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Post by slw2206 on Sept 28, 2023 8:59:17 GMT -5
Good morning, First post of the forums, so I'm really just starting my search for knowledge. I've been making "chocolates" for 20+ years. Dipping things, truffles of all kinds, alcoholic cherry cordials (those are always a hit), etc.. To this point I've always used the Ghirardelli Candy Making wafers which is why I put chocolates in quotes Now that I'm doing over 100 lbs per year for various events/occasions, my wife surprised me with a Chocovision Rev Z. This will allow me to take on real chocolate and I've already ordered some Callebaut and Valrhona to start messing around with. While I wait on that to arrive I had some 2 year old Ghirardelli Sanford sitting around. I tempered a batch and make some truffle blanks which came out ok (had a few air bubbles). I'm guessing the issues I had with getting the proper amount of chocolate left in the mold, without air bubbles, was mostly due to the age (and moisture content) of the chocolate, so I'm expecting better results with fresh and higher quality chocolates. It got me wondering though if the methods I used with the Candy Making Wafers are going to apply when using real chocolate. I think most of them may, but I'll likely have to modify some techniques to ensure a quality outcome. I'm about to go on a knowledge search throughout the forums, but if anyone has links to strategy and techniques of truffle making, chocolate viscosity, removing air bubbles, and all of the other aspects of candy making I'd be very interested in personal experience and/or links I can read. Appreciate the help and I hope to find a lot of good info here!
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Post by Chip on Sept 28, 2023 9:15:23 GMT -5
slw2206 the first place I would start is on this site with the "Ask the Alchemist" section. Lots and lots of good stuff there.
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Post by Ben on Sept 29, 2023 10:52:22 GMT -5
Working with chocolate vs the candy making wafers (compound chocolate) is going to require more technique and precision. My guess is that the Ghiradelli chocolate you tried was fine--assuming it was stored sealed and dry, age and moisture shouldn't be a problem--and that the issue was more related to your process. If you gave us more detail on your process that resulted in the just-ok truffle shells, we could try to help troubleshoot.
I'd also recommend checking out the Pastry & Baking section of the eGullet forums. They're much more focused on bonbon/'chocolates' making vs here at Chocolate Alchemy where we're more focused on making chocolate from the cocoa bean.
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