Forum Activity for @Harald

Experimenting and Tempering with Criollo Bean

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

Ok would it be sufficient if i put the bowl of chocolate in a pot of cool water and steer?

The digital thermometer should be here by the end of this week.

Also the locals told me that the germinated bean is a sign of quality and they choose their bean by that, i understand from you that is negative for the taste,

What is the difference when the bean germinates and do you have any idea why the locals here with all their cacao rituals and traditions prefer the germinated bean?

Last question... i noticed that the panela heats up the drum more then normal sugar, this morning it was up to 125 fahrenheit, Is that to hot? Do i need to place a cooling fan next to it?

Experimenting and Tempering with Criollo Bean

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

Hey Sebastian

Im using a food thermometer which is not very precise (you can easily be 1-2 degrees off) , im still waiting for the digital one i ordered from the states.

I did manage to temper industrial dark chocolate decently with only this thermometer back when i was in the states, but like i said im no expert and i am happy to hear what i did wrong.

The 30% is what i heard from the locals without any reference,

the beans do have the little sprout inside (sorry for my english i dont know if that is the right word, but when you crack the bean you can see the very little beginning of the plant inside)

I only have my mac at hand right now for pictures but i hope you can see the problem

Thanks a lot

The picture is from the batch i made 4 days ago

Experimenting and Tempering with Criollo Bean

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

Im doing a little experiment here in Guatemala and I have some issues tempering something which is called ceremonial cacao.

It is the criollo bean fermented for about 3 days and then slightly roasted for about 15-20 minutes just enough so that its possible to hand peal the beans. This process seems to be the traditional way and is done by about 10 local families here.

From what i heard this bean has only about 30% fat and is very rich in Theobromines.

So what i did is i got a cocotown melanger here and i am experimenting with this stuff.

So far i add just enough butter (about 10%) so that it is possible to liquify the cacao liqueur and i added panella (unrefined cane sugar), because i am very inspired by the dark flavor it develops this way after about 30 hours in the melanger.

All is good but when i try to temper it im not being successful.

Now i am not an expert in tempering by hand but my normal method of heating it up to 120 then let it cool to 80 and back up to 88 while constant steering is not really working...

Do i need to add more butter or is panella a bad idea?

I am happy for any hints or ideas to try out.

updated by @Harald: 04/22/15 05:11:19AM