Forum Activity for @Troy Lapsys

Tempering with Beta 6 crystals

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

There have been a number of studies on the transition from Form V to Form VI, or Beta 5 to Beta 6 (they are identical, just two different naming conventions in the literature) that have been interesting.  Two that I like are found here (I am not using standard referencing):

Relation of fat bloom in chocolate to polymorphic transition of cocoa butter - http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11746-998-0101-0

and

Fat Bloom and Chocolate Structure Studied by Mercury Porosimetry - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1997.tb15455.x/abstract

The first (written in 1998) goes over the different views of what causes fat bloom in the transition from V to VI.  Two elements I found interesting - tempered chocolate stored at 5 degrees C showed no elements of bloom in long term storage, and there was a direct correlation of fat bloom formation to storage in conditions of alternating temperatures (not necessary just hotter).

The second (written in 2006) concludes that even well tempered chocolate is porous - with a weak correlation between the percentage of cocoa butter present with the "empty space" present in the tempered chocolate.

In combination, this would tend to indicate that fat bloom forms when some low-melting point oils within the tempered chocolate structure slowly migrate, helped by the structure alternately heating and cooling, to the surface of the well-tempered chocolate as the chocolate becomes denser (tighter packed triglyceride structures) over time in storage.  There are of course variations in bloom formation mentioned in the studies due to changes in humidity and the like, but that is a problem I rarely have being in the desert.  From a practical standpoint, I am exploring the effects of storage at 5 degrees C for my ganaches to see how long and if they maintain an acceptable mouth-feel when brought back to room temp. 

In regard to tempering with Beta 6, given the above there should be no theoretical difference in final result than using the 5 - the Beta 6 has the same basic structure, just (simplistically) more densely packed (and you do not get Beta 6 crystals in chocolate when tempering with Beta 6 crystals - you get 5). The heat of your melted chocolate, even at 35 degrees C, is going to impart enough energy to the Beta 6 to bring it back to Beta 5.

I also do use Mycryo extensively.  I prefer using standard seeding, but if I have a relatively full vat I will use a little standard seed to drop the temperature a bit more quickly, then finish it off with Mycryo.  I have found in practice that I get a great end result in any of the three variations: 100% tempered chocolate as seed, part tempered chocolate and part Mycryo, and all Mycryo as the seeding element.  The chocolate does seem to thicken faster, however, limiting production times, when using the Mycryo instead of tempered chocolate as the seed at equivalent temperatures.

 

Needed: Coconut Sugar Sweetened Couverture

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

I saw that myself, and two outfits in Australia.  Price on the chocolate is not surprising (coconut sugar is expensive), but the shipping would kill me.

Needed: Coconut Sugar Sweetened Couverture

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

I need a supplier of couverture sweetened with coconut sugar instead of pure cane for a particular customer of mine.  Initial requirements are low - @ 20 kg for the initial order, but potentially could grow to the 1000 kg/month range.  Does anyone have a lead on a source?  Please email me at troy@lajoliesse.com or post in reply. 

Thank you,

Troy Lapsys.

updated by @Troy Lapsys: 06/29/23 16:49:02

adding liquor to caramel

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

To answer this, I need to clarify where and how I have worked with sugar. There have been two types of locations: sea-level at reasonable humidity rates (50-100%), and high altitude (5500 ft +) at low humidity rates (less than 15%) and at reasonable humidity rates (50%+). I would love to try working sugar in a low humidity/low altitude location, I just haven't been in the right place at the right time to try it. Based upon these different locations, here is what I have experienced:

From a crystallization point of view, I have not seen much difference in avoiding crystallization at different humidity levels. The techniques to avoid crystallization (use of glucose in the recipe, careful when agitating, etc) are the same. I have seen a difference in timing and temperature due to humidity and altitude changes to reach a desired caramel/sugar consistency, however.

For instance, when working at my current altitude versus sea level, and at low humidity levels, I reduce the temperature to which I cook the sugar solution by 8-10 degrees versus what I would do at sea level at higher humidity. If it is humid here (which is sometimes is during monsoon season), I only reduce the temperature by about 4-6 degrees. This indicates that both factors are a component. As a specific example, right now at 10-15% humidity and 5500 feet in altitude, if I want a soft ball stage caramel I will cook it to 228-230 degrees F. In July or August here the humidity will jump to 80-100%, and I will cook the same recipe to 232-234 degrees to hit the same viscosity. At sea-level, I would have taken the recipe to 238 degrees to hit the same. This convention (come across by great trial and error), holds true for any of our sugar based confections: fondant, caramel, toffees, nougats, pulling sugar, etc. We hit the standard sugar stages at lower temps at low humidity levels. My assumption for the reason for this is that at lower humidity rates and higher altitudes the rate at which the water evaporates from the supersaturated solution is higher at each degree of temperature than at higher humidity levels, meaning that we are losing water from the caramel at a faster rate and reaching the appropriate water/sugar ratio for a given stage earlier. Note that this is merely conjecture, but it is what I am seeing in practice.

Back to the question of alcohol, upon reflection, every once in a while I will add alcohol (particularly a wine that may have residual sugars and adversely impact the desired flavor of the caramel) during the cooking stage, but only after the solution has come to a boil. I have not had any crystallization issues with this, although it does seem to also speed up the stage levels but I have not experimented enough to come up with a quantified effect.

adding liquor to caramel

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

We routinely use combinations of caramel and alcohol - and the easiest way we have found to use it is to add the alcohol AFTER the caramel is made and after cooling if using a soft caramel (we add it to the piping bag itself with the caramel and massage to combine). Crystallization has already occurred in the caramel itself, so the alcohol does not affect the caramel batch. Adding after the fact does affect the viscosity of the caramel, so if we are going for a specific consistency we will cook the caramel slightly longer (take it to a few degrees more) to thicken the output prior to adding in the alcohol. If adding the alcohol to a toffee/sugar candy, we add it just after taking it off the heat. This limits the effects on crystallization. Note that we only use the wet method of caramel making, as it is easier to control the output at our altitude and humidity levels (we had to adjust sugar temps for soft stage etc due to being a mile above sea level and almost no humidity).