Here are some of the questions we get asked frequently:
What makes Cold Molds the best tool to use in making frozen desserts?
Our molds were designed specifically for making ice cream molds -- and by a person who was dissatisfied with the options of using metal forms or cheaper silicon baking utensils. You can read more details about the advantages of using Cold Molds here.
Do I need a "blast freezer" or "hardening freezer" to use Cold Molds?
Well, you don't absolutely need a blast freezer to make ice cream cakes -- whether you use Cold Molds or not. But having a blast freezer (one that chills to -25 degrees F or better) helps make a better product, as getting the ice cream blank rock hard is the key to keeping it from starting to melt as you're trying to decorate it.
That said, plenty of our customers get by using a simple commercial freezer, with the thermostat turned down as low as it goes. If you can get your freezer down to -10 degrees F, you'll have much better luck getting a clean release of the ice cream from the mold, and will have more time to decorate the cake before it starts melting.
Where are your molds made?
Most of our molds are produced right here in the USA. The only product we currently produce overseas (in China) is our "Cookie Disk" mold, and that was done as a test project, to gauge the benefits of producing these from an imported source.
We currently have no plans to move any further production offshore, so you can take pride that you're supporting American workers when you purchase from Cold Molds!
Do the materials used to make your molds contain PVC? Or Phthalate? Or BPA?
No, they don't. Our molds are made from a pure silicone rubber; the formulation contains none of those additives.
Your molds seem expensive -- can't you make them cheaper?
Our molds are a bit more expensive than most spring form pans, but only in purchase price. We're confident that the long-term cost of ownership is less -- sometimes considerably less -- than that of metal pans. How can that be? Consider:
Each time you use a metal spring form pan, you'll find that they accumulate dings, dents, etc. Over time, the spring mechanism will loosen, break, or just fall off. Many of our customers who previously used metal pans report that they considered the lifespan of a metal mold as roughly one season.
Properly cared for, your Cold Molds pans will look nearly as good as new year after year. I personally have molds that I original bought in 2003, and they are nearly indistinguishable from the newer molds that I've purchased in the past year. So, long term, your Cold Molds will end up costing less, as you only have to pay for them once!
Also, if you decorate your cakes, you'll find that using Cold Molds saves you much more in labor costs, as after removing your frozen cake blank from the mold, they're immediately ready to frost & decorate, saving you the time of transferring them back to the freezer to wait for them to re-harden.
And, one final consideration: we could reduce the costs of our molds by having them produced more cheaply, overseas. We're proud to be able to say that our molds are produced right here in the USA, so although production costs are a little more, we know that we're helping to provide jobs for our fellow US citizens, rather than saving money by having our molds produced in an overseas sweatshop.
As a young hobbyist woodworker, a master woodcrafter once advised me that I'd never regret investing in the best tools. I've always considered that excellent advice. If you want to be the best, invest in the best tools, and I'm 100% convinced that Cold Molds are the best tool for making professional looking ice cream cakes and novelties.
Can I use my Cold Molds to bake in?
Absolutely! Our siliconized rubber is safe to use at oven temperatures (up to 550 degrees F). Many of our customers tell us that they bake a layer of cake or brownie in the bottom of their mold, then fill the top part with ice cream to create a distinctive dessert that their competition doesn't offer.
Can I use my Cold Molds for products other than Ice Cream?
Certainly, we have several customers who report using our pop molds for making "Cheesecake on a Stick" novelties, and we've even had some tell us they've made "Jell-O Pops" or cakes with them.
How long will my Cold Molds last?
We're not sure of exactly how long our molds will last, but we have molds that we've been using for 5 years, in nearly daily use, and they still look as good as new. Properly cared for, we don't expect that the molds will deteriorate over time.
How do I clean and care for my Cold Molds?
Clean your Cold Molds just like you would any food utensil. Wash it with a dish soap, or put it in your dishwasher (make sure to properly secure it so that the spray from the dishwasher doesn't wash the mold off the rack and onto the water heating element.) The same "softness" of our siliconized rubber that helps make your ice cream release easily also allows food particles to wash off cleanly.
Obviously, don't use sharp knives or other utensils to remove your cake blanks from the mold, as you can cut or puncture the rubber.
What are the sizes of your pop molds?
Our Large Pop Mold (CMP5210) is 5" tall, by (approximately, it's tapered...) 1.75" wide by 1" deep, and holds roughly 5 fluid ounces of product.
Our Small Pop Mold (CMP3210) is 3" tall, by 1.75" wide by 1" deep, and holds roughly 3.25 fluid ounces of product.
Our Cookie Disk Mold (CMC3200) is 3" in diameter by 1" deep, and holds roughly 5 fluid ounces of product.
What is the best chocolate dip to use to cover my pops?
Several manufacturers make very good products for dipping novelty bars. You want to find an "enrobing cover". Kalva, Oringer, and Murray's all make versions that our customers have reportedly been happy with.
You can even make your own dip, using a high quality chocolate and a little bit of coconut or vegetable oil.
Which one is "the best" is a subjective opinion though, so "the best" thing for you to do is to try two or three, and choose the one that you think works well with your application and customer base!
Can you make me a custom mold?
In most cases, the answer is unfortunately "no". We receive a lot of requests from folks for a mold with their logo or design, who want to order 10 or 20 molds. Unfortunately, the cost of tooling a new mold (the masters are cut out of steel) runs in the neighborhood of $2000 to $4000, making the development of a custom mold infeasible (or, at least, not cost effective.)
That said, if you have an idea for a mold that you need, and its design is such that it could appeal to a wide customer base, sure, talk to us. Maybe we'll finance the design with the idea of adding it to our product list.
If you really want a custom mold for a low quantity application, you can try making it yourself. Check out IcyPops.com for some tips on how the process works.
Do you have plans for any additional molds?
YES! Definitely, we're always looking to expand our product line, and want to eventually have a complete array of cake molds in all of the popular shapes and sizes.
If you're interested in our current design plans, you can check out our plans by clicking on the link to the left. And if you want to influence our future designs, by all means send us an email and let us know which molds you would buy if we had them available.
Why is the slot for the sticks on my large pop molds so wide?
The large pop molds were the first of our pop molds designed. At the time, we thought that having a larger opening would make stick insertion easier, and allow the use of other "handles", such as the hard plastic handles used on some novelties.
Now that these have been in the field for a while, it's obvious that the wide stick opening wasn't the best design, as 99% of the time, folks use a traditional "Popsicle Stick" as the handle, and the wider opening makes it difficult to use the molds for more liquid fillers, such as for juice bars or popsicles.
We are planning to retool our large pop mold at some point to include the smaller stick size, but that probably won't happen until sometime in 2009, at the earliest.