Chembake wrote:
> I have used a similar one but of pyramidal shape as well a deep
> conical dome shaped molds.
>

I have the ridged pyramid, and never have any problems with it. The on
that's been an issue is conical and tilted to one side.

>> The first problem I had with this mold was that it was very
>> difficult to get the chocolate to penetrate to the tip, despite
>> shaking and tapping and so on. I solved that by poking into the
>> bottom of each cavity with a tapered wooden chopstick when the mold
>> was filled with chocolate, before pouring our the excess. It is
>> unorthodox, I suppose, but it does work.
>
> I usually use a thinner chocolate by adding more cocoa butter to
> chocolate or better ( cost effectively )with the use of 0.1-% based on
> the chocolate weight an emulsifier polyglycerol polyricinoleate. A
> thinner chocolate will penetrate those crevices better.

It's not a crevice, but literally the tip of the cone. What I think happens
is that a tiny air pocket forms, and it is too far down for tapping and
shaking to release it.

> Another thing is be sure to warm the molds before filling them up with
> chocolate so it will flow better and not harden immediately if the
> mold is otherwise cool.
> Some chocolates even if well tempered is a bit thick and won't
> penetrate the minute crevices of the molds so I thin it down with
> those materials I mentioned.
> Other made a mistake of filling such intricate molds with slightly
> overtempered chocolate which does not flow evenly.
>

From what I've read recently, and your advice, I think I might remedy the
situation by warming the mold so that the chocolate in the tip takes longer
to set and therefore there is a better chance of releasing the air pocket.
I think that I may also be overdoing the precrystallization stage when
tempering. They may be subtle, but perhaps all of these adjustments added
together will make a difference. Certainly, raising the temperature of the
room in which I'm dipping truffles several degrees has helped with
other--previously mysterious and erratic--appearance issues.

>> The second problem I've had with this mold is frequent rashes of
>> light spotting--similar to bloom, but not bloom. It happens with
>> this mold, but not with others. I've been trying to figure out why,
>> to no avail. Does it have something to do with the unusual depth vs
>> width of the cavity? Does it have to do with the temperature of the
>> mold, the room, over crystallization?
> Light spotting similar to bloom?
> I have not experienced that in my pyramidal molds....

I don't have it in the true pyramid, just in this conical one.

> Are that particular molds have rough surface just like real Indian
> teepees ?

No. They call them "tilted teepees" at JB Prince, but they really are tilted
cones. There are a few decorative lines running from the base to near the
tip.

> It might be uneven chocolate coating due to such irregular
> surface.....that causes some sort of refractive effects on the
> chocolate gloss which can be seen as some sort of a bloom by other
> people.

It's not that. It's more like a rash. There's a picture of a chocolate with
a similar problem in the troubleshooting section of the Wybauw book, if you
have the book, it is number on the bottom right. It's figuring out which of
the possible causes is the problem that I haven't succeeded in so far,
especially since I can use five different molds, one right after another
with the same batch of tempered chocolate, and only this one will be faulty.
In fact, I actually have two of these molds, and often one has the flaw and
the other doesn't when used at the same time. And it will appear in some of
the cavities, but not all.

> But if its distinct even can you describe how it exactly appears...
> and when?

It appears after the cavities in the mold are fully set, before they are
filled with the center material. (I now wait before filling this mold, since
chocolate shells can be reused, but once filled must be discarded if this
faulty.

It looks similar to photos 8 and 9 opposite page 40 of the Wybauw book, if
you have it.