Aerated chocolate using a mini pack mv31 sealer

[Rachel Kelley]

Have a cryovac machine and am trying to decide what I can put on my menu with the machine I have. So... Aerated chocolate. I'm pretty sure it will destroy the aeration if I stop the sealing process, as I am supposed to for aerated chocolate. Does anyone have experience with this machine? Will killing power source help hold the chocolate aeration while it sets? Or is there a way to extend the vacuum cycle or time on it? Any help is appreciated.

[KennethT]

In order to do aerated chocolate, you need a vacuum chamber of some kind. You can't use a vacuum bag because the pressure inside the bag stays constant (the bag conforms to the food - so you remove the air, but the outside air pressure presses the bag against the food). In a rigid chamber, you remove the air, and nothing presses on it from the outside keeping the air spaces until the chocolate can set.

What kind of cryovac machine do you have? Is it a chamber vacuum with sealing bar inside or a clamp type edge sealer? Some edge sealing machines have an output port where you can use a tube to connect the vacuum pump to an external chamber (like the foodsaver canisters), but unless you have a very powerful one, it can't create enough vacuum to initially expand the chocolate. If you have a chamber type machine, you can put the warm chocolate mixture in a mason jar or other jar with one way valve in the chamber and evacuate. Then when you release the vacuum, the jar will seal itself and maintain the internal vacuum.

Edit: Just noticed in the title that you have a MV31 (I can only assume you mean MVS 31x) - in which case, you can use the mason jar routine I described above...

Edited October 28, 2014 by KennethT (log)

[minas6907]

I know absolutely nothing about vacuum chambers, but cant chocolate also be aerated with an isi canister? Im sure the result wouldn't be the same, but it seems a little more straighforward. Ok im leaving now.

[KennethT]

Chocolate doesn't aerate well in an isi because it cools too quickly and will plug up the dispenser! The key to aerating chocolate is to have it liquid enough so it moves, then under vacuum, the entrapped air expands creating air bubbles within the structure. Then, when the chocolate cools, it holds the structure even when pressure is reapplied.

[btbyrd]

Often people will aerate chocolate in an ISI, dispense it into a vacuum container or mason jar, and then pull a vacuum using their chamber. I'm not sure how well chocolate aerates in a vacuum without being charged in a whipper first.

[KennethT]

Sorry - I forgot to mention that when I did it in the past, I whipped it with a hand mixer to incorporate air first... I had read about the isi, but I was a little nervous to have it chill too fast and clog the dispenser....

[btbyrd]

Sorry - I forgot to mention that when I did it in the past, I whipped it with a hand mixer to incorporate air first... I had read about the isi, but I was a little nervous to have it chill too fast and clog the dispenser....

 

 

If you dispense it immediately, there shouldn't be a problem. If you need to hold the chocolate for any length of time, you can just put the ISI in a water bath to keep the chocolate liquid. You can also pre-heat the ISI canister in a water bath so the chocolate isn't hitting cold metal when you first pour it in.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I've done a chocolate foam in an iSi.  The recipe was from Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Italy.  I played with the foam before I had a chamber vacuum sealer.  But now that I have a chamber vacuum sealer it might be fun to try expanding it.  Locatelli's chocolate foam has water in it though.

 

If it helps I've seen that when my Polyscience has a fault it holds the vacuum.  Though I'm not sure how to make it hold a vacuum in normal operation.