To prevent modeling chocolate from drying out, you don't actively dry it. Instead, you wrap it tightly in plastic wrap to prevent air exposure while it cools and solidifies (cures).
Here's a more detailed explanation:
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The Goal: The aim isn't to remove moisture, but to allow the fats in the chocolate to solidify properly without the surface becoming dry and cracked.
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The Process:
- After making your modeling chocolate, while it's still pliable, immediately wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Ensure there are no air pockets.
- The wrap should be snug against the modeling chocolate's surface.
- Allow the wrapped modeling chocolate to "cure" at room temperature. The time this takes varies depending on the recipe and ambient temperature. For candy melts based modeling chocolate, you want the edges to be somewhat dull, but the middle still a little soft, as an indicator that the fats have solidified.
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Why This Works: The plastic wrap creates a barrier, preventing moisture from escaping and air from drying out the surface. This allows the fats within the chocolate to solidify slowly and evenly.
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What Happens if You Don't Wrap It? If you leave modeling chocolate exposed to air, the surface will dry out and become hard and possibly cracked. This makes it difficult to work with.
