Molded and Filled Chocolates: Troubleshooting and Techniques

[Alleguede]

What chocolate are you using?

Can it be that the ganaches are too cold?

Edited February 11, 2014 by Alleguede (log)

[DianaM]

Does anyone have any other tips or techniques to back-off molds?

Besides the suggestions already given above, the only technique I can think of is backing off the moulds using acetate. I am certain I have seen pics or perhaps a video in a thread here, but now I can't find it. It was in a discussion about how to get very smooth and tidy bottoms on your chocolates.

I am not sure whether it would solve your cracking problem though, but it might be worth a shot.

[Prabha]

Thanks everyone!

I will try adding more filling to the chocolates and work on not getting such a large rim on the bottom of the molds. This seems to happen whether or not the chocolate is over-crystallized. I've done tests using chocolate of different viscosities to see if anything helps.

I too sometimes get these cracks when there is a large rim on the bottom of the mold. It happens even when the capping chocolate is very fluid. So the key might be to avoid that large rim.

[lebowits]

I use that technique all the time. I get an occasional gap, but for the most part, they come out beautifully.

Here's my latest back room finish lovely delight. I was experimenting on whether I could have my transfer sheet on the sheet pan and just slide the chocolate onto the transfer sheet after dipping to save time from cutting each square and putting it on top of each chocolate. Well as you can see, that didn't work out so well. Didn't help that my chocolate was a little cooler and thicker than I really wanted it to be (as I was doing a small batch I didn't pull out the melter). The one plus to the whole ordeal was that I finally used a wire across the bowl for scraping, and everyone is right, that works SO much better!

IMG_1231-resized.jpg

[YetiChocolates]

I use that technique all the time. I get an occasional gap, but for the most part, they come out beautifully.

Here's my latest back room finish lovely delight. I was experimenting on whether I could have my transfer sheet on the sheet pan and just slide the chocolate onto the transfer sheet after dipping to save time from cutting each square and putting it on top of each chocolate. Well as you can see, that didn't work out so well. Didn't help that my chocolate was a little cooler and thicker than I really wanted it to be (as I was doing a small batch I didn't pull out the melter). The one plus to the whole ordeal was that I finally used a wire across the bowl for scraping, and everyone is right, that works SO much better!

IMG_1231-resized.jpg

How viscous is your chocolate when you dip? What temp do you normally have it at when dipping?

[lebowits]

I use that technique all the time. I get an occasional gap, but for the most part, they come out beautifully.

Here's my latest back room finish lovely delight. I was experimenting on whether I could have my transfer sheet on the sheet pan and just slide the chocolate onto the transfer sheet after dipping to save time from cutting each square and putting it on top of each chocolate. Well as you can see, that didn't work out so well. Didn't help that my chocolate was a little cooler and thicker than I really wanted it to be (as I was doing a small batch I didn't pull out the melter). The one plus to the whole ordeal was that I finally used a wire across the bowl for scraping, and everyone is right, that works SO much better!

IMG_1231-resized.jpg

How viscous is your chocolate when you dip? What temp do you normally have it at when dipping?

My chocolate is at the working temp specified, so around 88F - 89F for dark chocolate. I don't dip in my tempering machine as it's too far to reach cleanly. I ladle chocolate into another bowl which I perch on top of small pot which holds it perfectly and tip the bowl at an angle to allow me to reach in using a straight line. My chocolate will of course cool a bit as I'm working, so when it gets too thick to really dip anymore, I dump it out onto a sheet pan, and get fresh chocolate from the machine. This gives me a "warm" bowl again. I can usually dip 125 pieces or so using 2 bowls of chocolate.

[HeatherAvila]

Anyone have ideas on how to get a clean edge on a two-part 3D hollow chocolate mold (it's an egg)? I've tried:

- clipping the two mold halves together to dry while sealed

- letting two mold halved dry separately then heating the edges, either with a heat gun or by putting them on a warmed half-sheet pan

 

No matter what I do, the edges are not seamless.

 

Help!

Thanks,

Heather

[Kerry Beal]

Depending on the mold itself it is often very difficult to get a seamless mold.  Can you attach a picture of the mold?

[HeatherAvila]

I'm not at my kitchen right now, but it's one of the Pavoni thermoformed large egg mold; more thin clear plastic mold, which I'm assuming is part of the challenge. Link to photo of final product here: http://www.homechocolatefactory.com/PROD/Pavoni-Egg-Moulds/KT70.html

 

Heather

[Kerry Beal]

Could you pour chocolate in half of it - clip together - then spin to distribute chocolate?

[Edward J]

I work with chocolate and molds every day, right now I'm winding down my Easter bunny/egg production.

Here are a few ideas on molds in general:

 

-I loathe, hate, detest, want to do terrible things to the people who make/sell molds where you have to "glue" or melt the halves together again.  It's a cheap cop-out, it's sloppy, and the joint is weak and prone to cracking or failing once packaged.  Ironically enough, Callebaut sells these molds, and I have a pictorial on another website showing how I band-saw the mold in half, cut some bottoms into it, and drill some locating holes into it to make it into a practical, two piece, clip together mold.  I've done this with about half a dozen molds now.

 

-Not much of a fan with the cheap thermo-formed molds, but they do work well for the first dozen or so times until the plastic cracks and fatigues.  Bear in mind that you will always get a rougher seam with these, because the plastic is not capable of bending sharp 90 degree or even sharper angles--this is usually where the the side of the mold meets the lip of the mold, and the effect is doubled when both sides of the mold are clipped together.

 

-Even with the best rigid molds you will still get  "flash" or minute feather edges of chocolate leaking out of the seam, regardless of how many clips you use.  This is easily trimmed off with a sharp, cold knife.

[Kerry Beal]

Tell us how you really feel!  

 

With you 100%

[HeatherAvila]

Hi Kerry,

Don't know why I didn't think of that! Thanks for the advice; will try - 

Heather

[AnythingButPlainChocolate]

I've used some of the Parvoni moulds (they are sexy, such a shame they don't come in poly c).  I trim off the edges and clip them as a spinning mould as suggested.  I use bulldog clips rather than my spinning mould clips to try and keep the plastic as undamaged as I can.

[Alleguede]

Hi,

Maybe this can help a little,

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YqDHvt1y7gA

[HeatherAvila]

Hi, I suddenly have a new problem with an old recipe, chocolate dipped salt caramels. For the last few months, we frequently have a pinpoint leak of caramel out of the bottom corner (only ever 1 corner) of the tempered dark chocolate shell after we enrobe them by hand with dipping forks.

 

Notes on this: same recipe we've always used, no changes in the environment, chocolate is definitely tempered.

 

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

 

Heather

[HeatherAvila]

For the person who contacted me independently: I cook caramels to about 255, using tempered dark (mid 60s) chocolate, storing at room temp (69 deg F)

[Kerry Beal]

Any changes in the chocolate you are using?

[HeatherAvila]

No changes to the chocolate, and we were making other products on the side with the same chocolate that came out perfectly. Mind boggling.

[Kerry Beal]

It's dark chocolate which is more prone to leakage than milk or dark mixed with milk.   The better tempered it is, the more it contracts, and if the caramel is even a degree or two cooler than usual it expands a bit more than usual - you might get a leak you didn't have before.

[RWood]

I've had that happen occasionally, and it seemed to be when my caramels were a little too soft.  The last batch I made came out a perfect consistency (I gave up relying on a thermometer since they are never right and use the ball in ice water test), and I only had one have a corner leak.  When they would come out too firm, they never leaked. 

[Lisa Shock]

Might be the weather. It's been unusually humid for the past couple of weeks here in Phoenix.

[Lior]

perhaps you can spray them with cb first and then enrobe?

[HeatherAvila]

Thanks for all the replies! After reading all these and mulling it over for A LOT of time, I've concluded that the chocolate was probably a bit over-crystalized as it was towards the end of our work cycle, and it probably just contracted too quickly as Kerry pointed out. 

[Susanne Hindle Kher]

Hi!

 

I'm just starting out and have my first holiday bazaar coming up. Until I really figure out whether I'm any good at this (meaning will people actually pay me for my chocolates!), I have only bought one each of three molds. My question is, how do I go about making lots of the same molded chocolate if I only have one mold (16 - 24 pieces in each mold). I plan on filling the shells I create with ganache. If I let the ganache crystallize 24 hours, then it will take me days to make just one type of chocolate. Do anyone have strategies for limited molds and lots of chocolates? I'd love to hear your experiences.  Thank you.