HEALING WOUNDED CHOCOLATE MOLDS

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Permalink Reply by Clay Gordon on February 26, 2009 at 11:06pm

Susie:

Following is a link to the Micelli Mold Company web site. Micelli is the only US-based manufacturer of polycarbonate molds for chocolate production on the US. Their Contact page has a link to download a PDF file of mold washing instructions.

:: Clay

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Permalink Reply by Susie Norris on February 27, 2009 at 12:39am

I'll check it out. Gracias.

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on February 27, 2009 at 8:48am

This may seem weird, and I must clarify that I have NOT tried this out; but for another purpose altogether, a company called Mapleshade Records makes a product called Mikro-Smooth. It is used for polishing CDs. I have brought back to life a few with scratches, and regularly polish any new CD that I buy. Since CDs are made from polycarbonate I figured Mikro-Smooth could also be used to re-smooth a mold's dull/scratched finish. A bottle of the stuff is $20 and lasts a long long time. They sell some pretty interesting CDs as well.

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Permalink Reply by Clay Gordon on February 27, 2009 at 9:15am

From a web site selling Mikro-Smooth:

Because Mikro-Smooth contains only ultra-fine, completely inert particles [ Ed: ceramic] and distilled water, it cannot cause either short-term or long-term damage ...

Here's a description of how it works:

The physics are simple: a mass-produced CD or DVD, though it looks smooth, has substantial microscopic roughness at the surface being read by the CD/DVD player's laser beam. That micro-roughness causes audible jitter in the digital music data stream. Mikro-Smooth fluid uses highly uniform particles of two ten-millionths of an inch size—far finer than conventional polishes—to significantly smooth the playing surface's micro-roughness.

I will get in touch with the manufacturer and ask if its safe for human consumption.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Donaghy on February 27, 2009 at 9:10am

My concern about using an item that will remove scratches from a cd is its "food-safeness." Polycarbonate for food applications is food safe and so somewhat molecularly different than a non food-safe polycarbonate. Having said that, this product may actually speed up the degradation of the mould?

Generally speaking the best solution for a mould is not to have a problem in the first place, I know that's kind of a cop out answer. We tend to recommend washing as little as possible but even with perfect conditions the mould is going to have a "shelf life" and wear out. This fact goes back to the molecular differences in food safe polycarbonate.

brian
Corporate Pastry Chef
Tomric Systems, Inc.
www.tomric.com

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Permalink Reply by Susie Norris on February 27, 2009 at 12:49pm

Good to know. What would you say the maximum shelf life of a polycarbonate molds is, given regular weekly use, a weekly wash with no soap and proper storage (no dust or high heat)?

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Permalink Reply by Brian Donaghy on February 27, 2009 at 1:26pm

Susie.
It's kinda hittin' a moving target. I have mould in my kitchen that I use very regularly that are older than two years but I don't wash (unless disaster strikes) and I am fairly gentle with but I also know confectioners that have gotten less than a year based on their use. As per your original question, you will know when they stop working. And I am interested to hear more about this Micro-Smooth.
b

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