EZtemper - The Help You Need to Achieve Perfectly Tempered Chocolate FAST!

[Casey H.]

Thanks, Daniel. After I stirred it, it definitely was not mayonnaise consistency -- more like a thick pastry cream. That's what worried me. Is the consistency of your cocoa butter mayonnaise-like at 33.8? 

I will inch up the temp tonight above 33 and see how it goes tomorrow. I will test it even if it's more fluid than I expect and see what results I get. I appreciate the quick reply. @Kerry Bealand I have been in contact about this, but as each brand of cocoa butter is different, I wanted to get input from those specifically using my brand. Much obliged!

[pastrygirl]

Yes, I currently have Cacao Barry CB and I think the temp is set at 33.8  or 33.9.  I've randomly pushed buttons to mixed effect. 

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, Casey H. said:

Hello y'all! Long-time lurker; first-time poster. I have read nearly all 19 pages of this thread; very informative! I just rec'd my EZ Temper unit Friday. HOORAY! I have twice added my cocoa butter (Cacao Barry tiny pellets; not old and still in temper) and warmed it overnight in the EZ Temper. First time, I melted at factory setting of 33.7; the result was too liquid with melted cocoa butter on top. 2nd time I melted at 33.5; same result. I am now melting at 32.9 and hoping that will do the trick. I've checked and I can hear the slight "whir" of the fan, so that shouldn't be the problem.

 

For those who use Cacao Barry pure cocoa butter pellets, can you advise if there's a magic target temperature you use? @pastrygirl, I think you use Cacao Barry, right?

I hate to have to keep testing this in tiny increments; I want to use this baby!!! Any advice would be helpful. Thanks all.

I believe we may have talked about it already - but just to check - after it was too liquid at 33.7 - you did take it back out and allow it to totally firm up at room temperature before putting it back in at 33.5? I should check my instructions on the website to make sure I've made it clear that turning it down is not enough - once those crystals are gone they are gone. 

 

I did some experiments in the early days of my prototypes where I put the melted cocoa butter in the fridge to firm it up before putting it back in the machine - it just melted again. The right crystals had not had the opportunity to form so weren't present in the cocoa butter when it was put back in the machine. 

[Casey H.]

8 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I believe we may have talked about it already - but just to check - after it was too liquid at 33.7 - you did take it back out and allow it to totally firm up at room temperature before putting it back in at 33.5? I should check my instructions on the website to make sure I've made it clear that turning it down is not enough - once those crystals are gone they are gone. 

 

I did some experiments in the early days of my prototypes where I put the melted cocoa butter in the fridge to firm it up before putting it back in the machine - it just melted again. The right crystals had not had the opportunity to form so weren't present in the cocoa butter when it was put back in the machine. 

Kerry - thank you for inquiring. Actually, I dumped the liquid CB onto parchment to firm up at room temp, cleaned and thoroughly dried the canister, and started with 'new' cocoa butter the 2nd time, and again yesterday. I didn't want to wait for the first batch to firm up completely (I can be impatient - not a good trait in a chocolatier!), so I got fresh CB in pellet form each time. I am heading in to the workshop shortly and can report back on the temps - I did inch it up to 33.1 last night before I left b/c it had been about 10-11 hours and wasn't softened as much as I'd expect by then. Thanks.

[ptw1953]

Well, goodness me. What else can one say?

 

My EZtemper arrived in Edinburgh Thursday pm. I set it up, and chopped up some old grainy coco butter. Went to bed, then awoke @ 6:20am to some 'mayonnaise'.

 

I then melted some 270g of Belcolade 55%, (leftovers from an earlier making of chocolates; circa Easter iirc) to 40c, then cooled it to 33.5c. Mixed in 2.8g of the silk, then I poured and putthe mould into the fridge. By 7am I had 3 chocolate bars (see image) ready for my grandson, who was arriving @ 7:15am.

 

Circa 30 minutes, from start to finish.

 

Utterly amazing.

 

Thank you Kerry and Jessica...x

 

Philip

 

 

Edited July 14, 2018 by ptw1953 (log)

[Kerry Beal]

10 hours ago, ptw1953 said:

Well, goodness me. What else can one say?

 

My EZtemper arrived in Edinburgh Thursday pm. I set it up, and chopped up some old grainy coco butter. Went to bed, then awoke @ 6:20am to some 'mayonnaise'.

 

I then melted some 270g of Belcolade 55%, (leftovers from an earlier making of chocolates; circa Easter iirc) to 40c, then cooled it to 33.5c. Mixed in 2.8g of the silk, then I poured and putthe mould into the fridge. By 7am I had 3 chocolate bars (see image) ready for my grandson, who was arriving @ 7:15am.

 

Circa 30 minutes, from start to finish.

 

Utterly amazing.

 

Thank you Kerry and Jessica...x

 

Philip

 

 

 

I must confess I never measure to the tenths of a gram!

[Tri2Cook]

42 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I must confess I never measure to the tenths of a gram!

Me neither... I feel like a bit of a slacker now. 

[ptw1953]

Oh, although I said I used 2.8g, it was actually 2.82g; I was fretting that I had used too much silk, right up until I released the bars from the mould...😜

[RobertM]

The EZtemper’s reputation is growing by leaps and bounds, and deservedly so.  I saw this from Cacao Barry (a Melissa Coppel creation).   Melissa gives the reader some valuable tips for chocolatiers, and one of them is.....well.....dear reader, click on the link to find out exactly what Melissa suggests.....

 

http://wvw.barry-callebaut.com/l/251982/2018-07-24/73x8v

 

[ptw1953]

A very interesting recipe/article Robert, but it leaves me with some questions:

 

Melissa says that there are;

 

...a few very specific rules you need to respect to get beautiful glossy bonbons every time. If you follow them carefully, you will have consistent results every time.

• Make sure your molds are very clean. Wash them with hot soapy water. - Does any other member use warm soapy water? I thought that soap/washing-up liquid would remove the cocoa butter film building up on the mould, and affect the shine on chocolates.

 

• Polish them with alcohol and a soft cloth or cotton ball. Always make sure you do not leave any fat or water spots behind. - I distill ethanol (60%) for, ahem, medicinal purposes. Would that suffice?

 

• Temper your cocoa butter before you start to 84.2°F (29°C) - I have been heating my coloured cocoa butter to 39c in an (almost) redundant sous vide supreme, then shaking the bottle (which is not fully melted) a few times before spraying. Would fully melting, then cooling to 29c be a better approach?

 

I would appreciate guidance from any of the chocolatiers on here.

 

Philip

 

 

 

[gfron1]

53 minutes ago, ptw1953 said:

I distill ethanol (60%) for, ahem, medicinal purposes. Would that suffice?

 I have been heating my coloured cocoa butter to 39c in an (almost) redundant sous vide supreme, then shaking the bottle (which is not fully melted) a few times before spraying. Would fully melting, then cooling to 29c be a better approach?

 

 

1. IDK, but its just alcohol from the drug store. Very cheap, very easy to obtain.

2. Again, that's what Dubovic says: 50º, 26º, 29º and that has worked much better for me. When things cool down again I will try going back to Melissa's method of heating and putting in the freezer and shaking. But for now I'm too happy with my results.

Edited July 30, 2018 by gfron1 (log)

[Jim D.]

56 minutes ago, ptw1953 said:

A very interesting recipe/article Robert, but it leaves me with some questions:

 

Melissa says that there are;

 

...a few very specific rules you need to respect to get beautiful glossy bonbons every time. If you follow them carefully, you will have consistent results every time.

• Make sure your molds are very clean. Wash them with hot soapy water. - Does any other member use warm soapy water? I thought that soap/washing-up liquid would remove the cocoa butter film building up on the mould, and affect the shine on chocolates.

 

• Polish them with alcohol and a soft cloth or cotton ball. Always make sure you do not leave any fat or water spots behind. - I distill ethanol (60%) for, ahem, medicinal purposes. Would that suffice?

 

• Temper your cocoa butter before you start to 84.2°F (29°C) - I have been heating my coloured cocoa butter to 39c in an (almost) redundant sous vide supreme, then shaking the bottle (which is not fully melted) a few times before spraying. Would fully melting, then cooling to 29c be a better approach?

 

I would appreciate guidance from any of the chocolatiers on here.

 

Philip

 

There are various schools of thought on cleaning molds. Jin Caldwell in Las Vegas doesn't clean hers at all. As you say, Melissa Coppel uses alcohol. Andrey Dubovik washes them in hot soapy water (that's what I do). Andrey says they don't even need polishing unless you see water droplets or water residue. And one could not quarrel with the shine he gets! So I don't think the shine has anything to do with the cleaning method. I still polish mine, but now I suspect it's mostly superstition--to keep away the chocolate gremlins. And I do temper my cocoa butter as if it were chocolate.

[PastryBree]

My boss took a chocolate class and the instructor just sent his molds through the dish machine then used his compressor to blast the molds dry and get rid of water drops. Much faster than polishing molds with alcohol and cotton. 

[pastrygirl]

13 minutes ago, PastryBree said:

My boss took a chocolate class and the instructor just sent his molds through the dish machine then used his compressor to blast the molds dry and get rid of water drops. Much faster than polishing molds with alcohol and cotton. 

 

I'd like to see their finished product.  Dish machines don't always get into every crevice and corner where CB can hide.  I would still polish.

 

[Rajala]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I'd like to see their finished product.  Dish machines don't always get into every crevice and corner where CB can hide.  I would still polish.

 

 

I'm just thinking that the dish washer could create small scratches in the mold.

[pastrygirl]

2 minutes ago, Rajala said:

 

I'm just thinking that the dish washer could create small scratches in the mold.

 

Yes, commercial dishwashers are not usually recommended for chocolate molds.  They have high heat, harsh chemicals, or both!

[keychris]

3 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Yes, commercial dishwashers are not usually recommended for chocolate molds.  They have high heat, harsh chemicals, or both!

 

It's interesting that Kris Harvey in an instagram story question just a couple of days ago recommended washing chocolate moulds in "high heat dishwasher". I Just rinse mine off with hot tap water then polish when they're dry. I know that at the school I occasionally attend they used to wash all their moulds in the dishwasher however now they're all done by hand.

Edited July 30, 2018 by keychris (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, keychris said:

 

It's interesting that Kris Harvey in an instagram story question just a couple of days ago recommended washing chocolate moulds in "high heat dishwasher". I Just rinse mine off with hot tap water then polish when they're dry. I know that at the school I occasionally attend they used to wash all their moulds in the dishwasher however now they're all done by hand.

 

I recall the JM Auboine did his in the dishwasher.

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, keychris said:

 

It's interesting that Kris Harvey in an instagram story question just a couple of days ago recommended washing chocolate moulds in "high heat dishwasher". I Just rinse mine off with hot tap water then polish when they're dry. I know that at the school I occasionally attend they used to wash all their moulds in the dishwasher however now they're all done by hand.

 

 

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I recall the JM Auboine did his in the dishwasher.

 

Yet another thing we all do differently!  I'm recalling the lovely molds that I found at a culinary school liquidation sale and posted in the backroom finish thread- if that's what a high heat or commercial DW does to polycarbonate, I'll continue to pass. 

 

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, pastrygirl said:

 

 

Yet another thing we all do differently!  I'm recalling the lovely molds that I found at a culinary school liquidation sale and posted in the backroom finish thread- if that's what a high heat or commercial DW does to polycarbonate, I'll continue to pass. 

 

Indeed - totally agree - I wash mine off with hot water, if they have become really mucky - a bit of soap. Sometimes I polish, sometimes I don't!

[YetiChocolates]

I fill a sink with hot water, add the molds, then rinse and wipe the water out with cotton balls, then polish with 90% alcohol. Never use soap. I have to wipe out the molds right away because the water in my space has a fair amount of calcium in it. 

 

I do agree that it’s funny how we all have different techniques to clean molds!

 

As for cocoa butter, I have a dehydrator that I warm my cocoa butter and keep my gun in, and have it set at 95F. When I get ready to airbrush I take the cocoa butter out and shake it a few times then use it in the gun. Rarely do I have issues with sticking. As for handpainting, I’ve become a lot more diligent at checking temps before using and making sure it’s below 90F, and have had much better success. 

Edited July 31, 2018 by YetiChocolates (log)

[keychris]

Spotted @ Savour School in Melbourne

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, keychris said:

Spotted @ Savour School in Melbourne

Indeed - got a nice shout out from Kristin on Instagram a couple of days ago. Interesting to see into the melter and see that those compartments aren't full of colored cocoa butter but have smaller containers in them. On the instagram post you couldn't tell that.

[keychris]

Here's a better shot for you

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, keychris said:

Here's a better shot for you

And they've got their own branded melters! Nice.