fred
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Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Nov 7, 2018 17:54:28 GMT -5
Arrrgh... well maybe this attempt will work, but making silk so far has not been easy.
I have a pretty good and inexpensive Sous Vide. I've confirmed temperatures with a separate thermometer that I trust.
But first what I tried: * I took a big mason jar with a flip top glass & rubber lid and put 4oz of cocoa butter in there. I use a weight to hold the mason jar down in the water. I've tried too different types of water baths described below.
* My target temp was 92.5F (the Sous Vide has 0.5F temp steps).
* My first attempt used a medium size cooler with I would say a few gallons of water in it. The water temp was stable at 92.5, but after 24 hours I still had solid cocoa butter. Raising 0.5 degrees to 93.0F and after 24 hours I still had solid cocoa butter. Raised another 0.5 to 93.5F and at some point the Sous Vide gave up - I may have dialed in the time wrong - the water temp dropped down to the 70s and of course I had solid cocoa butter... * Second attempt I took a much smaller stock pot. Put the large mason jar in there with a weight on top (the very top of the jar is no submerged). After 24 hours I still had solid cocoa so I went up 0.5F to 93.0F. I'll know the results tomorrow.
But what am I doing wrong? Is the container too big? Has anyone tried just using a zip-lock with cocoa butter in it? Getting the seal right is of course pretty critical, but I would dry it off at the end and squeeze the silk out into another plastic container to let it set.
Thanks in advance for any help!
-Fred
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Post by Chip on Nov 7, 2018 18:00:56 GMT -5
Are you putting the cocoa butter through a food processor to start with? I always start with that type of butter, and I've never experienced anything like you describe. My Sous Vide I bought on Amazon for like $55, so it's also an inexpensive one.
1. I take the cocoa butter and put it through the food processor with the "S" blade that reduces it to very small pieces. 2. I completely fill the jar with the cocoa butter 3. I put it in the water bath, submerged with a brick but up on a rack so water can get all the way around the jar 4. I usually leave it in for 24-48 hours. 5. It comes out looking like lumpy, opaque oatmeal.
Hope this helps.
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fred
Novice
Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Nov 7, 2018 21:45:47 GMT -5
Thank you Chip, I wonder if my jar is too big. I may end up getting a smaller one. Also, the big jar with lots of air in it sits on the bottom of the crock pot. So there may be too much heat loss or some such thing... I chopped up the cocoa butter pretty well, I suppose it could have been finer, but it was in smallish chunks. I'll try that too. I would think that a zip lock would do really well - you could take almost all the air out of it and with the cocoa butter spread pretty flat the heat would transfer really well to the surface of the cocoa butter. I don't know if there is a big risk to doing it that way though...
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Post by cacaosublime on Nov 8, 2018 1:31:51 GMT -5
Hi Fred,
For me it was point 3 of Chip's list, the water needs to enclose the jar completely. The jar itself should not rest on the bottom and there should not be a solid block directly on top that also is in contact with the air. The heat will leak through these paths. Put something in between that allows for sufficient water circulation above and beneath the jar
I had air in the jar and not so finely chopped cocoa butter, so my guess is these are not as important as the heat leaks
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fred
Novice
Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Nov 8, 2018 12:28:04 GMT -5
Thank you cacaosublime, I'm trying again, but this time I put the cocoa butter (which I melted a bit at 100F to get out of the jar) into a zip lock. I folded that zip lock over a few times and put it in another zip lock which also has a bunch of nickles in it to weight it down. The whole thing is submerged without touching the bottom and with limited air so we'll see how this one goes. I'll run it at 92.5F for 24H and see. A neat trick with zip locks is the "pastry bag method" - you open the zip lock and put it in a glass (like a short wide tumbler) and fold the locking part around the outsides of the glass (without tearing!). Then pour your food into the center of the glass which is lined with the zip lock. This way the locking part of the zip lock doesn't get gummed up with food. I'll let you guys know how this goes, but from a heat perspective I think this should work.
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fred
Novice
Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Nov 19, 2018 22:59:19 GMT -5
Well, I did manage to make some pretty good silk using zip locks. I'm definitely glad I double-bagged the cocoa butter and maybe even using three bags or using some tape is a good idea. The one silly think I did was to clip the end of the bag and squeeze the cocoa butter into another container. I realized too late that there is no real point in doing that since you can just let the cocoa butter harden in the bag (though you might not get as nice a shape).
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Post by Chip on Nov 20, 2018 10:18:09 GMT -5
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Post by bmikiten on Dec 11, 2018 8:38:34 GMT -5
I've used the same method for a year with no issues. I take CB and cut it up into quarter sized pieces then use a Food Saver vacuum sealed bag and place 100g-250g (depending on my needs for the next few runs) and put that in the Sous Vide under the wire rack overnight. Works 100% of the time with no water issues. Because there is no air in the bags, they sink.
Brian
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Post by jbgange on Mar 28, 2019 12:51:48 GMT -5
Hi, How long do you let the silk solidify? Should I use the same 12 hrs for full crystalization as chocolate, or will it take less time? I just made my first batch, and after 24 hours there was a little oil on the bottom of the jar. The small pieces looked solid, but as soon as I stirred them they turned to cream.
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Post by Chip on Apr 7, 2019 19:54:05 GMT -5
I always just plop my silk into a container and it always sits at least a week. I've never looked at before then. I know after a week it is totally solid.
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fred
Novice
Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Apr 9, 2019 12:39:55 GMT -5
I always just plop my silk into a container and it always sits at least a week. I've never looked at before then. I know after a week it is totally solid. Hi Chip,
Oh, I didn't realize letting the silk rest was a good idea...
The bright side - so far my silk has worked pretty well. I have a bit more refining to do on the process (though I like your idea of using a brick and suspension with the Sous Vide).
-Fred
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Post by Chip on Apr 9, 2019 15:01:47 GMT -5
Fred, Recently I have taken bmikiten's advice and started using a vacuum food sealer. It works so much better than a jar! One of the advantages is that you do not have to transfer it if you don't want to. Just vacuum it up, let it sit in the Sous Vide for 24 - 48 hours, take it out, let it sit for a while, all set!
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fred
Novice
Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Apr 9, 2019 22:56:25 GMT -5
Fred, Recently I have taken bmikiten's advice and started using a vacuum food sealer. It works so much better than a jar! One of the advantages is that you do not have to transfer it if you don't want to. Just vacuum it up, let it sit in the Sous Vide for 24 - 48 hours, take it out, let it sit for a while, all set! That's sounding like a really good idea. Definitely safer than a ZipLoc which feels too much like tempting fate. I'll have to look into that.
Thanks!
-Fred
EDIT: okay, now I'm trying to decide if I can justify buying a vacuum food sealer with essentially this one use in mind LOL.
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Post by Chip on Apr 10, 2019 19:50:06 GMT -5
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fred
Novice
Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Apr 10, 2019 22:18:08 GMT -5
Thank you Chip! I actually nosed around through Amazon reviews and ended up getting a Mueller for $40 (that's including an instant $20 coupon):
I guess now I can try a few interesting things with my Sous Vide =P
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