Molded and Filled Chocolates: Troubleshooting and Techniques

[Jim D.]

7 hours ago, Jurjen said:

 

I tend to let my ganache cool to room temp however the ganache tries to squeeze out while capping, would it be better to make the ganache right after making the outer shell? I'm not sure how long I should let the ganache from a "crust" before capping, it didn't seem to matter if I let it sit in the fridge for 30 min or outside the fridge for an hour. I'd try to temper the ganache but I'm not sure if my space restrictions would easily allow that.

 

Currently I'm just doing very simple ganaches with around a 50:50 chocolate to cream ratio with small amounts of flavoring (e.g. steep some lemon zest or ground coffee in the cream)

 

Any tips to remedy these issues?

 

I think most of the issues you mention come from creating a ganache with a 50:50 ratio. All the authorities I know of call for considerably more chocolate. In the case of dark chocolate, it's often 2:1 chocolate to liquefiers. At that ratio, a ganache will not be so easy to pipe at room temp, thus the (approx.) 83F I mentioned. When you pipe it, 1/4" to 1/3" space should be left between ganache and top of cavity. I leave my fillings overnight to set, though if it firms up before then, I don't see any reason to wait. With the space I mentioned, you won't scrape the top of the ganache so easily. It is crucial that the seal be as near perfect as possible or the filling may leak out and even spoil.  And a final note: a 1:1 ratio ganache probably has a high free water content, thus will not last very long.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Jim D. (log)

[Jim D.]

5 hours ago, GRiker said:

When I looked just now, my Nest Thermostat says 58%.  I'll keep track of that number and see if I can find any correlations there.  I haven't kept track of it, or even looked much.  In the SF Bay Area where I live it's usually not very humid, but I'll keep an eye on it.  Thanks for the 50% note.  That will help. 

 

Notter recommends a humidity less than 50%. I am surprised at your comment on the humidity in SF. The several times I visited there, it felt very humid (fog rolling in for the afternoon, frequent drizzle, showers, etc.). In fact, an SF website states:  "The average annual relative humidity is 68.3% and average monthly relative humidity ranges from 65% in June to 75% in January."

 

[GRiker]

We're about 50 minutes South and inland from SF.  I guess I'm just comparing it to upstate NY where my husband is from.  Now that's humid!

[Jurjen]

16 hours ago, GRiker said:

 

I hear two questions here, one is how long should I let the ganache crust? and the second is why does the ganache squeeze out while capping?

 

Now that I am making tempered ganache, I can cap within the hour of filing as the ganache is setting quickly.  I believe I've read before that if it's not tempered (like I think you're doing) that you need to let it sit at room temp overnight before capping.  

 

Sometimes the ganache will squeeze out while capping if the cavities are filled too full.  Also as JimD  said, you don't need to wait until room temp to pipe, you can pipe into your cavities when your ganache is at 83F or lower. 

 

What kind of chocolate are you using?  What molds are you using? 

Thanks for the help, I guess I've just been too impatient, luckily it has been going pretty well. I've had a few close calls though. Currently I'm using a few different callebaut chocolates 811 (54%), origine Ghanna (40%), and Origine Saint Domingue (70%) with a CW 1521 mold. As @Jim D. said my cream to chocolate ratio might be too high, I was using Kirsten Tibballs lemon drop recipe as a base. Would a 66:33 ratio be better to use if I make it right before filling my chocolates (waiting till it's lower than 83 degrees of course)?

 

Thanks to @Jim D. as well of course.

[Jim D.]

3 hours ago, Jurjen said:

Thanks for the help, I guess I've just been too impatient, luckily it has been going pretty well. I've had a few close calls though. Currently I'm using a few different callebaut chocolates 811 (54%), origine Ghanna (40%), and Origine Saint Domingue (70%) with a CW 1521 mold. As @Jim D. said my cream to chocolate ratio might be too high, I was using Kirsten Tibballs lemon drop recipe as a base. Would a 66:33 ratio be better to use if I make it right before filling my chocolates (waiting till it's lower than 83 degrees of course)?

 

Thanks to @Jim D. as well of course.

 

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 doe 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. 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Jim D. (log)

[GRiker]

2 hours ago, Jurjen said:

I was using Kirsten Tibballs lemon drop recipe as a base.

 

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.

[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!