Dear Chocolate lovers,

I have been making chocolate the raw way for the past months, i.e. I don't heat anything above 42 Celsius in the process. I'm noticing with some of the chocolates I make that they look perfectly fine when they come out of the form and for the following couple of weeks, however, some of them after a while start to develop streaks. They seem to get just a little less visible as I go over them with my finger, but mostly the discoloration remains. Is there any way to prevent or at least mitigate this altered look in the long run?

I am aware that this sometimes shows up right after the chocolate  is done, but I find it strange that it becomes visible after lets say 2 or 3 weeks. What are some tricks and tips to prevent this?

Thank you so much!

Sanja

Sanja -

The chocolate is not tempered properly. What you have here is a classic case of fat bloom.

The best way to fix the problem is to hone you tempering skills. That said, what are you using to sweeten the chocolate? Some sweeteners have a lot of moisture in them that interferes with the tempering process - so it could partly be a recipe issue.

Also - ambient environment can have an affect. Do you monitor temperature and humidity where you temper?

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

Hi Clay,

thanks so much for the response. I suspected thats what it was but I am surprised mostly that it shows up only several weeks after the chocolate is done. We use coconut palm sugar.

The strangest thing is we actually use a high end tempering machine. So if I wanted to prevent this using the machine, would it mean I'd have to make the chocolate heat up and cool down numerous times to ensure proper bonding of the molecules?

updated by @sanja: 03/13/16 11:20:55

we do monitor the temperature at which we temper, which seems to be working just right for our chocolate, but not the humuidity. Whats your insight on humidity and its effect in tempering?

Just because you use a high-end tempering machine (what brand?) does not mean that the chocolate is in temper. The machines are not artificially intelligent - they only do what you tell them to do. The moisture in coconut palm sugar is particularly problematic.

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

updated by @clay: 03/13/16 17:12:42

Changes in humidty can affect temper. If the humidity is 55% one day and 75% the next then the temper points are likely to be different.

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

What are your recommendations in terms of ensuring the machine tempers correctly, do you have any insight on that?

What tempering machine are you using?

Who in your operation knows how to temper properly by hand? Part of the issue is that you may be relying on the machine to temper and you are using a temperature formula that does not work for your chocolate. This is less of an issue with commercial couverture (but it is an issue). When you are making your own chocolate, the challenges are much greater.

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

Hi Clay,

thanks so much for clarifying, this is helping shed some light for me. We have access to a Selmi Legend and that's what we have been using. Regarding tempering by hand, we have done that at the beginning and never had any issues with it, which I guess means we were never challenged in that aspect. We have already looked into tempering curves and yes we do see some clarity from that. Do you have any advice regarding the Selmi Legend, or any other thoughts on what might help us get insights?