Hello,

I have a frustrating problem. I temper chocolate using the cold bath method (I heat to 45c, cool to 28, then heat to 31). Then I test the temper. The test looks fine. I make the "foot" of the ganache center and it looks fine.

Then I dip the centers, and when it cools I see "stripes" of bloom on all of the chocolates.

While working I always keep the chocolate above 28c and below 32c.

What may be the problem? Any advice will be appreciated.

Image attached.

Thanks!

Or

updated by @or-m: 04/16/15 17:09:56

What is the temp of your center? That should be at room temp or it will throw your chocolate out of temper. The other thing that comes to mind is to continually stir the chocolate you are working with so the temperature is consistent throughout the mass while you are dipping.Andrea

Yes the centers are at room temperature.

I stir the chocolate while I dip but notcontinually, only something like every 3-4 minutes.

Can it be the problem?

Hi Ruth, your reply is empty...

You may have other issues, but you are not stirring enough.

Thank you Lana and everyone.

These are great tips.

How about your room temp? I once got bloom when chocolate didn't cristalize fast enough. (room was too hot)

The room is pretty hot... When I temper I turn on the AC (25c) but then I let it sit for the night and the temp is 28-29c.

Can it create bloom?

I would leave the AC at least until it cristalizes, it seems way too hot for me, I work at approx 21C.

Even after that and even if you succeed in making them look OK, you will need to store them in a cooler place, AFAIK chocolate continues it's cristalizing process for days and if you leave them in a place that is too hot they could lose snap.

If leaving the AC on is not an option for now, is it okay to put it immediately in the refrigerator? (my refrigerator is set at the highest temp 8c) Or it may harm the temper?

Refrigerator is a humid place, I think it COULD hurt (but in a totally different way*), depending on how long you leave them there but could help you test if it is indeed the hot room what is breaking the temper or is something else. Try leaving them there for just some minutes.

*Too much humidity can produce sugar bloom but it would look completely different. So as a test to see if it is indeed the room temperature, it could work.

Thanks Victor!

Maybe you have to re-check you tempering curve, go a degree lower or higher and do temper tests all the time, it could also be your room temp as mentioned above. They look beautiful though I love the patterns bloom creates.