gap
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Post by gap on Jun 9, 2016 16:05:33 GMT -5
It's an interesting question :-)
Do you call it "75% chocolate with inclusions"? . . . I have no idea . . .
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gap
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Post by gap on Jun 7, 2016 17:35:51 GMT -5
I've had my milk fat go up to 7.5% in a recipe without any problem tempering - it all depends what you're trying to get for taste. If you're having problems tempering though and it's not related to your technique or conditions, then maybe its related to your recipe. An important ratio is the amount of milk fat to cocoa butter. Another consideration is that not all milk powders are the same (so a recipe that works for me may not work for you).
There's plenty of information on this forum if you do some searching.
But getting back to your original post, I would not initially worry about the recipe as the source of your tempering problems.
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gap
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Post by gap on Jun 5, 2016 18:01:25 GMT -5
If you're cooling your bars in a room at 22C that could be an issue. I would generally let my moulds cool in the fridge if my room was that warm. Alternatively, you could try airflow over the top of the moulds as they cool (eg., a small fan).
You can't measure the free fat with home technology, but think of it as how easily the fat can separate from the other milk powder particles. At 25% WMP x 28% fat content, that is 7% milk fat in your recipe which is quite high. If you wanted to try altering your recipe, you could try reducing the amount of WMP to maybe 15-20%.
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gap
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Post by gap on Jun 2, 2016 1:06:03 GMT -5
In 10 years, I've never used glass bowls. At times I work in a professional pastry school and have never seen a glass bowl in there either. Maybe it is for the videos so that it is easier to see the chocolate?
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gap
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Post by gap on Jun 2, 2016 1:03:54 GMT -5
I found I did work out techniques for scraping down to make it more efficient. One I saw but havent used was to take the wheel assembly off, put a cake rack over the bowl and then put the wheels on top of the cake rack over the bowl. Then you can take your time scraping the wheels (which can be heavy if you try and hold in one hand and scrape with the other) and turn the wheels as needed. But, at the end of the day, in terms of %'s, yes you'll have less waste with larger batches.
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gap
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Post by gap on Jun 1, 2016 16:50:09 GMT -5
A few thoughts:
1. How are you adjusting the temperature when you temper?
2. What conditions are you cooling the chocolate in? Ideally, the room temperature should be ~18C and you should have some airflow over the top of the chocolate while it sets. Chocolate can break temper if it doesn't set correctly. Alternatively, once the bars are moulded, transfer to the fridge to let it set.
2. Your %'s are Nibs 20%, CCB 25%, Sugar 30%, WMP 25%. So, milk fat = 25% WMP x 26% fat content = 6.5%. Depending on how "free" the fat is within your WMP, this may cause some issues with tempering. Generally I aim for 5-6%, but I have taken it above that before without issue with the WMP I use. Are you sure your milk powder is 26% fat and not higher?
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gap
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Post by gap on May 31, 2016 16:39:27 GMT -5
I'll have a go at your questions:
1. I don't temper in the melanger. I put all the chocolate in a bowl, heat it to 45C and then temper by hand. Place it back in the bowl and mould. If the chocolate starts thickening in the bowl (either from getting cold or over tempering), I can heat it gently with a heat gun/paint stripper/hair dryer and raise the temperature 1C or so while stirring constantly. A gentle heating which keeps dark chocolate below 31C is unlikely to break the temper - stirring constantly is the key here so that the heat is even throughout the mass. You could probably try a similar heating practice in the melanger - just be careful not to heat the stones up too much.
2. Yes, chocolate keeps. Most people quote dark chocolate as keeping for a year but I have kept some longer under good storage conditions. Also, I'm sure family and friends will be willing to help with any excess pounds of chocolate :-)
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gap
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Post by gap on May 31, 2016 16:31:55 GMT -5
Before what? If you are adding it to a grinder as part of your bean to bar chocolate making process, you don't have to when making dark chocolate given Mycryo is in powdered form, but it will help if you do (especially if you are making milk chocolate). With regular cocoa butter in blocks, I always melt it first.
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gap
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Post by gap on May 30, 2016 23:07:02 GMT -5
Yes. Mycryo is just expensive cocoa butter.
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gap
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Post by gap on May 1, 2016 16:46:42 GMT -5
I would try adding some lecithin - about 0.4% by weight - and see what happens.
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gap
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Post by gap on Apr 30, 2016 22:00:16 GMT -5
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gap
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Post by gap on Apr 30, 2016 21:58:12 GMT -5
You're kidding ?!?!? Is that possible??? Not that I have the amount of beans necessary or resources to do it, but the thought never even occurred to me
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gap
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Post by gap on Apr 28, 2016 16:31:32 GMT -5
Sorry, I only know of US and Australia (although I'm sure there are plenty of others). This forum has everything you need to get started really, but if you wanted to see something hands on, these people might be able to lead you in the right direction or help you out (I know nothing about them other than they're based in the UK): www.bean-to-bar.co.uk/
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gap
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Post by gap on Apr 10, 2016 16:55:20 GMT -5
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gap
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Post by gap on Apr 7, 2016 16:28:07 GMT -5
It doesn't appear to be your recipe, so I'm guessing there must be some moisture in the chocolate.
I haven't heard of "golden" caster sugar - it sounds like that may be a "brown/raw/more molasses" type sugar which could potentially hold more moisture than white caster sugar.
Your roasting times are also shorter than mine, so maybe the beans are still holding moisture after the roast.
Alternatively, maybe there was some moisture in the grinder before you started.
I'm outta ideas after that :-)
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