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Post by killavolt on Jan 13, 2015 21:56:45 GMT -5
Hello all, I've come in search of help. I'm a capable cook but wanted to try my hand at some candy and chocolate making.
I picked up some chocolate wafers from the bulk store and was hoping to make some chocolate bars with various things like pretzels, rice krispies etc in them.
I believe it was milk chocolate, they were Belgian chocolate wafers, so I put 10 into a double boiler and heated them to 48C while stirring constantly. I then removed it from the heat and put 5 more wafers in, stirring until they were almost melted and the temperature was right about 28C, then I put it back on the heat and stirred until the temp was about 31C, added broken pretzels and poured it into my molds.
Today they are very soft, will melt easily when touched and I can't remove them from the molds without them breaking/melting/smooshing.
Where did I go wrong here?
How can I produce room temperature stable chocolate bars?
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Post by timwilde on Jan 14, 2015 0:26:26 GMT -5
Killavolt, you'd need to know what you're dealing with in order to get the correct temperatures. There should be a brand/manufacturer or some sort of label on the wafers you purchased. Either on the label or on the manufacturers website, there should be some temp ranges.
as a general guide (your label/manufacturer may have more precise directions)
For Milk Chocolate: Melt to between 105-113F(40-45C) Add seed to cool to 84-86F(29-30C) then raise temp just slightly afterwards. Never raise above 31C otherwise you'll have to start over.
BTW: You also want a trustworthy thermometer. I was tempering with a bad thermometer and being off by even just a few degrees allowed for utter failure in tempering.
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Post by killavolt on Jan 14, 2015 8:55:53 GMT -5
I'm fairly sure that my thermometer is pretty accurate, it's a digital one and cost me like $50. It's been reliable and I've only had it a few months, and only used it a handful of times so far.
I was looking around for some kind of manufacturer on these wafers but there was no information present. Usually Bulk Barn has little sheets with that kind of info on them but there wasn't any for this chocolate.
I have some Merkans wafers as well, and some Bakers Bittersweet chocolate. I wasn't really sure which type of chocolate would make for the best bars.
One thing I do NOT want, is to end up producing cheap easter chocolate.... you know those crappy bunnies that are either gritty, or way too waxy.
Would it be acceptable to added paraffin wax to the chocolate to allow it to harden?? One of the other things I want to do is add in some coconut oil based "flavoring" but I still need the chocolate to harden and have that nice snap to it.
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Post by Thomas on Jan 16, 2015 0:55:35 GMT -5
What did you do with your molds after you filled them with chocolate? They need to remain cool and may also need air flow. Chocolate can loose temper in the molds if they are not in the correct environment,
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Post by killavolt on Jan 16, 2015 13:05:06 GMT -5
I just let it sit at room temperature. Should I have maybe put it in the fridge or freezer?
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Post by Thomas on Jan 16, 2015 23:46:25 GMT -5
It depends on the room temperature. I make chocolate at home and have found that 68F/20C is my cutoff number. Higher than that, I get mixed results. I also always use a fan. I try to make the conditionS as optimal as possible. One other thing, ALWAYS test your temper prior to molding. Put a little chocolate on the back of a spoon, knife, or piece of paper and let it sit for 3 to 4 minutes. It should harden with a nice sheen and have a snap. if not, it is not tempered. I hope this helps.
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Post by killavolt on Jan 17, 2015 10:52:16 GMT -5
I was worried that by doing that the chocolate would get too hot sitting in the double boiler while I waited. My stove was pretty low and the water was barely steaming but it was still able to bring the temp up pretty quickly.
I do have a small bar fridge that doesn't have a fan, it's just passive cooling. Would it be ok to sit the chocolate in there while it hardens in the molds? would being too cold affect the temper also?
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Post by vxaktor on Jan 17, 2015 20:09:33 GMT -5
You can put the molds in the bar fridge or any fridge. The temperature should be about 55 F degrees. To maintain this temperature I have purchased a Johnson temperature probe and plugged the fridge into the temperature probe device and then plug the probe device into the wall outlet.I got mine at a home brew store and it works quite well. The probe cost about USD 65
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Post by lyndon on Jan 18, 2015 8:31:11 GMT -5
I usually set my fridge to 10C, then with the constant opening and closing it rises up to about 16C tops. I use the same setup as vxaktor to control temperature.
I also have lots of silicone moisture bags sitting in the fridge shelves.
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Post by killavolt on Jan 18, 2015 9:05:36 GMT -5
Well I failed again.
I used Merckens wafers this time, heated them up to about 45C, then removed from heat and added 1.5oz of chopped up bakers chocolate squares (The wafers are gross on their own so I wanted to add some darker flavvor). then I stirred continuously until the temp was 31C at which point I poured it into the molds and placed them in my fridge for 30 mins.
The bars were nice, they fell out of the molds on their own and had a nice shine and snap to them. This lasted for an hour or so at which point my bars are now soft and don't snap.
They're harder than my first attempt but still not the way chocolate is suppose to be.
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Post by lyndon on Jan 18, 2015 9:15:57 GMT -5
You may have added the seed chocolate too soon, maybe try adding it under 40C? you could also try maintaining it at around 31C for 15 minutes or so while you stir, if that's possible with your setup.
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Post by killavolt on Jan 18, 2015 9:39:21 GMT -5
I added the seed chocolate when I did because it's darker and it's working temperature is 40-45C so I figured it should be ok if I added it in between that temp range....guess I was wrong lol.
I'll see what I can do about keeping it at that temp for a longer period of time.
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luuk
Neophyte
Posts: 2
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Post by luuk on May 23, 2015 4:21:10 GMT -5
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Post by chonette on Oct 11, 2015 14:32:24 GMT -5
I temper my chocolate using 1% of Callebaut cocoa butter MYCRYO, it always works out fine.
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