I have to make about 800 cake balls. Is there an easier way to mass produce them? has anyone poured chocolate over a bunch of them instead of dipping each one by one?

any suggestions would be appreciated

have you heard of this? I have a friend who makes balls and this is what she uses.  she says it works.  as far as dipping in chocolate, she does it on her own.

http://ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com/cake-ball-roller/2011/03/27/

AStupid question time: I thought cake balls were a combination of cake and icing, but this video seems to be showcasing just a slab of cake that gets rolled into ball form-is that right? Every cake ball I have had has been overwhelmingly sweet and contained icing as a binding agent. Is there another way?

I think making this many cake ball will be a one time thing... so not wanting to purchase new equipment, thanks for posting.

can't I just roll like 50 of them at a time place them close together on a wire rack and pour the chocolate over?
 

no then they wouldnt be covered properly. You charge more based on the amount of time it takes.
 

cake balls really do hold well, especially if wrapped individually wrapped and in the fridge. THis means you can make ahead and store them. I wouldn't freeze them or let them get too cold because that will cause cracking when them came to room temperature.  

Cake balls really are a bear to make.  And slow too because you have to work with small batches so that they are the right temp. Charge accordingly (especially for an electric warmer for the melts/chocolate. well worth the $15 with the 50% coupon from michaels).  If this is a donation or a one time thing, I'd suggest trying to do some mini cupcakes (those are much less time sucking). 

I just did about 150 cake balls a couple of weeks ago.  I found a site that described the technique I ended up using (can't remember, sorry)

1.  roll your balls.  Chill

2.  dip bottom half of ball in coating. Let drip.  Place on pan and chill

3.  Put balls on wire rack with enough space that you can maneuver the spoon, then ladle coating, going quickly down the line.  Let set, then carefully remove from wire rack.

It worked well for me.  Also solved the "no coating on the bottom" problem.

ADepending on the look you're going for you could hand roll them.

AJust been showing my partner who is a keen carp fisher the video of the cake ball maker and he wasn't as impressed as I was.. Apparently this is just like a Boilie maker (carp food) and I've looked and it is!

See the link here from a UK tackle shop https://www.tacklebox.co.uk/bait-making/rolling-tables/#product38000

You can get one for making 24mm 'cake pops' for £30.99

Hehe I guess men are good for something

this carp bait thing intrigues me. does the tool work for cake pops at all? maybe even ganache?

ACouldn't you just buy cake pop pans then dip in icing? Saves time having to roll them. The whole that's there for the stick could easily be covered up.

rereading my comment, I realize it might seem silly.

what I meant by hand rolling, is when you already have your cake pops rolled out however you decide to do it, you cover them in (chocolate? candy melts?) using your hands instead of forks. dip one hand into the chocolate and use your other to place a ball in the chocolate. use the chocolate hand to pick up the ball. Using only the palm of your clean hand and your chocolate hand, roll the cake ball until completely coated. use your clean hand to place on parchment. i'm sure you probably get what I meant, but just incase.

this will work if you are doing simple decorations like sprinkles or striping. but if you are monogramming them or something like that you made need to dip.

There is a video showing a baker covering petit fours with his hands.  That was part of my inspiration to do a large drying rack full, but I used a large spoon instead of my hand, after dipping the bottoms.