Tempering Chocolate problem (pictures inside)

5083 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by foodpump, Mar 21, 2017

maxchart

Discussion Starter · Sep 9, 2015 (Edited by Moderator)

Hello,

I'm trying to mold slabs of dark chocolate and I'm having problems lately.

It's not the first time I do this, I know how to temper chocolate, but I have a new tempering machine (water/bain-marie) and maybe I'm making mistakes.

What I use:

Chocolate: Cacao Barry Dark Couverture Mi-Amer (58%)

Machine: dr TF20 (http://www.dr.ca/tf20-chocolate-tempering-machine.html) + Moulding wheel (http://www.dr.ca/moulding-wheel-for-tf20-chocolate-tempering-machine.html)

What I do:

1- Melt the chocolate overnight (at around 40 C)

2- Dial back the machine temperature to 32
3- Seed with room temperature (21-22 C, I know it's not 18-20 C which is ideal) callets

4- Start the wheel to stir + manually stir

5- Reach 32 C

6- Make my test

7- Test is ok

8- Start moulding in trays (I make slabs that I break in small pieces after)

Now usually, the first few trays give perfectly tempered chocolate and after that I get those:

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maxchart
Sep 9, 2015

DddKOj1.jpg

maxchart
Sep 9, 2015

This looks like chocolate that wasn't tempered correctly and was too hot when poured.

What I don't understand is why it's perfect on the outside and not it the middle, I get it's a little bit hotter there, but t the point of making that big of a difference?

Could it be because I use trays and they are not suited to chocolate moulding? (I did it in the past without problems, but those are pretty flimsy)

Could it be because I use a wanter temperer and when I go from 40 C to 32 C, the water temperature doesn't drop as fast as an air temeperer and it reheats the chocolate in the bain-marie while I'm working?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm getting tired of remelting half of my batches, hehe.

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foodpump

· #2 · Sep 10, 2015

Your tempering is fine. Your poured couverture is not cooling down fast enough and is suffering from "latent heat build up", which is why the edges are in perfect temper, but the middle is out of temper.

Is the poured slab resting on a hot counter or a hot room?

Can you try to put the poured slab in the fridge for no more than five minutes?

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foodpump

· #5 · Mar 20, 2017

Hi Krea,

I did some research into Krea ch, and I am happy to report you have a wonderfuly designed and intelligent product.

However, your product is a melter and holding device, not a tempering machine. That is to say the user must manually temper the couverture either with the seeding (Impfen) method, or with the classic tableing method. Your machine will hold at a very consistent temperature, but the couverture will go out of temper regardless within a few hours, or even quicker if crystalized couverture crumbs are scraped back in to the tank.

Once again, it is a wonderfull machine, but the operator must know how to temper, and how to "troubleshoot" problems as they arise.

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foodpump

· #7 · Mar 21, 2017

Its fat bloom. There was no chance for condensation to form due to the mold only being refrigerated for a short tim, AND that the couverture had no opportunity to be exposed to humidity while it was still cast in the form.

You can also tell the difference by rubbing your fingers on the bloom.. Fat bloom feels greasy, while sugar bloom feels gritty on account of the recrystalised sugar.

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