pie candles

[tamese]

ok I want to try something new and I like the look of the pie candles. I don't even know where to start. I did a few searches but didn't get everyting I needed to know. I currently make container candles and was wondering if I can use my J-50 for the crust? What is the best gel for the filling? Do I scent the gel and the fruit with the same fo? How long do I let the crust sit before filling? How can I make the crust without a mold?Where is the best place to get the molds for the fruit? Any help and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance:cheesy2:

[jeanie353]

I used to make all kinds of pie candles so I'll try to help you out a bit. You cannot use J50 for the crust because it is a container wax and far too soft. You need a harder wax with a HMP preferably. What happens is when the gel burns if the crust isn't made with a high enough MP, it will all melt together and be a big mess. The best gel (imo) is Penreco and for pies you can use medium density...possibly light if you are going to dome up the fruit embeds and just pour a layer of gel over them.

There are various ways to make pies. Some just put fruit near the top with the bottom strictly gel. I made mine with a full crust full of embeds domed up and poured medium density gel over the embeds.

You can buy the crusts pre-made on eBay or other supply places (I highly recommend Tropical Breeze) or you can get yourself a mold and pour the crusts yourself with a suitable wax, same w/the embeds.

If you go with your own mold make sure it is very flexible because some pie crusts can be a little tricky to get out....depending if they are fancy type crusts or not.

You can also buy your fruit embeds on eBay or other supply places scented and non-scented. The gel you will scent yourself. This is important....make sure the fragrance oil you use is GEL COMPATIBLE or it can be a fire hazard. Those can be found at BCN and some other supply places. There is a gel supply place you may want to steer clear from (imo) due to customer service issues but I'm not comfortable posting the name on the board.

Most use zinc wicks for the gel pies. Rule of thumb I used was (3) 44z in a 5" pie and (5) 51z in a 9 or 10" pie. You would secure the wicks to the bottom of your tin pie pan, stick them trough your full pie crust (pre-drilled) or if you are using a top ring for a crust you can rest that on the edge of the tin pie pan. It should secure itself when you pour the gel or to be on the safe side you can use a couple little dabs of hot glue in 3-5 places to secure the ring to the metal pie tin.

Then pile in the embeds to a dome type fashion, pour the gel over the top and cut wicks when the gel cools. Oh, also stir your gel wax as gentle as possible to avoid bubbles yet enough to make sure the fragrance oil is incorporated into the gel before you pour....about 2 minutes. Also, gel wax takes less FO per pound that almost all our container, tart and pillar waxes do. The supplier info should have that info.

Hope that helps and I didn't go overboard with info to scare you off. They really are easy to make and I found they sold like crazy but just didn't have the room for the extra supplies needed for the pies anymore so I sold it all off awhile ago.

Jeanne

Edited July 12, 2011 by jeanie353
left out a supplier name

[tamese]

Thanks so much jeanie. No u didn't go overboard I need as much help as possible.

[tamese]

Do I use the same wax that I use for the embeds as I use for the crust? What's a good wax to use?

[jeanie353]

Yes, you would use the same wax for the embeds as the crust. I used IGI 1260. It is a wax with a MP of 163, is semi-translucent and a 10 or 11 lb slab will go quite far for embed/crust making.

After I sent the post yesterday I thought of several different things I had forgot to mention so I'll do that now..... When you work with gel wax you are going to be working with higher temperatures than our usual waxes for containers, pillars, tarts. Always go by what the instructions from the supplier/mfg are......but with gel you are starting out with a big hunk of....well, gel (lol).. which you will cut or tear pieces off, weigh out and melt down to add your fragrance using 1/2 oz to 3/4 oz per pound of wax. The most I ever heard wax 1 oz which was in high density gel and I think that might of been a stretch. The gel does thrown very nicely using the lower percentage fragrance oils as recommended.

Gel gets heated to about 220 (if I remember correctly) and will go to a semi liquid state. This is important....don't try to get it to go to a liquid state like our regular waxes do or it could be a big hazard and only go as high on the temp when melting as you need to per supplier/mfg instructions. I used a separate Presto pot for my gel but I'm not sure that is necessary because it clean up so easily. The gel just lifts right off when cool making clean up a breeze. I'd wipe it down after I poured the candles and then pull whatever residue may be left when done. The mess on the working surface just peeled right off.

Also, with coloring your gel it takes waayyyy less dye than candle wax does. I used to use a toothpick and dip in my liquid color then just touch it in the wax or go one drop at a time. It colors really easy and what you don't want for your candle pie gel is for it to be opaque with too much color or you won't see the embeds as well. The color you see in the pan is what you will get in the end.

The colors mix I used for the crust was vanilla with a touch of rust...use whatever shade works for you. I liked my crusts to look like they were oven baked while some others like theirs to be a little lighter.

You can get the molds for making the embeds and crusts very inexpensive or not depending on where you want to start. I started out with yellow plastic ones (forgot where I got them) and moved on to silicone in a couple months.

On the embeds/crusts I think IGI 1260 will take 6% fragrance load but it retains it very well and colors nicely too. Also, this is not a wax for use of burning candles unless you are making hurricanes or embeds. You will not have to do a repour with this wax on embeds/crust unless you come across something in pie making that I did not....I'm only going from my own experience with that.

If you don't mind I will pm you with the supplier I mentioned yesterday in my post that imo I would not recommend. I would feel so bad if you went through all this to get up and going and you didn't get your supplies.

Have Fun

[tamese]

Jeanie thank you so much for all of ur help. It's people like you that make the world a lot easier to live in. You are so nice and helpful, I really appreciate it so much beacaue I didn't have a clue of were to start.

[jluper7297]

Could you pm me with the supplier as well? I want to play around a little bit with gels and cannot afford to be ripped off. Thanks!