|
Post by andreafbe on Sept 26, 2008 18:53:12 GMT -5
Hi, I have been tempering chocolate and am wondering how long the temper should hold while I am trying to pour the chocolate. My chocolate does not seem to stay tempered very long. I am trying to prepare molds and I get through maybe 3 small trays before the chocolate seems too thick to work with. What can I do to increase the amount of time the chocolate is workable? The last batch I did, the temper actually seemed pretty good (good snap and shine). Right now I am working with milk chocolate. BTW, it is in the mid-70's and the humidity is about 15% right now if that factors into this issue. Thanks, Andrea
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Sept 26, 2008 23:22:30 GMT -5
The trick is to be continually stirring the chocolate while you are working with it. For small batches, this usually means having an assistant stirring while you're pouring molds. When I was doing test batches at home I had to have someone continually stirring the bowl of chocolate.
A couple of things to keep in mind: 1. Milk chocolate takes longer to temper (and generally a lower bottom temperature) because of the lack of cocoa solids compared to dark chocolate. HOWEVER.... If you bring the chocolate down to the target temperature over a longer period of time, you will not need to go lower than dark chocolate. 2. For both milk and dark chocolate, crystalization continues to happen while the chocolate is between 80 degrees and approximately 93 degrees - EVEN IF IT'S BEING STIRRED CONSTANTLY. Over a period of time, (I've found to be a couple of hours) if your chocolate is being maintained around 88-90 degrees, it will eventually turn into a clay-like mass. Bringing the temperature of this mass up to about 93 degrees will return it to a workable/moldable state. HOWEVER YOU CAN'T DO IT QUICKLY. 3. The chocolate MUST be constantly stirred while you are working with it. If you don't, the chocolate on the surface which is exposed to cooler air, will crystalize differently than the chocolate in the center of the mass, and you will get streaks. My staff make 100's of truffles every day, and are trained to give the chocolate in our tempering machines a stir between EVERY truffle, just to ensure there are no streaks. I can always tell when someone isn't stirring the chocolate, just by looking at a truffle coating, even though the tempering machines always keep it in motion.
Having now spent the past two months working 12 hours per day with chocolate and tempering it in a variety of ways I have learned infinitely more about this confection, than I ever did working in small batches in my home. I have learned THE most important rule of chocolate making:
CHOCOLATE BEHAVES ACCORDING TO VERY SPECIFIC AND NON NEGOTIABLE RULES. YOU CANNOT CHOOSE TO FOLLOW JUST SOME OF THE RULES. YOU MUST AT ALL TIMES FOLLOW ALL OF THE RULES. YOU CANNOT TAKE SHORT CUTS. YOU MUST ALWAYS WORK WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF IT'S RULES - WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.
Once you come to terms with what I've just mentioned above, you will have no problems tempering chocolate. I work with 100's of pounds of chocolate every day, and as long as I religiously abide by its rules, my confections look fabulous.
Hope this helps everyone. I know this was a real sore point for me when I was first learning about this confection, and sure wish someone pointed these VERY important rules out to me!
Brad.
|
|
|
Post by andreafbe on Sept 27, 2008 10:09:47 GMT -5
Thank you - that is something I have not been doing while pouring molds. I am always so concerned about pouring the molds quickly. I will try to stir it more.
Is it ok to use a bowl of warm water under the tempered chocolate to keep it at that appropriate temperature? Should the bowl of tempered chocolate sit above the level of the warm water or in the warm water?
I found your comment about the temperature differences between milk and dark interesting. I am actually having a harder time with tempering dark chocolate. It seems to me that even properly tempered (I assume it is properly tempered based on the final product.) it is still fairly thick and sets up very quickly in the molds leading me to have a thicker shell than I would like. Granted I am still new to all of this, but hopefully I can sort some of these things out fairly quickly.
Many thanks, Andrea
|
|
|
Post by cheebs on Sept 27, 2008 12:37:52 GMT -5
Hi Andrea,
If you're having trouble with too-thick chocolate (and shells consequently) try adding a few grams of gently melted cocoa butter to your chocolate. Start with 5 (it really goes a long way towards thinning the choc) and if it's too thick still add another 5, and so on, until you reach your desired consistency.
Hope this helps.
Brad, as always every one of your posts is highly informative and well-explained.
|
|
|
Post by andreafbe on Sept 27, 2008 15:18:31 GMT -5
Thanks for that suggestion. I will have to give it a try. I was trying to mold dark chocolate this morning and it thickened up really fast. I'll guess that once you add cocoa butter, if you have any leftover chocolate, it will temper differently next time around... I appreciate your help. Andrea
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Sept 28, 2008 1:08:17 GMT -5
Andrea;
Your idea of the chocolate tempering differently with more cocoa butter next time does not affect it's ability/inability to temper.
Yes, you can add cocoa butter to a batch of chocolate to thin it out, BUT it's a bandaide solution, and the chocolate will in very short order thicken up again, even with the cocoa butter added.
The trick is to gently and slowly raise the temperature a couple of degrees at a time until it thins out to a point where you find it acceptable to work with. You will notice very significant differences with each degree in temperature as it rises.
If you remember and work within the parameters of the rules, and always keep in mind that crystalization occurs at all times while the chocolate is below 95 degrees +/-, you will be able to control the exact viscosity of the product and work with it exactly how you want to.
.... and remember: Stir, Stir, Stir.
Brad.
|
|
|
Post by andreafbe on Sept 28, 2008 10:09:57 GMT -5
Brad,
Thank you for the feedback on the last comment. I think it is better for me to know how to temper properly without the band-aide, so I will keep at it until I can figure out a good system for me (including lots of stirring). I stirred more often yesterday and noticed that the finished product was even more glossy then my last batch was without all the stirring.
Andrea
|
|
|
Post by reelchemist on Sept 29, 2008 18:40:14 GMT -5
Tempering is definitly my least favourite step in the process. I work with small batches (turbo tempering) and when I am molding and the choc finally gets too thick for molding I just chuck it back in the microwave for a few seconds - but like Brad says you have to keep stirring all the time.
This trick works and doesn't destroy temper on a small scale because a few seconds in the microwave melts only some of the chocolate. And if you have been stirring it constantly this bit of melted choc will stir in fine and bring the fluid consistency back but because you haven't melted all the choc the seed crystals are still there (like in the non-turbo tempering method) and the chocolate maintains temper.
This takes a bit of practice mind you, if you heat too much and melt too much of the chocolate crystals you will be back at square 1.
Don't forget to stir - I agree this is imperative.
|
|
|
Post by andreafbe on Sept 30, 2008 9:34:54 GMT -5
I tried turbo tempering the other day for a very small batch and it went ok. I was only using it to finish the bottoms of some filled chocolates. I then tried to temper (regular tempering process with seeding) a larger batch of milk chocolate for dipping and the temper looked good, but streaked/bloomed afterwards. My fear with putting the bowl in the microwave is that it will get too hot. I guess this will just take some practice to get down. Can I achieve the same thing with a bowl of warm water? i.e. temper the chocolate and place it in a bain marie of the appropriate temperature for the type of chocolate.
Thanks and I will continue to practice and stir, Andrea
|
|
|
Post by rabarber on Oct 2, 2008 11:11:31 GMT -5
The chocolate artist at our place uses a hot air gun (only a few seconds) to heat the tempered chocolate.
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Oct 3, 2008 2:00:02 GMT -5
If your budget will allow it, I would strongly recommend buying an ACMC MiniTemper. We use them all day for dipping truffles. They hold the temperature as long as I want them to, work beautifully, and are very quiet.
You can also buy seperate bowls if you need to switch out from milk to dark chocolate in a hurry.
These machines will eliminate ALL of the problems people have with tempering small amounts (under 10 lbs) of chocolate.
|
|
|
Post by cheebs on Oct 3, 2008 8:47:24 GMT -5
If your budget will allow it, I would strongly recommend buying an ACMC MiniTemper. We use them all day for dipping truffles. They hold the temperature as long as I want them to, work beautifully, and are very quiet. You can also buy seperate bowls if you need to switch out from milk to dark chocolate in a hurry. These machines will eliminate ALL of the problems people have with tempering small amounts (under 10 lbs) of chocolate. Agree 100%... the ACMC is a great option for all the reasons stated above. I also "stole" brad's suggestion to give the chocolate an extra stir between dips or molds, it really does help as well.
|
|
|
Post by andreafbe on Oct 3, 2008 15:41:13 GMT -5
Great! I will look into an ACMC and until then I will keep stirirng...
Andrea
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Oct 4, 2008 0:17:28 GMT -5
|
|
Chad
Neophyte
Posts: 11
|
Post by Chad on Oct 4, 2008 1:19:09 GMT -5
Brad, thanks for the CBC link. I enjoyed watching it.
Your shop looks great!
|
|