Begin by tempering your chocolate.
Depending on if you’re using white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate, the temperatures vary for tempering. Follow the instructions labelled on your chocolate.
Learn why you need to temper your chocolate before using it in silicone molds.
Tempering Chocolate Temperature Chart
| Milk Chocolate | Dark Chocolate | White Chocolate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melting temperature | 46 C | 49 C | 43 C |
| Cooling temperature | 26 C | 27 C | 25 C |
| Reheat temperature | 30 C | 32 C | 28 C |
How to temper chocolate for silicone molds
- Place chocolate over a double boiler. There should be a couple of inches of water in a large saucepan. Place a large metal bowl over the saucepan. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.
- Heat the chocolate until the melting temperature has been reached. Use a digital thermometer to get an accurate reading.
- Take the chocolate off of the heat.
- Turn the heat off. Leave the saucepan with hot water on the burner.
- Place the chocolate filled bowl in another bowl full of ice water. The chocolate should not touch the water at all. Cool the chocolate until the cooling temperature has been reached.
- Put the chocolate bowl in the saucepan again and reheat until the reheating temperature has been reached.
- Your chocolate is ready to for your silicone molds.
- Pour the chocolate over the molds until they are completely filled and overflowing.
- Tap the silicone mold to remove any air bubbles.
- Scrape the excess chocolate off of the mold by using a bench scraper. You can reuse this chocolate again, just scrape it onto some parchment paper.
- Place the molded chocolate into the fridge for 20 min.
- Remove the chocolate from the silicone mold by gently pressing the chocolate using your thumb onto a plate.
Can you use normal chocolate for silicone molds
You can use normal chocolate for silicone molds if you don’t have chocolate for tempering. The difference will be that your chocolate will not have the shiny, glossy look to them. The chocolates will be much harder to bite into.
What kind of chocolate to use for molds
Couverture chocolate is used when making molded chocolates.
Couverture chocolate is made with a larger percentage of cocoa butter (>30%) than regular compound chocolate.
Due to the bigger portion of cocoa butter, this gives a more rich flavor to the chocolate than regular chocolate.
Couverture chocolate is processed to a finer chocolate, making the smoothness of the chocolate much more luscious than regular chocolate.
Best chocolate for melting and hardening
The best chocolate for melting and hardening is Callebaut Belgian couverture chocolate.
- Belgian chocolate
- chocolate chips – easier to melt than a brick
- couverture chocolate
- luscious flavor
- hints of caramel
- large volume – enough to make a lot of chocolates
