warmer chocolate yielded better results. Having the shelling chocolate as warm as possible increases the success rate I've found.

[MoonChild]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

As you noted - the warmer chocolate yielded better results. Having the shelling chocolate as warm as possible increases the success rate I've found.

Hi Kerry!  May I ask what you feel is the ideal temperature range and/or maximum temperature you work with for each dark, milk, and white chocolates?  (Without the use of eztemper.  Unfortunately, I'm don't have it available at my work for now)

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, MoonChild said:

Hi Kerry!  May I ask what you feel is the ideal temperature range and/or maximum temperature you work with for each dark, milk, and white chocolates?  (Without the use of eztemper.  Unfortunately, I'm don't have it available at my work for now)

Kind of pushing it but 34.5 for dark 32.5 for milk

 

 

[Avachocolate]

@MoonChild....17-18 is a bit cold for the room....personally I never get good results at those temperatures....try having the room at 20-22 °C and the humidity below 50 %

Always works well for me but your mileage may vary...

[MoonChild]

8 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Kind of pushing it but 34.5 for dark 32.5 for milk

 

 

Hmm......that's really helpful to know.  Especially the milk chocolate maximum.......I've definitely been shelling that and white chocolate way too cold then.  At 31C for milk and 29C for white.  I've kinda been following the temperature guides on the Valrhona bag so far, but it's nice to know I have a little flex and can go warmer.

 

4 hours ago, Avachocolate said:

@MoonChild....17-18 is a bit cold for the room....personally I never get good results at those temperatures....try having the room at 20-22 °C and the humidity below 50 %

Always works well for me but your mileage may vary...

That's kinda interesting.  I can raise the temp in my chocolate room, but trying to get the humidity low might be difficult here in Hawaii.  I'm curious though........I've always been under the assumption that a colder room is better for working with chocolate.  Could you please elaborate on how a cold room can negatively affect my results?  Thank you!