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Problems with Chocolate Formula


Spring

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I've been experimenting with a sugar free chocolate for a while now and flavour wise have achieved success.

I have two major problems with my chocolate and it happens with both the milk and dark.

Problem #1: I had the milk chocolate in the melter over night and in the morning there was and oily puddle (cocoa butter methinks) on the top, after vigorous stirring it homogenized but streaks kept appearing in the melted chocolate but disappeared when stirred. After tempering and when the chocolate had crystalized there were faint streaks and dark spots.

I'm thinking I need to add more lecithin (I had granular lecithin at 3g for 4k)

Problem #2: At the correct temperature for tempering (30 Milk, 32 Dark) the chocolate was almost set, a spoon stood upright in it. It was thick and claggy and impossible to work with.

After adding tons of cocoa butter and raising the temperature to 36 degrees it was workable and I managed to make some bars etc. They came out of the molds easily which makes me think it wasn't over crystalized and it had a very good snap and didn't melt when touched which means they were either tempered correctly or at least not incorrectly.

The only things I can think of that could cause this are: lack of lecithin and/or too much inulin (can't blame the milk powder as it's not present in the Dark), also its possible the chocolate absorbed moisture through being in the machine during the day for 3 days but if the chocolate was 'wet' then I don't think I would have been able to work with it. I also have a dehumidifyer near to the Santha and it didn't happen when there was higher humidity than there is now.

It could be one thing or a combination, I'm at my wits end and would really appreciate any help (I have posted this in the chocolate alchemy forum too).

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I forgot to write that it was while I was waiting to see if the chocolate was tempered, using the back of a spoon and waiting 15 minutes to check for streaks, that the chocolate thickened. I checked the spoon, the chocolate had crystalized without streaks, I went to start working and......thick, unworkable chocolate :huh:

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Lior: You can taste as much as you want, whenever you want, just come and visit, Im sure well have lots to talk about. id love your opinion of my products :)

Sebastian: Im so glad you answered, I was hoping you would :)

I really appreciate your offer of help and understand your hands are tied without knowing the formula details but regretfully I cant post them as my business partner would order a hit on me :sad:

I dont suppose you could offer any advice with the information I posted previously? Thanks :wub:

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You shouldn't need to wait 15 minutes to check for temper, you should be able to tell within 2 or 3 minutes. In this 15 minute wait, where was the chocolate? In a warmer/melter at stable temperature?

Not familiar with inulin, but is it possible there is a crystalline structure to it that is inducing the chocolate to over crystallize somehow? A shot in the dark...

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inulin's amorphous. there is no crystalline structure. spring, if you want to email me a formula, or at least a listing of ingredients, privately, that might be an option that you might be comfortable with. unfortunately, the less information you provide, the less helpful we can be.

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pastrygirl: i never waited 15 mins before but read in wybauw that you should wait a bit as something something (IM really tired so cant remmeber exactly) Anyway..... the weird thing is that it was beautifully in temper but when I got to the melter it was really thick and unworkable.

Sebastian:you are an angel, I will take you up on your kind offer :wub:

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