dannysdesserts

Thanks Kerry. So should I be following the manufacturer and never heat above 113F regardless of which method I use? Of those two methods, is one preferred? Is one easier if the ambient temperature of the kitchen is above ideal chocolate making temperatures? I just checked my molds and they look "solid" all the way across so I'm not going to place them in the fridge at all. I'll report back how things look in another hour. Seems to be that 2 hours is when the chocolate pulls away from the mold and is ready to go. The spots don't appear right away though. It can take up to two days for that to happen. Thanks!

OK, quick updates. I am using Santa Barbara Chocolate (Organic 72%) in the form of chips. Their website tempering instructions only talk about using a microwave. I am using a double-boiler. I melted 8oz of these chips in the double-boiler until it read 112.6F. I removed from heat and added in the room temperature seed chips and stir, stir, stir. The temperature of melted chocolate dropped quickly, going to about 86F but all of the seed chips were not melted. I placed the bowl back over the warm water portion of the double boiler and stir, stir, stir, while minding the temperature. As it hit almost 89F I took it off the heat and stir, stir, stir. As it cooled a half a degree I put it back on the heat, stirring all the time. The chocolate was fully melted and the temperature had not gone above 89F. I poured the chocolate into the cavities of the molds via syringe and put it in the 60-62F wine fridge. I didn't make a test strip. Now I wait... Jim & Pastrygirl - I understand what you mean about the type V crystals and at what temperature they form.

Pastrygirl - I appreciate your feedback on this. I heard from the manufacturer that I should NOT go above 113F. While this goes against what I've commonly read I will test this in about 1 hour. I believe the manufacturer knows best since it is their product As far as the seed: Once my melted chocolate is above 120F I add the seed and stir, stir, stir until it cools to 84F. All the seed melts well before I reach 84F. Is this a problem? I realize that room temperature of 74F is too high for my chocolate to set. That's why I have the wine fridge. It's temperature registers at 60-62F. I've tried a fan with a high room temperature but the chocolate never set. I've tried a traditional/real fridge but I think it is too cold and too humid. Does anyone here cool their chocolate in the fridge? If so, can you explain your process? Thanks!

Thanks for the response Lisa. I do stir constantly during the cool down period, sorry for not adding that detail. I will do the following things tomorrow: I will try a lower maximum temperature (after confirming with the manufacturer of the dark chocolate). I will get some acetate and dab some tempered chocolate on it. Should I cool it in the wine fridge like I'm cooling the molded chocolate? I will compare with some parchment paper Thanks!

Hello. I’m brand new here and new to the world of tempering chocolate. I’ve done a lot of homework, reading up on how to temper using the seeding method. I take about 300g of chocolate and melt it to 120-124F. Then I add 100g of seed chocolate (which is in temper) and cool it down to 84F. I then heat it up to 89.5ish F. I dip a knife in and wait for it to setup properly. Once everything looks good I proceed to fill my polycarbonate molds with the tempered chocolate. I then let them cool and release them from the molds. The chocolate is then stored at proper temperature (60-62 degrees F and humidity at about 50%). After a day or two or three I get some sort of bloom, but the bloom is only on the chocolate that didn’t touch the mold. I’m attaching a picture. I wonder if anyone can help me out here? Full disclosure: The temperature of my kitchen is always above 74 F. In order to cool the molded chocolate, I place the molds in a thermoelectric wine fridge. This fridge does not have a compressor thus the humidity is equal to the humidity in the room. The fridge registers at 60-62F with 52% relative humidity, tested with a thermometer/hydrometer. If I lived in a cooler climate my room temperature and humidity would be at these same levels.