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Post by FeralOne on Apr 25, 2008 1:47:05 GMT -5
It seems every batch (only 3 so far) of milk chocolate I make blooms as soon as it sets. I have not had a single bit of blooming with any of the dark chocolate I have made. Do you suppose it is the milk powder I am using? I am stuck using Carnation non fat dry milk powder. I have been looking for milk powder in the German stores, but have had no luck finding it so far, I am sure they have it, just haven't found it yet. Any ideas? I was using John's recipe for milk chocolate. I think I will order some of the goat milk powder and see if it happens with that. Am I the only one this is happening to? Should I add a little milk fat or something? More or less lecithin? Or is it simply the milk powder has moisture in it? Can the humidity in my house be absorbed by the milk powder in the chocolate? The reason I ask this is because it is only the back of the bars that seem to get it. I leave the molds on the counter to cool and set. The second they start to set they start to bloom, but when you remove them from the molds the face of the bar looks fine and doesn't seem to bloom? I am currently leaving a bar out, unwrapped on the counter to see if it starts to bloom on the top. And if it does, how long it takes. Oh, it is tempered (finally got that down ) Thanks for any advice! Andrea
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Post by nuthouse on Apr 25, 2008 5:16:01 GMT -5
My experience with milk chocolate has been that I must pour the chocolate at a lower temperature in order to get it to set properly. I just lowered it to 87 or 86 degrees and made sure the room was at most 68 degrees. All seemed great then.
Good Luck!
Nuthouse
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Post by Brad on Apr 25, 2008 21:40:36 GMT -5
Chocorock;
I fought with tempering my milk chocolate and dark chocolate for a very long time.
First of all however, what is the percentage of milk powder in your recipe? That may cause a problem if you're using too much.
Also, don't be stuck on the Mid 80 degree bottom temperature. Drop your milk chocolate right to 77 degrees and heat it up to no more than 88 degrees. Those were the magic numbers for me. However you need to keep it in motion 100% of the time right to the bottom temperature, or it will solidify.
ONE OTHER VERY IMPORTANT THING: STIR STIR STIR!!!!! Your chocolate should ALWAYS be in motion as you are molding, or you will get streaks. I promise. It's a serious pain in the butt, but you must continually stir the chocolate because it changes temperature unevenly as it sits waiting for you to do something with it.
Hope this helps.
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Post by FeralOne on May 1, 2008 1:50:16 GMT -5
I made another batch and tempered straight from the Santha, no bloom. I think what was happening is that I was reheating the chocolate in the oven and causing the oil to separate and raise to the surface. Does anyone else see that happening when they reheat? Brad~can you use a stand mixer to keep it stirring or does it go too fast? Just trying to figure out some ways to make the process easier. I have decided that I hate tempering. When we get back to the States I'm going to buy a machine. Andrea
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Post by Brad on May 1, 2008 9:18:47 GMT -5
Andrea;
I have a chocovision Rev2 table top tempering machine I can sell you for a good price.
This is probably one of the most popular machines out there, and has worked for me.
Let me know.
Brad.
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