I was fortunate enough to acquire a used Selmi Plus for my new chocolate shop and recently got it set up. I am using Chocoa Forte 60% in it, and I can't seem to quite nail down the temps for perfect tempering.

The info from Chocoa says it wants a high temp of 105-115F. Right now I have it about 109. Is that actually warm enough to melt out all the crystals?

I get nice snap and great shiny results in molds. But not when enrobing (either using the enrober or hand-dipping). Anyone have ideas why? Should I continue adjusting the temp, or should I think about possibly using a different kind of chocolate in it?

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!



updated by @robyn-dochterman: 04/12/15 12:24:16

Share more about your temperature of the chocolate at time of use (ie through the enrober), your cooling conditions, your enrobing center conditions, and your ambient conditions please

The temp in the enrobing area (not a separate room, but a semi-contained area) is pretty consistently 70-71 degrees F (the rest of the shop is consistently 69 F). The Selmi is set for, and is telling me, the working temp is 89.5 F, and I've been cooling molds in the 70 F area, but not in a cooling cabinet or anything similar. When I hand-dip, it's been in the slightly cooler area.Should I be checking the temps the Selmi is reporting (is it possible they are slightly off?)?

Thermocouples fail all the time - with chocolate, success (technical) is alla bout time / temperatures. I'd absolutely be checking the temperature. However, since you're getting good moulded results, i don't think that's your problem. It's shiny on the mould surface because of the mould surface. You're environmental temps are ok, but not great, for cooling - cooler would be better. My suspicion is that your enrobed pieces are sort of matte-looking, but not bloomed? If you cool a bit more quickly that might help with the appearance, but a matte-ish look for an enrobed piece isn't entirely all that unusual. You can try to put a piece of acetate on top of the enrobed pieces as the exit the enrober, which will give them a huge amount of gloss. Of course, I may have it all wrong as well - it's tough to trouble shoot remotely 8-) pictures always help too.The other piece that affects appearance is your centers - their composition and temperature as they process through the enrober are important.

Hi- I use a Selmi- An enrobed piece will not have the shine that a molded piece has due to no contact with plastic. As Sebastian said- place a sheet of acetate on top of the enrobed pieces, cool and then peel off. It will (should) be shiny.That will show you that your temp's are OK. I work in Centigrade but I heat to 43C,(about 109) and work at 30.0-31.1C.