Paramount Crystals

[jessiquina]

a friend of mine told me about a product for chocolate called paramount crystals.. if you have used them before, im wondering if it actually does "temper" the chocolate, and does it compromise the flavor or texture? what kind of chocolate can you use with it? couverture?

thanks.

[Erik]

Paramount crystals are actually used to thin your couverture out to make things like dipping and molding easier.

[foodpump]

You'll find it from Callebaut under the trade name "Mycryo". All it is is 100% refined cocoa butter that was shot at a frozen roller, it is rich in type 6 crystals. To use it you get your couveture at 34.4 C and add 2% of the mycryo. This means you have to weigh out your couvture and use 2 grams of mycryo for every kg of couveture. It works well, but I find it's just as much of a hassle getting the wieght of the couveture and getting it to 34% then tempering by the seeding method.

Hope this helps

[Risque Cakes]

wow, I have never measured my paramount crystals, I just add it to my melted couveture, it keeps it fluid a little longer, I find I can work with the "chocolate" a little longer...it does give the couverture a bit more "bite"...but adding crisco or veggie oil does the same thing as the paramount crystals.

When we "dip" our items we add a few teaspoonfuls of solid veggie shortening..

[jessiquina]

ok thanks... we have mycryo at work already..

[foodpump]

The 2% rule is only for tempering couveture, not for thinning out. I prefer to temper by using the seeding method. I do not advocate the use of foreign fats or oils in my work as I find they give a greasy mouthfeel and take away from the "snap" of real couveture.

The cheaper couvetures tend to be thicker and need thinning out if you want to mold with them, hence the use of extra cocoa butter. Mycryo is sold at a premium price, you can also buy cocoa butter in block form and melt it down.

[Risque Cakes]

I too like tempering with the seeding method, but for a quick cheap dip, I use the cheaper couveture and add a little paramount or crisco to thin

[jessiquina]

i just hate tempering at home. i have some nice molds from JB prince and have not used them cuz i just dont feel like tempering at home. i thought the crystals would solve my tempering laziness.... ha.

just as i thought, there is no short cut for delicious chocolates!

[Risque Cakes]

try the seeding method, so easy!

[jessiquina]

im really great at the tablage method.. it just gets messy at home. i dont really get a good temper from the seeding... i do it at work, and i just prefer to not seed. thanks tho.

[dyanamo]

I find tempering by hand takes too long, and the chocolate doesn't stay in temper long enough to pour the number of molds I want to do. I end up having to retemper several times before I'm finished with my project. So I purchased an ACMC table-top temperer, and I love it. You can temper 2 to 4 pounds of chocolate at a time. It takes about an hour for the chocolate to reach the tempered stage, but you don't have to stay with the machine the entire time. You can set a timer and go do other things. Once the chocolate is in temper, it stays in temper indefinitely. I've been using it for a couple of years - not sure I could temper by hand any more. The cost is about $800, but if you work with chocolate a lot, it's well worth it.