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Post by cheebs on Oct 28, 2012 22:06:08 GMT -5
Why not just use plastic squeeze bottles you can get from a restaurant supply place? Everybody's seen them at some diner before... Red ones for ketchup, and yellow ones for Mustard. Well, there are clear ones too! They hold about a litre, and have a nice large opening to pour more chocolate into. We use them all the time for small jobs. They are easy to fill, easy to clean, and if you buy several, you can trim the tips to have whatever opening you like so you can even use them to drizzle cookies, or decorate with them. Plus, because they are maleable, it is very easy to squeeze them like a piping bag and mix the chocolate at the same time. Yes but there you're missing the two important (at least to me) advantages of syringe molding: they are "self filling" and have the measure built in. Nowhere near that amount of control with the squeeze bottles (although we do use them for filling bonbon shells and drizzling decorations as you mention). |
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Post by Brad on Oct 29, 2012 20:50:00 GMT -5
Ok Cheebs... Got me there. I can't argue that, and darn, I'm in a mood to argue! I've been sitting at the computer all day working on the software for my shop!
Sigh..... I guess I'll just go back to coding....
:-(
Brad
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Post by gretencord on Jul 7, 2013 15:11:49 GMT -5
Just wanted to +1 the syringe idea and add that I first dip the plunger seal into the tempered chocolate for lubrication. I then draw and return some chocolate a couple times to warm up the syringe before molding. Works like a charm.
Adam
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Post by lyndon on Jul 8, 2013 17:12:34 GMT -5
I'm thinking about trying to bastardise the guts of a chocolate fountain into a more mechanical means of getting the chocolate into the moulds  |
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Post by lilypa on Jul 8, 2013 23:47:37 GMT -5
Does anybody have suggestions/tips for minimizing the amount of air bubbles that need to be vibrated out of your molds after syringing the chocolate into the molds? Like particular syringe ejection patterns? My syringe opening is about 3/8" inside diameter.
I use rectangular molds and my current pattern is to syringe the chocolate around the edges of each mold cavity and then draw a line or two down the middle of each cavity. That seems to help the chocolate flow to the edges and fill up each cavity faster (just using beans and sugar so it's thicker chocolate...no lecithin or cocoa butter). However, I wonder if that increases the air entrained into the chocolate. It usually seems to take about 2-3 minutes to remove the majority of air bubbles from each of my 4-bar molds. I sometimes pop them with a toothpick to speed of the process. Note, I'm using just a small, round dental vibrator with a rectangular cutting board epoxied to the top of it (per Ben's suggestion for a vibrator on the cheap). My molds fit perfectly on top of it, although it doesn't always stay exactly level so choco sometimes flows out one corner of the cavities.
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Post by Ben on Jul 9, 2013 9:45:56 GMT -5
I found that one big glob of chocolate worked best for bubbles, but was harder to get level and in all the corners.
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Post by lilypa on Jul 9, 2013 16:23:57 GMT -5
Thanks Ben. I'll give that a try and determine which of two is the lesser hassle: 1) more air bubbles or 2) not leveling and flowing to all the corners.
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Post by lyndon on Sept 2, 2013 11:33:58 GMT -5
Are there any sort of pumping devices that can be purchased? Like, pour your tempered chocolate into them and it will pump chocolate out when you press a button on a hose or anything like that? I had planned to make something, but couldn't find any suitable hardware. I just finished making 24 bars (should have been 30) but I just wasn't maximising the syringe system, I ended up with a lot left over in my heating pan that I just couldn't suck up, and who knows what happened to the rest of the missing 600g! |
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Post by Ben on Sept 3, 2013 8:45:25 GMT -5
I looked for a long time, but was never able to find anything under a couple thousand dollars. I now have a Savage Bros temperer with pump, and I can attest that a pump is very nice. Hake Plastic Molds used to post on The Chocolate Life about a pump they sold. I believe at the time they were selling it for about $2500. They said it could be used on any tempering machine. I believe it used an air compressor to move a piston back and forth to pump the chocolate. This is the way the Savage Bros pump works, too. There was also a person who was working on a pump with some engineers. She was planning to make something that could attach to various tempering machines and be comparatively inexpensive. She's kind of disappeared, though. I emailed her a couple times a year for a few years. She said she had had some setbacks, but was still working on it. She didn't reply to my last email or two. I found a few references to a Wally's (or Wahl's maybe) Peppy Pumper, but could never find a picture or description of it. I had toyed around with using some sort of peristaltic pump. I still believe this would work. I was looking at this one from Amazon: www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-575100-Model-010121751002/dp/B0057PGO9Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1378215752&sr=8-2&keywords=little+giant+peristaltic+pumpI was also thinking of building this one: www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cake-pan-skateboard-wheel-bike-brakes-homemade-peristaltic-pump-279120/If you're just doing small batches, though, I'd say none of them are worth the time, effort or cost. Ben |
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Post by jtoddm on Sept 4, 2013 9:28:43 GMT -5
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Post by lyndon on Sept 4, 2013 16:30:18 GMT -5
These peristaltic pumps seem like they might do the trick, and some cheap options on eBay, I guess the problem there is going to be temperature control if the flow is fairly slow, wouldn't want it to cool too much before it comes out the other end. I will see what I can find available anyway, I would love to do away with the syringe.
Presumably if you can swap out the tubing with a "food safe" option, that's all you really need?
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Post by Ben on Sept 4, 2013 17:31:31 GMT -5
Yeah, I'd keep the tubing as short as possible for temperature control, but once it's been running a while it should be fine. I use some clear food-safe tubing lowes for my tempering machine and haven't had a problem with the chocolate cooling too much in it.
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Post by lyndon on Sept 8, 2013 7:42:15 GMT -5
Well, if I can actually find a pump that does at least 30 litres per hour, I will post here about how well I get on. So far I can only find 3 litres per hour tops, just a little too slow  |
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Post by Ben on Sept 8, 2013 7:59:37 GMT -5
Most of the peristaltic pumps I found were intended for timed release of chemicals (or something) and had very low pumping capacity. I was looking at the little giant and the DIY link I posted as they could go faster, as they can have larger tubing and faster motors.
One other option I tried was an electric paint roller. The one I had used a peristaltic pump. I replaced the tubing with food-safe stuff, but it clogged quickly and broke due to the chocolate setting up in the cold tubing. I should have pre-warmed it... I never got around to getting another one, but still think it could work. You could probably also use the existing handle to start and stop it. The one I had could pump pretty quickly when set at full speed--probably faster than I'd want when molding.
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Post by ktochocolate on Nov 24, 2013 21:11:53 GMT -5
If you have tractor supply store they sell large syringes for cheap
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