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Post by chocolatieeer on Mar 31, 2021 15:45:07 GMT -5
Hi folks! I’m new to chocolate making, very happy I found these forum and all the info available in the Chocolate alchemy webpage and YouTube channel, thanks a lot. I’m from CostaRica. I recently gota Premier Grinder (8pound) and have been playing with it trying to make dark chocolate, as many I’m having not problems but a real nightmare when it comes to Tempering, basically I tried the marble, the two bowl and double boiler, even the controversial Sous vide method (total chaos) and last but not least I’m trying the Butter Silk method AND STILL! can’t get it to work, in my novice opinion based on the info and videos for me it seems that the silk turned out fine but when using it and following the temps recommended at the end I get a chocolate that basically wont set, it stays melded for almost 40 min,on the knife, on the marble, in the bowls, on molds, everywhere.
So, I want to know what is it that I’m doing wrong.
first of all, I refined two batches:
1.the first one I oven roasted for 25 min following chocolate alchemy temperature curves, refined for 48 hours, 60% nibs,10% cocoa butter, 30% sugar. 2.the second one oven roasted for 35min, refined 48h and “counch” for 24 hours in the Melangers with no tension. Same nib butter and sugar percentages.
Cant get to temper this guys.. don’t know what I’m doing wrong if I’m hitting the right temperatures.
Question:
1.if y have bloomed chocolate, which all my trials are bloomed, I can melt it and try again right? In that case to which temperature should I melt in order to add the silk? Above 100F or just above 95F? Cause I have tried both and still can’t get it to work
2.is it posible that I over refined? Could that be wrong? 3. is it posible that the cacao butter I’m adding is not ok? Cause it looks perfectly fine, its not deodorized.
i think I’m going crazy, my wife it’s starting to worry. jaja please help. And glad to be here
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Post by mark on Mar 31, 2021 20:13:11 GMT -5
Hola, what's your room temperature there? You say it stays melted on the knife for 40 minutes, that seems to indicate that your room temperature is too warm. It gets quite warm here where I live and I generally don't temper / mold if the room temp is over around 25 C.
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Post by chocolatieeer on Mar 31, 2021 21:37:50 GMT -5
Hola Mark, thanks for your response. That’s a good pint which I considered, but the thing is that where I live right it’s about 20C average day and night so that makes me wonder.
if I heat the chocolate, at which temperature will it “burn”?
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Post by Ben on Apr 1, 2021 11:13:06 GMT -5
Tempering always takes a while to figure out. Don't worry, you'll get it. In answer to your questions: 1) Yes, you can always remelt and re-temper chocolate. You'll want to melt it to 108F (42C) or above to ensure that all crystals are gone. Silk should be added when the chocolate has cooled to around 93F (33-34C). 2) It is possible to over-refine, but it's not really a concern in the little grinders. Over-refining wouldn't cause tempering issues. 3) As long as the cocoa butter is fully melted, it should be fine. 4) You'll need to heat dark chocolate very hot to burn it. I can't remember exactly what temp you should stay under for dark chocolate, but it's like 200F (93C) or something. My advice would be to go back to the 2-bowl method and make sure that you are hitting the correct temperatures. Silk tempering is nice and makes things easy, but I think it's important to really understand tempering, how the chocolate changes during the process, etc. At a 20C room temp, the chocolate on a knife dipped in it and left out should set in 5 minutes or so. If it doesn't, your chocolate is not in temper, so don't start molding bars. It could be that you needed to hold it at the cool temp or the final temp a bit longer, that it wasn't stirred enough so the crystallization hasn't spread consistently through the chocolate, etc. We could probably offer more specific advice if you'd detail the exact tempering process as well as tell us how you're cooling the chocolate. Pictures can also be helpful.
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Post by chocolatieeer on Apr 1, 2021 14:01:50 GMT -5
Hey Ben, thanks a lot for your time and the light you have brought to my questions and doubts. It is nice to know that I have not burned my chocolate cause it never went over 61C and also is not over refined cause of the Melangers I’m using, y do notice that’s the second batch that I roasted a bit more and refined it +24 hours compared to the first batch it actually tastes better, mes astringent, it is more pleasant. By what you’re telling me, well, I have to keep trying and take some pics, will continue with the two Bowl method and also the Silk one and I will let you guys know, I’m hopping for the best One question: about the silk, when I opened the jar I noticed a very tiny percentage of the cocoa butter was melted as in “transparent” the rest (let’s say 95%) was like mayonnaise, is that normal? Or the fact that some of it melted means it ruined the whole batch of silk? I was able to spread and dry with no prob, looked opaque and all. I’ll put some pics. Thanks again.
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Post by chocolatieeer on Apr 4, 2021 11:42:01 GMT -5
Hi friends, passing by to let you know that I didn’t gave up and still trying to temper, not using the silk but only the two bowl method, your advices and Brads Choklat video on his Facebook have been really helpful, think I’m getting close to it little by little. This was still in some silicon molds I have but already ordered some polycarbonate from Tomric by Implast so soon hope yo post some pictures and let you know how is it going. This one is 60%nib, 10% cocoa butter and 30% sugar. Tempered using the two bowl method, molded and set in the fridge for 15min. Attachments:
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big
Neophyte
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Post by big on Apr 4, 2021 17:16:42 GMT -5
Hi all, first post here! I'm having exactly the same problem chocolatieeer is having. After conching a 75% dark (70 nib + 5 butter + 25 sugar) I cannot temper it whatever I try. I believe I'm hitting the right temperatures with the two bowls but I tend to jump from cooling to heating to molding as soon as I hit the target temp. Ben what did you mean by "holding the temperature" or "stirring enough"? Does that play a role as well?
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jmm
Neophyte
Posts: 46
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Post by jmm on Apr 5, 2021 5:46:45 GMT -5
Hi all, first post here! I'm having exactly the same problem chocolatieeer is having. After conching a 75% dark (70 nib + 5 butter + 25 sugar) I cannot temper it whatever I try. I believe I'm hitting the right temperatures with the two bowls but I tend to jump from cooling to heating to molding as soon as I hit the target temp. Ben what did you mean by "holding the temperature" or "stirring enough"? Does that play a role as well? I just started using my own made silk... and what a blessing that is... All you do is add 1% of the silk...make sure your temp lines up... and ur set to go... I’ve messed it up once where I added the silk at the wrong temp...other then that it’s fool proof!
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Post by Ben on Apr 5, 2021 6:47:03 GMT -5
When tempering chocolate, the cocoa butter in it is either forming crystals or melting crystals. It's a continuous process--not something where you just hit the temperature and everything is necessarily correct. Sometimes, you need to hold it at certain temperatures for a couple minutes to let it form more crystals. Sometimes you go too far and need to reheat it to melt out some crystals. So, yes, holding the chocolate at certain temperatures can definitely play a role. Also, stirring is very important to make sure that the whole mass of chocolate is the same temperature and that the crystals are thoroughly mixed in. Without adequate stirring, you're likely to get streaking in the final chocolate due to temperature or crystallization differences. Lastly, I'd recommend always testing the temper of your chocolate before molding. I do this by dipping some parchment paper in the chocolate and seeing if it sets up correctly in the cooling cabinet. Others use a knife for the same thing.
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Post by Chip on Oct 13, 2021 12:41:58 GMT -5
I strictly use the silk method, for up to 5kg of chocolate at a time. It is so easy to make on your own! You buy an inexpensive sous vide on Amazon, get a large container, chop up some cocoa butter, SEAL IT in a bag or jar, let it "cook" in the water bath for 24-48 hours, take it out, put in in another container to cool and store, and you are in like flint.
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Post by beardo on Oct 13, 2021 13:07:23 GMT -5
Hey everyone, might as well add to this thread to avoid making a new one. Same thing for me, newbie having issues with tempering on my first few batches. So I've tried the bowl method, it was OK, found it difficult to really hold temps super accurately but felt I did manage it on some of the later tries (maybe did this 4 times - remelting each time). Found an old Chocovision (Rev1) for super cheap on eBay and thats still not helping me get the temper right. It's not even that the bars won't set, they just streak and appear to bloom incredibly quickly. Even when I think I've nailed it, if I look closely the bars have a shiny separation ring around the air bubbles or faint streaking. Bars will set fine though. Heres a pic: ibb.co/NmZTnzcNow I never refined (and conched) for very long - I only did it for something like 14 hours, enough time to get a smooth silky texture. Do you think I've potentially under-refined? Also a few extra questions: - Do you need to add additional cocoa butter to your bars? I've always just refined and attempted to mould the nibs that came from the cocoa bean itself. Never added any additional ingredients apart from 30% raw cane sugar into the melanger (Premier). - And anytime I google or search for a tempering video they always used 'seed' chocolate - can you confirm that this isn't required when does your own bean to bar? Could someone explain that to me please. I assume they're using it as a shortcut, adding pre-exisiting V crystals whereas we're creating them from scratch right? Thanks in advance for your help!
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Post by Thomas on Oct 17, 2021 11:40:00 GMT -5
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