|
Post by santhaphile on Dec 19, 2007 23:33:08 GMT -5
Greetings all!
This is my first post, having just last week received (with glee) my new Santha.
I cleaned out the grinder with soap and water, dried it with a hairdryer and let it set out for a few days in a cool, dry area. I then made up a batch of 60% chocolate (total batch size about 1.2 kg., 40% nibs, 40% sugar, 20% cocoa butter with just a gram or three of lecithin) and let it work for about 8 hours. I turned off the machine overnight, having emptied the chocolate out, and then continued another 6 or 7 hours.
End result is that I can still detect - just barely - grit. From what I gather from other people's postings on the forum, this is a bit unusual. I'm not talking about unground sugar, but just a barely discernable texture on the tongue that a well-made chocolate ought not have.
Case 2: After cleaning, drying, and resting for a day, I made a batch of white chocolate, about 1.4 kg. I followed the recipe on the website here, and after 16+ hours of running in the Santha, the mixture smoothed out and became fairly glossy, but I can still, when tasting some melted chocolate that remained in the grinder bowl after emptying, detect the same coarseness.
Am I doing anything obviously wrong? The chocolate isn't seizing, it's flowing beautifully and smoothly, it tempers well enough, but the texture isn't 100% right. Should I be running my batches longer, tightening my spring-cap on the roller assembly tighter? I'm really at a loss. I'm sure things will be worked out in the end, but I'm not sure how to get there quite yet.
Anyone care to weigh in?
Thanks much, Santhaphile
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Dec 20, 2007 1:40:39 GMT -5
I've had several very experienced chocolatiers sample my home made product. One of those chocolatiers was Bernard Callebaut himself. All have told me the product (made with criollo beans) was right up there with the best chocolate they can buy, and even better than most they've sampled.
I grind mine steady for AT LEAST 36 hours, and quite often 48.
My 70% has been a real winner.
40% cocoa paste/liquor/beans (whatever you want to call it) 30% cocoa butter 29% sugar 0.5% vanilla bean 0.5% liquid lecithin
Grind time: 40 hours.
Remember: The grinder performs TWO tasks - grinding and conching. Conching takes more time, and is important to round the flavors out and release bitterness.
Also keep in mind that old-school chocolate making using the same process (except with bigger melangeurs of course) often took as long as 72 hours.
Have fun!
Brad
|
|
|
Post by santhaphile on Dec 20, 2007 21:35:57 GMT -5
OK, I'll make up another batch of white chocolate first - bringing the total size to about 4.5 pounds - and mix the whole lot for about 40 hours and see what happens. Thanks very much for your suggestions!
Santhaphile
|
|
|
Post by ripvanwinkle on Dec 21, 2007 2:21:39 GMT -5
Santhaphile, I am more of a beginner than you so beware of my comments. At least they are made in good faith. After that you are on your own. I made a four+ pound batch the other day and it seemed like the Santha was bogging down. The grinding wheels were constantly coated with chocolate. The motor didnt seem phased but I still bailed out about half and then finished two batches. I only relate my experience because I think it might be counterproductive to make too large a batch. I wonder if the time is linear with batch size. Perhaps someone will comment on their experience with batch sizes and time to process.
|
|
|
Post by seneca on Dec 31, 2007 21:23:38 GMT -5
Definitely more time, as Brad suggests. As far as batch size, I regularly get masses of 2.5kg (~5.5 lbs.) through the santha without trouble...
|
|
|
Post by reelchemist on Jan 2, 2008 0:51:50 GMT -5
HEy Brad, is that a couverture recipe? Has a lot of cocoa butter in it.
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Jan 2, 2008 1:27:46 GMT -5
Ok... First of all, I regularily do 6lb batches with my Santha. However, I have changed the motor out to a 3/4 hp 9 amp motor, and the belt to a fibreglass linked belt (expensive but they don't wear out.). The motor they currently use (and the lousy belt Santha supplies), in my opinion simply doesn't have what it takes to make larger batches. (some people would beg to differ here, but I can only comment on the Santha I had delivered, and.... well.... it was very poorly built.) With regard to the "type" of chocolate, you are correct. It is technically called couverture. I've tried MANY 70% blends and found them to be too bitter, or grainy. Here is a great definition of couverture, which when you read will confirm that the recipe I have provided certainly falls into that category: www.joyofbaking.com/Couverture.htmlI personally like a dark chocolate that melts nicely, has a very balanced sweetness/bitterness to it, and has a nice snap. The recipe I provided here, does all that. It is also fluid enough that it molds very well. Having said that, I would not use it for dipping. It is simply too fluid when melted, and personally I hate "double dipping" (no pun intended here), as is required with a lot of dark chocolate. To thicken it up for a good single dip dark chocolate, you can do one of two things: eliminate the lecithin, or increase the lecithing (CAREFULLY) 1/2 of a percentage at a time. If you use a liquid lecithin, and pour it into the chocolate while the Santha is running, you will see almost immediate results. I first started making chocolate with powdered lecithin and found very quickly that it sucks. I've been told that lecithin works both ways - it can thin chocolate (which I know it does), but it can also considerably thicken chocolate. I haven't tried the latter, but my source is as reliable as they come in the industry. Hope this helps.
|
|
|
Post by joyojoy on Jan 3, 2008 12:21:31 GMT -5
I'm a chocolate neophite as well, and after reading the above link about couverture, I am feeling extremely "noobish". I can see now that part of the problem I'm having with the chocolate I've been using is probably due to the fact that it is NOT couverture, but just chocolate chips (I use this particular brand because it is soy-free, so I don't have a lot of options right now). The ingredients are "evaporated cane juice, chocolate liquor & cocoa butter". It tends to be extremely thick when tempered -- and just getting it to temper has been a challenge. I'm running a commercial enterprise, so finding chocolate liquor and refining from scratch is not really practical for me right now. On the other hand, would "re-refining" the chocolate with added cocoa butter give me a smoother, more workable chocolate for dipping and enrobing? Or could I possibly add more cocoa butter in the tempering process?... *slinks back to corner, feeling extremely ignorant...*
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Jan 4, 2008 2:23:12 GMT -5
JoyJoy;
Chocolate chips (such as Hershey's chipits, etc) are not designed to be used for making chocolates, and will never truly temper. They are specifically formulated to hold their shape and texture before, during, and after the high heat of baking - heat that would otherwise destroy true chocolate.
The fact that one of the ingredients in your chocolate chips is "evaporated cane juice", tells me that it's VERY unlikely the chocolate will ever truly temper due to the water content in the juice. While the cocoa solids and cocoa butter give it some stability and resemblence to chocolate, it's more likely to be defined as a "compound", than true chocolate.
With regard to feeling "noobish", don't worry about that. Everyone has to start somewhere. A year ago I would have probably asked the same question.
I've still never figured out the answer to a question my 9 year old daughter asked me:
"Where does the white go when snow melts?"
I'm sure that one's an easy answer for someone too! LOL
Brad
|
|
|
Post by Sebastian on Jan 4, 2008 7:28:28 GMT -5
Actually, ECJ has just as much moisture in it as good ol' fashioned refined white sugar. ECJ is a crystalline unrefined sugar made, by and large, by evaporating the water off of... erm, cane juice I've used it industrially to make chocolates, and by and large it'll behave just like any old sugar we're all accustomed to. Likely the issue you're seeing is exactly what brad notes - the drops/chips are very low in fat (meaning they get very thick when melted, they don't flow). This is to stop them from becoming a puddle of chocolate when baked in a cookie. It also makes them difficult to temper if you don't have equipment that's designed to handle that low of a viscosity "re-refining" it and adding cocoa butter can certainly work, it's sometimes done in industry as well. Probably easier for you to avoid having to do that however.
|
|
|
Post by joyojoy on Jan 4, 2008 16:57:18 GMT -5
Thanks for your input -- and patience. Since I am making "allergen-free" confections (with no dairy or soy), I will probably experiment with re-refining the chocolate, since I have yet to find a couverture out there that is dairy- and/or soy-free – it was hard enough just finding chocolate chips that suited my needs. So let's try for another stupid question: Am I going to have to run this through my Santha, or can I just add cocoa butter to it in my Revolation temperer?
|
|
|
Post by seneca on Jan 4, 2008 22:29:55 GMT -5
I know this is drifting off topic, but if it's soy-free couverture you're after, I'd look at the Cluizel line. Not cheap, but all soy free, and between the blended and Plantations lines a lot of good flavor options. www.cluizel.com/fr/minigrammes/5/18.html
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Jan 5, 2008 0:45:16 GMT -5
JoyJoy;
With regard to adding cocoa butter, I often add cocoa butter to chocolate to thin it out, but never in the tempering machine (I own a Rev II). I always melt the chocolate over a double boiler, and add the cocoa butter and stir extensively to ensure it's well mixed.
Also, add no more than 5% by total weight at a time. What I mean is that if you are working with 1000 g of chocolate, add no more than 50g of cocoa butter, melt it in, and then go from there.
I then cool the chocolate to the right temperature, and reheat it over the double boiler.
Once it's reheated, I then "Fool" the Rev II, by using a blow dryer to cycle it through it's tempering process of heating, cooling, and then reheating. Once the Rev II is at the "hold" stage, I then pour the properly tempered chocolate into it and begin using it.
Why do I do it this way?
The answer is easy: The Rev II will not allow me to lower the temperature of my chocolate to the right point. I need my milk chocolate to drop to 77 degrees, and my dark chocolate to 79 degrees in order to temper properly. The Rev II only allows a bottom temperature of something like 83 degrees F.
I do find it very useful in ensuring the chocolate stirs while I'm dipping and so forth. However it's tempering range sucks, and is something that I fought with for almost 8 months, until a chocolatier helped me find the bottom temperature that works for what I make.
Brad.
|
|
|
Post by joyojoy on Jan 5, 2008 13:11:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the cocoa butter tips, Brad. I'm going to try adding the melted cocoa butter to my pre-melted chocolate (which I've also been doing).
I know what you mean about the temperature settings on the Revolation machines: I have the new Revolation Delta, and I've found that on the dark chocolate setting I get better results if I increase the melting point to 113° F (the default is 110). and the "Ready to Use" temperature to about 90° (the default is 87, which is too low, compared to everything I've read).
I'm going to spend a good part of my day running my cocoa butter through the food processor to make it a bit easier to work with. Then I'm going to play with adding it to my chocolate.
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Jan 5, 2008 21:29:30 GMT -5
JoyJoy;
Why do you need to run cocoa butter through a food processor? It's pure oil. You can't make it any smoother, as it melts to a liquid. Just break off the chunks you need, weigh them, and add them to the chocolate when you go to temper it.
|
|