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Post by kellymon on Mar 2, 2009 17:30:11 GMT -5
My latest 2 kg batch of 70%+ Madagascar rapidly developed what I think is severe sugar bloom. Brown spots inside and out, fine crystals glint in bright light with a close eye. The weather here in N. California has been wet and cold, so much (not all) of the time spent in the Santha was with the lid closed to retain heat. I even had to keep a heat lamp on it at night to keep an average temp of 115f. About 40 hours in the Santha.
Also, there seemed to be a lot of air bubbles in the liquer as the melanger ran........ and in the chocolate they rose to the surface as I poured into the bulk mold pans.
I tempered some of the bulk and molded 3 bars..... 2 developed a few small brown spots and 1 looks ok so far, although the temper and texture isn't nearly as smooth as I'd like.
Right now I have the whole thing back in the Santha for a few hours with forced air heat on it and the lid removed.
I also added a few percent more Cacoa butter.
I'm concerned that when I re-pour into the bulk pan that I will have the same problem.
Any suggestions?
thanks, robert
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Post by holycacao on Mar 3, 2009 0:57:43 GMT -5
can you take a pic? I may have been dealing with similar bloom issues since the rains have started to fall. Mine is definitely not sugar bloom. I have a tempered bar that has terrible swirls on the back, and sometimes a little on the front. When I check temper on a spatula it looks fine, but when it gets deposited into the mold the back gets out of temper.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Mar 3, 2009 16:30:51 GMT -5
Chocolate can be knocked out of temper during the moulding process if temperatures are too extreme. Have you tried warming your moulds slightly before pouring the chocolate in (I'm guessing the mould be cold judging by your weather comments)? Sometimes briefly hitting them with a heat gun (paint stripper) just to raise the temperature a few degrees can help maintain the temper when the chocolate is poured in.
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Post by Brad on Mar 3, 2009 19:34:14 GMT -5
Swirls on the backs of bars....
What we do to combat this (a couple of hundred bars hand poured every day) is first and foremost to ensure the chocolate is VERY well stirred first.
Our shop temperature is 64 degrees F.
We pour the chocolate in the molds, and after tapping the mold for a few seconds let it sit still until the shine of the liquid chocolate is gone and the chocolate is semi-solid. Then we move the bars into a fridge to finish them off. I've found that leaving the bars at room temperature without refridgerating them will cause "out of bloom" swirls every time.
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Post by holycacao on Mar 4, 2009 1:15:33 GMT -5
I'm using a kettle that has an agitator arm and depositor. I've thought about the temperature extremes. I Heat the molds lightly before molding and the room temp is closer to 45-50 deg. It has been very difficult to regulate the temp of the room.
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Post by Brad on Mar 4, 2009 1:18:31 GMT -5
Room is to cold.
That is a big part of the problem.
Ideal temperature is in the mid 60's.
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Post by holycacao on Mar 4, 2009 8:39:50 GMT -5
I was really hoping that would not be the case! I guess it's either drywall time or proper temperature tunnel.
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Post by cheebs on Mar 4, 2009 9:56:28 GMT -5
kellymon the spots that you describe sound like the chocolate is just not in temper. Did you do a knife point test before molding? I see exactly what you're describing on the silicone scrapers I use for scraping down the Santha when they cool down and the chocolate solidifies untempered. I've personally only gotten swirls/streaks due to high humidity.
brad: at what temp do you set your fridge? Running my room at 68 right now, cooler at 57.
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Post by kellymon on Mar 4, 2009 17:08:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the help so far. I expect is may be a combination of too cool a room and too cold a mold pan. I call these my "Bulk Molds" just non-stick cookie sheets really, each holds about 1 kg. And I'm pouring from a 110f santha, no attempt at tempering until I actually mold bars from the bulk. I will probably change that practice and get more in the temp range before pouring into the pans. I've probably just been lucky until now I'll get some photos up for reference as soon as I can. robert
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Post by garth on Mar 5, 2009 13:18:45 GMT -5
I'm currently on my 2nd batch of Madagascar. I had a problem with little bubble marks the first time so I put it back in the grinder with the lid off and a heat lamp and took the temp to 150 on the IR thermometer and just kept smelling it. when it stopped burning my eyes and nose I added cocoa butter, tempered it (seed method) and 1 hr of residence time before molding. I also kept the temper temp at 89' F I rigged up a cooling tunnel with a standard a/c unit on a roll around shelving unit. I put some ducting on it and it works great. I run a small dehumidifier in the summer. I usually like to keep the humidity below 50% . I wish you and your chocolate well.
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josh
Novice
Posts: 56
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Post by josh on Mar 8, 2009 18:17:10 GMT -5
Dude,
Try a new thermometer or learn to hand temper. I once had a faulty thermometer and it kept me guessing for months until I ID'ed it as the last possible problem? In the course I learned to hand temper, just stir it till it gets thick and bam, no more temper problems. Also, don't worry so much, overthinking is the worst-seriously, all that humidity crap and room temp is almost non existant unless, like stated, extreme environment, also, you are taking the chocolate way too high, 92 is sufficient, stir it till it gets thick, then heat for like 2 secs and pour, 150 is cooking it.
Jungle
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josh
Novice
Posts: 56
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Post by josh on Mar 10, 2009 22:44:08 GMT -5
YOOOOOOOO!
Back and with my book. About tempering, rule one, remember to stir constantly when cooling, more or less, I'm pretty lazy myself. Rule two, the crystals are formed only in the cooling reaction unless your looking for some weird betas. I was wrong about the degree the other day as I don't use F nor a thermometer, just a guess, so I'm back today with my notebook that I keep when the pro's teach me how to do the fancy stuff. Heat the chocolate to 117F, then stir while it cools, until it gets thick to about 80F, sometimes you can't get that low because it gets too thick and solid- bam, its tempered. One quick way to check is to throw a bit in the fridge and see if it sets. Or for me, I know because it gets "that" thick and its time. You will get to know "that" viscosity for yourself over time. Note, for milk chocolate, because of the fat content you need to go down to 78.5F or so. Then, to get it into the molds you can warm it up keeping it below 88F. I usually go to 82/84F, just checked.
So, one more time and in Celsius because only Norte Americanos' use the F. Take the rich, single origin dark chocolate up to>46C, down to<27C, back up to>31-32C to pour. For Milk, >46C, <26C, >31-32C. Also, everybody screws this up, I don't care if they studied with Willy Wonka himself in Paris, tempering is a PITA and the pro's themselves don't get above 90% average even with fancy tempering machines, its tough and keep it up, it gets easier over time and for me, the key was to relax and not over think it. The easiest way to cool quickly is using a spatula over a stainless or marble surface. I use a pot. Some people use a plastic bowl and a microwave-suga'. If you are going to do it for a living get a machine.
Also, you don't need to chill it at all but it will take a while to set up, up to 3 days. Room temp in the tropics (see humidity) is just fine. Another issue could be your molding not allowing the expansion of the chocolate as it set. IMO it was the temper so I wrote this horribly long post-sorry.
Jungle OUT!
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