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Post by gameson on Dec 15, 2012 15:44:26 GMT -5
After refining lbs of chocolate, if you do not want to use it immediately, how do you store it so that when you want to use it, it's easy to melt and temper?
Since it's lbs of chocolate, I am running out of ideas on how to properly store it. Right now I just spread them on a thin parchment paper so it's easy to break when I want to melt it, but I don't think this is a proper solution and also this is because I just make 500 gram of chocolate. If I go to 1 kg or more, I need to find a way to store it so I can melt it easily.
Thanks.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Dec 16, 2012 15:49:20 GMT -5
I temper my chocolate and mould it. I find this the easiest way to store it. If I need to melt it before use, I use the microwave or (if I'm melting a lot) a melting tank.
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Post by gameson on Dec 16, 2012 18:55:40 GMT -5
hmm, I usually temper it when I want to use it, so I don't do double work. After refining, I just want to store it.
I can mold it, but that means I have to buy many molds. How many molds are you using? I only have one bar mold and one candy mold (can be used for truffles) at the moment but I don't use the candy mold as it's too thick, so it's hard to break it when needed.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Dec 16, 2012 20:34:31 GMT -5
I have a standard mould I use for my bars. It is 4 cavaties/bars per mould and each weighs 55g and I have four of these moulds. So 4 x 4 x 55g = 880g of moulded chocolate which is pretty much a 1kg batch (I lose a little during the moulding process and the other 100g i just keep to one side as "testing" material.
If I am making a lot of chocolate to use later for moulding etc, I set it in a larger mould. A baking tray lined with clingwrap would be a good substitute. That could easily hold 2-3kg. Let it set and then wrap and store. When I want to use it later, I put it in my 6kg melting tank a few hours before I plan to use it - set the temp to 45C, let it melt and then temper it.
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Post by cheebs on Jan 3, 2013 10:54:22 GMT -5
I've been using ice cube trays for a while now. Each cube cavity holds a very convenient 30 grams of chocolate, 16 cavities per mold. Gallon freezer bags hold ~2kg- 5 lbs. Since I make chocolate in 22-kg batches it's a very convenient way to quickly mold and process amounts like that. I have a Savage 50-lb tempering machine with a pneumatic doser, so doing the 50lbs of chocolate takes about 35-40 mins.
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Post by gameson on Jan 3, 2013 17:08:27 GMT -5
very nice, I guess using the tempering machine, it's easier to melt 30 gram cube? I don't have such machine, so 30 gram cube would be hard to break using ice pick in order to melt?
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Post by cheebs on Jan 3, 2013 17:34:14 GMT -5
No need to break up. We have tempering machines of all sizes and all have "melt" mode, so we just leave the chocolate in the night before and it's melted in the morning. Lacking that, a warm (130F) oven will do the trick just fine.
The cubes are also very easy to melt in the microwave (40% power, 2 minute blasts until it's melted)
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Post by lilypa on Jan 26, 2013 17:47:27 GMT -5
I use stainless steel hotel pans, covered with plastic wrap, to hold my untempered chocolate when I don't have time to temper right away. Seems like some folks in the industry are calling this "aging" their chocolate. I'm gonna do a test soon on the same batch of freshly refined chocolate to see if "aging" for two weeks develops better tasting chocolate than simply tempering and molding right after refining & conching.
You can find inexpensive hotel pans at any restaurant supply store.
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Post by gretencord on Oct 28, 2013 11:33:09 GMT -5
Does anyone know the clean way to knock a block of chocolate out of a hotel pan like this? I've tried cooling and knocking it with a rubber mallet but it's stuck tight.
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Post by Randy on Nov 2, 2013 9:35:03 GMT -5
I'd try a heat gun or hair dryer on the outside of the pan.
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Post by Freddo on Nov 2, 2013 15:52:30 GMT -5
I read somewhere a recommendation to temper the chocolate before storing it, this sounds like good advice to me as all my stored chocolate has bloomed into brown chalk. And no matter how I try I cannot melt out all the crystals so I have to run it through the melanger again to regain the silky texture. Seems like a lengthy process huh. Be much easier to mold into bars straight away and age in temper, which I plan to do in future.
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Post by Ben on Nov 3, 2013 10:31:13 GMT -5
In my tests, I've had better results with aging in one big block vs. as tempered bars. I haven't had any problems remelting it, though. How have you tried remelting it?
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Post by Freddo on Nov 5, 2013 2:47:43 GMT -5
Hi Ben, yes I tried remelting it but there still seems to be sugar crystals through the chocolate.
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Post by Ben on Nov 5, 2013 9:31:19 GMT -5
Sorry, I didn't realize you were talking about sugar crystals. Sugar crystals won't melt when remelting the chocolate. I'm not sure how the sugar would re-crystalize during aging, though. My guess is that they were not fully refined originally.
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Post by Freddo on Nov 6, 2013 12:11:52 GMT -5
OK sorry I don't mean actual crystals. Lets call them hard lumps.
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