| User |
Post |
|
8:17 pm
February 15, 2006
|
|
pongara
|
|
|
USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 12
|
|
|
|
|
Hello,
I am living in Southern California and we had a warm weather the last couple days. I have been tempering some chocolate and it took me a long time to get it cooler. The kitchen I am working in doesn’t have any air conditional…
Does someone know how to adjust the chocolate temperature when I am tempering in a room temperature that can be around 85°F or more?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Pongara
|
|
|
8:30 pm
February 15, 2006
|
|
patsikes
|
|
|
Tampa Bay Area, FL, USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 67
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Pongara,
In my opinion, you need to either find another place to do your chocolate work or get an air conditioner. It is going to be frustrating at best and impossible at worst to get your chocolate in proper temper. Plus if you are able to get it into temper, it is going to be hard to work/package your finished product without it blooming or smudging on you…
Sorry…but I know this from our work last summer in an inadequately air conditioned kitchen here in Colorado.
Patrick Sikes
P.S. I Love You Fine Chocolates
http://www.psiloveyouchocolates.com
|
Patrick Sikes
www.MyChocolateJournal.com
|
|
|
9:04 pm
February 15, 2006
|
|
gap
|
|
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 199
|
|
|
|
|
I’ve had a similar experience to Patrick when it comes to tempering in warm weather. Living in Australia means summer in my kitchen is not a great time for chocolate as we don’t have air conditioning in the house. I have tried using the fridge to cool the choc a little after dipping but that didn’t work too well – maybe I just need to practice a bit more.
If anyone has any ideas I’d also be appreciative . . .
|
|
|
11:21 pm
February 15, 2006
|
|
Sebastian
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 430
|
|
|
|
|
Not many options here. With chocolate, everything depends on proper temperatures. i’m afraid you’re in for lots and lots of frustration if you try to work with chocolate in an 85 degree room…
|
|
|
4:37 pm
February 16, 2006
|
|
deb
|
|
|
Calgary, Canada
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 146
|
|
|
|
|
Hi everyone. Living in Canada we are fortunate with cooler climate in the winter,BUT, we then have our furnaces running which can heat up a room a little warmer than we would like when making chocolate. Last week I was making chocolates and the room temperature was fairly warm. I always find that it is deceptive as my chocolate can be perfectly tempered but when testing a thin strip because of the warm room, it doesn’t show that it is ready! I think that using the fridge or even having a fan to cool down my work area is good solution. I typically temper using a marble slab and testing with my lip. I actually thought I botched a mould because the chocolate took about 10 minutes to dry. It all worked out well in the end. I made pineapple- rum white choco ganache. Turned out great!
|
|
|
5:22 pm
February 16, 2006
|
|
pongara
|
|
|
USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 12
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for your answer. Well…it seems that I am gonna have to invest on air conditional!
But it is good to see that I am not the only one that experienced that problem. Thank you for your answers.
Just an additional question: how long time do you usually put your chocolate in the fridge to get it hard? I put mine overnight at 39°F but it ruined my chocolate last time… The chocolate got wet…
Thanks in advance for your help,
Pongara
|
|
|
5:25 pm
February 16, 2006
|
|
pongara
|
|
|
USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 12
|
|
|
|
|
Hi everybody,
Thank you all for your answers. It helped a lot. If you could just give me another advise about the fridge temperature!
Please check my previous question.
Thanks!
Pongara
|
|
|
7:47 pm
February 16, 2006
|
|
patsikes
|
|
|
Tampa Bay Area, FL, USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 67
|
|
|
|
|
We let our hand dipped items set at room temperature. Molded items are refrigerated usually no more than 20-30 minutes. If it is going to be in the refrigerator longer than that, I would recommend wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap or putting it in a sealed container and then letting everything come back to room temperature before removing the overwrap.
Patrick Sikes
P.S. I Love You Fine Chocolates
http://www.psiloveyouchocolates.com
|
Patrick Sikes
www.MyChocolateJournal.com
|
|
|
9:36 pm
February 16, 2006
|
|
Sebastian
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 430
|
|
|
|
|
Remember that the warmer your room is, the more moisture it can hold. Fridges are notoriously bad for humidity control, and when your chocolates cool down in the fridge, all the moisture that the air is holding condenses on them and they get wet. If you go the route of an air conditioner, as you cool your room it’s RH will drop[ also. Most of the time all you need is a cool room (say, 67F ) and if you want to speed things up a bit, set a table top fan to blow over your chocolates to carry away the heat they're giving off.
|
|
|
1:03 am
February 17, 2006
|
|
Hans-Peter Rot
|
|
|
USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 1462
|
|
|
|
|
Deb, why don't you just turn the heat down, or off, in the winter when making chocolates?
|
|
|
1:11 am
February 18, 2006
|
|
pongara
|
|
|
USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 12
|
|
|
|
|
Dear All,
Thanks for all your advise. It helped a lot! I actually put this morning my chocolate in the fridge for about 15 mn and it came out great.
Many many thanks to all of you!
Pongara
|
|
|
9:29 am
February 18, 2006
|
|
BeckersChocolate
|
|
|
SoCal, USA
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 18
|
|
|
|
|
http://starbulletin.com/2001/04/18/features/story1.html
At the time I visited the big island of Hawaii, August 2004, I was told by one of the owners that air conditioning was NOT being used. This was in a industrial building and you could see the hand production line using mostly thin poly moulds. The small gift shop showroom was cooled howevver. Now this is literally less than 5 miles from the Kona airport. Go this site with this link to see the last 6 months temperature on the island.
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KHIWAIKO1&day=17&year=2006&month=2&graphspan=6month .
No complaints or excuses anymore, high temps, high humidity, a few fans, flexi polycarbonate moulds and the product is ready.
I dont know if they are playing with the lecithin and/or cocoa butter to get stuff to release. I purchased chocolate chunks from them, the same product they were using in the plant. It looked and smelled like “standard” Callebaut and even 1/2 the markings looked right.
I smuggled my Rev 2 [:o)]on board in the overhead on our United flight from LAX. This was without my wife or the other 7 in our party knowing. Nothing would release from my heavy polycarbonate moulds.[V]
Not even being patient in the industrial low humidity giant fridge or even with a shock freeze in the sub-zero as a last resort. So go figure. The above company is doing it every day.
|
|
|
11:58 am
February 18, 2006
|
|
Sebastian
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member
|
|
posts 430
|
|
|
|
|
I don’t see any issues with that. The low temperatures seem to be between 60-70, which is perfect for making chocolate. High temperatures don’t exceed 90 – I can guarantee you that they’re not tempering chocolate at 90F ambient temps unless they’ve got some other cooling equipment, but 90F isn’t going to destroy most chocolate once it’s been tempered.
|
|
Search 
Print this Topic 
Topic RSS 
