Used Chocolate Moulds - Not as shiny as I would like..

I have recently purchased some used Easter Egg moulds for my spinning machine. Unfortunately I fear that the moulds have not been looked after very well by the past owner.

I have chocolate that I know is in temper, and I do not suffer from blooming. The problem is that when I make the eggs, they come out of the moulds and they are ok, but they don't shine like glass which I have managed when using other moulds that I have bought from new.

I am wondering if the moulds that I have bought for the spinning machine have been damaged due to poor maintenance, or whether I can get a shinier finish by cleaning them in a degreaser etc.

Any help, much appreciated.

A few pictures attached to this post - the one with gold is the shiny one, the other one is the not so shiny one.

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Andy Ciordia on February 29, 2012 at 5:16pm

Do you have a picture of the molds in question? Needing a degreaser sounds like they are icky, but if you work with these guys regularly I can't think you'd need to scrub them more than usual. Are they scratched and is the polish worn off? Microscratches do accumulate if they cleaned them too harshly over time that might be taking away from the well kept molds you're used too.

It looks like you're still getting a good shine but it's a few points off the specular brightness.

If you have a handheld microscope (yea don't we all have one just laying around? haha -- I have one ($12) from some botany days) it would be curious to compare the two.

Strange indeed. Curious to track this to its conclusion.

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Permalink Reply by George on March 1, 2012 at 5:57pm

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the reply. I will take a picture hopefully tomorrow or early next week. I think it might be the cooling process of the eggs. The spinning moulds are the one's with clips and hinges, and I have been told that the plastic of these is thicker than other spinning moulds.

I am hopeful of improving the finish though!

Thanks once again