In honor of RCI’s
upcoming Chocolate
Boot Camp® course, taking place February 19-22 in Waterbury, Connecticut. We’re
unveiling two simple, yet highly effective tools and techniques that are sure
to improve your enrobed centers.
Stringing
It may surprise you to learn that stringing or
marking a coated center offers more benefit than simply identifying the center.
Whether you string by hand, a fork or an automatic decorating machine, those
stringing marks can hide small imperfections on the surface (such as air
bubbles) and give the product a more glossy appearance. The three dimensional
quality of the markings create more angles for light to reflect, much like the
facets of a diamond.
TRY
IT: Next time you are coating centers, mark one piece and leave the next piece
smooth. The chocolate temper will be the same on both, but the strung piece
will have a better shine once cooled.
Detailer Rods
 |
| Even a small adjustment to the detailer rod can make a big difference to your finished product. |
Detailer rods,
located after each wire belt, affect the bottom and bottom edges of the
centers. When used properly, the rod is close to the wire belt and slightly
below the level between the wire and cooling belts. If adjusted too low, this
will result in tails (pictured on the far left) or bases (center photo). When
set too high, it will remove too much chocolate, leaving thin bottoms (as seen
in the photo on far right. Should the detailer be set too far away from the
wire belt it can also scrape bottoms and deposit lines of chocolate onto the cooling
belt. Even a small adjustment to the detailer will make a big difference in
your finished chocolates.
RCI Members: Login
at retailconfectioners.org
to access more secrets to enrobing in the 2016 first quarter issue of Kettle Talk magazine, written by Jim
Bourne, of Hilliard’s
Chocolate System.