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Post by davidc on Jun 7, 2017 13:54:46 GMT -5
I'm looking for ways to more easily make whatever type of chocolate I need in the moment by pre-refining 100% chocolate when I have extra time, then doing a second refining to add the cocoa butter, sugar, and/or milk powder based on whatever recipe I need. Hoping someone has worked through this before and is willing to share any problems or concerns they came across.
I'm considering this since the roasting, cooling, cracking by hand, and winnowing by hairdryer is my most disliked and time-consuming part of chocolate making, and free time with good weather (for the outdoor winnowing) can be short when I start running low on certain chocolate recipes.
This is very small scale with a home melanger for refining and conching.
Will the second refining time be decreased since only sugar and/or milk will need to be broken down, or will refining time be close to a normally processed batch?
Would you do a "rough" refining initially (not getting down to final smoothness), since you know there will be a second refining when you add other ingredients? I wonder if the double refining would decrease flavor, or if I should decrease conching time if total refining time winds up being longer than usual.
I've read some observations that the sugar helps to refine the cocoa - something about the grittiness of the sugar helping to break down the cocoa. If that's really a thing, can it be overcome by longer refining time?
Thanks to all the folks posting on this board over the years. I've learned a lot reading through the tons of old posts.
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Post by Ben on Jun 7, 2017 18:44:33 GMT -5
Yep, you could do this. As to your other questions, having never tried it, all I can do is guess. That being said, here's my guesses:
I'd imagine that the second refine should be faster than the first, but my guess is that the total will be about the same as a normal batch.
I'd probably do a rough refine the first time, but definitely something to experiment with.
Unless you're storing the chocolate liquor for a long time, I don't think it would be a very noticeable difference in flavor. Also, with the little grinders, there's not enough difference between 'refining' and 'conching' to really think of them as separate steps.
Yes.
-Ben
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