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Post by tspyz on Dec 12, 2006 1:14:16 GMT -5
So, my co-chocolate conspirators and I have started using the champion+santha technique using some beans bought at a market in Puebla. (No idea what kind they are, but they do indeed seem to make chocolate!)
Batch #1 went pretty well, but the beans seem to get a burnt taste (with a coffee note) with the listed starting roast time/temps. These went into a 60% dark mix in the santha, which refined it to a really nice consistency.
Batch #2 we went with a much gentler roast (350 for 12 mins, 250 for 6 mins, coasting for 6 mins), then went with 1 part liquor, 1 part sugar (using superfine baker's sugar), and 1/2 part milk powder. This mixed up into a pretty dry powder, and went into the santha. It didn't really flow, but after an hour or so, started to liquify. Left it overnight, and woke up to a santha full of chocolate clay. It was pretty gritty, with a little bit of shine. Temp check showed the stuff in the santha was at about 125 degrees, but not liquid. I tried to melt some in the microwave without much success. It tasted fine, but basically cooled to a thick cake frosting texture.
Was this a seize? It's possible that water snuck into the second batch.
Also, it seems that part of the learning process here is getting better at cleaning the champion out! That thing has a lot of nooks and crannies that liquor likes to hide in.
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Post by Brad on Dec 12, 2006 1:28:05 GMT -5
Here are a couple of areas to consider:
1. You are definitely not using enough cocoa butter. 2. check the ingredients on your baker's sugar. Chances are that it has cornstarch in it. Cornstarch = gummy chocolate. 3. Is your milk powder whole milk powder or skim milk powder?
If you are wanting to make a nice creamy milk chocolate try the following recipe:
20% liquor 40% sugar 20% WHOLE milk powder 20% cocoa butter 0.5% vanilla bean 0.5% liquid lecithin
That should put you at a nice creamy milk chocolate, with about 36% fat - which is considered about normal for a premium candy bar chocolate.
I also go with a very light roast - about 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes, turning the beans every 10 minutes. This method (and my recipe above) has produced a "wow, I can't believe you made this!" exclamation from some *very* seasoned chocolatiers.
Hope this helps.
Brad.
Let me know how this works.
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Post by chocdoc on Dec 12, 2006 7:01:08 GMT -5
Was this a seize? It's possible that water snuck into the second batch. Also, it seems that part of the learning process here is getting better at cleaning the champion out! That thing has a lot of nooks and crannies that liquor likes to hide in. Did you wash the santha between batches? There are also a lot of nooks and crannies for water to hide in and if so it might be contributing to seizing your chocolate.
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Post by sugaralchemy on Dec 13, 2006 13:44:36 GMT -5
The most critical factor here is fat - there just isn't enough in your recipe! No matter what you do or don't do, anything with so much sugar and milk yet no added cocoa butter or other sources of fat is going to be more or less like clay.
Chocolate relies on fat to flow, and as the chocolate gets darker, there is a tendency to use more fat. Lecithin will let you have a little lower viscosity for a given fat level, but it won't replace adding additional fat. For a dark, cacao butter is the traditional fat, although a few darks do use milkfat which creates a softer texture.
Try adding just 1/4 part of cocoa butter and a touch (think 0.3% of batch weight) of lecithin. If you ever get a texture that seems too thick after it runs for a while in the machine, you can always add more cocoa butter to thin it down.
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