Hello Alex, Scot and Janet,

All three of you thanks voor your good advice. Apparently making chocolate
is much more complicated than I thought it would be. Though I can't wait to
try a few experiments I expect it will take quite some time and effort
before I will be really succesfull.
I don't know for sure if my molds are cast iron, but they certainly have
that weight. They originate from an old chocolate factory here in The
Netherlands that went bankrupt. They do have a coating of some kind of tin
which I don't want to damage when trying to remove the rust. The advice on
the site recommended by Scot to use a solution of water, vinegar and salt
sounds rather harmless, so I think I will give that a go and do some
scrubbing. Otherwise I will just rub in the oil, the way Alex suggested,
and avoid using the parts of the molds that are rusted.
Steffie


"Alex Rast" > schreef in bericht
...
> at Wed, 12 Jan 2005 13:44:22 GMT in >,
> (steffie) wrote :
>
> >Hello everybody,
> >
> >I recently inherited some very old, slightly rusty, cast iron
> >chocolatemolds. The kind in which you can make about 50 thin chocolates
> >at a time. I would like to try them, but don't know the first thing
> >about chocolatemaking.
> >I have read your faq, which was helpful, but am still in need of some
> >directions. Like for example, should I grease the molds
>
> Don't grease the moulds before each use, but you should keep them oiled
> between uses, and this will minimise rust. Use a mild, high-stability oil.
> Goose fat is one of the very best choices, and another excellent choice is
> high-oleic sunflower. (But don't use regular sunflower which will
> rancidify). Hazelnut oil is also good, with the special advantage of
having
> especially high flavour compatibility, if flavour transfer is a concern.
>
> What you do is, after cleaning the moulds, dab a little oil on, then rub
> with a fine cloth until there's the thinnest possible film coating the
> entire mould. Be sure to get all corners thoroughly and also wipe off any
> excess or overcoat. I find that Job Squad paper towels do a particularly
> good job for filming and for removing excess.
>
> If they *really are* cast-iron, though (unlikely - most are made of steel)
> then you can season them just like a skillet - grease them with lard, bake
> them at 350F for an hour or so, then remove. You'll have to be religious
> about cleaning up the pans once they've cooled, or baked-on overcoat will
> change the shape and possibly be absorbed by the chocolate.
>
> If you want to be a perfectionist, you should warm them to tempering
> temperature - about 88F/31C just before use, (best way is to hold them
> under your armpit) but this is an obsessive detail.
>
> > and how do I get
> >the chocolates out of the mold once they are ready.
>
> A sharp tap with a mallet is usually the best method. If some are
> persistent, you can *slightly* warm the mould, then tap, and they should
> release. But don't warm too much or the chocolate will lose surface
temper.
> With a thin knife, you can usually carefully pry out ones that stick
> without warming the mould.
>
> > Also some
> >suggestions about how to remove the rust would be welcome.
>
> Lots of elbow grease and good scrubbing sponges. If the rust is extreme,
> you may have to resort to copper scouring pads, but this is NOT
recommended
> unless you really have to. NEVER use soap, however. The best scrubbing
> sponges I've found are the SOS "CleanRinse" sponges.
>
>
> --
> Alex Rast
>
> (remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)