Post by ccmaine on Jan 25, 2021 1:22:08 GMT -5
Hello all!
I'm new to the forum and I hope this is the appropriate place to post this inquiry.
I'm a novice chocolatier who runs a small operation on the east coast. I have about 6 years experience working with couverture chocolate, making truffles, barks, dipped goodies etcetera..
I have recently picked up a line of business that requires producing considerably large volumes of compound chocolate bars in a variety of flavors. I have had pretty good success in my production so far but every once in a while I struggle with massive batches of fat blooms that I can not identify the source of. Being compound chocolate I'm not as familiar with all the nuances of working with it. To be frank I hate the stuff. But my client pays the bills so I must figure this out.
First things first. I've tried pouring at a variety of temps from 98ºf down to 87ºf and I keep my room at a consistant 60ºf and 25ish% RH.
I notice the texture of the chocolate surface exposed to the air in my mold seems to get a ripple effect at higher temps. (Unsure of why this happens - perhaps the delta in the air temp to chocolate temp makes it crystalize inconsistently?)
When I get a bloom it looks almost like what it would look like in real chocolate is you had to much humidity. Chalky and crumbly and a thin film sticks to my molds.
I'm using Merckens chocolate, some times it seems to work great - other times it's a consistent disaster and I have to remelt a new batch and scrap the last one. Needless to say I save the failed chocolate and I'm starting to amass a large volume of it that I can not use.
I guess my ultimate question would be can I add cocoa fat to compound to get better results?
Should I add lecithin? Palm oil? Pure cocoa powder?
Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks all!
I'm new to the forum and I hope this is the appropriate place to post this inquiry.
I'm a novice chocolatier who runs a small operation on the east coast. I have about 6 years experience working with couverture chocolate, making truffles, barks, dipped goodies etcetera..
I have recently picked up a line of business that requires producing considerably large volumes of compound chocolate bars in a variety of flavors. I have had pretty good success in my production so far but every once in a while I struggle with massive batches of fat blooms that I can not identify the source of. Being compound chocolate I'm not as familiar with all the nuances of working with it. To be frank I hate the stuff. But my client pays the bills so I must figure this out.
First things first. I've tried pouring at a variety of temps from 98ºf down to 87ºf and I keep my room at a consistant 60ºf and 25ish% RH.
I notice the texture of the chocolate surface exposed to the air in my mold seems to get a ripple effect at higher temps. (Unsure of why this happens - perhaps the delta in the air temp to chocolate temp makes it crystalize inconsistently?)
When I get a bloom it looks almost like what it would look like in real chocolate is you had to much humidity. Chalky and crumbly and a thin film sticks to my molds.
I'm using Merckens chocolate, some times it seems to work great - other times it's a consistent disaster and I have to remelt a new batch and scrap the last one. Needless to say I save the failed chocolate and I'm starting to amass a large volume of it that I can not use.
I guess my ultimate question would be can I add cocoa fat to compound to get better results?
Should I add lecithin? Palm oil? Pure cocoa powder?
Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks all!