Cocoa Butter Problem

Hi - first post here but I desperately need some help. We're having a problem with our cocao butter sticking in our molds and cannot figure it out.

The chocolate is in perfect temper prior to filling the molds.

We had an issue with the A/C in our store and it *seems* like this is when the problem started - so we tempered (or retempered) the cocoa butter. Black and white seemed to actually work - made chocolate with them and they came out fine - today, no such luck with any of the other colors. I've attached a pic as well.

So here's what we do:
Decorate the mold with the appropriate design

Let the cocoa butter sit in the mold at room temp, which is about 70 degrees F for 20-30 minutes

Pour in tempered chocolate to make the shell

Let the chocolate sit in the mold at 70 degrees F again for approx 20 minutes

Fill with ganache, wait about 20-30 minutes, seal off the bottom, wait 20 or 30 minutes, refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes and dump.

Other variables.
We're using the "elephant" air compressor with various guns
When the A/C went out - our chocolate was in our humidity-controlled storage unit

Chocolate is E. Guittard and the cocoa butter is Chef Rubber (different collections).

I'm sure that I've left out some details but if anyone can help out, I sure would appreciate it!

Thanks much for your time,
Brian

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Truffler on June 28, 2010 at 11:45am

Hi Robyn - thanks for taking the time to reply. We're going to hit it hard again this week and really nail this stuff down. I think that we should be good by the weekend. In theory anyway. :)

Brian

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Truffler on July 13, 2010 at 9:26am

Well, it looks like MOST of the issue is resolved - we really think it was a case of overcrystallization - things are popping out again. :)

Thanks for your help everyone, we really appreciate it!

Brian

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Permalink Reply by Lana on July 13, 2010 at 6:45pm

That's great Brian! Glad it all worked out for you. It can be so frustrating when you don't know what the cause of the problem is.

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Truffler on July 23, 2010 at 7:47am

Finally - pic is a little blurry but we nailed it down with the help of you guys out here and we're back on track!

Thanks a lot everyone!
Brian

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Permalink Reply by Ilana on September 30, 2010 at 9:35am

hi
did you paint the coating on? I was wondering about painting or brushing a coating of thinned chocolate 60% choc/40cb. Of course, tempered and for extra shine. This should work,shouldn't it. I usually just use reg valrhona couverture but thought to try this.

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Truffler on September 30, 2010 at 9:58am

The chocolates above were done with kind of a 'splatter' - brush was held above the mold and then just tapped to get the effect seen.

I would think what you're saying should work - worth a try anyway! We usually coat the mold first with a thin layer of cocoa butter/chocolate to get a nice shine. Got that from someone out here actually! :)

BC

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Permalink Reply by Ilana on September 30, 2010 at 10:08am

thanks. When you say "coat" you mean with an airbrush? DO you spray a 60/40 coat?
thanks for being so quick!!

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Truffler on September 30, 2010 at 10:30am

Yup, with an airbrush. :) Not sure of the exact ratio though - probably something like 60/40. It's a very light coating though. :)

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Permalink Reply by Ilana on September 30, 2010 at 5:38pm

thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Hilmir Kolbeins on October 17, 2010 at 8:41pm

I´m a total noob here when it comes to airbrushing. This question has been on my mind for some time. How would you go by when tempering 60/40, do you temper the chocolate before adding the cocobutter or do you temper it after adding the butter to melted chocolate. What is the methood you use.

Also, I´ve heard people talking about freezing the mixture after tempering to get a matt velvet look, is it simply put in the freezer or a fridge and for how long.

Hilmir

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Truffler on October 17, 2010 at 8:51pm

Hi Hilmir -

When we do that light spray, we temper the cocoa butter and the chocolate at the same time.

As for the freezing, we have not done that so can't really answer with any confidence on that subject. :(

Hope that helps!

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Permalink Reply by Hilmir Kolbeins on October 20, 2010 at 8:34pm

How much is the temperature of the cocobutter blend when it´s ready to be used.

Also I´ve been experimenting, I heated some cocobutter until it reached 30°c and added some powdered coloring and mixed. It crstalized after few minutes and I even tried to paint chocolate piece I had and it looked grate and the colorbutter crystalised on the piece. How would it go if I would use this colored butter of mine and paint the molds before filling. Would the pieces come out of the mold.