Awesome product!Hello everyone. I recently learned to make chocolate and wanted to take it to the next level and try some silicone molds (prior to the molds I was making free form candy clusters on wax paper). Perhaps many of you are finding that after reading the reviews for various mold brands, you are still not sure which one(s) to go with. That is how I felt a couple weeks ago, so I decided to see for myself and bought 3 different brand molds. The following is what I purchased: Silikomart Silicone Easy Chocolate Mold (assorted Dinosaurs - 15 piece per mold), Fat Daddio's Interlocking Square Silicone Chocolate Mold (15 piece per mold), and Freshware 30 Cavity Silicone Chocolate Jelly and Candy Mold. Along with the molds, I also purchased the Wilton Easy Pour Funnel. In case it matters, I prepare my chocolate using cacoa butter, cacao paste, sea salt, honey and ground vanilla. All ingredients are warmed in my dehydrator at a temperature of 105 until melted (the honey is already melted of course, but I put in in there anyway so it is warm). Here is what I discovered when I made my chocolates yesterday. All three molds released the chocolates easily, all three molds had about the same size candies (can be eaten in one or two bites - I think this is just the right size) and all three produced beautiful shiny pieces of chocolate (they all had the same amount of shine). Clean-up is a cinch on all three of them; however, it is easier to clean the brown chocolate off the red 30 cavity Freshware mold. Several reviews have noted that the forms are so flexible you have to transfer them to the refrigerator on a hard surface or all your chocolate will run out. This is true; however, I do not feel this is a reason for the products to lose a star because this flexibility is also the exact reason your beautiful little candy creations will pop right out. I made sure to transfer my filled molds to the refrigerator on something stiff and it was no big deal at all. As far as I can tell, unless you are looking for a particular shape, of the three I purchased, I would recommend the Freshware one because of the following: it has 30 cavities in the mold (as opposed to 15 in each of the others),it gives you a variety of shapes (6 different shapes in the 30 cavities as opposed to only one shape in the 15 cavity molds), it is the easiest to clean up because it is red and per cavity is the least expensive option. Now, about the funnel. For $5.46, this little candy making tool was a real gem. It is super simple to use and clean. Several reviews mentioned that it did not come with a stand; however, this is no big deal. I used a narrow mouthed canning jar and it worked perfect. The wide mouth jar bumps the little handle trigger and lets the chocolate out, so I do not recommend a jar or glass with a wide top. Fortunately, I realized the wide mouth would open the funnel bottom before I actually put chocolate in it. Other reviews mentioned that the funnel drips. My experience was the following: When only the chocolate was in the funnel, I had the occasional drip (maybe 6 drips), but not at all enough to take a star away for it. Part way through my project, I added shredded coconut to the chocolate in the Vitamix and blended it in on a low speed (didn't breakdown the coconut...merely mixed it in). I found I did get more drips once the coconut was in the funnel; however, this was my own fault because the little pieces of coconut were preventing a seal at the bottom of the funnel. Even with the coconut, I did not think the drips I got were bothersome. I will add the coconut the same way next time and enjoy gobbling up the drippings when I am cleaning up. I hope the info above was helpful. Happy candy making!
These molds were not from Silikomart. They were shiny on one side only instead of both sides. They also did not arrive in individual Silikomart boxes like all my other molds have. I believe these molds were Chinese knock-offs. I am in the process of returning them to Amazon for a full refund. Very disappointed!!!
Because these are a gift, I can't confirm how they perform, but the designs are distinct and ideal for the purpose, and the silicone will make removal process easy and clean for neat candies. They came boxed, in good enough condition to wrap for a gift.