Molded and Filled Chocolates: Troubleshooting and Techniques

[Kerry Beal]

Couple of thoughts - too thin? but doesn't look that way - over tempered chocolate?

 

 

[RWood]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Couple of thoughts - too thin? but doesn't look that way - over tempered chocolate?

 

 

My thought is too thin this time. I used Valrhona Satilia, and it’s very fluid. I tried leaving the chocolate in a little longer so it would be thicker. Still seem thinner than I’m used to.

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, RWood said:

So, any ideas what would cause these fine cracks in only this particular mold? I had it happen the last time I used them, and I thought I maybe flexed the mold or something, but I know I didn’t in this last batch. Not all of them break like the other photo, but no other shape I have does this.

 

 

I've never seen empty shells spontaneously crack, that's wacky.  How long after shelling did this happen?  Was the room extra cold?

[RWood]

1 minute ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I've never seen empty shells spontaneously crack, that's wacky.  How long after shelling did this happen?  Was the room extra cold?

Yeah, me either. No, the room was probably 68-70F. They sat for a couple of hours, then I went to check on them and they have those fine cracks. Only this mold. 
I have another two of this mold that I did a few days before, and I don’t see any cracks. 

[lironp]

I've been having some issue with large shapes not coming out as shiny as smaller ones-
I usually use chef jungstedt dome mold, temper CB at 32 with silk from EZTemper, and spray at 32. Use my selmi for shelling , at 31.2C , room temp is 19-20C.
I have no problem with my regular dome shapes, but recently have been doing large hearts and large easter eggs, and it just doesn't come out as shiny as the smaller shapes. Would you change anything in the process?

[Saltychoc]

Has anyone tried either of these molds or a similar martellato one? https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=46998 https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=48716&categoryid=347

 

They are adorable and are exactly the type of thing my customer base/wholesalers would love. I never use martellato molds. These don't seem that hard to use but I am a bit worried about the size. The bunny is 152mm/6". I am going to order one of each before seriously committing. I also can't quite tell from the photos - it seems like the only way to get a filling (various little items) in there would be to melt off the bottom, fill and then add a new bottom which adds a ton of additional work. Not sure what I'm asking.. any insight would be appreciated!

[curls]

22 hours ago, Saltychoc said:

Has anyone tried either of these molds or a similar martellato one? https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=46998 https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=48716&categoryid=347

 

They are adorable and are exactly the type of thing my customer base/wholesalers would love. I never use martellato molds. These don't seem that hard to use but I am a bit worried about the size. The bunny is 152mm/6". I am going to order one of each before seriously committing. I also can't quite tell from the photos - it seems like the only way to get a filling (various little items) in there would be to melt off the bottom, fill and then add a new bottom which adds a ton of additional work. Not sure what I'm asking.. any insight would be appreciated!

I followed your links and those are both open bottom molds. When you are done making your bunnies they will have open bottoms. Fill the bunnies with whatever items you would like and then close the bottom. I’ll check for a video later today and post a link of how this is done (or maybe someone else will get to it first). Cute bunnies!

 

some 3D mold filling videos:

https://youtu.be/2MyjCoKX_IE?si=OiAX_Pp04sSxEQfs

https://youtu.be/kDMEg_ny9JA?si=Iu8D4ntkNsJYd2Yz

https://youtu.be/UTnz3fGfrL0?si=UBIX_NcYIwLnOsqJ

 

Edited February 15, 2024 by curls
added video links (log)

[Saltychoc]

5 hours ago, curls said:

I followed your links and those are both open bottom molds. When you are done making your bunnies they will have open bottoms. Fill the bunnies with whatever items you would like and then close the bottom. I’ll check for a video later today and post a link of how this is done (or maybe someone else will get to it first). Cute bunnies!

 

some 3D mold filling videos:

https://youtu.be/2MyjCoKX_IE?si=OiAX_Pp04sSxEQfs

https://youtu.be/kDMEg_ny9JA?si=Iu8D4ntkNsJYd2Yz

https://youtu.be/UTnz3fGfrL0?si=UBIX_NcYIwLnOsqJ

 

Thank you! At first I thought they were open bottom then I looked at the photos on JBP and the Martellato website and since I do not use these types of molds I thought they must be like the old metal molds with the hinge. This will be a lot easier then.

[pastrygirl]

Has anybody made a malted milk bonbon?  Would you recommend malted milk powder, barley malt syrup, or something else?

 

thanks!

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Has anybody made a malted milk bonbon?  Would you recommend malted milk powder, barley malt syrup, or something else?

 

thanks!

I used a combination of malted milk powder and malt syrup.

[pastrygirl]

I should have an answer for this but I’m tired and stumped. Why do my milk chocolate bars keep turning out dull AF?  I’ve cleaned these molds and re-tempered the chocolate like four times this week 

[Jim D.]

You know far more about this stuff than I do, but I have had that  "dusty" look with bonbon shells, but on the inside of the shell.  My best theory is that the chocolate is over-tempered (it happens after I have been using the chocolate for a while and have not taken steps soon enough to deal with it).  In my case, eventually the dusty look doesn't show, and it has never seemed to do any harm.  I assume you are doing all the usual things, such as chilling the bars as they are crystallizing.  And I assume humidity is not an issue in your kitchen.

[pastrygirl]

Humidity isn’t bad, room temp is mid to high 60s, and my milk chocolate bonbons are all coming out fine, it’s just these bars. I guess I’ll check my temper and try again. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Kerry Beal]

Are they the flexible molds? ie not the hard polycarbonate

[GRiker]

This is a pistachio crunch made in a CW 1157.  I'm having an issue with a hairline crack along the base of the molded piece.  In my first batch of this flavor I had quite a few of them, and also had a really hard time unmolding about 1/4-1/3 of them.  I decided the shell was too thin.  Second time around I made the shell thicker and while I had almost all the bon bons release easily, but a full 1/3 of them still have this hairline crack.  Luckily, I was taking a tray to an event where they would be eaten immediately so I used the ones with cracks.

 

but, I do wonder what is causing them and more importantly how to avoid them in the future.  Any suggestions? 

 

Second, I mentioned that almost all of them released easily.  I had one tray where about 7 of the 21 wouldn't release.  My process is to shell, let start to crystallize, refrigerate ( at around 50 - 55F), fill when filling is 84F, refrigerate then let sit out a few minutes before capping and refrigerating when the cap starts to crystallize.  Then I often just leave them for an hour or so while I clean up then I unmold.   I was thrilled that they almost all unfolded with no smacking of the mold necessary.  Except these few.  I could see from the other side that they had not at all released from the mold.  My experience has taught me that it's better to put them back in the fridge for a while than to smack them on the counter.  So back into the fridge.  After another hour or so they came right out.

The curious thing is that these are the shiniest pieces.  I tried to get a picture, but getting one of shininess comparison didn't work.  Anyway, al the other pieces look great to the untrained eye, but the 7 that wouldn't unfold are much shinier.  Any insight as to why that might be? Really, I'd like them all to be that shiny, but not to have them be so difficult to remove.

 

Edited February 16 by GRiker
updated fraction of pieces that had cracks the second time after actually counting them (log)

[Jim D.]

@GRiker Ah, the dreaded CW1157.  It's one of my most-used molds, primarily because it's tall enough to hold 3 different layers of filling, but it can be a pain to work with (which is why I found another 17g mold that is not so tall--see photos comparing them below).  I had those cracks multiple times until I tried making the shell walls thicker.  Unfortunately your shell walls look thick enough, so I don't know that my procedures will help you troubleshoot.  Working with the 1157 mold has lengthened the time it takes me to make shells because I have to wait longer for the chocolate to crystallize--and, of course, the couverture is always changing, so the process varies as production moves along.  But after I wait for the chocolate in the filled mold to crystallize quite a bit, I dump out the chocolate, then tilt and rotate the mold to get more chocolate at the point where your cracks appear--that is, near what will be the base of the finished bonbon.  Gravity is the enemy in this case, since the chocolate will flow downward even after it appears to be crystallized.  And, alas, simply turning the mold upside down does not result in chocolate flowing to the sides and thickening them but in flowing straight down.

 

All this sounds ridiculously complicated and time-consuming--and it is--but, after all, we are in the business of forcing chocolate to do things it was never meant to do.

 

I can certainly see why most chocolatiers use smaller, less tall molds.  And the new 17g Cabrellon mold I use often is not perfect but does have fewer issues with cracking sides.  There is a thread somewhere on eG that discusses the "vacuum" problem with dome molds in general; I think it was @Kerry Beal who pointed out that a sort of suction happens with the bottom and the more or less straight walls of some domes.  The Cabrellon dome has sloped sides.

 

As for unmolding stubborn bonbons, I leave them in the refrigerator longer (even several hours), and if some bonbons stick, I put the mold in the freezer for a short time.  I have never found any loss of shine (contrary to what people say), and eventually almost all chocolates come out--those that don't have a major issue, and when I force the bonbon out, I usually see a shell that is too thin and thus has not contracted sufficiently.

 

By the way, your fridge temp is 50-55F?  The FDA recommends 40F for a max.  You could try lowering it, at least during chocolate production.

 

Photo of Cabrellon flattened dome on left, Chocolate World tall dome on right:

 

 

[GRiker]

Thanks @Jim D. for the response.  It's comforting that at least I'm not alone in the difficulty.  I will try some of the suggestions to get that side was thicker before I invest in some different molds.  I only have two mold varieties.  The hemispheres I bought from you and these domes.  The hemispheres rarely have trouble releasing.  In fact, sometimes they want to slip out when I'm capping them!  

 

With the CW1157 I had some cavities on the last mold that I didn't fill, and just left them empty shells.  I would agree that there is some vacuum going on.  On the attempt when my shells were too thin, I had some of the empty shells that were totally released, I could spin them with my finger, but couldn't get them to come out of the mold!  

 

Is the Cabrellon your using the PMC6024?

 

Don't worry the fridge I'm using for chocolate is not my household fridge.  I bought a used wine fridge off Craigslist to use just for chocolate.  It was a nice idea but doesn't hold a consistent temperature.  I have it set for 47 but is usually ends up around 55 no matter what I tell it.  In any case, since I started using it my easy release rate has dramatically improved.  

 

[Jim D.]

59 minutes ago, GRiker said:

Is the Cabrellon your using the PMC6024?

 

 

No, it's 1728 (the 6024 is 11g).  I got it through Bakedeco.  There is no other Cabrellon dealer in the U.S. that I could find.  Chocolat Chocolat in Canada carries the brand, but would not do a special order until they had a large enough Cabrellon order, and I was not willing to wait.  Bakedeco was somewhat the same, but I paid extra to have the molds shipped in time for the holiday season, and they were willing to do a rush.  It's possible to order directly from Cabrellon, but when I started the process, they wanted me to provide a number for my shipping account.  I don't have such an account and was not willing to get involved with customs and all that red tape.  I know you said you weren't interested in buying different dome molds, but thought I would share my drama in getting these.  They are very much the shape of Kalle Jungstedt's "signature mold," but his holds only 11g.  I bought one to try it out, and I don't know how he gets three layers into one of those molds--I like my customers to get a distinctive taste of each layer if I am going to the trouble of making all those fillings.

[GRiker]

1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

you said you weren't interested in buying different dome molds

Not yet anyway.  But in the end it's much less expensive to buy new molds than it is to lose 30% of your products each round.  Thanks for sharing in case I do need to go that route.  

 

I too like the larger molds. Bought some bon bons on vacation and I was underwhelmed by the tiny size.