gap
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Post by gap on Mar 3, 2009 16:30:51 GMT -5
Chocolate can be knocked out of temper during the moulding process if temperatures are too extreme. Have you tried warming your moulds slightly before pouring the chocolate in (I'm guessing the mould be cold judging by your weather comments)? Sometimes briefly hitting them with a heat gun (paint stripper) just to raise the temperature a few degrees can help maintain the temper when the chocolate is poured in.
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gap
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Post by gap on Nov 18, 2008 15:53:28 GMT -5
FWIW, just a couple of quick tips for making high % ganaches which I've always found helpful. I just pour the heated cream over the chocolate as normal but then use a food processor or hand-blender to mix. Due to the high fat content of the high % chocolate, the ganache is more likely to split so it is much better to mix with a motorised aid to get a smooth emulsion. Also, when adding the alcohol, I always add after the ganache has emulsified as this reduces the risk of the mixture splitting.
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gap
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Post by gap on Oct 26, 2008 16:38:35 GMT -5
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gap
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Post by gap on Sept 15, 2008 16:45:55 GMT -5
It sounds like you're making something like a white chocolate gianduja. The issue you will get is the finished product wont set like normal chocolate because of the fat introduced by the nuts, it will set up softer and at a lower temperature. Typically a gianduja is made 1:1:1 with chocolate:nuts:sugar and then tempered at a lower temperature than chocolate (approx 27 degrees celcius instead of 30'ish).
The other thing you could try (which I have done in small batch recipes when just combining ingredients by hand) is add a little extra cocoa butter into the recipe to help firm it up (ie., chocolate + nuts + cocoa butter), but its not really a chocolate anymore - its more a gianduja.
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gap
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Post by gap on Mar 11, 2008 21:47:52 GMT -5
isomaltooligosaccharides - seriously, that's a word !?!?! :-)
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gap
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Post by gap on Feb 11, 2008 18:52:22 GMT -5
Brad - are you adding any alcohol, invert sugar or glucose/corn syrup to your truffle recipes? Doing so can have positive influences on the finished product and also help increase shelf life. I make truffles at home which easily maintain a two week shelf life when left in a dark spot (eg., in a cupboard).
Opening it up to the Board - do people out there consider invert sugar, glucose or corn syrup as "bad" preservatives to be avoided in their finished products? Personally I don't but I'm keen to hear what others think. If you do think of them as preservatives that should be avoided, what about honey which is a natural invert sugar?
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gap
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Post by gap on Mar 16, 2006 16:40:08 GMT -5
Thanks Alan, I appreciate the response
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gap
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Post by gap on Mar 14, 2006 23:24:13 GMT -5
A. Patric, how did you go with roasting the nibs? I have just purchased some cocoa nibs and am going to experiment with various temps/techniques. Have you got any advice for a first-timer on what temps to start at or length of time (Forastero nibs)?
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gap
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Post by gap on Mar 28, 2006 21:57:13 GMT -5
Well, not when its chocolate :-)
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gap
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Post by gap on Mar 22, 2006 22:07:27 GMT -5
Alan, I would be interested to hear some of the results of your batches you have been talking about where you take test samples from the batch at various stages of conching. On these anecdotal tests, what gives you the best results.
Keep up your amazing efforts on this forum, I try to add where I can but you have already covered so much!! :-)
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gap
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Post by gap on Mar 19, 2008 17:56:03 GMT -5
To take the cow's diet one step further. When living in Switzerland, I spoke with the locals about their famous Swiss Chocolate. I was told (and I haven't had this independently verified) that the cows in Switzerland go up in the mountains during summer to eat the grasses there. At that time of year, there are some different "herb-type" plants that grow within the grass that the cows ingest. This gives Swiss milk a distinct flavour.
May be an old wives tale but . . .
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gap
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Post by gap on Nov 11, 2007 20:14:49 GMT -5
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gap
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Post by gap on Mar 11, 2008 21:52:54 GMT -5
Speaking of mixes and keeping with the thread, I recently had instruction in making a chilli ganache, topped with a tequila sugar crusted liqueur and then dipped in 70% Sao Thome. I didn't think it would be something I'd go for (and I probably wouldn't have bought it in a store) but I really enjoyed it and would definately buy a chilli chocolate in future.
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gap
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Post by gap on Nov 1, 2007 21:49:45 GMT -5
Check with Guittard for the tempering cycle/process they recommed. Diff chocolates can have slightly diff temperatures for slightly different periods of time that need to be reached during the tempering process.
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gap
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Post by gap on Oct 24, 2006 17:14:00 GMT -5
It has more enhancements than you could poke a stick at . . . . I think Brad has done a link on it somewhere else in the forum
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