Will
Neophyte
Posts: 7
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Post by Will on Mar 21, 2019 13:03:56 GMT -5
I've made several 'inclusion' bars by just sprinkling whatever add-in onto the back of the bar while molding. I've also seen others mix their add-in directly into the chocolate, usually during the refining or tempering stage. The one time I tried to add espresso powder during the tempering stage it became too thick to work with and was essentially wasted. So my questions are:
1. Can essentially any dry ingredient be added during the refining stage?
3. Is it normal to have tempering issues when adding an additional ingredient in or could it have been another variable that caused the problem?
2. Can anyone weigh in on their experiences with mixing add-ins directly to their chocolate during either stage in the process?
Thanks!
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Post by Chip on Mar 21, 2019 13:10:43 GMT -5
When I put in dry flavoring, such as powdered peanut butter, espresso powder, chili etc. I treat it just I I treat adding whole milk powder: I add it to the melange and let it grind for at least 24 hours.
For larger items, crisped rice, nuts and so on I add them to the tempered chocolate then pour.
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Post by Ben on Mar 21, 2019 14:07:40 GMT -5
If you're adding dry ingredients into the chocolate during either refining or tempering, you'll need to make sure your final formulation has enough cocoa butter for it to still flow. It sounds like that wasn't the case when you added the espresso powder. You could try adding a little cocoa butter to thin it out.
To answer your questions:
1) Some 'dry' ingredients have their own oils, which could cause issues depending on the quantity. Otherwise, most dry ingredients should be ok, assuming you still have enough fat content for the chocolate to flow.
2) Without knowing more about how much you added and when you added it (while the chocolate was being held at melting point vs. while cooling down vs. while tempered), my guess is that your problem was just that you had too high of a solids to fat ratio.
3) I've done inclusions by sprinkling on the back, mixing in to the melted chocolate, and by refining them with the chocolate. They've all worked fine, but have sometimes required adjusting my process or formulation to handle the inclusion.
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Post by dubmaji on Mar 24, 2019 9:32:38 GMT -5
Hi Chip! I haven't tried mixing ingredients in the melanger itself. Would you say it is enough to wash the machine as always in order to get rid of flavor remainders or that something else might be needed? Specially talking about strong ingredients like chili.
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Post by Chip on Mar 24, 2019 11:07:35 GMT -5
Yes, washing the drum in hot soapy water does the trick. No left over odors!
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Post by dubmaji on Mar 24, 2019 21:41:19 GMT -5
Yes, washing the drum in hot soapy water does the trick. No left over odors! Great! Hope to give it a try soon. Thank you.
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