Home made Easter eggs

[Geegee]

I have been attempting this over the last few days but to no avail. First, I couldn't get the chocolate out of the moulds and then I tried wiping the moulds before starting over and coating with the chocolate but still couldn't get them out. I used Green and Blacks 34% cocoa mass organic milk chocolate.Have given it up as a bad job. Wiped the moulds with sunflower oil and re-melted the chocolate, put two thick coats on but still could not remove the half egg when it was set. The chocolate I have used is Green and Blacks 34% milk chocolate. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[panini]

Geegee
we're gonna need more info to help.
type of mold
method of temper
temps of molds etc.

[Geegee]

Geegee
we're gonna need more info to help.
type of mold
method of temper
temps of molds etc.

Three plastic half-egg moulds which are 4.25" long, 5" long and 10" long.

Melted chocolate in glass dish in hot water.

Moulds were not heated.

Thanks in advance.

[Chef Kaiser]

Originally Posted by Geegee

I have been attempting this over the last few days but to no avail. First, I couldn't get the chocolate out of the moulds and then I tried wiping the moulds before starting over and coating with the chocolate but still couldn't get them out. I used Green and Blacks 34% cocoa mass organic milk chocolate.Have given it up as a bad job. Wiped the moulds with sunflower oil and re-melted the chocolate, put two thick coats on but still could not remove the half egg when it was set. The chocolate I have used is Green and Blacks 34% milk chocolate. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

hi,

well i am not sure, as i never worked with organic milk chocolate to make Easter Eggs. But if it is organic i believe that is allright. how did you temper the chocolate?

regards

[Geegee]

how did you temper the chocolate?

Melted chocolate in glass dish in hot water.

[mudbug]

Geegee,

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you're only "melting" the chocolate. You are not "tempering" the chocolate. Which can make all the difference in the world. If you're not measuring the temp of your chocolate with a thermometer, you need to.

Also, avoid any type of water near chocolate when you're trying to melt it. Just one drop of water can ruin all the chocolate even if it comes from condensation.

The fats in cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (polymorphous crystallization). The primary purpose of tempering to assure that only the best form is present. The size different crystal forms have different properties.

Crystal Melting Temp. Notes
I 17°C (63°F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
II 21°C (70°F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
III 26°C (78°F) Firm, poor snap, melts too easily.
IV 28°C (82°F) Firm, good snap, melts too easily.
V 34°C (94°F) Glossy, firm, best snap, melts near body temperature (37°C).
VI 36°C (97°F) Hard, takes weeks to form.

Making good chocolate is about forming the most of the type V crystals. This provides the best appearance mouth feel and creates the most stable crystals so the texture and appearance will not degrade over time. To accomplish this, the temperature is carefully manipulated during the crystallization.

The chocolate is first heated to 45°C (113°F) to melt all six forms of crystals. Then the chocolate is cooled to about 27°C (80°F), which will allow crystal types IV and V to form (VI takes too long to form). At this temperature the chocolate is agitated to create many small crystal "seeds" which will serve as nuclei to create smaller crystals in the chocolate. The chocolate is then heated to about 31°C (88°F) to eliminate any type IV crystals, leaving just the type V. After this point any excessive heating of the chocolate will destroy the temper and this process will have to be repeated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate#Tempering

[Geegee]

The fats in cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (polymorphous crystallization). The primary purpose of tempering to assure that only the best form is present. The size different crystal forms have different properties.

Crystal Melting Temp. Notes
I 17°C (63°F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
II 21°C (70°F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily.
III 26°C (78°F) Firm, poor snap, melts too easily.
IV 28°C (82°F) Firm, good snap, melts too easily.
V 34°C (94°F) Glossy, firm, best snap, melts near body temperature (37°C).
VI 36°C (97°F) Hard, takes weeks to form.

Making good chocolate is about forming the most of the type V crystals. This provides the best appearance mouth feel and creates the most stable crystals so the texture and appearance will not degrade over time. To accomplish this, the temperature is carefully manipulated during the crystallization.

The chocolate is first heated to 45°C (113°F) to melt all six forms of crystals. Then the chocolate is cooled to about 27°C (80°F), which will allow crystal types IV and V to form (VI takes too long to form). At this temperature the chocolate is agitated to create many small crystal "seeds" which will serve as nuclei to create smaller crystals in the chocolate. The chocolate is then heated to about 31°C (88°F) to eliminate any type IV crystals, leaving just the type V. After this point any excessive heating of the chocolate will destroy the temper and this process will have to be repeated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate#Tempering

This sounds complicated. Could a very inexperienced cook/baker manage this?

[Kelleybean]

Hi Geegee,

I have to say that tempering chocolate is pretty simple, simple and time consuming. Not all that long ago I had little or no clue how to temper chocolate and was going to just give up on it because it was so confusing. What was freaking me out was an overload of information and a fear that I was too stupid to figure it all out. Finally I just went ahead and did it. My first try turned out pretty crappy but that just made me want to try again. What do you know, things turned out pretty darn good . If I (a visually impaired house wife) can do it then I have all the faith in the world that you can do it too. If at first you do not succeed, try try and try again.

[Geegee]

Thanks for the reply. Could you possibly post some instructions and details of the equipment required.

[Kelleybean]

Hi Geegee,

This is how I do things. I first chop the chocolate into small pieces and put about two thirds of the chocolate into a microwave safe container and heat it to about 115F, for this you will need a tempering thermometer. I then add the remaining one third of the chocolate to the two thirds of melted chocolate. Stirring often, I simply wait for the chocolate to cool to about 84F, this is the part that is time consuming. I use a funnel to pour the chocolate into bigger solid molds and use a small spoon for the smaller bite size molds. One thing that I have learned is that you have to keep a pretty close eye on the chocolate that you melt in the microwave because it can over heat quite quickly and ruin your chocolate. Heat and moisture of any sort are chocolates worst enemies. This is the reason I don’t use a double boiler. I’m sure that there are plenty of other methods that would work out for other people but this is what works for me. I hope that this helps you and I would be happy to do what ever else I can to be of assistance to you..

Kelley

[bkchocolate]

I was reading your post, and I concur with the others. I mold chocolate a lot, and if the chocolate is not in temper, it will stick to the mold. If you want to avoid all the guesswork on tempering chocolate, and you want to work a lot with molds, you may want to invest in a little table-top tempering machine. There are used ones all over eBay that work for the hobbiest, though they're too small for real manufacturing. Good luck and don't be discouraged.

BKchocolate