Making Chocolate Bars

[mostlylana]

Thanks John! I'm definitely going to try the fan in the fridge.

For heating molds, melting chocolate, keeping my spray gun warm, keeping cocoa butter melted, softening butter - I use my oven with the light on. It's amazing! I put a pot upside down over the exhaust hole of the back burner; that way all the heat stays in the oven. If I want to melt chocolate overnight, I put the bowl very close to the bulb. In the morning it's melted! If I want to just soften butter, I keep it away from the bulb! The molds line the racks. The molds will end up being too warm so I take them out before I need to use them.

I have accidentily turned on the oven twice with something left in it. I discovered how to caramelize white chocolate this way

I now make sure to put a post-it note on the oven dial when there's something in there!

[Lior]

Thanks for the great tips! Did you like the caramelized white chocolate?

[lebowits]

Hi. I have 2 6kg mol d'art melters and 2 chocovision X3210 machines. Works well for me cause I am such a small business.

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Sorry folks, I know this is a bit off topic but I have just one more question.

Lior - Do you temper in the X3210's and then "hold the chocolate in the melters, or do you "temper" in the melters as well? I'm thinking about investing in an X3210 because I'm outgrowing my little Rev 2.

Many thanks.

[lebowits]

John,

To clarify about your fan - it's electric?  Does the cord just get squished in the seal of the door?  I wonder if a battery operated fan would do the trick????

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Yes and yes.

Battery operated fan might work well, assuming the cold from the 'fridge doesn't affect the battery.

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Lithium batteries are relatively unaffected by "cold" temperatures. In fact they are recommended in some places for use in devices which are outdoors during winter months.

[Lior]

I do a combination of things. If I want a few kinds at the same time I use my chocovisions to temper as well as my melters. This is great as I can work with 3 different colors at a time- takes time getting used to...

Sometimes if I know I will need a lot of chocolate all day (of one kind), I keep melted untempered chocolate in my melters and constantly add the same amount removed from the chocovision.

Example: I used 2 ladles of tempered chocolate from my chocovision, I replace this amount with melted untempered from the melter. It works well for me as the chocovision tempered choc doesn't get over tempered or finished ( the chocolate needs to stay above the thermometer probe.) You can even dump chocolate from the mould into the melter instead of the chocovision to avoid the mess. I keep the melted at a slightly higher temp- say 34-35-36 for dark.

[John DePaula]

I do a combination of things. If I want a few kinds at the same time I use my chocovisions to temper as well as my melters. This is great as I can work with 3 different colors at a time- takes time getting used to...

Sometimes if I know I will need a lot of chocolate all day (of one kind), I keep melted untempered chocolate in my melters and constantly add the same amount removed from the chocovision.

Example: I used 2 ladles of tempered chocolate from my chocovision, I replace this amount with melted untempered from the melter. It works well for me as the chocovision tempered choc doesn't get over tempered or finished ( the chocolate needs to stay above the thermometer probe.)  You can even dump chocolate from the mould into the melter instead of the chocovision to avoid the mess. I keep the melted at a slightly higher temp- say 34-35-36 for dark.

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That sounds like a good work flow, Lior! I like the idea of keeping a melter going to replenish the temperer and, as you say, as a reservoir for chocolate dumped out of the mould.

[RobertM]

Does anyone have experience with a unit like the one's offered by Perfect Equipment? (perfectinc.com)

I was told that I could melt my chocolate overnight, in the morning when I want to work, temper the melted chocolate by the seed method and go to work -

Lior, I really like the idea of melting and adding to my tempering machine; I have an ACMC machine and have been melting chocolate in the microwave to add to the machine for dipping -

Thanks for your thoughts all -

Sorry I've been so quiet lately - lots going on (not business lots either - but all good stuff)

Bob

[mostlylana]

Thanks for the battery info Steve - and yes Lior (Ilana!), I loved the caramelized white chocolate!

Steve, I do all of my tempering in my Mol d'Art melters. I have never used a tempering machine but what I've heard from people is who prefer the Mol d'Arts is that there are no parts to clog with chocolate, they're quiet (no noise at all!) and what I like about them is that I am in total control - if the chocolate is getting overcrystallized I use my heat gun and don't stir as much. If it's undercrystallized I stir like crazy! I've gotten quite used to them and can now keep temper in them all day. I guess that's what it comes down to - you get used to what you are using and learn all the tricks to make life easy.

Good luck with your research.

[David J.]

I started with a Rev2 and still use it when I only need a small amount. Its strengths are speed and automation, but the downside is that it just doesn't hold enough for serious production. After using it to make several hundred pieces for wedding favors I decided I needed something bigger.

I bought two 6kg Mol D'Art melters and that's when I learned how to temper. There is nothing like getting your hands dirty to really learn what a process is all about. The melters allow me to continualy cast molds without having to stop and run through another tempering cycle. They are also open enough to allow easy dumping of chocolate from molds which keeps the work area clean. The downsides are that I have to remember to turn them on the night before I want to use them to melt the chocolate, and that they require more attention to temper.

Now if someone wanted to gift me with a large automatic temperer like the Selmi unit we saw at Tomric (or possibly two...) for the best of both worlds I wouldn't turn it down.

[Kerry Beal]

Does anyone have experience with a unit like the one's offered by Perfect Equipment?  (perfectinc.com)

I was told that I could melt my chocolate overnight, in the morning when I want to work, temper the melted chocolate by the seed method and go to work -

Lior, I really like the idea of melting and adding to my tempering machine; I have an ACMC machine and have been melting chocolate in the microwave to add to the machine for dipping -

Thanks for your thoughts all -

Sorry I've been so quiet lately - lots going on (not business lots either - but all good stuff)

Bob

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Beth Wilson has a Perfect temperer. She's the one to ask.

[mrose]

I do a combination of things. If I want a few kinds at the same time I use my chocovisions to temper as well as my melters. This is great as I can work with 3 different colors at a time- takes time getting used to...

Sometimes if I know I will need a lot of chocolate all day (of one kind), I keep melted untempered chocolate in my melters and constantly add the same amount removed from the chocovision.

Example: I used 2 ladles of tempered chocolate from my chocovision, I replace this amount with melted untempered from the melter. It works well for me as the chocovision tempered choc doesn't get over tempered or finished ( the chocolate needs to stay above the thermometer probe.)  You can even dump chocolate from the mould into the melter instead of the chocovision to avoid the mess. I keep the melted at a slightly higher temp- say 34-35-36 for dark.

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I know when you run the x3210 for several hours, the chocolate tends to thicken from over crystallization. As you add the chocolate from the mold'art, does this help prevent the thickening?

If you are just going to use the x3210, have you found a way to melt the chocolate faster then just using the machine to melt it (besides slowly nuking it)?

Does anyone else have an idea?

[Lior]

Well I am quite sure that using the chocolate from the mol d'Art keeps the chocolate from thickening. It is at a slightly higher temp and is not crystalized. It works well for me. The only way to melt the chocolate quickly is to put it overnight in the melter and then in the morning it is ready. So if you fill the melter/s up with chocolate, there will be enough for the X3210 and leftover in the melters/s.

At some point you can always turn the melter temp up a bit more to add warmer chocolate to the chocovision if it seems too thick inthere, but I don't think I ever had to do that.

BTW, tempering in the melter is quick-10-15 mins. But the chocovision is easier and you know how one can get used to "luxury" easily. Now a selmi is whole different ball game....

[cmflick]

I do a combination of things. If I want a few kinds at the same time I use my chocovisions to temper as well as my melters. This is great as I can work with 3 different colors at a time- takes time getting used to...

Sometimes if I know I will need a lot of chocolate all day (of one kind), I keep melted untempered chocolate in my melters and constantly add the same amount removed from the chocovision.

Example: I used 2 ladles of tempered chocolate from my chocovision, I replace this amount with melted untempered from the melter. It works well for me as the chocovision tempered choc doesn't get over tempered or finished ( the chocolate needs to stay above the thermometer probe.)  You can even dump chocolate from the mould into the melter instead of the chocovision to avoid the mess. I keep the melted at a slightly higher temp- say 34-35-36 for dark.

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When you add untempered melted chocolate to your chocovision machine, do you have to wait some time for it to temper or can you use the chocolate in the chocovision right away? I've been going through repeat tempering cycles in my chocovision whenever it gets low. Just adding melted untempered chocolate without going through a whole new tempering cycle would save a lot of time.

[Lior]

I just give it a short mix with a spatula and that was that. I never had imprperly tempered chocolates using this method. Do a trial. I replenish with the amount taken out.

[Lior]

I know I read it somewhere so I googled and I think this was my source:

Look under "tempering large quantities"

replenishing

[cmflick]

I know I read it somewhere so I googled and I think this was my source:

Look under "tempering large quantities"

replenishing

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Cool. Thanks for the info. I'll definitely give it a try. It would speed things up considerably not having to go through a full tempering cycle over and over.

[cmflick]

I know I read it somewhere so I googled and I think this was my source:

Look under "tempering large quantities"

replenishing

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I found the same instructions on the Chocovision web site as well. I tried it out today and it worked perfectly. What a time saver! I just melted more chocolate in the microwave, then added it to my chocovision and avoided going through a whole new tempering cycle.

Thanks for the tip, Ilana.

[Lior]

It's my pleasure!

[prairiegirl]

I have got the 20kg tempering machine from Perfect Equip but I haven't sparked it up yet. I am using my mol d'art melters. I am getting much busier and will use the perfect machine soon. I am in the process of using up my cocoa barry and waiting for my Felchlin Accra to arrive. With the Accra I will use it in my wheel machine. With my 6 kg melter I keep it on for days at a time. I will put the temp to 45 Celsius and let it sit overnight or sometimes for the whole weekend before using it again.

I also have the vibrating table that Perfect makes. I think it is extremely valuable piece of equipment. I would highly recommend a vibrating table if you are doing molding.

I also have the Hilliards table top and it is bulky but I do like it. I don't use it much for now as the melters work well. I find that every machine is a learning curve. I hated the Hilliards when I first got it but became very dependant on it with increased production. It is best used for dipping. Then I got the melters and hated them because I didn't know how to use them efficiently. Over time they have become my best friend at the shop!! Two weeks ago I was given a table at a wine store grand opening and I dipped strawberries and grapes for 2 days straight and I do mean straight. I went through 6-7 kg of chocolate! I used a melter for the job along with my heat gun and it went extremely well. I dipped for 6 hours on the Saturday and then 7 hours on the Sunday non stop!!!

[mostlylana]

I want to make some 2 tone chocolate bars - milk and dark. Paul DeBondt does his fleur de sel bars in this manner. I'm attaching a few photos of a half eaten DeBondt bar. I caught myself before I finished it!

Notice that he has both colours on the back side of the bar. How is this accomplished? Normally when I do 2 tone - I squeeze in 1 colour and let set and then pour in the other. I did my Easter bunnies this way - but the inside doesn't show. The inside was all 1 colour...

Can I squeeze in both chocolates at the same time to get both colours throughout? Does anybody do this technique? How?!

Thanks all.

[Kerry Beal]

I want to make some 2 tone chocolate bars - milk and dark.  Paul DeBondt does his fleur de sel bars in this manner.  I'm attaching a few photos of a half eaten DeBondt bar.  I caught myself before I finished it!

Notice that he has both colours on the back side of the bar.  How is this accomplished?  Normally when I do 2 tone - I squeeze in 1 colour and let set and then pour in the other.  I did my Easter bunnies this way - but the inside doesn't show.  The inside was all 1 colour...

Can I squeeze in both chocolates at the same time to get both colours throughout?  Does anybody do this technique?  How?!

Thanks all.

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Sort of looks like you pour chocolate from both sides at the same time.

[patris]

I do a combination of things. If I want a few kinds at the same time I use my chocovisions to temper as well as my melters. This is great as I can work with 3 different colors at a time- takes time getting used to...

Sometimes if I know I will need a lot of chocolate all day (of one kind), I keep melted untempered chocolate in my melters and constantly add the same amount removed from the chocovision.

Example: I used 2 ladles of tempered chocolate from my chocovision, I replace this amount with melted untempered from the melter. It works well for me as the chocovision tempered choc doesn't get over tempered or finished ( the chocolate needs to stay above the thermometer probe.)  You can even dump chocolate from the mould into the melter instead of the chocovision to avoid the mess. I keep the melted at a slightly higher temp- say 34-35-36 for dark.

←

When you add untempered melted chocolate to your chocovision machine, do you have to wait some time for it to temper or can you use the chocolate in the chocovision right away? I've been going through repeat tempering cycles in my chocovision whenever it gets low. Just adding melted untempered chocolate without going through a whole new tempering cycle would save a lot of time.

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This is intriguing. I've got about 600 pieces to dip, and I don't have a melter - I use the microwave/seed method. Is it possible to replenish my pyrex bowl with melted untempered chocolate as I work, rather than using up the bowl of tempered chocolate and starting over (and over, and over)? If so, what sort of temperature range should the untempered chocolate be?

[Kerry Beal]

This is intriguing.  I've got about 600 pieces to dip, and I don't have a melter - I use the microwave/seed method.  Is it possible to replenish my pyrex bowl with melted untempered chocolate as I work, rather than using up the bowl of tempered chocolate and starting over (and over, and over)?  If so, what sort of temperature range should the untempered chocolate be?

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Indeed it is possible - I do it all the time. If the remaining tempered chocolate in the bowl is cool, then the untempered chocolate can be warmer and can be used to reheat the chocolate you are working with. Be careful you don't exceed the working temperature and give some time for the good crystals to multiply. If the chocolate in your bowl is warmer, then your untempered chocolate can be cooler.

It is important to give the chocolate some time for the crystals to grow - I was quite annoyed with myself the other day - I was dipping some sponge toffee - added the extra untempered chocolate - but didn't give it time for the crystals to multiply. Ended up with bloom on most of the sponge toffee.

[Lior]

Lana! You always find these intriguing pieces!! If you get the chance, take a picture of the whole bar-ok? Looks really nice!

Edited May 24, 2009 by Lior (log)

[mostlylana]

Lana! You always find these intriguing pieces!! If you get the chance, take a picture of the whole bar-ok? Looks really nice!

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Oh Ilana - there is no more bar!! Yum, yum!