Janet Puistonen wrote:


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.

>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.

If its tilted then that will likely be the case.....But using thinner
chocolate would help but not the complete solution to the problem...In
the industrial situation the chocolate injected under pressure driving
the air bubbles upward so it does not occur....and the degree of
tapping is more rigorous .
Where as in the handmade chocolate its poured by gravity which is good
if the mold does not have that peculiarity but would surely exist
regularly in that type of mold you are using as hand tapping it.
A slightly under tempered chocolate (which is bit thinner) would
penetrate those deep and sharp ends and might help.

Another suggestion to ameliorate that situation is to pour enough
chocolate ( about a trird of the volume)while continuously tapping to
fill these deep holes then possibly remove the air pockets ( but not
half full) then immediately add more chocolate to fill it up.
The drawback is that will slow down your process and if you don't
have a tempering machine to keep your chocolate well tempered


>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.

Indeed under tempering by a little bit as promoted by raising the
temperature is better as it gives better results in some products

>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.

Is that the book titled Fine Chocolate, Great Experience?......I
don't have it in my possession ( but I saw browsed it in the
library)...
...

>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

Sorry I can't concur..... but let me think...... yeah I think I know
what you mean....I remember ..it happened occasionally in the past with
my chocolates.
It has something to do with uneven chocolate shrinkage....and that is
caused by erratic cooling rate.
If the chocolate is cooled rapidly by putting at lower cooling
temperature the contraction is uneven.... resulting in some sort of a
rash like patch...
BTW I will not give specific temperature values as that is relative to
the equipment you are using....you have to check it out by yourself
with your own facility....Some of these machines requires it to be set
at 15-18 deg C, other 12-16 degC and the rest 15-20 deg C. Its
confusing to the small time chocolate maker and only experience will
tell you what is best for your situation.
What I did is I set the cooling tunnel temperature by a few degrees
above so that the cooling will be even.. this occurs if I cooled only
small batches of chocolate but not when there is a full load.
If I make small batches of filled molded chocolates ...I put it in the
fridge racks I have to place some plastic or paper sheet underneath to
offer some sort of resistance to the cool air circulation of the fridge
ambient. Some times when the surface appears already set I cover the
molds with paper to slow down the rate of cooling to ensure even
chocolate shrinkage.
but preheating the mold also would give good result as the chocolate
sets slower and so the cooling rate is controlled