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Post by swamps on Mar 6, 2020 14:35:06 GMT -5
Hi guys
I am trying to make chocolate for the first time following the template John so kindly provides in his videos but due to some ingredient substitutions I’m planning on making I have a few questions I hope you can help me out with before I proceed.
I am copying the milk chocolate formula uploaded but want to make it sugar free-ish and mix it without a melanger, probably just mixing it in a bowl over a saucepan style double boiler.
From the 1kg of chocolate recipe:
250g - cocoa beans
I'm substituting with 250g of Callebaut easymelt 100% Cocoa Mass, with a 54% cocoa butter (fat) content, am I correct in thinking this would be a direct 1:1 substitution here?
250g – sugar
I'm substituting with 250g of bochasweet sugar substitute which is a 1:1 replacement for sugar.
250g - cocoa butter + 250g - milk powder
This is where I get very confused, I want to substitute in some Anthony's Heavy Cream Powder here as it only has half the amount of sugar of full fat milk powder and has 72% Butterfat content which I was hoping would act as replacement for the fat in the cocoa butter whilst at the same time providing the milk solids that I am assuming the milk powder provides to actually make the chocolate “milk chocolate” (if I am wrong in my assumption here then please forgive my ignorance I am an absolute novice at this). The problem I have is that I have no concept of the ratios required here and am worried that simply adding in 500g of this heavy cream powder will not provide the same outcome as the cocoa butter and milk powder as separate ingredients at the ratios used in you video.
Any guidance or advice you guys can give on how you would suggest I proceed will be hugely appreciated.
Thanks
Steve
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Jim B.
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Newbie
Posts: 118
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Post by Jim B. on Mar 7, 2020 7:26:26 GMT -5
First, Steve, you really need some kind of grinder/refiner (like a melanger) if you want to achieve any level of quality! 😣 But I do applaud your going for it anyway. My first attempt was not too different to see if I wanted to invest in this as a hobby. But I was making dark, semi-sweet pieces with no milk. I can understand not wanting to make the expense without at least "testing the water" first. A small melanger (like the Premier) would cost a little over $300 USD on Amazon. (Make sure you get the one rated for making chocolate - it is designed for the heavier use necessary.) And here's the real rub: I'm not sure you can achieve a real "mix" of the ingredients in a double boiler. The melanger is really necessary to grind and blend. Listen, I recently thought I'd try to experiment making a tiny bit of "white chocolate" using cocoa butter, sweetener, and cream or milk powder (I don't remember which). The cream and sweetener would not even stay in suspension let alone blend in to make it "one thing" - white chocolate. I fear you're headed toward a failed attempt and I would rather encourage you to start (and finish) well! I make a sugar free (well, sucrose free) chocolate using Allulose (a rare sugar with no glycemic impact) and a touch of monk fruit to help the sweetness (allulose is only 70% as sweet as sugar) because of my diabetes. And I am experimenting with heavy cream powder as a milk substitute to lower the lactose as well. (I'm assuming the easymelts are 100% cocoa, otherwise there may be sugar in them.) I think the 250g (25%) of cream powder will be far too much - I have a batch in the melanger now with 10% and, while I can't call it "milk chocolate" (milk solids are too low even if the use of cream would qualify - which I don't know!), it is super creamy - luxurious, even! (This happens to be a real sugar recipe for my wife.) The mix is 50% nibs, 10% cocoa butter, 30% sugar, and 10% heavy cream. It flows pretty well in the melanger but has such a creamy texture that I may have some trouble tempering and molding. I think I would have been better with a little more cocoa butter and less nibs. If I were to add more cream to get the milk solids up, I am still not sure if I would go higher than 12-15%. (But, I like my milk chocolate on the dark side!) May I suggest more of a 40%/20%/30%/10% mix? The double boiler can cause trouble if you're not really careful. Steam can invade your chocolate and cause it to seize (not good). Also, I don't know if there is any moisture content in your sweetener Bochasweet. (I see only "kabocha extract" on the label.) Any introduction of water can ruin the batch. Also, have you given any thought to how you will temper your chocolate?
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Post by swamps on Mar 7, 2020 8:42:26 GMT -5
Jim B, wow thanks for the much needed advice mate it looks like you’ve just saved me quite a lot of wasted time and effort. I will now redirect my effort to sourcing a good melanger before I start the whole chocolate making experiment, I’m in the U.K though so this is no easy task – just a quick google search has revealed how niche (and therefore expensive) these machines are over here. I’m definitely going to heed your advice though and get saving to purchase one as my top priority now – cheers bud.
I recall John mentioning having any water present in the mix could clump the mixture up and possibly ruin the melanger so I have to ask with a novice such as myself playing about with all these different ratios of ingredients is there a danger I could damage the machine at all? It seems logical to me that it wouldn’t because if anything ingredients like heavy cream powder just add more fat which should make the process smoother but thought I would ask.
Speaking of water you raise a good point about the sweetener but it doesn’t mention any moisture content and as you said the only ingredient listed is kabocha extract. I will have to contact the manufacturer and ask otherwise simply add it and keep a watchful eye over the mix in case of potential seizing.
As far as tempering is concerned I was just going to use my sous vide, It’s incredibly precise and very easy to use but this stage seems so far away now I’m on the hunt for a melanger lol.
Thanks again for the great advice, I’m going to keep an eye on the other thread you have on this topic and see if I can jot down some notes along the way as you get the results of your mixes and tempering so when the time comes and I have the melanger I’m better informed to proceed -hopefully without incident.
Cheers mate
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Jim B.
Novice
Newbie
Posts: 118
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Post by Jim B. on Mar 7, 2020 15:32:45 GMT -5
Glad I can help (or at least I think I'm helping)! Two thing I did getting started: 1.) I read all of John's posts from the beginning forward, following his journey. 2.) Don't forget to warm the ingredients! It helps the melanger and helps with ambient moisture. Are you able to get the sweetener Tagatose? Some have tried that and are quite happy with it. And at 95% sweetness it's nearly 1:1 to sugar on its own. I haven't tried it nor have I seen it here in the US.
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Jim B.
Novice
Newbie
Posts: 118
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Post by Jim B. on Mar 7, 2020 15:42:30 GMT -5
Oh yeah, Since you've got the sous vide, check out John's info for making home made silk. It will save you time (and probably frustration) when you start tempering.
Jim
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fred
Novice
Posts: 144
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Post by fred on Mar 10, 2020 18:16:59 GMT -5
swamps - in case you haven't seen it already, this is how I got my start quite literally! I watched this video: John the Alchemist's Milk Chocolate Video: youtu.be/2NqFTxWZLZgand I bought this melanger: Premier Chocolate Refiner - Melanger www.amazon.com/dp/B016E1NUZA/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_.7bAEbS56Z114The rest is history LOL! But seriously, that was the biggest step for me. My first chocolate wasn't even tempered and I guess silk tempering was my next hurdle. It's been a really fun (and often very messy) learning curve from there.
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