Has any used the chocoflex silicone molds for ganache. i have great success making caramels in the mold (i use the square mold). they set up beautifully and pop out with a minimum of effort. i chill them first, to keep the shape. i have tried this with ganache, and even with letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight, a lot of ganache stuck to the inside of the mold. some of the pieces came out fairly easily, but not enough. i wonder if my ganache is too creamy and maybe i need a different recipe. Any advises would be appreciated.
updated by @mary-amsterdam: 05/03/15 02:56:56

Hi Mary,

I've had the same issues. The molds are great for caramels but with any ganache I've tried they never come out in one piece. Almost always there's a little bit of ganache left inside, even after refrigerating or freezing, which obviously affects the final appearance as well as making the cleaning up process longer. I'd love to know if there's something I'm missing but nowadays I only use the molds for caramels/toffees.

Nick.

i am thinking of trying the molds from truffley made. they are much more "flexible" and you can invert the cavaties to push out the truffle. their instructional video says to freeze the ganache. they also say to use a "curable" ganache. but i think that means putting invert sugar or other stabilizer in the ganache - but i don't want to do that because i am afraid it will affect the texture. if i do try it i will post my results.

I am curious as to how you manage to fill the molds without the caramel cooling too fast or the caramel in the pan overcooking? I have considered doing this, too, but it seems like I would have one or the other problem with the caramel. Thank you for your help!

i use peter's caramel. it comes in a 5 lb block. i soften it slightly in the microwave. still cool enough to touch, but soft enough to work with. then i basically "push" it into cavaties with hard dough scrapers. it takes a bit more time than pouring totally melted caramel, but it sets up quickly and it is pretty easy to work with.

Ah. Ok. I was wondering how you did it. I make my own so, if anyone knows how to do it that way, let me know. Thanks for your response!

I make my own caramel and haven't had a problem. When it's ready in the pan I quickly pour the whole lot into the centre of the mold and as accurately as possible I spread it out with a palette knife. If you get your volumes right you can fill the whole mold without waste.

Nick

just wanted to let you know that i did a test run using the refrigeration/freezer method which the website Truffley Made recommends for using its silicone molds -- and it worked! They recommend refrigeration for 6-12 hours and freezer for 24 hours. I used a chocoflex mold, filled it with ganache, and then refrigerated for about 6 hours and then put it in the freezer overnight (probably 12-14 hours). Once the ganache set up a little (about 1-2 hours) I covered it tightly with plastic wrap. I unmolded them straight from the freezer, and while it was not perfect "pop out"- with a little push on the bottom most of them came out quite easily and with very little left in bottom. THe texture was fine - very creamy still. just wanted to share.