287870 Mon Nov 12 13:41:56 -0800 2001 12 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1551114 This Christmas holiday I'm attempting to make fancy chocolates as home made gifts to friends and family. I know chocolate needs to be tempered to get that sheen and stay solid at room temp. But I've never attempted to temper chocolate. I have a book, and it gives instructions, but I'm still a little unclear. Can someone please give more instructions and advice? Mon Nov 12 13:41:56 -0800 2001 0 Wendy Lai 1 1551135 With a book that has instructions, can you elaborate on what you are unclear about? What is confusing you? Mon Nov 12 18:27:44 -0800 2001 1551114 0 Carolyn Tillie 2 1551168 It said to pour out half of the chocolate onto a marble piece, spread it around and pour it back into the pan. My confusion is how long do I spread it around, and afterwards, how do I know if I've succeeded? What are the signs to look for when tempering chocolate? Tue Nov 13 11:28:46 -0800 2001 1551135 0 Wendy Lai 3 1551171 After melting the chocolate, it will all be at a uniformly high temp somewhere around 105°F or so. Tabling the chocolate on the marble will reduce the temp to the low point and get the crystalization right, somewhere around 85°F. You'll then add this lower temp chocolate back into the higher temp batch to get it all to the working temp (which varies depending on the type of chocolate -- around 93°F for dark chocolate). Use the instant-read thermometer as your guide to determine how long to table the chocolate -- really experienced chocolatiers can work by feel and appearance, but for casual makers the thermometer is the way to go. As for knowing when it's right, take a piece of wax paper and drizzle some of the working temp chocolate on it. Let sit for about five minutes, then peel off -- it should have a nice sheen and a decent snap. Hope this helps! Tue Nov 13 11:52:33 -0800 2001 1551168 0 Dennison 4 1551177 Dennison said it really well -- it is the glisten (or sheen) and snap you are looking for. Tue Nov 13 13:02:42 -0800 2001 1551171 0 Carolyn Tillie 4 1551253 Okay, this will sound dumb, but I have to ask. If the purposes of tabling the chocolate is to cool it down, why not just NOT heat the whole batch up too much? As my test batch, I bought some large chocolate "pellets". The lady who sold them to me said they do not require tempering, but then again, she couldn't even tell me what the purposes of tempering was so I'm not too trusting of her advice. Any advice on these chocolate pallets? Wed Nov 14 11:40:17 -0800 2001 1551171 0 Wendy Lai 5 1551257 When you temper chocolate, you heat it to completely remove any crystallization. Then you cool it under controlled conditionions so that it will solidify so evenly as to be uniform , ie, glassy. If you don't melt the chocolate completely enough first, when it cools existing crystals will grow into white powdery, porous, and spongy/soft areas. Instead of being stable, your chocolates will become completely unappetizing in a week or so. Wed Nov 14 11:53:03 -0800 2001 1551253 0 ironmom 5 1551287 Hey Wendy -- The best chocolate to use for candies, dipping and molding is a high fat content couverture chocolate meant specifically for that purpose. These are most commonly (and economically) sold in large blocks rather than in bars meant for eating out of hand. There are many particularly suitable brands with big reputations, including Vahlrona (great) and Callebaut (good), as well as lesser known producers like Schokinag (German, and a real pleasure to work with). I'm sure I've forgotten a bunch of great producers as well. Can you tell us more about the pellets? Where did you get them? Wed Nov 14 18:02:26 -0800 2001 1551253 0 Dennison 6 1551295 I bought the chocolate (the starter kit) from the site below (Creative Treats). But I also have another site that I'm saving for until I know what I"m doing and buy the good stuff. http://www.gourmail.com/price.htm Link: http://creativetreets.com/ushop/index.cgi?ID=MGLOCB Wed Nov 14 20:02:28 -0800 2001 1551287 0 Wendy Lai 7 1551328 Hi Wendy -- I checked out the Creative Treats site but couldn't find too much specific information about the chocolate itself. What I did find just basically recommended slow controlled melting of the chocolate before molding (link below). This is very similar in principle to Janet's earlier post about simply melting chocolate that is already in temper. Should work just fine and is certainly not as intimidating as the entire tempering process can seem at first. We wouldn't want to lead you into making things more complicated than they need to be, especially on your first attempt, so it would seem a good idea to just keep it simple and have fun! Link: http://www.creativetreets.com/recipes/coatings.htm Thu Nov 15 09:16:34 -0800 2001 1551295 0 Dennison 1 1551140 Hi Wendy -- Congratulations on deciding to work with chocolate, you'll have a lot of fun and all of your recipients will be absolutely thrilled. I don't know what book you're working from, but I figured I'd offer up my thoughts and some encouragement. Basically, what tempering involves is melting of the chocolate, cooling it to allow it to crystalize properly, then bringing it back up to working temperature for molding or dipping. First off, know that patience and practice will serve you well -- you should always make a trial batch (or two or three) to eat yourself. That said, there are some things to always keep in mind: 1) regulate the temperature carefully -- an instant read thermometer is an absolute necessity and gentle heat is the way to go (use a double boiler setup and keep stirring to prevent separation of the chocolate -- I don't know of any way to save the batch if the cocoa butter separates from the solids, so pay close attention so it doesn't happen. Also, always keep extra chocolate on hand to add in to reduce the temp if needed.), 2) watch out for added moisture that might cause the chocolate to seize (excess steam from the double boiler may sometimes cause problems), and 3) always contact the chocolate maker if possible for specific tempering guidelines -- they made the chocolate so know best how to work with it. They can give the exact melting temperature and the point that you should cool to before coming back up to the working range. Above all, have fun -- it's a labor of love so shouldn't be too easy, but will certainly be worth it! Hope this helps. Mon Nov 12 20:12:39 -0800 2001 1551114 0 Dennison 1 1551195 Here's a faster way to temper IF you're starting out with chocolate that's already in temper (in other words, a bar that's still shiny with no gray bloom or splotches). Basically, you're leaving the chocolate more or less in temper but just melting it. Cut the chocolate into chunks but first set aside a big piece (if you're tempering 2 1/2 pounds, set aside about 1/2 pound in one or two pieces). Carefully heat the chopped chocolate (a microwave works great for this, on about 50% power, if you have settings for that). Start for three minutes or so and take the chocolate out and stir it very thoroughly. Return it for a minute and repeat the stirring. You want the chocolate melted but no hotter than 100 degrees. Once you're at 100 degrees, add the chunk(s) of unmelted chocolate and stir into the melted chocolate until the temp reaches about 90 degrees for dark or 88 for milk chocolate. Test for temper; when it's in temper, remove the rest of the chunk. I've used this method (from Alice Medrich of Cocolat fame) with good success. The only thing to keep in mind is that if the chocolate gets more than a degree or two over 100, you're better off heating it to 125 and then tempering the usual way (working part of the chocolate on a marble surface). A couple of notes: don't use cold centers in tempered chocolate; make sure they're close to room temp. Also, if you're dipping a lot of centers, you might find that the chocolate gets thick and hard to work with, even though it's still in temper. You can either carefully rewarm the chocolate just to the recommended temperature for the type of chocolate (88-90 degrees), or add a little "virgin" tempered chocolate to rewarm it. And finally, I've found certain chocolates easier to temper than others. Scharffenberger, for example, was virtually impossible for me to get into temper, so even though I love it, I save it for the centers. I've had the best luck tempering with Valhrona and Ghiradelli. Tue Nov 13 16:03:24 -0800 2001 1551114 0 Janet A. Zimmerman 1 1552684 Hiya Wendy -- Don't know if you've already made your chocolates, but I ran across this in today's Washington Post. Looks easy and it avoids tempering with the clever trick of coating with cocoa instead. Thought you might be interested. Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25045-2001Dec11.html Wed Dec 12 17:15:22 -0800 2001 1551114 0 Dennison