Spraying Chocolate: Equipment, Materials, and Techniques

[Kerry Beal]

Hi all, I've been reading lots of threads from the forum about air compressors and vacuum sealers for cakes and chocolate work, but a lot are a few years old now. I want the vacuum sealer for freezing ganache for later use (as I believe Kerry mentioned in a previous thread) and the compressor/air gun for spraying coloured cocoa butter for moulded chocolates.

I've read through the threads and ended up with sore eyes, so thought I'd just come out and ask.

What would you recommend is the best on the market for about £200-£300 ($300-$450) each? I want something that is robust for my business, but nothing too fiddly.

Thanks!

Any of the foodsaver vacuum sealers would probably work just fine for ganache. I pick them up at thrift stores usually.

I think I picked up one of the badger compressors on ebay for a student of mine to be used with their badger airbrush. Again you probably don't need anything too expensive - it will be noisier than a more expensive one - so wear hearing protection.

[AnythingButPlainChocolate]

Hi Kerry, thanks for the reply. Do you still use/recommend the Fuji that you were using for airbrushing?

[Kerry Beal]

Hi Kerry, thanks for the reply. Do you still use/recommend the Fuji that you were using for airbrushing?

Love the fuji - but it's more of an airgun and uses a turbine rather than a compressor. Total cost around $1000.

[TylerK]

I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I'm looking to up my game on the chocolates I make for the holidays every year. The pictures posted on here of chocolates that have been made in airbrushed moulds are inspiring, but finding a suitable starter kit has not been particularly easy. Most product descriptions indicate their suitability for cake decorating, not spraying cocoa butter.

If anyone who knows what they're talking about wouldn't mind taking a look at the kit in the link below and providing their opinion on it's suitability I would greatly appreciate it.

http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=9231&step=4

[Kerry Beal]

Can't tell if it's for chocolate consistency liquids or if it's for lighter stuff. Does it have to come from a Canadian vendor?

[TylerK]

Thanks for the response Kerry. If I can't find it in Canada then no, I'll look down south. I have ordered from chef rubber before when I couldn't find ingredients up here and I believe that the thread above does mention a model that can be bought from them. I was hoping to avoid the shipping charges if possible though since it can often add up to be more than the cost of the item purchased.

[Kerry Beal]

There is a discussion on The Chocolate Life about this Kreb's unit that I find interesting. Looks like a couple of places in the US sell it - doesn't seem to be a Canadian distributor. I like the plug in nature of it - no compressor, no turbine.

[Norm Matthews]

I know a couple of airbrush artists who do not have compressors but instead buy cylinders of CO2 for their airbrushes. They replace them like you would a propane tank for an outdoor grill.

[TylerK]

Can't tell if it's for chocolate consistency liquids or if it's for lighter stuff. Does it have to come from a Canadian vendor?

Is there a particular spec on the unit I should be looking for to see if it can handle more viscous liquids?

[Kerry Beal]

I'd call them at Golds's and see if they can tell you what it is made to spray.

[Baselerd]

So I am planning on making one of the plated desserts from Eleven Madison Park, and one of the components of the dish is "sesame chocolate spray". Unfortunately I do not have a spray gun. My question is this: is there a good way to add these flavors using a different technique? Or a way to achieve a similar result with another tool? The recipe simply has you melt the following ingredients and add to a spray gun:

1 cup 66% chocolate, 1 cup cocoa butter, 1 Tbsp sesame oil

I know I'm probably asking for something that doesn't exist ... I thought of using an olive oil mister, but I realize the pressure/shear force in a spray gun is orders of magnitude higher than that of the mister. I was wondering maybe if I just mixed the ingredients I could spread it like a paste, so I could still add the sesame chocolate flavor.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Baselerd (log)

[Mjx]

If you have some way of covering a lot of space around the dessert, you might try making the mixture as described, then using a brush to shake/spatter it on.

It would be coarser than a spray, but beats clogging your oil mister. You could test the technique on a plate, first, to see how it goes/how much the effect can be controlled.

[Baselerd]

Thanks, I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

[Lia Tumkus]

I use spray gun on my cakes and I suggest you do a 2:1 ratio of chocolate and cocoa butter (forget about the oil!), it tastes better this way, specially if you are not going to do with a gun, and probably do some splatters (which I would suggest you to do as well) that can be quite thick.

I've tried with other sprays but you actually do need that powerful motor to get that fine coating spray.

[welshchocolover]

other than aerosol cans and some pump meant for fences....

[minas6907]

I dont have a solution for you, but are there anymore details you can provide?

[Mjx]

Airbrush.

[keychris]

they have done it with regular spray guns (used for paint) on Masterchef. so long as you haven't used it for paint! and so long as your air supply is clean and dry.

[Kerry Beal]

How about a nice Kreb's Chocolate Sprayer.

[Gary Traffanstedt]

Somewhat related topic... I've just started playing with colored cocoa butter and of course want to get into airbrushing with my molds. Any suggestions for a good beginner airbrush setup? I need the gun, compressor, whole thing. I looked at one the other day that was a complete package that was around $1200. Was total overkill for my needs of course. Said the compressor could run two airbrushes at the same time continuously. I just need something simple, but also something that's easy to use for someone just getting into it.

And one related question, how are you guys melting the cocoa butter in the bottles? I scraped some out into a small glass dish and heated it in the microwave and then used a gloved finger to do some "painting" with it. Next time I'm going to paint the inside of some molds and do it that way. Unfortunately I already had chocolate in my molds when I got the colored cocoa butter but next time they'll look even better.

[Jenjcook]

I have a Badger 250. Very cheap, about $30-40 on amazon. You have to get one where the paint does not shoot directly through the air feed, or it will cool the cocoa butter and clog. The badger is set up so that the cocoa butter comes up one tube and then is blasted by air to the target so no clogs. It is very easy to use as well. The more expensive part comes if you want and air compressor. The badger comes with a can of air, which is kinda difficult to control, and gets pricey if your using it regularly. I just bought a compressor on amazon for $46. We'll see how it works. I think that's about as cheap a setup as you can get. Probably doesn't have the superfine mist or control of a $1200 one, but it does the job.

[minas6907]

On the topic of sprayers, does anyone know what a fixative syringe is? I really cant find out what these things look like. The only reference to them I've seen is from The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg. In the chapter on sugar work, theres a little box on page 607 for those who have it, and he mentions fixative syringes, which a google search didnt yield much that was related, since he says that its used to apply color to pieces of sugar work, it seems like a piece of equipment meant for pastry, not something he adapted to use in pastry work.

Part of the description reads "The liquid coloring is sprayed (blown) on the sugar by submerging the end of the thin tube in the color and placing the end of the other tube in your mouth. When you blow air into the syringe, the color is sprayed in a fine mist."

If anyone has an idea about what this is, I'd love to know. I've googled this many times with no results that even come close to matching this.

[Kerry Beal]

I wonder if it is the same as a 'mouth atomizer' that is used in pottery - here. You put one end in the melted cocoa butter, bend it just right to that the venturi effect happens and sucks the cocoa butter up the tube and sprays when you blow on the other end. I have a couple of them but prefer the stainless steel atomizers at the bottom of this page.

of a fellow using one on pottery. Note he's finding a way to use compressed air to blow for him. You get a more even application that way.

I use one of the stainless atomizers when I want quick and dirty splatter - but it's still a pain if you want to do any volume. You are much better off with the Badger 250 for that.

Lately though I've gotten attached to a couple of little Paasche brushes - two are external flow and one is internal. Bought them used on ebay from a chocolate business that closed. I'll have to see if I can see where I've posted about them before here to link to.

[minas6907]

Kerry, I believe it is a mouth atomizer, the item on amazon looks exactly like what Friberg describes, thanks! Looks quite inexpensive as well!

[Gary Traffanstedt]

I have a Badger 250. Very cheap, about $30-40 on amazon. You have to get one where the paint does not shoot directly through the air feed, or it will cool the cocoa butter and clog. The badger is set up so that the cocoa butter comes up one tube and then is blasted by air to the target so no clogs. It is very easy to use as well. The more expensive part comes if you want and air compressor. The badger comes with a can of air, which is kinda difficult to control, and gets pricey if your using it regularly. I just bought a compressor on amazon for $46. We'll see how it works. I think that's about as cheap a setup as you can get. Probably doesn't have the superfine mist or control of a $1200 one, but it does the job.

I looked on Amazon and there are a few versions of the Badger 250. For example one is the 250-MT. Does it matter which version I get? And how is the compressor working for you? There's a Harbor Freight Tools here and I was going to see what they have for little air compressors. Something pretty quiet would be nice.