Jennifer:
I know several people who use the mold. Part of their success (they say) is in getting things cold enough. You can't let these sit out at room temperature. They refrigerate and/or freeze before removing the centers.
Omar, both ganaches are great tasting. The butter ganache is a little trickier to make, as I found out when making a third batch. The butter had cooled too much, and the ganache started to separate - but I was able to save it. I never have a problem when making a classic cream ganache. Best, Catherine
It definitely helps. Thanks!!
If you buy the guitar later down the road, would you switch back to the regular cream ganache, as this one might be easier to cut because it is not as firm as the butter one?
What flavour do you prefer, the butter or the cream ganache?
Regards,
Omar
Filling the molds is the easiest thing. I pipe the ganache with a disposable bag as soon as it is ready, it is in the mid 80s by then. I did a passion fruit honey ganache where one uses tempered melted milk chocolate. Because it crystallizes quickly you don't want to delay. I then use an offset spatula to ensure the ganache fills all the space.
I decided to try these molds as a substitute for hand cutting slabs into little squares, as an amateur I really don't want to spring for a guitar. I am happy with the results. The ganache is firm but very smooth and has great mouth feel.
I use a simple Foodsaver vacuum with its little plastic bags (bought it at Costco). I place the chocolates in small cardboard boxes on top of food safe pads. I use the Greweling technique of placing the vacuumed boxes first in the fridge for 24 hours, then in the freezer and same timing/steps on return trip, and opening the vacuum after 1/2 day at room temps, with no bloom problem.
Hope that helps! Best, Catherine
Hi Catherine,
Thanks a lot for your feedback. Do you find filling the silicone molds with the butter ganache hard? Isn't too thick? What is the temperature of the butter ganache when you fill the molds?
What type of machine do you use to vacuum pack your truffles? Chamber vacuum?
Thanks,
Omar
Omar, I realize this discussion is several months old, but I got the silicone molds (12g, 88 cavities) from Chef Rubber. After trying a regular ganache and having to freeze it to unmold properly, I decided to work with a butter ganache instead. It crystallizes fast (under 30 minutes) and there is no need to freeze the mold. It unmolds easily at room temperature. There is no need to spray anything to help the unmolding either, it detaches easily from the walls of the mold. Not having to freeze the mold is good because I like to dip the centers/add a transfer; and then vacuum pack them, refrigerate and then freeze till I need them. I am hesitant to freeze anything twice, so this works better for me.
I had never done a butter ganache before and found good recipes in the Greweling book, chapter six. Hope this helps! Catherine
Our truffle centers arefirm (refrigerated). If they are soft, then they tend to stick to the scoop. The scoop also has a scraper, which, when you click it, runs the scraper around the inside of the scoop thereby releasing the scooped truffle center.
If your centers are very soft or warm when scooping, tap the scoop in cornstarch between centers. Just be sure to tap the cornstarch out after, or you'll get too much on the truffle center. This works great for very soft centers, and only adds about 2 seconds per truffle.
It's really that easy: just scoop, scoop, click. Roughly10 seconds per scooped center will get you 360 centers per hour- more than double what you are doing now. Honestly, if it's taking you longer than 6-7 seconds to simply drag a small scoop through some cold ganache, you need to evaluate either the recipe, the temperature of the ganache, or the person who's (not) performing the work.
Hi Brad,
I'm curious as to how you get that kind of speed. We are a small chocolate shop and use what seems to be roughly the same technique, but I can only scoop and roll roughly 150 per hour. Any tips? Also what consistency is your truffle centre.
Hi Omar,
the whole operation is simple: first fill the mold with you ganache, let set in fridge.
de-mold and then coat with tempered chocolate either by hand or by machine..
that's the easy way. it can get pretty funky as you can create combinations: E.g. fill the bottom press an hazelnut (or anything, let your creativity do the work) then put the top part and complete the filling.
Or fill the bottom part with let's say coffee ganache, let set. put the top part of the mold, fill with cream ganache. set/de-mold/coat with chocolate and you will have a de-constructed cappucino truffle! (if you make millions of $$$ on this recipe don't forget about me!!!)
Those in the pics are made with chocoflex...
Hi Nino,
Thanks for the info. I have also read that with this mold users don't need to pre-coat the truffles. Do you pre-coat your truffles before the final enrobbing or can this step be avoided?
Thanks,
Omar
I still haven't tried this mold yet, but I did find a smaller silicone chocolate mold at a local store this year - one of the Silkomart line, seen here - http://www.thebakerskitchen.net/Cubo-silicone-candy-mold.aspx
My preference is to use the mold to make a chocolate shell, then fill it with a warm ganache and let it set. I have generally used poly molds for this, and I thought the silicon worked better than I expected. The sides and angles were much smoother and crisper than I expected. Fewer imperfections than the poly molds, although I only made a few batches with the silicone. The silicone require freezing even more than the poly to pop the truffles out, but that might have been because of the deep cube shape (only one available in the store at the time).
Don't know how similar Silkomart is to the Chocoflex, but the Chocoflex still seems to hold the promise of a 3-d shell (eliminating the need for a second shell-covering step, which adds time.
The molds you are referring to are flexible silicon. The idea is not to roll them into perfect spheres. Instead they're closer to a demi-sphere mold shape.
They are used by piping the molds full, letting the center crystallize, then freezing the entire thing, mold and centers. Once frozen, you remove the centers and box them. This way it doesn't matter if they get scuffed because they are going to be enrobed later. When you need them, you remove them from the freezer, let them thaw, and enrobe.
This is presented as an alternative to freezing finished product. In this regard they're pretty attractive in certain production situations where high volume is needed in a short period of time.
:: Clay
16 grams is pretty big! Once it's dipped in chocolate and rolled ina coating you're going to have a truffle the size of a golf ball.
Right now, we've standardized on a 12 gram truffle center, and when dipped and coated is significantly larger than those of our peers.
I've never tried the molds you mention, but when I look at the link, it shows the mold as having a flat bottom, and not being round like the Chocoflex. this means that a person will still have to roll it round by hand. If that's the case, the mold won't be effective for round truffles, in my opinion.
Cheers.
Brad
Hi Omar,
when i bought them, i asked Pavoni to send me some recipes, and they did send 3 or 4.
Usually i let them set at fridge temperature, freezing is risky due to condensatio, but possible
A guide on how to adjust the recipes would be great, but unfortunately you will have to do a bit of testing on your own..
Cheers
Nino
Hi Antonio,
Do you have to freeze the truffles in the mold or just let them set before demolding?
Does the mold include or come with a ganache truffle recipe that would work or a guide on how to adjust it?
Thanks,
Omar
Hi Brad,
Thanks for your reply. As you said, the Chocoflex mold seems to be a bit small for ganache truffle. What do you think about this silicone truffle mold from Chef Rubber? The cavities are bigger (16gr/0.6oz). Link follows:
http://www.shopchefrubber.com/product.php?productid=14869&cat=1440&page=1
Do you think this type of mold would stream/speed up your ganache truffle production?
Thanks a lot,
Omar
We ordered 5 to start with, and just ordered another 5. We don't use them for our ganache truffle centers, because I find the spheres a bit small. We do however use them for other purposes, such as creme caramel truffle centers, where the caramel is very soft, and requires refrigeration to harden to the point where it can be dipped.
In all honesty, I've found that the average $10 per hour employee when given a scale, can accurately hand scoop and rollabout 240 truffles per hour - more or less negating the need to use the molds.
Conversely, the advantage of the molds is that the centers are almost perfectly round. (there's usually a little rib around the middle, and also a dip at the top where the mold is filled.)
Hope that helps.
Hello,
I would appreciate if some of you kindly share your experience with the Chocoflex spherical truffle mold.
Is it worth buying it? Does really stream/speed up your truffle production?
Do you have to freeze the truffles before demolding?
How the mold compares to this one from Chef Rubber? Link follows:
http://www.shopchefrubber.com/product.php?productid=14870&cat=1...
Thanks,
Omar
Hello Clay,
Have you used this mold for ganache truffles? Is it worth?
Thanks.
Hello Andy,
Are you still using this mold? Has really helped you streaming/speeding up the truffle production?
Did you have to adjust your ganache recipe or did you keep using the same one?
Thanks!
Hi Patty,
Did you have the opportunity to try both molds?
Which one did you like the most?
Thanks!
Hi Lana,
Is it possible to use the Chocolate World's or Chef Rubber's polycarbonate truffle mold to fill the cavities straight with ganache as it is done with the Chocoflex spherical truffle silicone mold?
Thnaks!
)Hopefully that gives you another option to consider to take the focus off of that pesky hole. With the rolled, textured method, you don't have to worry about where the hole will end up.Cheers, P-
