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Post by shnou on Oct 19, 2010 10:20:49 GMT -5
Hi! I'm so glad to have found this forum! It looks like an amazing resource and I think I'll be spending a lot of time here!
I have a couple questions that are rather disparate in topic; one is on tempering and the other airbrushing.
Regarding tempering, my most recent batch of truffles was dipped in properly tempered chocolate, but the layer that resulted is pretty thin. I read somewhere that "over-tempered" chocolate will leave a thicker coat. How does one "over-temper"? Does it involve heating and cooling the chocolate several times, or is it more a matter of keeping the chocolate at a consistent temperature for an extended period? I used the seeding method to temper my chocolate and it was still very fluid when I dipped the centers.
I've also been wondering for a while about the possibility of airbrushing on dipped chocolates. Everything I've read seems to agree that airbrushing should be done in a chocolate mold first, but I haven't seen any reasons given why you can't airbrush directly onto a finished chocolate. I would really like to airbrush on my dipped truffles, but obviously there's no mold to brush first with those. Is there any reason why I really shouldn't do this?
Thanks in advance for any help!
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Post by deborah on Oct 19, 2010 11:46:47 GMT -5
On the tempering, you are probably much better off dipping twice (or selecting more viscous coverture) than attempting to thicken your chocolate by overcrystallizing it, as that will likely result in bloom.
On the airbrushing, you can certainly airbrush the finished chocolate, but bear in mind that the result will be a matte finish that you may find is not what you were intending. The reason why molds are airbrushed before pouring the chocolate for shells is that the slick surface of the mold's plastic causes the cocoa butter to have a shiny finish when unmolded. Just as your enrobed truffles have a matte finish that differs from a molded chocolate, the cocoa butter will react the same way.
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Post by shnou on Oct 19, 2010 17:29:24 GMT -5
Okay, thanks for the tip! How do I know how viscous a coverture will be? Or is that simply something one has to discover through trial and error?
For the airbrushing, that's good to know, I think I'll play around with that anyway. I don't mind a matte finish. I wonder if there are any sort of lacquers that one could paint enrobed truffles with after they've dried to get a glossy finish? Like how pastry can be brushed with egg.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Oct 19, 2010 18:16:33 GMT -5
Hi,
on the tempering: usually couverture has the viscousity on the packaging
on airbrushing: I haven't heard of any lacquers to get the shiny finish you're after. A shiny finish occurs because the cocoa butter in the chocolate or spray is setting against the shiny/smooth mould.
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