Help!! My Candy Melts Are Not Melting Enough!
Sugar Work By LittleBaker1218 Updated 13 Nov 2014 , 12:06am by ConfectioneryH
I'm having a crisis here! this is my first time making cake pops and my candy melts are not melting enough for me to just dip the pops and take them out! and the chocolate is so thick that my pops (balls) are coming off the stick! 
PLEASE HELP ME!! is there a way to make the candy melt really really runny and I'm not doing???? PLEASE HELP!!! 
Thin it out with a few drops of vegetable (sp?) or canola oil. Careful that you don't use too much, they'll take forever to dry. That should help 
What brand of candy melts are you using? I made cake pops over the weekend for my daughter's first birthday. I started off by using the Wilton candy melts and it was a disaster. The chocolate was way too thick and when I tried to pull out the cake, it just fell off the stick. Then I went out and purchased the Merkens brand candy melts and they worked out beautifully. You can try adding vegetable oil or shortening to the candy melts and see if that helps.
Also, make sure you are melting them in a glass bowl (if you are using the microwave). I tried melting a brand new bag of yellow melts a couple months ago and it was thick and clumpy and just refused to melt. I had them in a plastic tupperware container. I moved them to a glass pryrex bowl and they melted!
If you have time and access to a cake/candy supply store, paramount crystals work beautifully to thin out chocolate -- real or candy melts.
Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Unknown-Paramount-Crystals/dp/B0008DI
Y
They look like shaved wax. Some folks use a little Crisco; you might try that if you can't get the crystals in time.
HTH.
Ive read in several places that if they aren't thin enough for the job you are using them for, to just add a little shortening at a time until they become the right consistency. Don't use oil though, because it doesnt have the saturated fat in it and wont harden properly. Basically what you are doing by adding the shortening is adding more of what they are already made of (hydrogenated vegetable oil) and this helps it to melt more smoothly and consistently. HTH!!
Thank you everyone for all the great tips! I was melting wilton's "candy melts," the yellow kind, I was melting them in a glass bowl simmered in boiling water. I will try these tips you've given me here! thank you much everyone! I will post pictures when I get home of the results and of the ones I made last night!
PDXSweetTreats--Thanks for the link! I'm going to buy this!
Little Baker, you're welcome! : )
One of the tricks I like to use is placing my melted chocolate in another bowl (or pan) that is filled with VERY hot water -- I just continually keep that heated and with the paramount crystals it seems to keep everything smooth for an extended period. Depending upon where you live and the humidity levels there, you'll have to try a few things to see what works best for you.
Best wishes! : )
I never thought of adding shortening! I was having trouble with the bulk barn brand so i strictly use wilton candy melts now since I have found them to melt the best! I also do my sticks different, I dip the stick in BC and then into the pop and refrigerate for 2 hours, I just find they fall off at lot less this way.
Good luck on your next batch!
If you're using the double boiler method (bowl of candy in another container of boiling water), take care that NONE of the steam is getting into the chocolate. If water gets in there, teh chocolate will seize up and get thick or just down right hard. Even adding shortening to it, once this happens, won't fix it (or at least it never has when it happened to me 
).
If it's turning out thick, my thought is that it's overheated or the chocolate is old. I do mine via microwave and I microwave for 20 seconds, then beat it with a spoon for 30 seconds. It does more melting in those 30 seconds with a spoon than it does in the 20 seconds by microwave. I foudn that trying to melt it "all at once" without stirring will result in overheating it and give you thick chocolate.
Old chocolate just doesn't melt right, period. even if you just bought it yesterday, it can still be 'old'.
with these life lessons under my belt 
, I don't have many problems at all with the wilton disks anymore.
Quote:
If you're using the double boiler method (bowl of candy in another container of boiling water), take care that NONE of the steam is getting into the chocolate. If water gets in there, teh chocolate will seize up and get thick or just down right hard. Even adding shortening to it, once this happens, won't fix it ...........
If you use the double boiler, keep a towel next to the stove. When you're done with your melting you can sit the top bowl on the towel. Dry off any water on the bottom so you don't accidently get some in your chocolate or on your utensils later.
My first time too. I bought the candy melt at JoAnne's (orange) and it was a disaster. It said to add shortening, but it didn't say how much and it got worse. I used my microwave, but it's a low wattage (600W) so I probably heated it too long. Then I added butter as shortening and it got worse. It behaved like play dough. I am sure, after reading all the various responses that a double boiler method would have worked way better. I don't think the directions were that good
Paramount crystals are super handy for this. Sometimes colored and white coatings don't melt as thin as your standard milk and dark. I always have less trouble using Mercken's Candy Coatings. However, paramount crystals will work with any candy coating.
Paramount crystals are flakes of palm kernel oil (they solidify more than shortening). Palm kernel oil is already in most of your brands of coatings, so it works well with them. It thins them out very nicely.
Here are directions to melt candy coatings in the microwave as well as some troubleshooting tips. I find it easier to melt them in the microwave, but that might just be me :)
https://www.confectioneryhouse.com/blog/tutorials/how-to-melt-confectionery-coatings/
-Ashley
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