ok i ordered isomalt sticks thinking it would be easier than the crystals since all i would have to do is microwave it..i greased my diamond molds and omg..it gets hard super fast and it sticks to everything..and i couldnt get it off my measuring glass and when i tried my glass broke..so now im out of a measuring glass and now im going out of my mind and hoping someone out there can tell me if im doing somthing wrong or if i shouldve ordered somthing to melt the isomalt in that wouldve been easier than the hell i just put myself through..UGH!!!![/img]

Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble - I haven't had the best luck with isomalt either! I will though, just need more practice. Melting it in silicone works way better, you can use the little silicone cupcake liners or whatever you can find in the size you need. I even stored my leftovers in the cup and it comes right out no problem - basically works like a mold.

I just bought some sticks and melted them in a very small glass bowl. you are right... i have about 1-2 minutes to harden them. So i just kept remelting it in microwave to heat up again and pour. i use silicon mold.. so didn't grease it just pops out. But i find i get tiny little bubbles at bottom where i pour. By the way. To wash i just set it in water and the isomalt just melted into dishwater. Sorry about your glass measuring cup. i am somewhat disappointed in the isomalt as well. i am going to try regular sugar like what I use for candy apples only no colour or red candies for flavour.

I've only tried using my sticks once. I melted them in the yellow handled Wilton measuring cups. Sugar Play was using them at the ICES convention. It does harden pretty fast, but I think that is just the nature of it.

Thats why when Chef's work with it they use heat lamps to keep it pliable because it does harden really fast! Ive always used my regular pans on the stove to melt it (the original crystals) and then when Im done I let it soak in hot soapy water for a while. It will come right off that way.
You can also go to special places like pastry chef dot com or chef rubber and get the tools espeically made for hard candy. Like the gloves are a must otherwise you will end up with war scars on your hands!! (I learned the hard way from a hot glue gun!

i have to make some edible diamonds and im really wondering if there is an easier way to do this..i want to do it with just regular sugar way ,the way i make rock candy..but really need it to be a clear look since im going for the edible diamond look..the rock candy way it always comes out yellow looking no matter what i do..im going to look for a silicone somthing cus im running out of glass..lol! its amazing the way i fell for the "its sooo easy to do" lol..im sure it will get easier in time if not..forget it!! lol

I use silicone measuring cups when I melt cake play's isomalt sticks. Amazon sells a brand Isi which are the ones I use. When I am finished with the isomalt any left in the cup breaks free easily after it has completely cooled. The thin layers left on the side from pouring make an attractive sugar glitter.

The silicone cups keep me from wasting product.

[quote="raymona"]I use silicone measuring cups when I melt cake play's sticks. Amazon sells a brand Isi which are the ones I use. When I am finished with the any left in the cup breaks free easily after it has completely cooled. The thin layers left on the side from pouring make an attractive sugar glitter.

The silicone cups keep me from wasting product.[/quote

how do you use that sugar glitter? do you crush it up??]

The silicone measuring cups are flexible. So when the isomalt has solidified I flex the sides which cause the isomalt that has adheared to the cups sides to break off in thin flakes and tiny glitter like pieces. There's no work to it just a side benefit of using the silicone cups.

I suggest checking into the Make your Own Mold forum and see what Chef Dominic has to say about melting isomalt and about keeping it fluid.

I'll add a word of caution about shards of isomalt, no matter how thin--it can be as sharp as broken glass and I'd be very concerned about possible mouth injuries from it when using it on something that will be eaten. Grinding the shards in a tea strainer with the wooden handle of a spatual would definitely make it safer.

HTH
Rae

How hot are you heating the sticks to? If you are just barely melting them, you wont' have a lot of working time. Also, melt a fair amount, instead of just enough for the mold. You can re-use what you heated and didn't put into a mold.