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Post by nerdflanders on Jun 17, 2022 22:36:44 GMT -5
If someone who has never made chocolate before wanted to make their own chocolate molds first,
1: What can they and can not grab from the supermarket and bring home and temper and then mold? Or what is recommended? I know it has to be real chocolate and also they will have to temper it.
2: Is it recommended that they use dark chocolate? ie 70%+ cocoa solids?
What's a good way to start with melting chocolate into molds?
3: If you don't want to re melt a store bought chocolate bar, what else do you do?
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Post by Chip on Jun 18, 2022 6:50:31 GMT -5
Buy some couverture chocolate from your local store or Amazon. Callebaut makes a fine couveture.
Slowly melt it in your microwave; put some in a small glass bowl and zap it for 30 seconds at first, then you will see if you can increase the time. BE CAREFUL not to burn the chocolate.
I find the easiest way to temper is to use "seed" that you can buy from this site. Or search the site for Brad's two bowl method of tempering.
Take it out, temper it, stir it, let it get down to pouring temp and put it into any type of mold you want.
Chip
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Post by Thomas on Jun 18, 2022 18:01:06 GMT -5
Here's the link to Brad's video of tempering chocolate: www.facebook.com/SoChoklat/videos/1132903850118884/. If you buy chocolate from the store i.e. bars, chips, couverture, etc., it's already tempered and you can use the microwave as Chip described. But if this fails and you bars bloom and come out of temper. It is not ruined but you will need to re-temper the chocolate. Also, you can use any store bought chocolate. Although a good dark chocolate is easier to temper when learning than milk chocolate. In my opinion. Hope this helps. Thomas One more thing. Brad does not like Infrared Thermometers as you will hear when you watch the video. I have used them and so do others.
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Post by nerdflanders on Jun 18, 2022 20:15:45 GMT -5
do you use a tempering spatuala?
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Post by Thomas on Jun 18, 2022 21:30:42 GMT -5
I use a Thermapen MK4.
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Post by nerdflanders on Jun 27, 2022 6:26:15 GMT -5
Hi there so I am using a tempering spatula which is supposed to make it easier but it seems to be giving a false reading all the time. it heats up and then takes ages to cool down>
here'sa question: If the probe is sitting on the bottom of the pot, is it reading the temp of the pot or the chocolate?
I am also using a stainless steel melting pot on top of a boiling pot. Does the stainless steel get too hot? And should I ditch the tempering spatula?
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Post by Ben on Jun 27, 2022 9:28:52 GMT -5
You want to be measuring the temperature of the mass of chocolate, so you really want it more in the middle. If the probe is touching the bottom where the heat is, it will give you a hotter temperature than what your chocolate actually is. You also want to make sure you're stirring well so that the mass is all the same temperature. Stainless steel is fine. If it's getting too hot, then you're applying too much heat. Note that in a double-boiler/bain marie setup, the water in the lower pot should not actually be boiling. It should also not be touching the bottom of the upper bowl or pot. If the spatula is giving a false reading, then yes, ditch it. A thermapen (or similar) or an infrared thermometer work well.
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Post by nerdflanders on Jun 27, 2022 21:27:26 GMT -5
Spank you very much for your reply. while you are here I have a question, I saw a video where the guy was tempereing chocolate and he said he had to leave it for 12 hours or something?
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Post by Thomas on Jun 27, 2022 23:41:30 GMT -5
Did you watch Brad’s video of tempering chocolate? I posted the link in an earlier reply. There are multiple ways to temper. It does not take 12 hours.
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Post by Ben on Jun 28, 2022 10:57:39 GMT -5
The video you were watching was probably related to making silk, which is tempered cocoa butter that can be used to temper chocolate. That process does take a long time, but actually tempering chocolate is a much faster process. See the video that Thomas linked above for an easy process.
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