blending couverture

Hi all

I want to start blending different couvertures to create my own unique flavours and have a couple of questions relating to technique and flavours.

Technique

I work with a 15k table top tempering machine and was wondering if blending was as simple as putting the right present of each couverture in the machine to melt the bulk & then seedingwith the correct percentage of each couverture?

Flavours

I only intend to blend dark/dark, milk/milk & white/white.

As a novice I haveno idea how the various couvertures mixed will work together and would appreciate any views, opinions & experience on this matter.

If anyone could guide me in the direction of any reference material on this subject it would be much appreciated.

Apologise if this has previously being covered in the forum. Ive had a search but not find anything. Let me know if you need more details from me.

Thanks in advance.

Peter

updated by @peter-guppy: 04/10/15 09:13:33PM

Yup, you're on the right track. It's not rocket science, so don't over complicate it by seeding with both types of what you're blending. I'd personally choose the chocolate that has the least milk fat (most cocoa butter) in it to seed with, but both will work. Do it on a small scale (100g) first and taste it to see if it's giving you the flavor profile you want.

Easy would be to just mix the blend to taste, then temper the blend. The temperature to temper to will depend on the amount of milk fat. So a blend of dark and milk will temper between either, same dark/white, or milk/white. You have to deal with the same thing with different milk chocolates tempering at different temperatures.

cheers for the comments much appreciated.had ago and seems to of worked fine, now going to try out the new blend on some punters.

Along the same line as blending like couvertures, what about blending dark with milk?

Re: blending dark with milk - I'm not an expert, but I have done this successfully using "couverture" quality milk and dark. I don't know if this is right, but its worked for me: melt both first to the manufacturer's recommendations, although I admit I often cheat and just target 115-118 F. I then pick a ratio (wild guess), say 80% milk and 20% dark (depending, of course, on the dark I'm using). I pour the dark into the milk, and fold it in. I don't know if the folding is necessary (as opposed to just quickly mixing), but folding just feels better to me. Then I temper the mixture using the temperature profile of the milk chocolate. After it is fully tempered and set a while (I like to wait a day if I can), I then taste it. I don't really find a lot of value in tasting the melted, pre-tempered chocolate, because to my palate, it doesn't predict the final taste. I try to do several experiments at once: 80/20, 75/24, 67/33, 50/50. That way, I know on day 2 which will work and which won't. Interestingly, I've found that while the end product will temper fine...I have been disappointed with the flavor often. Instead of adding depth and complexity (as I had hoped), the dark adds a "muddiness." But that may be the brands I'm using. I'm still playing with it, looking for the right blend that will make a somewhat darker, somewhat less sweet "dark milk chocolate."

Sorry for the delay in answering. Your info is much appreciated. I'm making a batch this weekend so, we shall see!