How to cook large amounts of chocolate pudding

[QbanCrackr]

this is my recipe that i use for chocolate pudding--when made in very small batches, it always comes out nice and creamy and i can freeze it too! but when i try making it in larger numbers, obviously i need a larger pot and inevitably it ends up getting grainy the majority of the time and it always gets burnt bits in the bottom of the pot since theres so much surface area

1g milk

8# sugar

7c corn starch

52oz egg yolks

44c semisweet chocolate

12oz vanilla

24oz butter

i know i've got the weights i use for corn starch and chocolate laying around in one of my notebooks, but thats the jist of it

i dissolve the corn starch in some milk, heat up the milk, sugar, and egg yolks. once thats nice & hot, i add the corn starch slurry and bring that to a boil. normally in smaller quantities i would add the chocolate directly to this mixture to melt it, but in the larger quantities i'll melt the chocolate separately and once the corn starch mixture has come to a boil, i'll add the melted chocolate and bring it all together. finally once its cooled down a bit i'll add the butter to finish it.

my question is, in order to keep this recipe, is there any...."shortcut" (and i say that in quotations because i don't mean shortcut for time, more like a tip that would help me cook such a large quantity with a greatly reduced chance to make it go grainy)

i tried adding the pudding over the chocolate and let the residual heat melt it, but that just ended up leaving me huge chunks of chocolate---which i brought the cooked pudding back up on the heat and melted the chocolate pieces, and strangely enough, it came out creamy

i just love how tricky it can be multiplying a small recipe x 100 haha

well, any assistance with this topic i would really appreciate it

thanks!

[pastrygirl]

I've given up on huge batches of pastry cream because they always scorch, so I have to recommend doing multiples of the biggest batch that doesn't scorch. As for the graininess, maybe an immersion blender would help? Not sure what would cause that.

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I haven't tried this, but apparently a new method for pastry cream works very well for large batches and produces a superior texture with less work.

Here's a link (it's from a very respected chef so I'd be inclined to trust it).

Not sure if you could adapt this technique for your pudding?

[minas6907]

I'm not trying to be insulting or anything, but I can barley read that font size. Does that say 7 cups of cornstarch?

[Lisa Shock]

Do you have access to a steam-jacketed kettle?

[Shalmanese]

I wonder if it's possible to cook large batches in a buffet steam table. The bottom never gets above 212F so it's guaranteed not to scorch and if you clamp the lid on tightly enough, it may heat up enough to thicken the custard.

[QbanCrackr]

I haven't tried this, but apparently a new method for pastry cream works very well for large batches and produces a superior texture with less work.

Here's a link (it's from a very respected chef so I'd be inclined to trust it).

Not sure if you could adapt this technique for your pudding?

its worth a shot!

I'm not trying to be insulting or anything, but I can barley read that font size. Does that say 7 cups of cornstarch?

yeah 7cups

Do you have access to a steam-jacketed kettle?

if id be able to use it for more than just pudding, i'm sure i could just end up buying one--i make a lot of key lime pie filling (key lime juice, yolks, condensed milk and bake it in large pans in order to use as filling), as well as cheesecake (cream cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream) which i also bake in large pans and use for filling but both are cooked in the oven and to make large batches it takes a while.

i've thought about the kettle but didn't know what kinds of things i could cook in there for solely desserts (i'm thinking since its not direct heat i could do custard fillings and puddings? and i could technically even just use it to heat up large amounts of cream for lets say creme brulee/panna cotta, etc...)

I wonder if it's possible to cook large batches in a buffet steam table. The bottom never gets above 212F so it's guaranteed not to scorch and if you clamp the lid on tightly enough, it may heat up enough to thicken the custard.

is that like what you put the sternos under to heat up the food?

[Shalmanese]

I wonder if it's possible to cook large batches in a buffet steam table. The bottom never gets above 212F so it's guaranteed not to scorch and if you clamp the lid on tightly enough, it may heat up enough to thicken the custard.

is that like what you put the sternos under to heat up the food?

Yeah, exactly. Its basically a giant double boiler setup so the heat is gentle. If yoy have one you can borrow, I'd experiment with it. I'd start with just filling it with water and using a probe to see how hot you can get it. Then trying with just milk, cornstarch and eggs too see if you can get the texture correct, then making a full recipe.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Shalmanese (log)

[Lisa Shock]

The buffet steam table also comes in electric versions, they generally hold the full-sized deep hotel-style pans. A steam-jacketed kettle can be larger than that, they come in a lot of sizes. I have worked with one that was room sized, a couple hundred gallons' capacity. You can cook fruits for pie fillings, fruit pastry fillings (danish, turnovers, etc.), heat milk for ice cream, milk for panna cottas, and cook custards in one. The cost/benefit ratio is something you'll have to figure out on your own. As far as I know, they need to be plumbed in, so that's an additional cost. But, if you regularly need 40 gallons of pudding, it's worth it.

[QbanCrackr]

The buffet steam table also comes in electric versions, they generally hold the full-sized deep hotel-style pans. A steam-jacketed kettle can be larger than that, they come in a lot of sizes. I have worked with one that was room sized, a couple hundred gallons' capacity. You can cook fruits for pie fillings, fruit pastry fillings (danish, turnovers, etc.), heat milk for ice cream, milk for panna cottas, and cook custards in one. The cost/benefit ratio is something you'll have to figure out on your own. As far as I know, they need to be plumbed in, so that's an additional cost. But, if you regularly need 40 gallons of pudding, it's worth it.

The buffet steam table also comes in electric versions, they generally hold the full-sized deep hotel-style pans. A steam-jacketed kettle can be larger than that, they come in a lot of sizes. I have worked with one that was room sized, a couple hundred gallons' capacity. You can cook fruits for pie fillings, fruit pastry fillings (danish, turnovers, etc.), heat milk for ice cream, milk for panna cottas, and cook custards in one. The cost/benefit ratio is something you'll have to figure out on your own. As far as I know, they need to be plumbed in, so that's an additional cost. But, if you regularly need 40 gallons of pudding, it's worth it.

hmm, well as of now i probably wouldn't need 40 gallons at once but hopefully one day soon i will!

the last time i had to make a large batch of pudding, i used between 4-6 gallons of milk, along with all the other ingredients...i think it gave me 20-30quarts of pudding. but along with this i make large amounts of key lime pie filling, cheesecake filling, heating liquids for other uses. so 40 gallons for me will be way too big but i assume they make smaller ones? i often use a spare mixer bowl that is 50-60 quarts and often times i end up filling that up with product which is waiting to go in the oven, so i know that i could fill up at least that much at once but i'm just trying to justify the cost mainly by how much i could do at once (which due to lack of oven space & cooking vessels, could take 2-3 days sometimes to get it all done)

wait....60 quarts = 15 gallons = a little under half of the 40 gallon............well maybe its not so far fetched anymore eh?

[Lisa Shock]

They do come in smaller sizes, 20 gallon is popular. A used restaurant supply house would probably have several. I see quite a few for sale on ebay, too.

[QbanCrackr]

hmm, well then i think i should start looking into the possibilities of buying one of these bad boys.....it'll free up a lot of space on the stove top not to mention in the ovens while im baking all of the fillings & whatnot

[Shalmanese]

The reason I suggested the buffet steam table is almost everyone knows someone with a spare one lying around. Ask around, especially to people who do catering orders, see if you can borrow one for a week and experiment. If it works, then you can think about buying one and it's versatile too in case you ever need to use it as a steam table.