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Post by kohsamuichocolatier on Sept 18, 2022 23:55:11 GMT -5
Hi everyone. Lately I've been making chocolate that's about 80% nibs and 20% sugar, i.e., two-ingredient chocolate. I live in the tropics and can't really control the climate in my kitchen, so it's about 30C/86F with medium to high humidity, which I know isn't ideal.
I'm wondering whether these conditions might explain why my chocolate seems very viscous when I'm tempering it, or whether there might be another explanation. For example, could it be that the nibs I'm using simply have too low a fat content?
To decrease viscosity, I've bought some cocoa butter to use starting with my next batch. For a 75% chocolate, what ratio would you recommend for nibs to cocoa butter? I've seen six parts nibs to one part cocoa butter, but I'm interested in hearing what others do.
Thank you!
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Post by Ben on Sept 19, 2022 9:44:16 GMT -5
Refining and tempering in a kitchen that is that hot and humid is definitely a problem. Chocolate will absorb moisture from the environment, so the longer it's subjected to high humidity, the more moisture it will absorb. Moisture in chocolate makes it more viscous, so this is probably what's causing your issues.
At 80% cacao, it should have plenty of cocoa butter. You can try adding more, but since it's just to compensate for additional moisture, what others are doing doesn't really matter. I'd just try adding a few % and see if it helps. If not, you can try adding a bit more. Figuring out how to control the kitchen temp and humidity would be my suggestion, though.
Another option may be some sort of lecithin. I don't use it, so can't really comment on it, but it may help.
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Post by kohsamuichocolatier on Sept 20, 2022 10:58:21 GMT -5
Refining and tempering in a kitchen that is that hot and humid is definitely a problem. Chocolate will absorb moisture from the environment, so the longer it's subjected to high humidity, the more moisture it will absorb. Moisture in chocolate makes it more viscous, so this is probably what's causing your issues. I thought that might be the case, and I'm glad to have your analysis alongside my own theory - thanks. I'm surprised that the moisture doesn't evaporate out of the chocolate when heated to 45 C at the start of tempering. Perhaps it does but is reabsorbed when I reduce the chocolate to 28C. Looks like I'll need to either rent a proper kitchen with climate control or stick to panning, which doesn't involve tempering.
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Post by Ben on Sept 21, 2022 9:11:08 GMT -5
45C isn't particularly hot, so even in a cooler, drier environment, it's not going to release a lot of moisture. Also, if there's a lot of humidity in the air, there's not really anywhere for the moisture to go.
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Post by kohsamuichocolatier on Sept 21, 2022 10:49:26 GMT -5
I can see you're right, Ben. Am I correct in thinking that the additional moisture in my chocolate would inhibit the reproduction of the Type V crystals we need for tempering, even if I'm able to bring my chocolate up to 45C, then down to 28, and up again to 32, that is, to follow the right procedure?
I was thinking of purchasing a hygrometer to measure the moisture content of my chocolate. Would you happen to know the acceptable range of moisture content that wouldn't interfere with tempering?
Incidentally, what I've found to work is to refrigerate my chocolate directly after tempering. This prevents bloom and produces a nice snap, and after a couple of days I'm able to remove my chocolate from the fridge, wrap it, and then keep it at room temperature without it coming out of temper, at least before my customers and I can eat it. Anyway, thanks for your advice. It's much appreciated.
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Post by Ben on Sept 22, 2022 8:55:16 GMT -5
I know additional moisture will make it more difficult to temper, but I'm not sure if it entirely inhibits tempering.
I don't know the exact range of acceptable moisture. Cacao is generally dried to around 7% and then loses most of that through roasting and conching. My guess would be under 1% moisture would be normal.
Be careful with refrigerating the chocolate--especially in a humid environment--as condensation can form and cause sugar bloom.
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