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why is modeling chocolate crumbly ................

post #1 of 25
3/30/10 at 8:42pm
Thread Starter 
getting all crumbly on me grrrrrr?
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post #2 of 25
3/30/10 at 8:54pm
could you have possibly gotten water in the mixture? maybe try to re-heat it and add some shortening and a bit more corn syrup HTH
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post #3 of 25
3/30/10 at 9:00pm
Mine does the samething and I can not figure out why. I evantually give up and through it away. And I haven't gotten water in mine. Maybe someone should do a tutorial for people like me.
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post #4 of 25
3/30/10 at 9:33pm
Just like Peachshortcake said, I would try more corn syrup and shortening. sounds like it's a bit dry.
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post #5 of 25
3/30/10 at 9:42pm
i just attended a modeling chocolate project class tonight. i've never worked with modeling chocolate before and we found that you can kneed it too much, and it will start to practically crumble and get grainy looking. at that point, you just need to set that piece down and let it cool. get another piece to work with in the meantime. is this what you're experiencing?
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post #6 of 25
3/30/10 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 
nope, just as soon as I break a poece off to start kneading it , its A crumbling mess..........I did add some corn syrup and that helped, but maybe I need a better recipe???whats the best one? Also is it suppose to get as hard as Mt Vesuvius?
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post #7 of 25
3/30/10 at 9:57pm
we used 1 lb of Guittard's A'Peels chocolate with 1/3 cup corn syrup
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post #8 of 25
3/30/10 at 10:22pm
When I first started making modeling chocolate I had trouble with it, not getting hard enough, wilting when I tried to sculpt with it. I tried refrigerating it, but it just sweats and gets gooey. I found a recipe and love it! I use plain chocolate chips, white chips are great too

8 oz chocolate pieces
1/4 c plus 1T corn syrup
Melt chips in double boiler, remove from heat, stir in corn syrup until it comes together and pulls away from the sides of bowl/pan. Place in a gallon zip bag and let sit at least overnight, the longer the better. You want it to harden, yes like Mt Vesuvius icon_biggrin.gif .

- Take a small chunk, about walnut or egg size and knead it until softened (it will crumble at first) Once soft, Set it aside. Take another chunk and repeat until you have as much as you'll need for your project. Knead all the little balls together but just until it comes together, do not over knead or it ill begin to ooze oil and be useless.
It should be smooth and roll out smoothly. If you need to roll it out, dust it with a little cornstarch to keep it from sticking, if you have a silicone mat that works best to roll out on. I try to always have some made so I can let it rest long enough to be useful. (I have come back a month later and it is rock hard, but it works like a dream once i work with it)

HTH
Diana
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post #9 of 25
3/30/10 at 11:05pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Diana, well then I guess its doing what it is suppose too icon_wink.gif I just don't like the crumbling part....I will give it another shot. Thanks so much
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post #10 of 25
3/31/10 at 7:19am
Thanks for the tips!
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post #11 of 25
3/31/10 at 5:16pm
it should not be crumbly. something has gone wrong if it is fresh made (sometimes older MC can become drier and crumbly).

you may have burned the chocolate (did you use a dble boiler? it is very easy to burn in a microwave).

did you age for 24 hours before using? very important.

did you remove the chocolate from the dlbe boiler and stir in the corn syrup until the chocolate leaves the sides of the pan and follows the spoon around the pan?

bring to room temp before starting kneading (avoid using the microwave...to easy to turn your mc into a melty mess).

knead small pieces first then combine if you want a larger mass.

was your chocolate old?

lastly, you may not have added enough corn syrup to start with, but i suspect it is one of the above reasons.

diane
Diane
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Diane
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post #12 of 25
4/1/10 at 10:30pm
Thread Starter 
I don't use the microwave to make chocolate..always on stove.......but I thoink I may have put the cornsyrup in on the stove yet, not sure on that....I stired it until it came away from the sides into a ball. It looked wonderful, but then it gets hard as a rock....this last time it was crumbly....I have no idea how long the chocolate was on the shelf when I bought it. Thanks for all the tips
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post #13 of 25
4/3/10 at 8:09am
Hmm
How long after you made it did it get rock hard?
When I make it it is petty soft and once I put it in the bag it spreads out, too soft to work with, but once I let it rest overnight it gets pretty hard.
In my experience it needs to get pretty hard in order to hold it's shape once you've finished your creation.

It kind of reminds me of oil based clays, how it is so hard but softens up after working with it. (Except the crumbly part icon_wink.gif ).

Quote:
Quote:

drakegore - it should not be crumbly. something has gone wrong if it is fresh made (sometimes older MC can become drier and crumbly).


This is true, but even crumbly modeling chocolate can be worked into a soft ball so I guess it depends if your modeling chocolate from the store was old it should still get to a workable state. Or if your fresh made modeling chocolate was crumbly. Chocolate can burn or if water drips from a double boiler into it this will make it seize up.
HTH
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post #14 of 25
4/3/10 at 1:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbax

Hmm


Quote:
Quote:

drakegore - it should not be crumbly. something has gone wrong if it is fresh made (sometimes older MC can become drier and crumbly).


This is true, but even crumbly modeling chocolate can be worked into a soft ball so I guess it depends if your modeling chocolate from the store was old it should still get to a workable state. Or if your fresh made modeling chocolate was crumbly. Chocolate can burn or if water drips from a double boiler into it this will make it seize up.
HTH



on older MC, after a certain age, mc will be drier and have a less nice hand to to it. it will tend to crumble or tear around the egdes of worked pieces. it can still be worked into a ball for certain, but after a while it just doesn't make as nice cut-outs and the smoothness you can acheive with newer mc just is very hard to achieve. it's usable, not just as nice. just a bit of clarification on what i meant icon_smile.gif.
Diane
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Diane
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post #15 of 25
4/3/10 at 11:05pm
Thread Starter 
I t was fresh made, and it gets rock hard fairly soon I never timed it icon_smile.gif maybe I am not making it with right amt of corn syrup??
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