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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 12, 2020 11:48:15 GMT -5
Hello all, I made my first batch of chocolate this week. I used the following: 60% nibs 30% sugar 10% cocoa butter The chocolate came out of the melanger smooth, and tasted wonderful! However, I tempered it, going from 113 degrees F, mixed with a seed of 82 degrees F, and brought it to a pouring temp of 88 degrees F. I don't have molds yet, so I poured droplets onto parchment paper sheets. Once dry, the final product came out very dull and "powdery" looking with no sharp snap. I included a picture so you can see what I mean. I am thinking I did something wrong in the tempering process, but not sure what that was. Can anyone tell me what you think I did wrong? Thank you for any help!
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Post by Chip on Aug 12, 2020 13:58:12 GMT -5
aramirez626That is a classic case of bloom. One suggestion: when using the seed or silk method of tempering, add the silk at atou 97F, then stir and cool to about 92F or even a little less, then warm the molds a little (not hot) and pour. If you put in a refrigerator try not to leave them in more than 25 minutes or so.
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Post by Ben on Aug 13, 2020 8:00:29 GMT -5
Was the seed you mentioned silk or chocolate? Since it was at 82F, I'm assuming it was chocolate. How did you get it to 82F?
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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 13, 2020 12:27:36 GMT -5
Hi guys, to answer the question, I was using 1/3 of the chocolate as seed which I got to 82 by placing the bowl into a cooler water bath.
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Post by Ben on Aug 13, 2020 12:41:17 GMT -5
Ok. So, is this your full tempering process?
Melt chocolate to 113F Place 1/3 in bowl in cold water bath until at 82 Re-add 1/3 back into main chocolate and stir
If so, that sounds pretty reasonable. A couple questions:
Were you stirring consistently through all of this?
When you added the seed chocolate back in and stirred it, was the chocolate at 88F then, or was it warmer and you poured when it got to 88F?
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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 13, 2020 12:56:01 GMT -5
yes, that is my process, except one difference - I added the 113 into the 82 and stirred. I didn't add the 82 into the 113. Then yes, I stirred until it got to 88.
One thing that might have affected this. I used my instant read thermometer to measure the temp of the water bath, shook it off, then used it to measure the chocolate. I know water can affect chocolate, but even a microscopic droplet that could have possibly been on the thermometer tip?
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Post by Ben on Aug 13, 2020 15:32:52 GMT -5
Ok. What was the temperature right after you combined the two chocolates? My guess is that it was too hot and that the 113F chocolate melted the crystals in the 82F chocolate.
That amount of water on the thermometer shouldn't have any effect on the chocolate. I would get in the habit of drying it off, though. Why measure the temp of the water bath? What temp did you want it to be?
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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 14, 2020 16:30:46 GMT -5
Ok. What was the temperature right after you combined the two chocolates? My guess is that it was too hot and that the 113F chocolate melted the crystals in the 82F chocolate. That amount of water on the thermometer shouldn't have any effect on the chocolate. I would get in the habit of drying it off, though. Why measure the temp of the water bath? What temp did you want it to be? Unfortunately, I do not remember the temp right after I combined the two chocolates, but I assume it could not have been higher than 113. I have seen tempering videos and reading that says you can heat it up to 115, so I thought 113 was safe. Is that wrong? I measured the water bath just to make sure it was around 70-72, as in the "Bowl Tempering" video from this site. Basically to make sure it would cool the seed down to 80-82.
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Post by Ben on Aug 15, 2020 9:39:55 GMT -5
It is safe to melt chocolate to 115 or even well above that. Adding 82F chocolate to 113F chocolate probably cooled the hot chocolate down some, but in so doing, may have melted all the seed crystals that you had created in the cool chocolate (which melt at temperatures above 93F).
So, once you stir the seed chocolate back in, check the temperature. If it's above 93F, you'll want to take some more chocolate out and cool it again. Repeat until the chocolate is at least under 93F (closer to 90 is safer). If it gets too cool, put it back on the double boiler to warm it up to your working temperature.
Once you think it's in temper, test it before molding. You can dip some parchment paper, a spoon, or a knife into the chocolate and let it set. If it's in temper, it should set in a few minutes without streaks. If it doesn't set correctly, keep it at your working temperature, stirring constantly.
On a side note, I find 88F too cool to mold dark chocolate as the chocolate tends to get too thick. I generally mold around 92F.
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Post by Thomas on Aug 15, 2020 11:12:05 GMT -5
Where did you let you chocolate droplets on parchment set up? This environment is also important. If they were on the kitchen counter and the room temperature was too warm, the chocolate may lose temper.
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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 17, 2020 10:58:00 GMT -5
It is safe to melt chocolate to 115 or even well above that. Adding 82F chocolate to 113F chocolate probably cooled the hot chocolate down some, but in so doing, may have melted all the seed crystals that you had created in the cool chocolate (which melt at temperatures above 93F). So, once you stir the seed chocolate back in, check the temperature. If it's above 93F, you'll want to take some more chocolate out and cool it again. Repeat until the chocolate is at least under 93F (closer to 90 is safer). If it gets too cool, put it back on the double boiler to warm it up to your working temperature. Once you think it's in temper, test it before molding. You can dip some parchment paper, a spoon, or a knife into the chocolate and let it set. If it's in temper, it should set in a few minutes without streaks. If it doesn't set correctly, keep it at your working temperature, stirring constantly. On a side note, I find 88F too cool to mold dark chocolate as the chocolate tends to get too thick. I generally mold around 92F. Thank you! I suspect that since I added all the hot chocolate into the cooled seed at once, it broke down the crystals as you mentioned. I didn't think about that, thank you!
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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 17, 2020 11:00:02 GMT -5
Where did you let you chocolate droplets on parchment set up? This environment is also important. If they were on the kitchen counter and the room temperature was too warm, the chocolate may lose temper. It has been hot lately, and we do not have AC, so it gets up to 80-90 in the house. That day it was about 80+ in the house when I did the tempering.
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Post by mark on Aug 18, 2020 2:31:57 GMT -5
Yeah those ambient temperatures are pretty high and even if that was not your issue this time it could well cause you much grief as your chocolate won't cool quickly enough and go out of temper in the process. You can pop them in a chiller / refrigerator briefly but be careful to avoid any condensation forming on the surface (fan will help with that).
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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 18, 2020 17:44:08 GMT -5
Yeah those ambient temperatures are pretty high and even if that was not your issue this time it could well cause you much grief as your chocolate won't cool quickly enough and go out of temper in the process. You can pop them in a chiller / refrigerator briefly but be careful to avoid any condensation forming on the surface (fan will help with that). Thanks. I will keep that in mind for next time.
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Post by aramirez626 on Aug 18, 2020 17:47:06 GMT -5
Thank you all for your insight and recommendations. This experience and your feedback have both been very rewarding. The good news is that I made chocolate mousse with this batch and it came out wonderful! My daughter the chocolate critic loved it.
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