Tempering Cocoa Butter?

[Madsandersen]

11 hours ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

To be sure, you should temper the commercial product too. But you can partially melt the bottle, agitate it a lot to seed the melted cocoa butter with the solid tempered cocoa butter still in the bottle, cross your fingers, pray and use  . 

 

I think that I have heard someone say that if you spray cocoa butter with airbrush, the "airbrush" will temper the cocoa butter when you are spraying? Due to the cooling of the cocoa butter when blown out as small particles with cold air  

[Tri2Cook]

4 hours ago, Madsandersen said:

 

I think that I have heard someone say that if you spray cocoa butter with airbrush, the "airbrush" will temper the cocoa butter when you are spraying? Due to the cooling of the cocoa butter when blown out as small particles with cold air  

One thing I've learned is everything involved with chocolate work will have 20 different people doing it 20 different ways and they all seem to work for the person doing it. Somewhere in all that, you just do what works for you. 

[Rajala]

4 hours ago, Madsandersen said:

I think that I have heard someone say that if you spray cocoa butter with airbrush, the "airbrush" will temper the cocoa butter when you are spraying? Due to the cooling of the cocoa butter when blown out as small particles with cold air  

 

Yes, that's written in one of those books that everyone have. Not sure which.

 

I never temper the cocoa butter except going down to 30 degrees or whatever, can't remember now. That guy in Belarus temper it though, cool it down to one state, and then heat it with a heat gun. 

[keychris]

20 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

One thing I've learned is everything involved with chocolate work will have 20 different people doing it 20 different ways and they all seem to work for the person doing it. Somewhere in all that, you just do what works for you. 

 

20 hours ago, Rajala said:

I never temper the cocoa butter except going down to 30 degrees or whatever, can't remember now. That guy in Belarus temper it though, cool it down to one state, and then heat it with a heat gun. 

 

To illustrate @Tri2Cook's point, I always temper my cocoa butter by heating it to 45C, then cooling with plenty of movement (i.e. stirring) to 31C before use.

[Rajala]

9 hours ago, keychris said:

To illustrate @Tri2Cook's point, I always temper my cocoa butter by heating it to 45C, then cooling with plenty of movement (i.e. stirring) to 31C before use.

 

Yeah, that's it.

[felipetruji]

Normally i partially melt the CCB without worring about the temp, and stir stir until its around 30-32

when i need a full temper i melt all the CCB to 50C, then let it set in the freezer until it gets around 26C and you can see some cristal floating at the top, then reheat to 32C.

 

hope it helps, no marble slab needed 😀

 

 

[Aria Dawn]

I'm curious if anyone has attempted to temper cocoa butter in a tempering machine (i.e. Chocovision Mini  Rev)?  Usually, when I decorate my molds, I use a contrasting chocolate.  This year I'm attempting all Vegan chocolates so my Vegan brother can enjoy some.  So I'm challenging myself to try coloring cocoa butter as decoration for that reason.  I'm worried about having similar troubles as @gfron1 did.  When I worked as a chocolatier, I watched my kitchen manager go through similar struggles with the cocoa butter sticking to the mold or just looking bad and out of temper if it did unmold, and she ended up scrapping the whole idea altogether.  I've been timid to try it on my own since.  Reading through this thread, it seems using a tempering machine may be a bit overkill, but I was hoping it might insure success.  Also, if it is a good option, I'm guessing you would use the dark chocolate setting (as it was mentioned earlier in this thread that dark chocolate temps are used)?  Thanks in advance!  😊

 

[Kerry Beal]

47 minutes ago, Aria Dawn said:

I'm curious if anyone has attempted to temper cocoa butter in a tempering machine (i.e. Chocovision Mini  Rev)?  Usually, when I decorate my molds, I use a contrasting chocolate.  This year I'm attempting all Vegan chocolates so my Vegan brother can enjoy some.  So I'm challenging myself to try coloring cocoa butter as decoration for that reason.  I'm worried about having similar troubles as @gfron1 did.  When I worked as a chocolatier, I watched my kitchen manager go through similar struggles with the cocoa butter sticking to the mold or just looking bad and out of temper if it did unmold, and she ended up scrapping the whole idea altogether.  I've been timid to try it on my own since.  Reading through this thread, it seems using a tempering machine may be a bit overkill, but I was hoping it might insure success.  Also, if it is a good option, I'm guessing you would use the dark chocolate setting (as it was mentioned earlier in this thread that dark chocolate temps are used)?  Thanks in advance!  😊

 

Well yes - dark chocolate setting would be the one - but I rarely would need to temper enough coloured cocoa butter to consider the use of a machine. You would lose more to the process than you would use to decorate I suspect. And what would you use for seed?

[Jim D.]

53 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Well yes - dark chocolate setting would be the one - but I rarely would need to temper enough coloured cocoa butter to consider the use of a machine. You would lose more to the process than you would use to decorate I suspect. And what would you use for seed?

 

I agree with what Kerry wrote.  I can't imagine a situation where you would need enough colored cocoa butter (of a single color) to use a Chocovision machine (recall that the machine needs extra to make sure the thermometer is covered at all times).  You can just follow one of the usual methods of tempering chocolate:  (1) raise the temp, then cool the c.b. down, then up again or (2) raise the temp, cool the c.b. down to around 93F/34C, then add seed (you could use fresh cocoa butter for that), then lower temp to 86F/30C, then test the c.b., you will have tempered c.b.  Just don't let the temp go down too low or up too high while using it or it will go out of temper.

[Aria Dawn]

4 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Well yes - dark chocolate setting would be the one - but I rarely would need to temper enough coloured cocoa butter to consider the use of a machine. You would lose more to the process than you would use to decorate I suspect. And what would you use for seed?

 

 

I would use my MiniRev for the decorating cocoa butter, which you can use a minimum of 4 oz. in (according to the manual), and the plan is to add oil-based color to plain cocoa butter myself.  So more of the plain for seed.  Any leftovers I would save and use again as one would with pre-made.  I'm curious if any of this is at all feasible or even wise.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Aria Dawn (log)

[Aria Dawn]

4 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

I agree with what Kerry wrote.  I can't imagine a situation where you would need enough colored cocoa butter (of a single color) to use a Chocovision machine (recall that the machine needs extra to make sure the thermometer is covered at all times).  You can just follow one of the usual methods of tempering chocolate:  (1) raise the temp, then cool the c.b. down, then up again or (2) raise the temp, cool the c.b. down to around 93F/34C, then add seed (you could use fresh cocoa butter for that), then lower temp to 86F/30C, then test the c.b., you will have tempered c.b.  Just don't let the temp go down too low or up too high while using it or it will go out of temper.

 

 

Thanks.  I will try that method if I get any grave foreboding responses from anyone who's tried it with the machine.  😁

Edited December 3, 2020 by Aria Dawn (log)

[Jim D.]

17 minutes ago, Aria Dawn said:

 

 

I would use my MiniRev for the decorating cocoa butter, which you can use a minimum of 4 oz. in (according to the manual), and the plan is to add oil-based color to plain cocoa butter myself.  So more of the plain for seed.  Any leftovers I would save and use again as one would with pre-made.  I'm curious if any of this is at all feasible or even wise.

 

Most people use an immersion blender to mix the cocoa butter with colorant.  That's what I have done.  It takes more effort than it might seem to get them mixed, so I'm wondering if the gentle action of the Chocovision bowl turning would accomplish that.  Some people also strain the mixture afterward to get out any remaining lumps.  If you use this method, be sure and have a deep container to prevent coloring your kitchen walls.

[Kerry Beal]

4 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

Most people use an immersion blender to mix the cocoa butter with colorant.  That's what I have done.  It takes more effort than it might seem to get them mixed, so I'm wondering if the gentle action of the Chocovision bowl turning would accomplish that.  Some people also strain the mixture afterward to get out any remaining lumps.  If you use this method, be sure and have a deep container to prevent coloring your kitchen walls.

And yourself!

[Aria Dawn]

36 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

Most people use an immersion blender to mix the cocoa butter with colorant.  That's what I have done.  It takes more effort than it might seem to get them mixed, so I'm wondering if the gentle action of the Chocovision bowl turning would accomplish that.  Some people also strain the mixture afterward to get out any remaining lumps.  If you use this method, be sure and have a deep container to prevent coloring your kitchen walls.

 

 

Thanks for the tips!  It's good to have a sense of what I'm getting myself in to here.  

[gfron1]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

  Some people also strain the mixture afterward to get out any remaining lumps.

I'm still in the group that strains through pantyhose

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, gfron1 said:

I'm still in the group that strains through pantyhose

 

I was thinking of you but didn't want to reveal your inmost secrets on eG.

[gfron1]

59 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

I was thinking of you but didn't want to reveal your inmost secrets on eG.

They're not MY pantyhose...they're my mom's (seriously)

[Altay.Oro]

Do you think that her cocoa butter is tempered at the end?

 

What Is Cocoa Butter | How to Temper Cocoa Butter for Chocolate

Edited March 13 by Altay.Oro (log)

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, Altay.Oro said:

Do you think that her cocoa butter is tempered at the end?

 

What Is Cocoa Butter | How to Temper Cocoa Butter for Chocolate

Don't see why it wouldn't be  unless she's lying about the temperature on her thermometer.

 

Not quite sure why you would waste a piping bag though when you have a marble slab in front of you. I'd just cool it over cold water for that small amount myself. 

 

I find with pure cocoa butter like that that you don't really need to do the cool then reheat thing - just cool it until it starts to thicken and it will be in temper. 

[Altay.Oro]

18 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Don't see why it wouldn't be  unless she's lying about the temperature on her thermometer.

 

Not quite sure why you would waste a piping bag though when you have a marble slab in front of you. I'd just cool it over cold water for that small amount myself. 

 

I find with pure cocoa butter like that that you don't really need to do the cool then reheat thing - just cool it until it starts to thicken and it will be in temper. 

 

I temper the cocoa butter that I will use to temper the ganache by just cooling and stirring quickly at the stage when it begins to solidify ... and I use it immediately. It looks like in the photo, still liquid but more thickened, It doesn't look as oily and transparent as in the video ... I hope I'm doing it right.

 

 

[Rajala]

33 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Not quite sure why you would waste a piping bag though when you have a marble slab in front of you

 

There's a video on Chocolate Academy where they do it like that. Maybe she just learned it from them.

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Not quite sure why you would waste a piping bag though when you have a marble slab in front of you. I'd just cool it over cold water for that small amount myself. 

 

 

I think she is very good in her teaching style, but the method of cooling seems incredibly fussy and time-consuming.  I too use a cold water bath, and if I am impatient, add some ice to the water.

[pastrygirl]

If you do try the bag method, use a plastic bowl scraper to move the CB around in the bag.  I do this to cool my ganaches all the time.

[Kerry Beal]

7 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

If you do try the bag method, use a plastic bowl scraper to move the CB around in the bag.  I do this to cool my ganaches all the time.

Good idea - this is when you are getting ready to pipe and just need a few degrees cooler?

 

Bowl scraper also useful to get those last bits out of a piping bag.

 

 

Edited March 14 by Kerry Beal (log)

[pastrygirl]

Yes, when I've just made ganache and it's too warm to pipe into shells, I'll put 1-2 mold worth into a piping bag and cool it on the marble.  The thin layer cools quickly and the rest of the batch stays warm & fluid in the bowl while I'm working.  Nice when I'm making 6-8+ molds of the same flavor.  I think I picked this up from Melissa Coppel.