escry
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Posts posted by escry
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... was wondering what kinds of tempering techniques you guys prefer / and use on a regular basis? also what kind of tricks to you use to hold your chocolate in temper? heating pad? bain marie? i think it would be interesting to hear everyone's methods.
thanks,
brady
I use a bain marie both to melt and then hold couverture in temper. Assuming your room is air conditioned (see below) a large bain marie should hold your chocolate in temper for several hours. I have a 21 kg (45 lb) bain marie. Problems begin when the bain marie is / becomes only one third full. With more than 7 kg (15 lbs) of chocolate, the chocolate has enough bulk (remember chocolate is a very poor conductor of heat - so takes some time to over heat/cool) to withstand the lack of precision of a bain marie's thermostat and hot air heater.
Water bain maries (mine is hot air) have an advantage (more even and constant transfer of heat) and two disadvantages (potential of adding moisture to atmosphere - and more cumbersome to move around the laboratory).
Heat pad and glass / plastic bowl. I use a glass bowl (there is a thread here somewhere that discusses the merits of glass versus plastic). After much practice I now place the heat pad inside a larger plastic bowl, cover with two thick tea towels, then place on top my smaller 3 litre (5 pint) glass bowl, nearly full of tempered couverture.
As you use up your couverture, the effect of the insulated heat pad will vary, making it very difficult to keep the couverture in temper for very long. I only use this method only for testing and samples, not for sale items.
Re: Air conditioning. Couverture will absorb water from the atmosphere if the atmosphere's Relative Humidity is greater than that of the melted couverture, ie about 30-40%. The greater the atmospheric humidity, the greater the differential, the greater the rate of absorption. Water causes the sugar particles in you chocolate to bind together, thickening your couverture over time.
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For some incredible rarities and bargains try ebay.
Listings on the UK site are few. To comply with eBay's rules auctions in the UK are for the bottle, and not the content which is assumed to have insignificant value.
No such problems with ebay France, on which you will likely find Petrus '50, Muscadet '04, and all in between.
Of course, you cannot be as confident of sound cellaring as with a wine bought from bbr, nor can you be certain of a refund or a replacement of a corked bottle. And I for one would steer clear of someone selling bottle after bottle of Petrus '50 at one third of its retail price.
However, I recently pulled together a collection of 1947 wines for a birthday dinner entirely from ebay.
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The machine I know for mixing under a vacuum is a Stephan mixer. I found this picture by doing a google search.
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Akwa
Reading the excellent post on "Chocolates: pretty and perfect?" I am reminded of one last, but vitally important consideration for extending shelf life: "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link":
1) Ditch any chocolates that are less than perfect - hairline cracks in the enrobing or in the ganache are sure to allow air to come into contact with the moisture in the ganache.
2) In a box of chocolates, know your weakest recipe with respect to shelf life, and work on this one first.
With respect to sourcing invertase, as I'm in England, I can't really help much, except to recommend sourcing invertase that is already mixed with a carrier: usually glycerine. Working with neat invertase is potential harmful - requiring ventillation, goggles, mask, no spills, and dillution of waste 10,000 times, etc. - with no gain. Not to mention having the ability to weigh 0.05g (0.002 ounce) of invertase.
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Escry - out of curiosity, how in the world do you know *which* sucrose ethe invertase is acting on? Enzymes aren't that specific, if they are meant to act on sucrose, it doesn't care where the sucrose comes from, only that it can get to it...
A potential explanation for what I think y ou're trying to say may be that the sucrose in pure chocolate is essentially going to be sequestered by the fat, and if the enzyme can't get through the fat to the sugar, it's not going to do anything to the sugar..
Sebastian, spot on. When I add sucrose to a ganache, invertase is effective. When I don't add any sucrose the invertase is ineffective at inverting the constituent sucrose of the couverture. This latter approach is the one I'm trying to crack.
So, if the sucrose is sequestered by the fat, how can I help the enzyme get through the fat? The approach I outlined above looks promising, but further thoughts and theoretically understanding most welcome.
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And do you feel your flavors are so subtle that you could still taste that you used a varietal behind them in anything other than a natural ganache?
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Please report back with your invertase tests, that's fascinating to me and I'm sure many others reading along.
I certainly find that different varietals, eg Madagascan criollo (and to a similar extent the actual blend, eg Valrhona's Manjari) suit different infusions. The acidity, and red fruit notes of Manjari suits fruit infusions / inclusions. I have also found this "wine-like" characteristic is familar to other Madagascan Criollo-based couvertures. However, this is doesn't answer your question ...
I personally prefer very subtle infusions. Very much taste the distinctive cocoas first, then appreciate the additional subtle nuances of the infusion or inclusion. Unfortunately, I don't buy my chocolates, so my infusions / inclusions are not quite as subtle as I would like, though they are still very much at the subtle end of the spectrum.
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I'll certainly report back on my invertase trials. Though invertase will happily break down, slowly, any sucrose added to a ganache, into fructose and glucose, I have so far found it more difficult to break down the sucrose within the couverture. Any chemist out there have an explanation?
One of my latest efforts looks more promising. I melted the couverture and held it at 45 deg Celsius (113 deg Fahr) for five days. To the melted couverture, I added one part per 1000 invertase and 50 parts per thousand water (at 45 deg Celsius) to the amount of sucrose in the couverture. (Note: you are adding just enough water to avoid the chocolate seizing.)
After five days I tempered and set this chocolate, and used it to make ganache in the normal way.
This ganache has now been made into chocolates and is sitting with three other recipes/techiques in my cooler. Another set is sitting in a hot kitchen - perhaps the most abusive environment for chocolates. Tastings and chemical analysis will follow over the next few weeks.
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I am constantly trying to achieve an extra week or two with my fresh cream ganache chocolates. Technique is important:
1) clarify your butter
2) double or triple boil your cream, simmering for at least one minute
3) avoid getting any air into the ganache whilst emulsifying
4) make ganache under vacuum (if you can)
5) cover ganache during crystallization
6) allow guillotined centres to stand for three hours to dry before enrobing
7) raise ganache centres to warm work room temperature before enrobing
8) use a slightly thicker enrobing (though I prefer a really thin enrobing)
9) store in an airtight container at 10 deg Celsius (50 deg Fahr.)
10) tightly pack your chocolates into their boxes to reduce contact with air
11) get them onto the shop shelf quickly
12) air condition your shop - walking into La Maison du Chocolat on a warm summers day is THE best way to cool off
13) those chocolates that aren't on show - keep these at 10 deg Celsius
So too is your recipe. Basically, you wish reduce the level of free-water in your ganache. You can do this by:
1) adding less moisture in your recipe; or
2) adding an humicant (invert sugar) which binds water, making it unavailable for mold growth
Here, however, there is a trade off. Adding invert sugar will make your ganache sweeter. You can compensate for this by using pate de cacao (100% cocoa, sugar-free couverture). Unfortunately the full array of geographic and genetic cacao varieties is, in all practicality, unavailable as pate de cacao.
I am currently experimenting with using invertase (an enzyme) to convert the constituent sucrose within my couvertures to fructose and glucose (ie invert sugar). This, in theory, should allow you to use the best couvertures of your choice, add no further sugars, but still bind the free-water in your ganache.
Has anyone tried this?
Thirdly, you can add preservatives, eg potasium sorbate, but you don't wish to go there!
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If you make it to Richart, and are as intrigued as I by their new line: Revelation, perhaps you could share your experience with us on your return. Revelation is only available in France. Compare Richart - USA with their French website below.
"All those which wish to offer another thing that chocolate, RICHART proposes its last original creation: REVELATION. Its melting texture based on almond and of dry fruits, flowers, aromatic herbs and spices, is an exquisite greediness. Choose your aromatic family among universe RICHART: Balsamics (REVELATION Vanilla), the Fruity ones (REVELATION Raspberry), Hespéridés (REVELATION Tangerine), Herbaceous (REVELATION Basil), the Floral ones (REVELATION Ylang-ylang) and Spiced (REVELATION Ginger)." Richart - France Translation from French courtesy of Babel Fish
Have any Parisian members or recent travellers tried these?
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Can I suggest two chocolatiers -
Michel Cluizel, 201 rue Saint-Honore
Richart, 258 Bd St Germain
And one bistro not to be missed -
Chartier, 7 rue du Faubourg Montmartre
If you don't eat anywhere else in Paris eat here, and don't be put off by the queue to get in.
Flavored Ganaches (Fruit, herb, spice, etc)
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
Whether to infuse fruits, herbs, spices, etc, in
1) just boiled cream, or in
2) fresh cream before boiling?
Ask two different chocolatiers and you may get two different answers.
Having an appalling memory, I infuse ALL my infusions in boiled cream for five minutes, (then reheat the cream to boiling point and strain onto the chocolate shards/pallets). By adopting the same technique and time, all I have to remember is the quantity of each infusion.
I have experimented with and contrasted different approaches, eg cold infusion of tea for twenty-four hours versus hot infusion of tea for 3, 5 or 9 minutes versus infusion of tea in water (ie making a pot of tea) and later incorporation of this into the ganache (as if adding a liquor). No one method has yielded better results for me, so I stick to the method that is quickest, easiest, and safest (from the point of bacterial growth).
When experimenting, I usually prepare three or four test versions/strengths of infusion in small quantities and by tasting these ganaches from the bowl select a final strength (quantity of infusion). However, beware:
1) when scaling up your ingredients, pro rata scaling of the infusion with the cream does not always work
2) the later enrobing of your centres will dilute the effect of the infusion, so choose a strength that is just too strong when tasting the ganache alone, as with enrobing this strength should be just right.