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Post by BobWilson on Jul 17, 2016 16:50:00 GMT -5
I've been tempering using a Sous Vide so that I can precisely control the temperature. I start with it at 115 and completely melted. I quickly drop it to 83, open the bag and add seed chocolate shavings, close and maintain for about 10 minutes. Then raise to 90 and maintain for another 15 minutes then mold.
Ultimately, the chocolate looks great, no bloom, good texture and flavor. However, no snap. It's almost like it's sort of tempered and I'm beginning to wonder if it's not my tempering process but something else, as I've gotten this result consistently.
The chocolate has been 65-70% dark chocolate, and I'm adding in about 10 cocoa butter. I have been melting the cocoa butter either in the microwave or heating in the oven, probably to around 150 degrees. Could this be the issue? Have I wrecked the cocoa butter to where some part of it just won't harden so that some of the chocolate is tempered and some just stays soft?
Or is there something else I should be checking? I'm following the process to a T and getting consistent results, just not the desired results. All input is greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Bob
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Post by BobWilson on Jul 18, 2016 22:54:43 GMT -5
So I did a test with a batch of 65% dark chocolate where I didn't add any additional cocoa butter to see if it was the issue. I got the same result. Looks great, tastes great (not gritty) and hasn't bloomed but it's not fully tempered.
I've got two other thoughts. I was using Nicaraguan beans that tempered fine (using a double boiler) and now I'm testing some Brazilian beans and I've been using the Sous Vide.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
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Post by Thomas on Jul 18, 2016 23:23:59 GMT -5
I've never temperd chocolate without any agitation. The agitation promotes proper temper consistency and crystal formation throughout the chocolate. I don't think chocolate can be tempered using your method. It has nothing to do with with the cocoa butter or beans that you are using. But again, I've never used your method. You should try to retemper the chocolate using a tradition method. I suspect it will temper just fine.
Regards,
Thomas
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Post by BobWilson on Jul 18, 2016 23:54:15 GMT -5
I continually knead the bag the whole time so it is getting squished around but this might not be properly agitating it.
I will take your advice and retemper using a double boiler and see what happens.
Does the chocolate need exposure to air during the process? Just trying to think through the other differences to the other methods.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Jul 19, 2016 1:39:56 GMT -5
I hand temper and machine temper. Both require constant agitation/movement of the chocolate (either manual stirring or machine stirring). I appreciate you are kneading the bag in your sous vide setup, but are you thoroughly mixing the chocolate constantly? Without knowing more about your method, I'd guess that might be the issue.
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