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Post by chocs on Nov 15, 2010 4:37:49 GMT -5
Hi I'm pretty new to choc making and so far, its been hits and misses. Yesterday when I tempered the choc, I brought the dark chocolate up to over 45 degrees C (not sure of the temp in F). I just continued then to seed and bring the temp down to 31-32 degrees C. After everything, it was quite difficult to unmould and some pieces were like stuck to the mould. What should I have done after I realized I brought up the heat too much?
Thanks for advice.
p.s. Thanks for this great forum which I found only yesterday. Busy reading up!
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Post by ephramz on Nov 15, 2010 11:40:23 GMT -5
These forums and google are your friend. There's plenty of extensive postings on here about the temps needed for proper tempering and google can easily convert between C and F: www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=45+C+in+F&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8which means you probably didn't go high enough, rather than too high. I usually heat to 120° F or 49° C first. how were you seeding (small shavings or large chunks?), at what temps did you add it in, and what ratio of weights (1:4 or 1:3 seed:melted is usually suggested)?
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Post by Brad on Nov 15, 2010 13:21:48 GMT -5
Try bringing the temperature down to 35 degrees and THEN seeding. If you put your seed in while the chocolate is still above 35, you risk destroying the stable crystals you need to properly temper your chocolate. Yes, it will take a while to melt your seed chocolate, but you'll end up with properly tempered chocolate.
Hope that helps
Brad
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Nov 15, 2010 16:35:17 GMT -5
I agree with Brad's comments - you don't want to melt all of your seed chocolate too quickly. If you need to speed up the process a bit because the seed chocolate isn't melting at the lower temperature, hit the whole thing with an immersion blender for a while.
Pre-crystallsing chocolate (ie., tempering it) is about three things - time, temperature and movement. Don't just concentrate on the temperature, remember that tempering also takes time to happen (for the correct crystals to multiply) and requires movement of the chocolate (agitation on a table or stirring in a bowl) to happen. I was taught to temper chocolate from day one without a thermometer and I still don't use one today - although temperature is important, it isn't the only thing.
Also, for what its worth, I always melt my chocolate to 45C before starting, so I think you would have been fine with that.
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Post by chocs on Nov 15, 2010 20:38:49 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the tips. So I made several mistakes. I always went strictly by the thermometer. 5 minutes after the choc reached 45C (and off the stove), I put all the seed in! I thought I had to bring it to a lower temperature ASAP so I stirred constantly when it was I guess at 42/43C. I’ll have another go this weekend bearing in mind what I’ve learnt from your posts. Thanks for generously sharing these tips with me.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Nov 15, 2010 23:56:13 GMT -5
FWIW, melting on the stove in a pot can be dangerous as the chocolate may keep heating in a hot saucepan even once it is off the stove. Try using a microwave to melt. If you have 1kg of chocolate to melt, start by using 30 seconds to melt and stir inbetween each melt. When it starts to go (bits are sticking together, you are starting to see some melting) then reduce it to 15 seconds. When it gets close to melting out all the bits of chocolate, just use 5 second intervals. Alternatively, if you do want to melt on a stove, trasfer the chocolate to a new container once it has melted so you know it wont keep heating up.
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Post by beanless on Nov 16, 2010 14:57:37 GMT -5
Just another thought - check your thermometer is accurate. I ran into problems tempering after my thermometer decided to change by 2deg C. After 3 attempts at tempering the same batch I decided to check my thermometer by putting it in ice water and I found it was reading -2 deg C so I had been over heating the chocolate!
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Post by tony on Nov 20, 2010 5:36:22 GMT -5
Hi All. Figure 8 on page 6 of this fantastic paper on tempering has is a diagram that once internalized will forever answer any tempering questions you are ever likely to have. T
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Post by tony on Nov 20, 2010 5:47:38 GMT -5
Sorry the file woldnt upload (too big) but here is the picture. Attachments:
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Post by ephramz on Nov 21, 2010 3:25:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the interesting graph, Tony. Can you give the reference for the paper and describe what the unmarked Y axis designates since it doesn't seem to be temperature?
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Post by chocs on Nov 21, 2010 20:29:09 GMT -5
Thank you all .. I followed your tips and the chocs turned out great. Very easy to unmold and with a nice shine to it. I'm soo pleased with the result! Thanks for sharing the tips!
Gap, I don't have a microwave so I transferred the melted chocolate to a new container once it reached 45C.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Nov 22, 2010 16:09:01 GMT -5
Glad to hear it worked out well
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