Spraying Chocolate: Equipment, Materials, and Techniques

[leopardots]

Hello I am currently looking at https://www.air-craft.net/acatalog/Sparmax-TC-620X-Airbrush-Compressor.html#SID=2025 for use as an air sprayer. does anyone know if this would be sufficient to support an spray gyun also??

I need something very quiet and reliable

 

would this compressor be more suited? https://www.air-craft.net/acatalog/Werther-Sil-Air-50D-Silent-Airbrush-Compressor.html#SID=30

Edited March 20, 2017 by leopardots
Missed info (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Can't speak to the quiet or reliability but the first one is up to 60 PSI which is more than enough. The second is probably overkill.

 

 

[leopardots]

Thanks kerry, The guy from the site didn't think the psi was enough for a spray gun and pointed at more expensive models.

I take it the only other question I have is the type of gun to run with this unit.

 

Many thanks

 

[Kerry Beal]

I'm a fan of the Paasche external mix brushes with the H - 5 sized needle 

[leopardots]

16 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I'm a fan of the Paasche external mix brushes with the H - 5 sized needle 

sorry I meant gun.

will have a look at those airpens also.

 

[Kerry Beal]

16 minutes ago, leopardots said:

sorry I meant gun.

will have a look at those airpens also.

 

Ah - then someone else might have to weigh in - I was thinking airbrush - @Chocolot will know - she has a few of the guns as well as the Fuji.

 

Edited March 20, 2017 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Chocolot]

I will tell you my experiences. When I first started, I was advised to go with a Home Depot oilless compressor, which I did. Cheap and LOUD. I have to use ear protectors. I put water filters on it and various hoses and adapters. The pressure is adjustable. I always keep it around 20-25 psi. All connections are quick release. I have a big hose and an air brush hose. I have used various airbrushes trying to find the "one". Badger, Grix, Harbor Freight. Some were gravity and some were syphon. Some days, I liked them, most days, not. They clog easily. The syphon brushes need more pressure to operate than the gravity. I bought a small detail spray gun. It fit my hand, and did a nice job. Gravity feed. It worked great until I took it apart to clean and lost the spring. You would think that is easy to replace. NOT! I tried various ones and finally retired that gun. Kerry introduced me to the Fuji system. A bit pricey, I think around $600?. It is quiet, like a vacuum cleaner is quiet. I really like this system. You can turn down the air and get great splatter. The gun I originally got was large for my hand, but I got along ok. I have since purchased a smaller gun for it. I keep the guns in the dehydrator so they start out warm.  Some days I hate all sprayers:). I'm sure it is operator error. Melissa Coppel told me that she just goes to Home Depot and buys an HVLP gun. I tried that, in the small and regular sizes, but it puts out way too much CB. With all of this said, when I spray, I am in production mode, not creative mode. I need a lot of molds sprayed in a short amount of time. If I were only doing a few molds, probably an airbrush would be great. I try to keep overspray at a minimum, but not always successful. After all of this, my Fuji is my choice. 

[leopardots]

Thank you for your reply. weighing up my options

[Jim D.]

@Chocolot, what Fuji model (the one you like) did you end up with? This is somewhat off this topic, but I'm hoping this subject can be discussed at the upcoming eGullet workshop in Las Vegas.

[Kerry Beal]

Jim - Fuji put together a 'chocolate package' at my request - it has a 'quiet' turbine - relative term - and T-75 gravity feed with the smaller cup and the 0.8 needle.

 

At the workshop there will be a draw between the interested folks to buy the package at a greatly reduced price - about 65 percent off I believe.

 

 

[Jim D.]

That is great news, Kerry. Any chance we will see one in operation? I may be mistaken, but I have gathered from comments here and there that you don't use the Fuji that much. On The Chocolate Life someone recommended against it for fairly small chocolate operations, but with the small Fuji cup, I don't see much difference in setup between it and a regular airbrush, and it appears to do so much more.

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

That is great news, Kerry. Any chance we will see one in operation? I may be mistaken, but I have gathered from comments here and there that you don't use the Fuji that much. On The Chocolate Life someone recommended against it for fairly small chocolate operations, but with the small Fuji cup, I don't see much difference in setup between it and a regular airbrush, and it appears to do so much more.

Don't know - I know for sure I don't have room in my luggage for mine! Chocolot might be prepared to bring hers. 

 

I tend to do a lot of my chocolate work in the evenings at home - since I have a handicapped rug rat that is noise sensitive and a hubby who isn't a big fan of noise either - I'm more inclined to use the quieter airbrush here. I share the Fuji turbine with my hubby who has his own hoses and guns for regular paint. When I need a crap load of stuff done fast - I'll often head into @Alleguede's shop in Toronto and use his Fuji. That is also useful when I want to use the Selmis to fill the molds. Most of the time I don't really need to produce that much stuff at once. 

 

Even in a fairly small operation the time savings in painting your molds with the Fuji would allow it to pay for itself pretty quickly.  I was down in the lab this evening preparing my frogs and mice for the upcoming PMCA using the Paasche - took a couple of hours to paint a dozen molds. I could have done it in less than 30 minutes with the Fuji. I splatter red, yellow, then black - then spray jade green jewel tone, then matte light green behind. 

[leopardots]

Ok, here is the update.

 

I have just purchase a large chocolate melter 20kg and the eztemper.

Grex spray pen and the Sparmax compressor . 

 

Can't wait to use them all in sequence

[Daniel D]

On 3/22/2017 at 3:43 PM, Kerry Beal said:

Jim - Fuji put together a 'chocolate package' at my request - it has a 'quiet' turbine - relative term - and T-75 gravity feed with the smaller cup and the 0.8 needle.

 

@Kerry Beal - who do we get in touch with about this specialized 'chocolate package' system?

 

Edited May 26, 2017 by Daniel D (log)

[Kerry Beal]

8 hours ago, Daniel D said:

 

@Kerry Beal - who do we get in touch with about this specialized 'chocolate package' system?

 

 

Call Jim at Fuji spray - 1-800-650-0930

[Jim D.]

Having recently seen the Fuji sprayer system (which uses a turbine rather than a compressor for air supply) in action at the chocolate workshop in Las Vegas and decided it would be overkill for my somewhat limited production (and very large for my limited space) but remaining dissatisfied with my Paasche siphon-feed airbrush, I continue to look at other options. Today on Chef Rubber I came across the Grex LVLP spray gun, which uses (I think) a standard compressor (I already have an Iwata SmartJet Pro compressor). According to Kerry Beal, the Fuji system used at the workshop had a 0.8 needle; the Grex as sold by Chef Rubber has a 1.4mm needle (up to 1.8 is available from Grex)--but I am not sure these sizes are comparable as the systems are different. My current Paasche has the HN-5 needle, which is 1.067mm, so I am concerned about going to a smaller size needle.

 

The Grex system appears to be less cumbersome than the Fuji, and supposedly an LVLP gun has less overspray than the more common HVLP. The specs on Chef Rubber say that it "accepts colored cocoa butter, chocolate, glaze, egg wash" and, like the Fuji, has a "pattern shape adjustment knob," which I assume means it can do speckling (at which the Fuji is very good--it earned oohs and ahhs at the workshop). I like the fact that Grex targets its products to food decoration as well as to painting (there are quite a few relevant videos on its website).

 

Is anyone familiar with the Grex spray gun?

[leopardots]

I just got a grex today, It seems ok but my room temperature is 26ºc and my coca didn't seem ti cling to the mould too well.

 

Salvatore Martone uses the grex

 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, leopardots said:

I just got a grex today, It seems ok but my room temperature is 26ºc and my coca didn't seem ti cling to the mould too well.

 

Salvatore Martone uses the grex

 

 

Yes, that is a warm temp for spraying. Which Grex do you have? I couldn't find any images of Martone using the Grex (now I realize that I should have eaten in Joel Robuchon's restaurant when I was in Vegas).

[leopardots]

Video99.9kviews43comments

Video426kviews80comments

 

here are 2 videos

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

Found this info about size of needle on instagram

 

chefsmartoneI'm using a rubber stamp modified to fit a wooden pole. The airbrush I use is a Grex S5 it has an opening of 0.5 mm that is ideal for colored cocoa butter spray.

[Jim D.]

42 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

chefsmartoneI'm using a rubber stamp modified to fit a wooden pole. The airbrush I use is a Grex S5 it has an opening of 0.5 mm that is ideal for colored cocoa butter spray.

 

So, Kerry, what is your thinking on that size? You and I both have the Paasche (with its needle of just over 1mm). That seems to me a big difference, but when I watched the Martone videos, he was getting Fuji-like spray from his Grex airbrush. Maybe, in this case, size doesn't matter?

[Kerry Beal]

24 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

So, Kerry, what is your thinking on that size? You and I both have the Paasche (with its needle of just over 1mm). That seems to me a big difference, but when I watched the Martone videos, he was getting Fuji-like spray from his Grex airbrush. Maybe, in this case, size doesn't matter?

Uncertain - for my Paasche I prefer the biggest needle. For my Fuji (which is a different model than they have now) I also have the largest - but the new Fuji's do best with the smallest needle or you get too much overspray. 

 

How much do the extra needles cost for the Grex? Is it worth betting a couple?

 

 

[pastryani]

No wonder I'm having issues with my Iwata - it's only 0.3mm.  But the one I've got looks like the one Jin used during her demo and hers worked just fine, so perhaps it's a compressor issue.

[leopardots]

Will give the Grex another go today at work.

Smaller compressor at work and will change for the 0.5mm needle.

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, pastryani said:

No wonder I'm having issues with my Iwata - it's only 0.3mm.  But the one I've got looks like the one Jin used during her demo and hers worked just fine, so perhaps it's a compressor issue.

Bet you can get bigger needles for it - which model is it?