I'm still only molding chocolates for friends, family and the occasional charitable event, but I found that even on a fairly small scale I really needed a shaker to get out those pesky air bubbles. I looked for a used one, but boy were they expensive. What I ended up doing was making my own out of an inexpensive Eberbach Lab Shaker. Sounds strange, huh?

Here's what I did. I purchased a shaker at a state auction where they were selling off old lab equipment (I've seen these for sale on ebay as well). I gave it a good scrubbing, removed the old tray that was designed for other uses, and then attached a half sheet pan to the shaker base. This was accomplished by setting the original tray on top of my half sheet pan, marking the openings and then pre-drilling the holes. I used the screws from removing the old tray to attach the half sheet pan. I then put another half sheet pan on top of this one so that it's easy to remove for scraping out chocolate.

I'm thrilled with the results. The table fits 2 molds at a time (I could of went with a bigger tray if I wanted) and I no longer have air bubbles. Please keep in mind that this lab shaker isn't vibrating, it has a reciprocating motion.

See the attached photos.

Love this site,

Teresa

updated by @teresa-craig: 04/11/25 09:27:36