On Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:42:42 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

> I just made my first batch of truffles, and it was
> harder than I thought it would be.
>
> 1. The recipe said I could use a melon baller to
> make the cores, but I had lots of trouble getting
> the balls to release from the baller. The air relief
> hole kept getting plugged up. I suppose I should get
> a truffle scoop. It couldn't be any worse, but would
> that solve the problem?
>
> 2. I thought a carving fork would make a good dipping
> fork, but it didn't work too well. I notice a number
> of different styles of purpose-made dipping forks are
> on the market. Which is best?
>
> 3. I had a lot of problems with excess chocolate
> running off the truffles. If I wait for it to stop
> dripping, that takes a long time. How do you handle
> that? Do you just stand there holding the truffle
> till it's done? It seems like there should be
> something like a draining rack for truffles.
>
> There's just got to be a way to do this faster and
> get a good result, like maybe stabbing the cores with
> bamboo skewers and handling them impaled during dipping
> and draining.
>
> Any advice from someone who knows?

I haven't made truffles very often, but when I do... I don't dip them
in melted chocolate. I roll them in unsweetened chocolate or finely
chopped nuts.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

sf wrote:
>
> I haven't made truffles very often, but when I do... I don't dip them
> in melted chocolate. I roll them in unsweetened chocolate or finely
> chopped nuts.

I bought a chocolate tempering machine, so I darn well
am going to dip them and anything else that doesn't
run away!

I got a Norco 25 mm scoop which works about as well
as can be expected for making the centers. I bought
the cheap Wilton dipping tool set consisting of loop
and fork tools. That works quite well, the loop for
capturing and lifting the center out of the chocolate
and the fork for handling the coated center, like
getting it out of the loop and onto the aluminum foil.
I bought a second set so I can work twice as long before
pausing to clean off the tools. I also bought a chocolate
chipper for breaking up the chocolate from the previous
batch for remelting.

I made a lot of improvement with my second batch.
There's a lot of technique which you can only pick up
by doing it.