Gianduja: The Topic

[choux]

I wonder how you are storing it and how large of a batch it is. If it is in a large mass would the latent heat of crystallization be enough to cause bloom?

[akonsu]

Thanks. That is helpful. I still do not know how to test (in a reasonable time, while working on it) if gianduja is tempered... I would not expect tempered gianduja to solidify in a few minutes like chocolate does. How do I tell if it's tempered? So that I could develop the feel for it, that Teo is talking about.

[akonsu]

2 hours ago, teonzo said:

Different chocolate to nut paste ratio, different tempering curve. Greweling can't give a tempering curve for each case, it would take half the book. That's why he says "cooled to 27°C/80°F or below": "below" is really important here

I understand now. Thanks. I usually read things like this as that I can cool it to 27 C but it is ok to go lower, not that it might be necessary to go lower. I would expect that these things are spelled out explicitly. Reminds me of something I read about Buddha somewhere, he would respond to questions in a manner that were very difficult to understand, the phrases had to be interpreted the right way and thought about to be understood... : ) Perhaps I need to switch my brain on. Thanks again.

[teonzo]

13 hours ago, akonsu said:

I still do not know how to test (in a reasonable time, while working on it) if gianduja is tempered... I would not expect tempered gianduja to solidify in a few minutes like chocolate does. How do I tell if it's tempered?

 

Pick up some with a palette knife / spatula / whatever metal tool with a flat surface, then put it in the fridge for around 5 minutes. If it's tempered then it will detach easily and neatly from the metal surface, if it's not tempered then it will stick. Just like tempered chocolate, with the difference that gianduja is softer and does not snap.

 

 

 

12 hours ago, akonsu said:

Thanks. I usually read things like this as that I can cool it to 27 C but it is ok to go lower, not that it might be necessary to go lower. I would expect that these things are spelled out explicitly.

 

The "problem" is that you are using a professional textbook in an amateur environment. Professionals grows step by step: you learn the first stage, then you pass to the second only after you learned the first. In this case: you work with gianduja only after you learned to temper chocolate and have mastered it.

Making things at home you want to reach the end result as soon as possible instead of practicing the basics procedures (which are boring, we all know that), which ends up being before you are ready for it. Eagerness for the final results is not a defect, but you pay it with this kind of troubles: you are jumping to things too fast, so you are not ready to catch the nuances.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[InfinityCandies]

On 11/17/2016 at 8:30 PM, Kerry Beal said:

I use purchased hazelnut paste (Cacao Barry) with milk chocolate. Actually I make 3 different giandujas, one with milk, one with white and one with dark. With milk chocolate I use 350 grams of chocolate to 150 grams of hazelnut paste. I don't use praline paste because I find it too sweet.

 

If I want to grind my own hazelnuts to make paste - I do so in my Sumeet spice grinder or the Thermomix - a food processor never got it smooth enough. 

Question for an answer I can’t seem to find…. When incorporating gianduja into a ganache layer, must you temper the gianduja, (I keep seeing that information) or can you just warm it up from room temperature to incorporate?With so much fat, why would it need tempered (again)?  In my situation, I am blending it with milk chocolate and hazelnut paste. 

[Kerry Beal]

35 minutes ago, InfinityCandies said:

Question for an answer I can’t seem to find…. When incorporating gianduja into a ganache layer, must you temper the gianduja, (I keep seeing that information) or can you just warm it up from room temperature to incorporate?With so much fat, why would it need tempered (again)?  In my situation, I am blending it with milk chocolate and hazelnut paste. 

I would temper the whole ganache layer - not the gianduja separately. So you are blending gianduja with gianduja it would appear. Gianduja should be tempered.