jano
Neophyte
Posts: 34
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Post by jano on Sept 20, 2016 17:52:20 GMT -5
Hi: I'd like to make some filled chocolates, and after watching the professional videos, I'm way too small scale to enjoy the kind of waste they get away with. I'm not sure how to do the workflow? It seems very time consuming. I haven't tried it yet, but this is what I'm thinking: 1. Make tempered, melted chocolate 2. Pour tempered chocolate into mold 3. Wait a minute 4. pour/scrape excess chocolate back into melty bowl 5. let shells set completely in mold 6. Add filling into shell in mold 7. Make tempered, melted chocolate 8. Pour tempered melted chocolate over molds 9. pour/scrape excess chocolate back into melty bowl 10. let set and done Remember, I'm doing this for fun, at home, super small scale, maybe 2-4 pounds of chocolate on hand, and the filled chocolates will be something like once every couple months. #1 and #7 are the hardest parts for me. I haven't had success tempering chocolate consistently other than using 12 hour @93f seeded cacao butter or in the grinder method listed in CA's instructions elsewhere (no luck using microwave or water baths, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't), and I don't know how to keep that step #1 in a melted phase long enough for step #8. Wow, that's an awful sentence haha. Thanks for reading
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Post by Thomas on Sept 20, 2016 21:21:56 GMT -5
Hi Jano, You need a chocolate melter. Once you temper your chocolate, it can be poured into a melter to maintain its temperature. I temper my chocolate using a single stainless steel bowl, a pot of simmering water, and a cold water bath. After I've tested the temper, I then pour it into my melter. I makes bars most of the time and I add inclusions or flavored oils to the chocolate once it's in the melter. My largest batches are 6.5 lbs. I've made filled chocolates too and follow the basic flow that you describe. I use this melter www.moldart.be/en/shop/chocolate-machinery/dry-heat-chocolate-melter-6-kg/ but there are many others available. Regards, Thomas
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Sept 21, 2016 0:59:24 GMT -5
Your procedure is correct. After step 6, most people will let a skin form on the filling before backing off the moulds with chocolate. That may take a few hours or overnight depending on the filling.
As Thomas mentions, a chocolate melter makes things easier. It is not a requirement: it is possible to do your volumes in a plastic bowl and use a heat gun to regulate the temperature, but it is tricky if you're not well versed in the techniques of moulding because you have to move at a good pace and trying to keep things clean is harder under this setup. Also, it is easier keeping large amounts of chocolate (say 3-4kg) in temper than small amounts (say 1kg).
I don't know what your budget is and if it is possible for you to attend a short course on moulded chocolates. It was many years ago for me now, but having someone show me tempering first hand and tricks/tips for moulding (even how to hold the mould, how to hold the scraper, what angle to hold the scraper versus mould etc) was invaluable when I tried to do it at home.
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jano
Neophyte
Posts: 34
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Post by jano on Sept 21, 2016 13:50:54 GMT -5
The budget, well, I'm not sure because I haven't really done one. The classes idea sounds like fun, I think there is something in my area, will research!
The chocolate melter appears interesting, but the one linked to is about 4 times the size I need. It's the problem I had last time I made a "larger" batch (4lbs) of chocolate since I only have 1 mold: I tempered the chocolate, poured into the mold, then the bowl with 3.7 pounds went into the oven with oven light on. It slowed the setting process down, but by the time the chocolate in the mold set the second time around (roughly 30-45 minutes), it was getting harder to work with. I just don't have luck remelting it over water bath, in microwave, or with a heat gun. The theory seems plausible, but the chocolate doesn't get easy to work with until it goes past the 92F so it loses the temper.
I don't really want yet another gadget in my house for something I won't be doing very often. I'm wondering if I could use a crock pot together with PID controller/dorkfood. Or maybe I'll just keep the chocolate melted in a jar inside my water bath (it's how I do the cacao butter seed).
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Post by Ben on Sept 21, 2016 14:14:55 GMT -5
Hi Jano,
I don't have much to add on the truffle-making process, but I wanted to comment on something you said:
Since the formation and melting of cocoa butter crystals is an ongoing process, just going past 92F doesn't necessarily mean that your chocolate is no longer in temper. In fact, I regularly mold chocolate bars with chocolate above 92F. It takes a while for all of the crystals to melt. That's one of the reasons that when tempering you initially need to melt your chocolate up to 110F or so, to ensure that all of the crystals have been melted.
From your description of your process and what's happening with your chocolate, my guess is that you're probably still fine at that point. I say this because if the chocolate doesn't get workable again until 92F, that means that it has probably become over-tempered in the time between making the shells and backing them. This is why it's overly thick and hard to work with. By heating it up, you're melting out some, but probably not all, of the crystals. Of course, if you heat it up too hot, and then hold it there for a long time or keep heating it, you can take the chocolate out of temper.
My suggestion would be that if you find you have to heat up to 92F to get it to a workable state, stir it a bunch and then test the temper with a knife or piece of parchment paper. My guess is that your chocolate will still be in temper. Depending on how much you've heated it, and how much chocolate you have, it's possible that you've taken it just out of temper. In this case, it should be relatively easy to regain temper by cooling it slightly or adding a tiny tiny bit of seed chocolate.
Hope this helps!
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Post by LLY on Sept 22, 2016 4:15:58 GMT -5
Reading all the above, I ponder why chocolate staying in melter won't become overtempred? keeping the chocolate too long in working temperature will cause, inevitably, to over-crystallization, am I wrong?
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Sept 22, 2016 5:59:31 GMT -5
You are correct. It will, with enough time, over temper in a melting tank. You just hit it with a heat gun/hairdryer to raise the temperature a little, stir it and you can keep working.
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