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Post by Foodgeek on May 13, 2017 9:00:34 GMT -5
Smaller pieces, perhaps. You might also try removing your waiting period after your initial stir. When I temper small quantities (and I do < 300g regularly), I add the silk at 95F, stir continuously until the silk has melted, stir a bit more, then go straight to pouring. Alright. Thanks. I'll give that a go
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Post by Foodgeek on May 13, 2017 2:46:07 GMT -5
I disagree with Brad, and rather think that silk is uniquely good for tempering small quantities of chocolate. This is because, with silk, you don't have to worry at all about the thermal mass of your container and the thermal "carry-over" from heating and cooling using the water bath method, which will have a greater impact the less chocolate you're working with. That is very true. My problem is getting the silk to completely melt though. Maybe I need a different grater so I can make it pieces smaller?
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Post by Foodgeek on May 13, 2017 2:36:47 GMT -5
I know how to temper chocolate, but that does not mean I don't try to optimize the way I work. I had a look at your video at that is pretty much exactly how I do it, except I use a hairdryer to heat the chocolate back up.
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Post by Foodgeek on May 12, 2017 13:05:36 GMT -5
I think 93.2F might be a little cool. I add silk around 95F and use about 0.5% silk by weight. How much silk do you use? Well, I retempered the chocolate from before. I added the silk at 35 (95), but when it hit 32 (89.6) I could still see crystals so I grabbed my trusty hairdryer, warmed it up to 34.5 (94), let it cool down again, I still saw a few flecks, so I heat it up again. It's molded now, so I'll see how to turns out later. I think the problem might be that it is a very small portion (just a scrap I had laying around) just around 300g (about 10oz). That means that it will cool naturally very quickly. I'll try with a larger portion tomorrow of something I actually need tempered
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Post by Foodgeek on May 12, 2017 12:38:09 GMT -5
I think 93.2F might be a little cool. I add silk around 95F and use about 0.5% silk by weight. How much silk do you use? I use 1%, so I guess I'll try to lower that then
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Post by Foodgeek on May 12, 2017 12:15:09 GMT -5
Yeah, I was the same, also good at hand-tempering and consistently getting it right. However, I went from spending an hour hand-tempering to spending 5 minutes silk tempering with the same results. Well, I am having issues with my silk tempering. I melt the chocolate and cool it down to 34 degrees C (93.2 F), i add the grated silk and stir well, then I leave it for a couple of minutes and then I stir thoroughly again. Then it is usually at working temperature, so I mold it. Here's a picture of the result, the actual temper is awesome, totally perfect and with an great snap, but there's "dust" in it. I guess it's unmelted silk, so what can I do to make sure that's completely melted? Picture for reference: foodgeekchocolate.dk/image/silk.jpgAny ideas?
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Post by Foodgeek on Mar 10, 2017 1:34:10 GMT -5
I was also considering this but then John documented how to temper with silk that you can make yourself and I have found that to be a) much quicker and b) less capital intensive. You can buy the required Sousvide machine from inside the EU. I already have two sous vide machines (one with a tub and one with circulation). I'll have a look at his method, but I am already pretty good at hand tempering. It almost never fails, but it's just a lot of work
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Post by Foodgeek on Mar 9, 2017 8:35:38 GMT -5
Hello chocolate lovers, I am considering buying a tempering machine. The problem is there are table top version that take about 700g (1.5 lbs) or the much more expensive (and larger) machines. My batches are around 3 kg (6.6 lbs) and it would be nice to be able to temper it all at once. Also a dispenser system would be awesome. Does anybody know of a machine that would suit my needs? Also, I'd like to be able to buy it from inside the EU, if at all possible. Thanks Sune
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Post by Foodgeek on Sept 27, 2016 2:24:01 GMT -5
Thanks. Do you have a link?
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Post by Foodgeek on Sept 27, 2016 1:43:45 GMT -5
I find it easier to hand temper instead of meddling with manual machines (having an automatic machine would be great though). I often temper right of the grinder, if not, I just melt the chocolate in the microwave to the right temperature (based on the type of chocolate). Then I put the microwave bowl into another bowl with water and ice. If lower the temperature close to the target (it usually takes only a few minutes) while stirring. I usually take the bowl out at around 30C and let the temperature fall the rest of the way. Still stirring. Once the target is hit, I warm up the chocolate using my trusty chocolate hairdrier, it takes a minute or two for a 1.5 kg batch. Then I start moulding, and usually between moulds (while it's shaking) I'll check the temperature and adjust the temperature if needed; repeat until there is no more chocolate, or moulds
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Post by Foodgeek on Sept 27, 2016 1:24:17 GMT -5
Hello, I am still in the startup phase of my bean to bar company, and when I make a batch of chocolate it is somewhere from 2.5-3.0 kg. So purchasing 100 kg of cocoa beans is a bit outside of my scope. So far I have been buying my cocoa beans from www.bean-to-bar.co.uk/ but I seem to have exhausted their warehouse, because they only have one kind left. Do you know of any companies that sell high quality cocoa beans in reasonable amounts (10-20 kg) that are located within the European Union? Thanks. Regards, Foodgeek
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Post by Foodgeek on Aug 12, 2016 0:18:11 GMT -5
Oh yeah, that is an excellent point. Hadn't considered that. I'll do some math on that and find the right ratio and lower the coconut milk powder. Thank you so much
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Post by Foodgeek on Aug 11, 2016 0:59:52 GMT -5
Hey there, Been a member and reader a while, but never posted before. I make bean to bar chocolate, and mainly high in cocoa content, so usually above 50%. I've been asked to do a special batch of chocolate with coconut milk and sweetened with palm sugar, so I went by my 40% milk chocolate recipe which goes, which I tweaked to 41%: 11% nibs, 34% sugar, 30% cocoa butter and 25% coconut milk powder. I've run this several times with cane sugar and whole milk powder and it turned out as a wonderful delicious (albeit very sweet for my taste) milk chocolate, and it tempered just fine. Back to my coconut milk bar. When I first took it out of the melanger after it finished running, it did seem very thin, and I poured it in a container so I could store it until I was ready to temper and mould it (and develop the taste a bit). Well, the other day, I had time to work on it. As I am cutting it up to melt it, I notice the center of the block is very, very soft. Already then I am a bit worried about the tempering. I melt the chocolate, go somewhere just under 50C, I use my regular technique, I fill the bottom of a big bowl with ice, water and a good amount of salt. I lower the temperature to a bit above 27C and and raise the temperature to around 30C. Everything seems okay, I mould the bars and put them in my chocolate fridge (set to 15C). When I later check them they are not tempered at all, I get as much of the chocolate out as I can and clean the moulds. Zoom to yesterday. I decide to try a different approach. Seeding with cocoa butter powder. I melt the chocolate again, I lower the temperature to 33.5C and add 1% cocoa butter powder and stir until it is dissolved (or so I think). Once I hit 29.5C the chocolate is supposed to be tempered. I do a test on a piece of acetate. It seems fine, nice snap and shine. So I go ahead and mould it all again. So this morning I go to unmould it, the first couple of bars look awesome. The next set has little while cocoa butter granules on the back of the bar (my my it!), the rest has a white bloom, the first couple of the back, the rest of the bars both front and back. The actual temper was good. Shiny and snappy, so I guess this didn't fail. The questions here are: * What is the bloom? * Does it stem from the unmelted cocoa butter powder? Not sure why this chocolate is so temperamental Regards, Sune aka Foodgeek
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