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Puratos Coating Chocolate


CanadianBakin'

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I bake for a coffee house and it's not cost effective to temper chocolate for dipping biscotti, rice krispie squares and such so my Belcolade chocolate rep sold me Puratos Carat Coverlux Dark SH. I'm having a terrible time with it. This is the first time I've used coating chocolate so maybe I'm doing something wrong. I melt it like normal chocolate over a pot of gently steaming (not boiling) water. Remove from heat, wipe the bottom of the bowl dry to make sure water doesn't get in it. Dip one end of the rice krispie squares and set them on wax paper to set. When I did it a coupel weeks ago some were fine and some bloomed as soon as they were under refrigeration. Yesterday some wrinkled while still on the counter and the ones that set in the fridge again bloomed right away. Last time we still wrapped them and found after a couple days that the bloom disappeared.

I've just been reading the bag and it mentions storing the chocolate at 20F or less and it's been very warm here. Is it possible that I've wrecked the whole bag by not storing it cool enough? If so, is there anyway to save it?

Any other ideas? I've got a call in to my rep but I don't know if he just sells it or is actually experienced in using it.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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If you can get some pate a glace in a bucket, this will work better than the coating chocolate although it is probably a similar product. I use the pate a glace for my cheesecake lollipops and cake pops because of the convenience. When an order comes in, I put the bucket in a pan of water and when it is fluid, I dip right in the bucket (because I only dip the lollipops in it; if I am dipping other things, I pour some out into a smaller bowl.

The brand I use for the pate a glace is Shokinag, which is now under a different company name; I've also used the same stuff from Swiss Chalet (the Swiss Chalet product is also available in coins called Ultra Rondo).

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JeanneCake - thanks for the heads-up on pate a glacer. I didn't really know about it. There's 3 suppliers within an hour of me that carry it so getting it won't be a problem. They don't have Shokinag, instead Cacao Barry, Debelis and Mohrenglanz. Cacao Barry is the only name of the three that is familiar to me.

I was reading through the Chocolate Glaze thread and was wondering if I should just be using my brownie glaze? It's dark chocolate, butter and corn syrup. I guess I should cost out both and see if there's a large difference.

In the meantime...how can I recover the coating chocolate that I have now?

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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What's the oil used in the coating? If it's fractionated palm kernel oil, the problem you're experiencing is that you're not cooling them - FPKO, on it's own, has erratic crystallization behavior. It's almost always paired with another setting, structuring fat (ie a small amount of hydrogenated pko, for example), but still requires rapid cooling. If FPKO is the oil base, melt it to 100, dip your biscotti, and get it into the fridge for 20 minutes.

A general rule, however, should be that if a company's coating isn't working for you, call them and ask to speak to their technical group to help walk you through it's usage. It could also be that it's contaminated with some other type of oil - they'd need the lot number to track that however.

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Sebastion - thanks for the tips, you might be on to something. The ingredients are Sugar, FPKO, Cocoa processed with alkali, Lactose, Palm Oil, Soy Lecithin and Vanilla. I'll give it a try chilling immediately after dipping and see if that makes the difference. If not, my rep has offered to replace the bag in case I got the last one off an old lot or something. He says he sells tons of it to bakeries and never has it returned. I'm hoping the quick chill part is what I'm missing.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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I'd be willing to bet you a biscuit that's the problem. Key will be to get the right rate of cooling, you'll want it at about 45 F, with air flow both on above and below it. When you take it out of cooling, remember that condensation will form if your room temp is too high and RH is too high. It looks like they're using a fractionated palm oil for the structuring fat (they likely went to it to get hydrogenated off the label), but frankly those don't work the greatest - you'll have to ask them for specifics if it's still not owrking well, as fracto palm oils are frankly, a pain. Good luck!

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You rock, my friend!! Problem seems to be solved by putting them in the freezer for a bit right after dipping. Thank you so much!

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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