How do you do it?

80 year old, new member here with a question..

After melting chocolate for transferring it to molds, what methods or utensiles do you use to pour the melted chocolate into the molds without creating a sloppy mess?

Thanks..

Larry

Larry - everything with chocolate starts off messy. As you get better at it you learn how to do it cleaner. I use a spatula or big plastic spoon to ladle my chocolate in and then scrape the back with a chocolate scraper (essentially a plaster scraper).

I think it is awesome you are learning about chocolate. Like Gap, I also is a big plastic ladle to put the chocolate in my molds. I've seen these types of ladles at Bed, Bath & Beyond as well as Ace Hardware. You need a nice sturdy one. Some of the plastic ones look like the handle will snap off too easily. The one I have is a dark brown color and may actually be a hard silicone. Also, I use a scraper to clean the mold once I have emptied the excess back into my bowl. For this I went to the hardware store and bought a couple of metal scrapers - the type they use when laying tile. The metal edge is nice and thin. They are sturdy and can be easily cleaned. Don't forget to tap your molds toremove air bubbles... Andrea

As my mentor used to say, "Is it the chocolate that is messy Brian or the chocolatier?".

The more we work with chocolate the better we get.

Good luck!

brian

I apologize for my amateur question, but if you are filling a mold, lets say a bar mold, why and how would you empty the excess chocolate into a bowl? Doesnt the chocolate have to settle into the mold? How do you pour excess chocolate without pouring everything out?

Some chocolate will stick to the sides when you turn it upside down and will not run out

Yes but isnt that only if you want to create a shell? what if you are making a solid bar?

I think I understand your question but I might have it wrong. If you're filling a bar mould: fill with chocolate, keep it upside down and horizontal and scrape the excess chocolate off with a scraper back into the bowl, keep it upside down and horizontal and let it set, turn it the right way up and pop out the bars.

Apologies if I'm misunderstading your question.

Ok that makes more sense. I haveread many instructions on filling molds and pouring excess back into bowls, so its safe to assume that those individuals were making the outer shell and then filling in later. Thanks for the clarification!