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7:10 am
January 26, 2006
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pongara
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USA
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posts 12
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Hi,
I just bought a tempering machine from Mold’art in belgium to make chocolate barks: http://www.moldart.be/common/catalogue.asp?lang=en&categoryId=32
I have some problems with correctly tempering my chocolate and I am posting this message in order for someone to tell me what I am doing wrong and how I should do it.
When I temper my chocolate, I put the chocolate chips in my melter and set up the temperature at 113°F. I wait for the chocolate to melt (it takes about 3 hours)and I control the temperature of my chocolate to be sure it is around 110°F. Then, I add chips,between 15 and 20% of the quantity, I set down the temperature of the melter to:
81°F for white choclate
84°F for milk chocolate
88°F for dark chocolate
and I move the chocolate from time to time. When the chocolate comes to the above temperature, I pour it on a pan. That’s, I think, when the bubbles of air appear. I shake the pan in order to make the bubbles go, and then put the chocolate in the fridge. Beside this, once the chocolate is hard, I can see that there was still some air in it.
Can someone give me his/her opinion and advice about it?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Pongara
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4:12 pm
January 26, 2006
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patsikes
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Tampa Bay Area, FL, USA
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posts 67
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Are you mixing any ingredients into the chocolate before you pour? My company also makes lots of bark, and I do notice some bubbles when we do some barks, for example almond bark. I think it may have to do with the uneven surface of the ingredient holding air as it is covered in chocolate.
The only other thing I can think of is precisely follow your chocolates temper curve. We use Callebaut and the back of each bar shows a curve of melting, cooling, and re-heating to achieve perfect temper.
In my opinion, bark is a very organic chocolate confection and a little irregularity is OK with me.
Patrick Sikes
P.S. I Love You Fine Chocolates
http://www.psiloveyouchocolates.com
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Patrick Sikes
www.MyChocolateJournal.com
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12:27 am
January 28, 2006
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pongara
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USA
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posts 12
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Hi Patrick,
Thanks for your answer. It is good to know that my problem is not an isolated case.
To answer you, I am not adding anything before pouring the chocolate, but only after: I first pour the chocolate on the pan and then I add some nuts and I shake the pan. But I still get some bubbles or irregularities.
Do you advice anything in order to make the chocolate shiny? I feel that the chocolate is more attractive when it is shiny and mine is not really… Some products like this new Callebaut barry product MyCryo cocoa butter are supposed to help. What is your opinion about it?
http://www.cacaobarry.com/cms_files/25214_fr_F1.pdf
Thanks in advance for your help,
Pongara
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12:25 pm
January 28, 2006
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Sebastian
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posts 430
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Mycryo is simply tempered cocoa butter, meant to be added to help ‘seed’ your chocolate to ease the tempering process. If you don’t have a good tempering process, you work in a high relative humidity environment, or your moulds are dirty/scratched/old etc, you’re gonna have a hard time getting good gloss no matter how many tempering aids you use.
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3:12 am
January 29, 2006
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pongara
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USA
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posts 12
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Hi Sebastian,
Thanks for your answer. Regarding the tempering process that I described in my first mail above, do you suggest any other way to better temper my chocolate? Do you think I am doing it the right way?
Thanks,
Pongara
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11:45 am
January 29, 2006
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Sebastian
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posts 430
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I think what you’ve got it is a good starting point. Since each and every chocolate is slightly different based on formulation as well as annual changes (ie the presence of milk fat impacts tempering, and the cocoa crop changes every year based on weather, which impacts tempering), there are no definate answers. You are tempering via the seed method, which works on the premise that the chips you’re adding are already in good temper, which may or may not be the case. You may want to try tempering via the slab(mush) method or another to see what results you get. A search for tempering chocolate should giv eyou all sorts of info – there are many, many ways to temper – no one ‘right’ way to do it
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4:56 pm
January 30, 2006
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patsikes
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Tampa Bay Area, FL, USA
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posts 67
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Are you testing your temper before you pour? I always do a quick test but dipping a square of wax or parchment paper into the chocolate and then letting it set for about 6-10 minutes in a cool spot in the kitchen. By then it should be hard and have a nice snap.
Temperature and humidity do play a major role. We had a large production day yesterday and not one piece came out flawed. We made over 2000 molded truffles, chocolate dipped caramels, marzipans, nut clusters, and mendients and everything was perfect. It was very dry here yesterday and we were able to keep the kitchen at 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Patrick Sikes
P.S. I Love You Fine Chocolates
http://www.psiloveyouchocolates.com
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Patrick Sikes
www.MyChocolateJournal.com
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9:42 pm
February 2, 2006
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pongara
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USA
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Member
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posts 12
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Hi Patrick,
Thanks for your advice. I’ll do that test next time.
Bye !
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