Hi Guys,
I need your help. I'm looking to make a praline with an alcohol filling. I don't want to make a ganache with alcohol, but rather, a chocolate sphere with a shot of whisky inside. A bit like Mon Cheri for instance. How is it made? It's driving me nuts.
Thank you for your help.
Mark
Hi guys,
I miss this forum...
I have a question which has been bugging me, related to labeling the finished product:
So, if you're making a 100Gr. chocolate bar, using for example 70% dark chocolate couverture, and 15% of the 100Gr. bar is made of inclusions (almonds, for instance). Do you label your chocolate as:
70% Dark Chocolate with Almonds
- or -
59.5% Dark Chocolate with Almonds
Thanks for your help.
The molds were clean. I'll be honest I didn't check the temperature of the mold before I poured the chocolate in. The room temperature is about 20 degrees celsius. Out of a batch of 8 chocolates I made, this is the worst looking (so I'm not using this). The others, I left longer in the fridge and the marks were a lot less visible. Still not perfect, but okay. But maybe a combination of checking proper mold temperature, and leaving them longer in the fridge would do the trick. An extra 2 minutes patience could have saved me a bar. The mold is polycarbonate and measures 10x10cms and it is plain flat, I knew this would probably not be the best idea.
Thanks for the advice.
Can anyone please look at the pictures and tell me what am I doing wrong? The chocolate is well tempered, but when I unmold, they come with a whitish area. Not all of them. I'm starting to think it's the unmolding part. I put the tempered chocolate to set in the fridge for about 5 to 10 mins, and perhaps I'm a little impatient, so as soon as I look at the mold and I see it is releasing from the sides, I help to unmold by twisting the mold. The area you see in white is the area which wasn't released whilst in the fridge. Should I leave it a little longer?
Also, when I put the chocolate in the mold I tap it so I remove the bubbles. Obviously the bubbles come from the other side. But I'd like my chocolate to be free from bubbles from both sides. 
Should I keep tapping it?
Thank you for your help my fellow wizards!
hi,
just a quick question which has been bothering me a little. isn't "RAW chocolate" another word for "Modica chocolate"?
RAW chocolate is a 'cold-process' type of chocolate, and so is Modica Chocolate.
Modica chocolate is made from cocoa paste which is heated at 40 deg, mixed with sugar and put in molds when it reaches 30 deg.
Am I missing something?
Thanks
Thank you Gerhard!
Well done on your sculptures!! :D I couldn't find info on your website, but I will check again ...
excellent! thank you sir!
Hi guys,
Do you know anything about sculpting with chocolate? I have searched around and didn't find much info. I mean, kinda like the creations by Patrick Roger (France) and Stephane Treand ...
Do they temper chocolate and work with it, or as I'm assuming, they work with a different type of chocolate?
Thanks!
Hello folks,
Any idea how to keep the chocolate in temper. I make one mould, and it gets too thick for a 2nd one, so I will need to heat it carefully each time, and stir like a maniac.
Heard you can buy a chocolate melter and putting the tempered chocolate in it to maintain at working temperature. Seems like a good idea. Any (inexpensive) melters you would recommend? I don't need a huge melter. I'm based in Europe...
Thank you!
hi, I'm sorry to bring this up again, but it is a very interesting discussion. It appears you are all saying you cannot have quality chocolates with a 6 month shelf life. Whilst I understand what you're saying, I believe it can be achieved. I know an importer of fine chocolates, and one VERY reputable European chocolatier (I won't mention names for privacy sake, but I promise, it's not Godiva or something similar lol) makes chocolates (with ganache and all crazy fillings), with a shelf life of 6 months. These guys have won many presitigious awards in the chocolate industry. The chocolates are manufactured for praline bars in retail shops, so I am lucky to have access to the boxes they come in (where I can see the ingredients). The only "weird" ingredient they use is glucose syrup. Otherwise, it's all natural flavours. And the ganaches are made with cream, too. They are among the best and most natural tasting chocolates I've ever had, and I've sampled a lot of chocolates!
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your reply.
I am using an Infrared thermometer.
1. Divide your purchased 1 kg block of moulded and tempered chocolate (not something that has been sitting in heat for a long time) into two parts: 800g and 200g.
2. Crush or grate the 200g part and keep at 25C.
3. Melt the 800g in the microwave: small burst of nuking plus a lot of mixing, repat until you get it to 45C (it would be a good idea to check if your thermometer is accurate).
4. Pour the melted chocolate into stainless steel bowl and keep mixing, scraping the sides to keep uniform temperature, keep going until you get to 35C.
5. Start adding your crushed or grated 200g part in small doses, lets say 50g at the time, keep mixing and stirring like a madman, when added pieces are melted add next small dose. Keep going until you get to 31C (if you have some of the small part left don't add it anymore).
6. Give it a few extra good stirs and smile. Now you have tempered chocolate ready to use.
Extra hints.
Make sure your moulds are clean, dry and at 27-28C before you pour in your tempered chocolate.
All unused chocolate can be melted again and reused (it will be untempered).
- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/forums/tech-help-tips-tricks-techniques/15792/tempering-problems#sthash.uJ8IUDRd.dpuf1. Divide your purchased 1 kg block of moulded and tempered chocolate (not something that has been sitting in heat for a long time) into two parts: 800g and 200g.
2. Crush or grate the 200g part and keep at 25C.
3. Melt the 800g in the microwave: small burst of nuking plus a lot of mixing, repat until you get it to 45C (it would be a good idea to check if your thermometer is accurate).
4. Pour the melted chocolate into stainless steel bowl and keep mixing, scraping the sides to keep uniform temperature, keep going until you get to 35C.
5. Start adding your crushed or grated 200g part in small doses, lets say 50g at the time, keep mixing and stirring like a madman, when added pieces are melted add next small dose. Keep going until you get to 31C (if you have some of the small part left don't add it anymore).
6. Give it a few extra good stirs and smile. Now you have tempered chocolate ready to use.
Extra hints.
Make sure your moulds are clean, dry and at 27-28C before you pour in your tempered chocolate.
All unused chocolate can be melted again and reused (it will be untempered).
- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/forums/tech-help-tips-tricks-techniques/15792/tempering-problems#sthash.uJ8IUDRd.dpuf
1. Divide your purchased 1 kg block of moulded and tempered chocolate (not something that has been sitting in heat for a long time) into two parts: 800g and 200g.
2. Crush or grate the 200g part and keep at 25C.
3. Melt the 800g in the microwave: small burst of nuking plus a lot of mixing, repat until you get it to 45C (it would be a good idea to check if your thermometer is accurate).
4. Pour the melted chocolate into stainless steel bowl and keep mixing, scraping the sides to keep uniform temperature, keep going until you get to 35C.
5. Start adding your crushed or grated 200g part in small doses, lets say 50g at the time, keep mixing and stirring like a madman, when added pieces are melted add next small dose. Keep going until you get to 31C (if you have some of the small part left don't add it anymore).
6. Give it a few extra good stirs and smile. Now you have tempered chocolate ready to use.
Extra hints.
Make sure your moulds are clean, dry and at 27-28C before you pour in your tempered chocolate.
All unused chocolate can be melted again and reused (it will be untempered).
- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/forums/tech-help-tips-tricks-techniques/15792/tempering-problems#sthash.uJ8IUDRd.dpufI seem to be following your steps exactly ... except,
1) I am using mini couverture chocolate chips (so I am not crushing the chocolate in your step 2).
2) I am tempering 500g at a time ... but the ratio I am using is the same.
3) You seem to be ignoring the tempering curve on the packaging of the chocolate, which says to go at: 45 degrees, 26 degrees, 29 degrees. I have only, so far, tempered my chocolate following this curve. Yours seems to be a shortcut (which I have noted on some videos too!); 45 degrees, 29 degrees. I can get it to 29 degrees by stirring like a madman, no problems, and I find the viscosity at this stage to be ideal for molding. But would the chocolate be "tempered" this way? My problem arises when I put the chocolate (at 29 degrees) in the fridge to cool it down to 26 degrees. Here it becomes a little thick ... I'm thinking now, maybe from the moisture of the fridge?
Thanks for the extra hints! :D Will have to go at it again tomorrow! :3
Hi,
So, I have tried tempering (still new at this). I'm working with Michel Cluizel's 1Kg couverture chocolate. It has tempering guidelines on the package.
I heat the milk chocolate in microwave, raising slowly the temperature to 45degrees (as indicated). I then add some more unmelted couverture chocolate (seeding), and stir continuously till temperature drops down. Generally, I cannot get it lower than 29 degrees celsius, since I live in a warm country, so I put it in the fridge, and constantly take it out and stir it ... till temperature drops to the suggested 26 degrees celsius. At this stage, I find that the chocolate starts to become more viscuous. The curve requires the temperature to raise to 29 degrees, so I put it back in the microwave and give it short bursts. I start to put the chocolate in the mold, however, my problem is that I find it is a little too thick to work with. Q1) Is this a problem caused because I put the chocolate in the fridge to cool it down to the suggested 26 degrees?
So, I have filled the mold with the tempered chocolate, and after releasing the chocolate from the mold, they look very shiny, but obviously, they are little chocolate cubes now, as I had trouble making shells.
I had seen a video somewhere of someone who heats the chocolate to 45degrees, cools it down to 29degrees, and starts working with it. Q2) Is tempering achieved like this? My chocolate doesn't get as runny as say, the Jacques Torres videos on YouTube.
Q3) With excess tempered chocolate, what do you do? Do you put it in the fridge and re-temper when needed? Can I just melt the tempered chocolate and work with it or do I need to start from step 1?
Thanks for you help.
excellent, thank you both for your help in answering my chocolate dilemmas. :D
thank you @larry2
in fact you are right, it is actually 99% dark chocolate. i said 100% for simplicity.
ok, im gonna push it and ask another one (or two) on the subject. :D
so, when they say its a 70% dark chocolate bar, is that 70% cacao liquor +/ butter (solids) and 30% anything else?
what about white chocolate? it has no liquor, but it has cacao butter ... why is it called white chocolate and not 100% too?
why is it so confusing? lol
after the cacao beans are roasted, do they contain any butter?
is roasting done after the separation of cacao butter from cacao bean (by pressing) or before?
thanks so much @gap. you did explain that very well.
Hi guys, I need to pick your brains on this.
So, I've been hearing people talking about cacao beans (not nibs), to nibble on. I bought a packet for myself to see what's the hype. I usually eat 100% Dark Chocolate ... no emulsifiers, no vegetable fats, no butter, no milk.
Cacao butter is obtained from whole cacao beans, which are fermented, roasted, and then separated from their hulls. About 54–58% of the residue is butter.
Am I right in thinking that the Raw Cacao Beans have Cacao Butter in them, making them less "healthy"? Is it a marketing hype or am I missing something? Some people even "roast them slightly", to give them a classic chocolate taste ... to me, roasting is yet another "kill" of nutritional value, making them closer to a processed 100% chocolate bar, but with a worse taste.
My question is, are Raw Cacao Beans any healthier / better than 100% Dark Chocolate Bars?
The nutritional value of "raw cacao beans", which I bought, has the following nutritional facts (per 100g):
Energy (kcal) ... 583
Fats (g) ... 43,5
- of which Saturated (g) ... 0
Total Carbohydrates (g) ... 35,1
- of which sugars (g) ... 0
Fibre (g) ... 0
Protein (g) ... 12,8
Sodium (mg) ... 0
The nutritional value of the 100% Dark Chocolate Bar (per 100g):
Energy (kcal) ... 609,29
Fats (g) ... 54,82
- of which Saturated (g) ... 33,89
Total Carbohydrates (g) ... 0,81
- of which sugars (g) ... 0,8
Fibre (g) ... 0
Protein (g) ... 11,86
Sodium (mg) ... 0,02
Hello helpful peeps!
I'm looking at dehumidification of a retail space of about 60sqm. We have loose chocolates and currently, humidity is at about 100% so we need to control that. What dehumidifiers would you suggest to bring it down to a constant 50%? We currently have a dehumidifier, not a commercial one, and that only brings the humidity down to 80%. We need something better. I would appreciate if you pointed me to specific dehumidifiers. Also, if there are some tricks to save on electricity bills whilst keeping temperature at 18 deg and humidity at 50%. We do not manufacture chocolate, we just have a retail space, with many chocolate bars and a praline bar.
Your help is much appreciated!
M.
If you're looking at chocolate bars and stuff, then definitely check out www.chocolatedistrict.com
Hi,
I'm trying to create an awesome drinking chocolate. I have a chocolate melting machine and I was wondering if adding warm milk in the melting machine would be advisable, or would you add it later (i.e. keeping the chocolate separate in the melting machine).
Your feedback would be highly appreciated. This forum is a ton of help, thanks guys.
M.
