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Post by javajerry on Oct 26, 2007 2:19:21 GMT -5
This is my first post. I've made 4 batches of chocolate with varying degrees of success. The last batch before this failed one was in February and all went well with it. I got the bug again and decided to make a light milk chocolate since my wife doesn't care for darker chocolates. I was reading around and somewhere (on the Chocolate Alchemy website I think) I found a formula: 20% Liqueur, 10% cocoa butter, 35% sugar and 35% milk. So I roasted 2 pounds of Dominican "Hispanola" at 350°F in my RK Drum for 15 minutes. After roasting I cooled them immediately in my coffee bean cooler. I've yet to get a crankenstein, so Monday night I shucked the beans by hand. I started nearly an hour before the football game started and well into SportCenter after the game. Actually, it took a little over 4 hours.
Next I put the shucked nibs into a plastic bag and banged them into submission with a rolling pin to break up the whole beans. On Tuesday they went into the Champion and after 4 passes I had 22.9 ounces of liqueur. Other than what was in the bed in the screen, I had very little discard.
I know that I have some mistakes here, some obvious to me, and some that I may not be aware of yet. The 1st was overloading the Santha. My formula was supposed to be 22.9 oz Liqueur (20%), 11.45 oz Cocoa Butter (10%), 40 oz Sugar (35%) and 40 oz Milk Powder (35%). That is quite a mass in the Santha and it didn't work. I put in the liqueur and the melted cocoa butter then slowly added 1/2 vanilla bean and lecithin. I slowly added the 40 ounces of sugar with the machine running. No prob so far. Then I discovered that I only had 28 oz of powdered milk. Oh well, my proportions will be skewed a little, but I didn't think this would be a big factor.
I started to add the milk powder and this is when the problems started. Each time I would add milk powder, the Santha would strain. I finally quit adding when I got 20 oz in. After 2 hours the machine still wasn't running smoothly and the chocolate seemed rather thick and pasty so I decided to add a little more cocoa butter. I added 4.5 ounces of melted cocoa butter and everything smoothed out again.
After 48 hours of running constantly (I have a small box fan that I place next to the Santha to keep the motor cool) I had chocolate that looked good, had a nice consistency, wasn't grainy, and most importantly, tasted good.
I decided to split the batch into 2 equal parts. When I weighed it, I had exactly 100 ounces, so I split it into 2 50 ounce batches. I warmed it over a double boiler to 120° then scooped out about 1/3 and started working in on my marble slab (2' X 2' X 1"). Well, I worked it and worked it and worked it. I occasionally checked it's temp and it was down to 78° and still wasn't close to thickening. Finally, after over 30 minutes of working it, it thickened into a heavy mass. I worked this "seed" back into the waiting bowl of soft chocolate and when I got it incorporated and everything smooth, the final temp was 88°.
I then molded into plastic molds (mostly bars) using the big syringe. To speed things up I placed one of the molds into the freezer for about 20 minutes. I unmolded onto wax paper and waited 30 minutes for the candy to warm to room temp.
After about 20 mins I noticed that the candy bars had lost their sheen. I waited a little longer then tried to break one. No snap. It broke, but the bar was soft... and melting in my fingers. It tastes yummy; it's nice and creamy, but it is too soft.
Here are some things I know (think) I did wrong and will try not to do again: 1. I overloaded the Santha. 100 oz seemed to be a bit much . I don't know what the max load for the machine is, but I would suspect that optimum load is about 2/3 of what I had in it. 2. I put far too much cocoa butter into the batch. 3. I used whole milk powder. This added even more fat which I think is adding to my problem.
I probably won't make milk chocolate again, but I would still like to hear any suggestions that would keep this from happening again. (If my wife wants milk chocolate she can buy a Hershey bar)
Is there a way to get this mess that I have to take a proper temper? If not, what suggestions do you have for 100 oz of "soft" milk chocolate?
Thanks, Jerry (up to my elbows in chocolate in Chesapeake, VA)
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Post by javajerry on Oct 27, 2007 12:34:51 GMT -5
Here's an update since my original post in this thread. After letting the molded chocolate sit overnight I tried to remove it from the mold. Doing so I noticed a couple things. 1.) the chocolate seemed to be a bit "marbled". It had streaks in it that were lighter. 2.) the chocolate would not come out of the mold in one piece. It was a bit "crumbly" and soft and even the big pieces had no snap.
So I put the rest of it into the freezer for a few minutes and was able then to remove it from the molds. Since I had marbling, I am assuming that I didn't leave the mixture in the Santha long enough so I melted everything over a double boiler and put it all back into the Santha. It has been running again for about 24 hours now. I also (just) read in the Chocolate Alchemy website that milk chocolate has to be bought up to over 160°F, which I am certain hasn't happened. I will try to add some external heat to achieve this.
This chocolate tastes too good and there is too much of it to waste. Wish me luck! Jerry
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Post by javajerry on Oct 28, 2007 6:19:53 GMT -5
Ok chocolate lovers out there - when I thought I was doomed to having a chocolate fondue party (not a bad idea in itself) luck finally turned my way. After heating the chocolate to 165°F in the Santha (I used my heat gun to bring it up from 108° to 165°) I put the cover on to let it run some more. After about 30 minutes I noticed condensation inside the plastic lid so I removed the lid and let it run with the lid off for another 8 hours. I think I have a cumulative total of about 80 hours running time and I am not sure what impact that will have. When I got ready to temper, the starting temp of the chocolate was 91°F and the ambient temp was 72°. I put the chocolate into a stainless steel bowl over a double boiler stirring constantly till I reached 120°. I poured this into another stainless bowl and while waiting for it to cool a bit I cleaned my marble slab and all my utensils making sure everything was clean and absolutely dry. I set my molds out ready for action. When the chocolate reached 102° I scooped about 1/4 onto the marble and started working it. I was expecting failure again but was surprised when in 12 minutes it suddenly came together. I mean it came together right now. Woo Hoooo... I have a seed! I scooped some of the warmer chocolate onto it and made a Big Mess then put this into the bowl and worked it in. And worked it in. And worked it in. By the time I had it smooth, it was down to 79°F so I warmed it to 85° so I could mold it. It is now molded waiting to solidify. I took a sample and popped it into the fridge to speed the cooling process. As soon as I took it out, the mold fogged up from the humidity here... so I pointed a fan at it until the condensation disappeared. I guess while the humidity is this high, speed cooling won't work. The sample looked good, released from the mold with no problem, didn't have the marbling I spoke of before, had a decent snap, and melted in my mouth. I've learned a few lessons in the last few days and I have had my hands in dishwater more than I care to talk about. I discovered a pleasant difference between chocolate making and coffee roasting. If you screw up a coffee roast, you have screwed up a coffee roast. There are no second chances. Two days ago (even yesterday) I thought all was lost with this batch of chocolate. Now it looks like it has forgiven me and will be rewarding me soon It's 7:20am and I have to sneak into bed without waking my wife. I've been up all night doing this. I'm lucky she likes milk chocolate. Adios, Jerry
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Post by Alchemist on Oct 29, 2007 16:57:12 GMT -5
Hey Jerry,
You persevered well with no support. That happens again and feel free to drop me an e-mail.
Let's see. I won't say I didn't put that recipe up, but the solids content sound a little high, which was what was causing your problems. You didn't overload the santha - you had a little over 6 pounds. I have easily done 8 lbs. Also, you did the right thing by adding more cocoa butter. That was just what was needed. Heating everything up also probably would have made your life easier as you would not have had to depend on the Santha to generate the heat.
In your first tempering session, you took your final temperature too high. Most milk chocolate can't handle 88 F. That is why it went crumbly and streaky. No temper. Try 82 F next time, although you found empirically that 85 works also.
And yes, it is NOT the same as coffee. Way more forgiving. Oh, and milk chocolate does not HAVE to make it to 160 F. I often does, but let your taste buds be the judge.
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Post by javajerry on Oct 30, 2007 3:22:13 GMT -5
Thanks for your input John. I thought I had beaten this dog into submission, but in the end I think the chocolate won the sparring contest. It looked good when I did the molding and my samples that I unmolded early looked (and tasted) good. But some hours later when I got ready to unmold everything I noticed that I again had this "marbling". The chocolate that I had molded into bars didn't release as well as it should. Some of it is good, some of it has a bit of a crumbly texture. Only about half went into bars. The rest was molded into the bite size molds - coffee bean, hearts, stars, sea shells, and a few others. I noticed a little marbling in some of the larger pieces, but the smaller ones all look perfect (or nearly perfect). It also melts a little quickly in my fingers. Apparently 85° is too high also. I could remelt and shoot for 82° and get it right this time, but I'm more inclined to just tell my wife to "eat fast".
I discovered I had a problem with my Santha, but I'll address that in another thread. Right now I have a small batch of white chocolate in the Santha.
I couldn't get the white chocolate recipe in the website to come up, so I had to go searching and get creative. I used a 50/50 blend of natural/deodorized cocoa butter (16 oz total), 17.4 oz sugar, 13.4 oz milk (8.32 oz nonfat/5.1 oz whole). (34% cocoa butter, 37% sugar, 28.5% milk) The recipe I looked at said it was 37.8% total fat, and since the cocoa butter is 100% fat, I took it to mean that 3.8% fat had to come from the milk - that is where I determined the proportions of nonfat to whole milk. I also added 6.7gm liquid lecithin and about 1/3 vanilla bean (cut up). After starting with the cocoa butter in the Santha I added the sugar, then the whole milk. Then I had my brain fart and added the entire 9.6 oz box of nonfat milk (instead of the 8.32 oz that I was supposed to). All is working well so far. I hope someone will tell me what temperatures to temper at before I get to that step.
Jerry
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Post by reelchemist on Nov 1, 2007 15:24:37 GMT -5
It's 7:20am and I have to sneak into bed without waking my wife. I've been up all night doing this. I'm lucky she likes milk chocolate. HA hahaha! I have had the same trouble once or twice, making chocolate is pretty addictive, John you have a lot to answer for!
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Post by Brad on Dec 20, 2007 1:58:37 GMT -5
Ok people...
I fought with tempering until 5 or 6 in the morning for almost a year, trying almost every bloody temperature combination recommended on the internet and in cookbooks, and every one of them failed.
WHY???
I NOW KNOW....
The answer was taught to me by someone with over 25 years of experience. He tempered my chocolate perfectly in his shop, right in front of my eyes on his first try.
The magic temperatures are:
Room Temperature: 65-68 degrees
Milk Chocolate: Heat to 120 Cool to 77 Heat to 88
Dark Chocolate Heat to 120 Cool to 79 Heat to 88
Don't want streaks in your chocolate? STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR
I actually have someone stirring my chocolate while I'm working with it.
My method of tempering below (using the above temperatures) has now not failed me in over 8 months:
1. Melt the chocolate in a large stainless steel bowl over a large pot of simmering water. 2. Once the chocolate is melted and 120 degrees, cool stirring constantly to the appropriate bottom temperature. I use a blow dryer on the "cool" setting, and blow air right on the chocolate in the bowl. . 3. Place the chocolate back on the pot and STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR until it hits 88 degrees.
You're done and ready to mold.
That's it. It's that simple. It works, and there's no need to paint your counter with chocolate, then spend the next hour trying to get the recidual cocoa butter film off.
The temperatures and the stirring are key.
Did I mention stirring?
Brad
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Post by patsyswine on May 12, 2010 10:41:55 GMT -5
Don't know if anyone is still out there, but I really need help. I have mastered the art of creating dark chocolate truffles, but white and milk chocolate truffles are completely different. What temperature should I be working towards to get ganache to set? Thanks
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Post by Brad on May 12, 2010 22:24:15 GMT -5
All of our ganaches are created to set solid (or at least workable) in the fridge. We portion them, put them in the fridge, and then remove them a few seconds before we dip them. They all warm at room temperature and become a very soft, creamy consistency.
Your post is vague at best. Are you dipping them? Are you cutting them or hand scooping them? Are you just rolling them in cocoa powder? How do you want to portion your milk and white chocolate ganache? What are the recipes you are using for what you want to do with them?
If you can answer these questions, and be fairly specific, I'm sure I, or someone on this site could very well help you out.
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Post by doclogic77 on May 15, 2010 12:01:53 GMT -5
Ok people... I fought with tempering until 5 or 6 in the morning for almost a year, trying almost every bloody temperature combination recommended on the internet and in cookbooks, and every one of them failed. WHY??? I NOW KNOW.... The answer was taught to me by someone with over 25 years of experience. He tempered my chocolate perfectly in his shop, right in front of my eyes on his first try. The magic temperatures are: Room Temperature: 65-68 degrees Milk Chocolate: Heat to 120 Cool to 77 Heat to 88 Dark Chocolate Heat to 120 Cool to 79 Heat to 88 Don't want streaks in your chocolate? STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR I actually have someone stirring my chocolate while I'm working with it. My method of tempering below (using the above temperatures) has now not failed me in over 8 months: 1. Melt the chocolate in a large stainless steel bowl over a large pot of simmering water. 2. Once the chocolate is melted and 120 degrees, cool stirring constantly to the appropriate bottom temperature. I use a blow dryer on the "cool" setting, and blow air right on the chocolate in the bowl. . 3. Place the chocolate back on the pot and STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR STIR until it hits 88 degrees. You're done and ready to mold. That's it. It's that simple. It works, and there's no need to paint your counter with chocolate, then spend the next hour trying to get the recidual cocoa butter film off. The temperatures and the stirring are key. Did I mention stirring? Brad Brad, Do you use any sort of tempering "seed"? Also, how much does room humidity play a role if you stick strictly to these rules? Do you control the humidity of the room?
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Post by Brad on May 16, 2010 0:34:33 GMT -5
No need for seed. The entire batch is it's own seed.
In place of a blow dryer, you can also use a cold water bath. It works even better, and is much faster.
Here in Calgary, the humidity is always low. However I've also tempered chocolate in near 100% humidity, used the same temperatures, and it still worked.
Room temperature is important though. I keep the temperature of our shop around 65 degrees Farenheit.
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