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

[teonzo]

Where do you put your molds to rest before going in the fridge?

Do you leave them on the marble? If so, try putting them on a wire rack and force some air circulation with a fan. Big blocks like that have lots of troubles due to the latent heat of crystalization, especially with that indented shape.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[felipetruji]

7 minutes ago, teonzo said:

Where do you put your molds to rest before going in the fridge?

Do you leave them on the marble? If so, try putting them on a wire rack and force some air circulation with a fan. Big blocks like that have lots of troubles due to the latent heat of crystalization, especially with that indented shape.

 

 

 

Teo

 

After filling, they go into the vibrating surface and immediately into the fridge

[Kerry Beal]

3 hours ago, felipetruji said:

After filling, they go into the vibrating surface and immediately into the fridge

I usually wait until I see them starting to show signs of crystallizing around the edges before bunging them in the fridge. That is when they are most rapidly crystallizing the the latent heat will be the biggest issue.

[teonzo]

14 hours ago, felipetruji said:

After filling, they go into the vibrating surface and immediately into the fridge

 

You need to consider the geometry of the mold you are using and how to dissipate the heat.

Big molds (like this 1 kg block) mean big width, which means more latent heat to dissipate from the surface. Those squares are separated by deep and narrow interstices, you need to dissipate all the heat that accumulates on the surfaces of those interstices. Problem is that air is an insulator and that mold has a flat surface (the surface of the squares), so if you place the mold on a sheet pan then it's really really difficult for the air in those interstices to circulate. No air circulation means that there is a lot of latent heat accumulating there, causing the chocolate to bloom along those interstices (which is what your photo is showing).

So you need to place your molds on a wire rack and find a way to force air circulation. Usually a fan is a good and inexpensive solution. If you have an air conditioner then put the molds near it.

You need to be careful when and how putting them in the fridge. Putting the molds in the fridge can mean lots of different things. As Kerry wrote, it's better to avoid putting them in the fridge just after molding, you force quick crystalization on the surface while the inside is still fluid, which means when the inside will crystallize it's going to shrink, causing the surface of the chocolate piece to break. So you need to put them in the fridge at the correct time, but also in the correct way. If you place the molds on a flat surface you get the troubles I explained above, so you need to place them on a wire rack even in the fridge, with some space below them otherwise air will not circulate. You need a fridge with good air circulation inside it. You need to place them in the "warmest" side of the fridge.

Since you wrote you have a room at 19°C, then I would suggest to put the molds on wire racks with at least 2 inches of air beneath them, then using a fan near them to force air circulation. That temperature + wire racks + fan should be enough to avoid putting them in the fridge, but leave them alone for a good amount of time (many hours, if not a full day), don't take them out of the mold when they detach, the inside is still crystallizing.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[cslas]

Ok, so I started off with the intention of reading the entire thread looking for my answer, and pooped out somewhere around page 8. And that was before I noticed it was 25 pages long

 

So apologies if this has been asked. But just to clarify. With Silk from the EZTemper, I can heat my chocolate until all of the crystals are melted, not stir it at all (or only minimally) while it cools to 33.5 c, toss in some Silk, stir, and I'm good to go?

 

I've been seeding with tempered chocolate and stirring all the way to down to the "tempering" temperature and then bringing my chocolate back up to working temperature. It's like a 25 f degree temperature change. It takes days to cool down that far!  (Though now I've just read in Grewling's book that "it's not necessary to cool much below 32 c / 90 f when using the seeding method" and seed that's in temper.... knowing that sooner would have saved me some serious time.)

[Kerry Beal]

58 minutes ago, cslas said:

Ok, so I started off with the intention of reading the entire thread looking for my answer, and pooped out somewhere around page 8. And that was before I noticed it was 25 pages long

 

So apologies if this has been asked. But just to clarify. With Silk from the EZTemper, I can heat my chocolate until all of the crystals are melted, not stir it at all (or only minimally) while it cools to 33.5 c, toss in some Silk, stir, and I'm good to go?

 

I've been seeding with tempered chocolate and stirring all the way to down to the "tempering" temperature and then bringing my chocolate back up to working temperature. It's like a 25 f degree temperature change. It takes days to cool down that far!  (Though now I've just read in Grewling's book that "it's not necessary to cool much below 32 c / 90 f when using the seeding method" and seed that's in temper.... knowing that sooner would have saved me some serious time.)

That would be correct - with the understanding that with the EZtemper you don't need to take it up to 45º or so initially - just enough above 33.5 to melt then drop it back down to that.

 

Right now you are overkill - you only need to seed down to the working temperature - you are combining two methods of tempering and you could save some time by stopping at the working temperature.

 

 

[cslas]

@Kerry Beal so glad I know this before I do another set of molds tonight! Also, I scored a Mol d'art on Ebay yesterday so there might be an EZTemper in my future once I save up

[ptw1953]

35 minutes ago, cslas said:

@Kerry Beal so glad I know this before I do another set of molds tonight! Also, I scored a Mol d'art on Ebay yesterday so there might be an EZTemper in my future once I save up

 

Save up with indecent haste, for you will have no regrets. None at all. I have acquired many things in my long life, but the EZTemper is, for me, one of my best ever purchases. It will be passed down to one of my grandsons/granddaughters when the grim reaper comes a callin' for me. For sure...

[keychris]

3 hours ago, ptw1953 said:

 

Save up with indecent haste, for you will have no regrets. None at all. I have acquired many things in my long life, but the EZTemper is, for me, one of my best ever purchases. It will be passed down to one of my grandsons/granddaughters when the grim reaper comes a callin' for me. For sure...

 

I knew I had a long lost relative in Scotland, I'm so glad I found you! 🤣

[jrshaul]

ER physician, chocolate wizard, AND production food science engineer?

I no longer feel as good about changing my own motor oil.

Are you actually six people in a trenchcoat?

Edited November 28, 2019 by jrshaul (log)

[Kerry Beal]

32 minutes ago, jrshaul said:

ER physician, chocolate wizard, AND production food science engineer?

I no longer feel as good about changing my own motor oil.

Are you actually six people in a trenchcoat?

 

My days of changing my own motor oil are long gone. But I did take auto shop back in high school. Also long gone!

[BottleRocket]

I have a question about using EZTemper silk in larger quantities than recommended to temper a mass of chocolate. I'm looking at a recipe in Wybauw Fine Chocolates that asks for 50g cocoa butter to be added to 500g precrystallised white chocolate before the combination is then added to a coconut/coconut milk mixture. Is there a problem with adding 50g of silk to the chocolate once it has been melted and brought back down to the 33.5c recommended for tempering with silk? Just hoping to skip a step if it won't cause a problem to do so. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by BottleRocket (log)

[Kerry Beal]

51 minutes ago, BottleRocket said:

I have a question about using EZTemper silk in larger quantities than recommended to temper a mass of chocolate. I'm looking at a recipe in Wybauw Fine Chocolates that asks for 50g cocoa butter to be added to 500g precrystallised white chocolate before the combination is then added to a coconut/coconut milk mixture. Is there a problem with adding 50g of silk to the chocolate once it has been melted and brought back down to the 33.5c recommended for tempering with silk? Just hoping to skip a step if it won't cause a problem to do so. 

 

Yup - it will overcrystallize - depending on the total weight - add melted cocoa butter to the white chocolate minus the 1% silk.

[BottleRocket]

Thank you. I wondered if that was a thing. Would adding melted CB be before or after adding the silk? 

[Tri2Cook]

13 hours ago, BottleRocket said:

Thank you. I wondered if that was a thing. Would adding melted CB be before or after adding the silk? 

Kerry is the better person to answer EZtemper questions but in situations like that, I usually just follow the recipe as written then add the 1% silk at the end. I don't even make adjustments to the cocoa butter which I realize means I'm adding a very small amount (proportionally) of extra cocoa butter in the form of silk. I figure we're adding that extra cocoa butter in every case because there's no other recipe adjustments for adding silk so I just don't worry about it and haven't noticed any negative effects from doing it. But like I said, when it comes to the EZtemper, I'd suggest going with what Kerry suggests. She knows the ins and outs of working with it more than anybody else.

[Kerry Beal]

13 hours ago, BottleRocket said:

Thank you. I wondered if that was a thing. Would adding melted CB be before or after adding the silk? 

I’d say before.

But as Tri2Cook says - in the real world I'd add 50 grams and 1%
 

 

[BottleRocket]

On 1/15/2020 at 5:05 AM, Kerry Beal said:

I’d say before.

But as Tri2Cook says - in the real world I'd add 50 grams and 1%
 

 

Thank you @Kerry Beal and @Tri2Cook 

[SweetSymphonybyM]

Yay, I received my new toy yesterday. I haven't unpacked it yet, but plant to start my first batch of silk tonight. The only cocoa butter I have at home, is a jar of Mycryo that has been sitting in the fridge for almost a year. Its about 4  months past its best by date. Is it still usable? If so, at what temp does the EzTemper need to be for Mycryo?

[Kerry Beal]

21 minutes ago, SweetSymphonybyM said:

Yay, I received my new toy yesterday. I haven't unpacked it yet, but plant to start my first batch of silk tonight. The only cocoa butter I have at home, is a jar of Mycryo that has been sitting in the fridge for almost a year. Its about 4  months past its best by date. Is it still usable? If so, at what temp does the EzTemper need to be for Mycryo?

Yup - should be fine - leave it at the preset 33.7 - if it gets too soft dial back by 0.1 or 0.2

[Bentley]

I had to go down to 33.4 for my latest batch of silk.  Lowest temp I've had to set so far.  

 

Also a question - If I am not going to use my EZ temper for a few weeks or months, can I just turn it off and let the silk harden, then just turn it back on again when I need it...or will I need to melt the old cocoa butter back down again before remaking silk?

[Kerry Beal]

50 minutes ago, Bentley said:

I had to go down to 33.4 for my latest batch of silk.  Lowest temp I've had to set so far.  

 

Also a question - If I am not going to use my EZ temper for a few weeks or months, can I just turn it off and let the silk harden, then just turn it back on again when I need it...or will I need to melt the old cocoa butter back down again before remaking silk?

You can just turn it off and then turn it back on again 12 hours before you need it. Make sure that you don’t accidentally leave the fan off

[GRiker]

On 12/30/2015 at 6:02 PM, Kerry Beal said:

2.  Do you add the silk to all 3 types of chocolate (white, milk, and dark)  at the same temperature of 33.5C (92.3F)?  (Or do you add the silk at different temperatures depending on what type of chocolate it is?)

 

Yup - 33.5 will temper white, milk and dark! Now if you are finding that the chocolate is too fluid at that warmer temperature and is flowing out of the molds as you are working - you may want to add it when it is a bit cooler - but it is not necessary to do so.
 
3.  After adding the silk, do you have to wait for the chocolate to cool to its normal working temperature to use them in perfect temper?  (ie:  84-86F for white and milk, 88-90F for dark?). Or can you start working with it right away?
 

Nope - stir for about a minute and you are ready to go!

4.  Does the silk extend the working temperature range of the chocolate  from its usual working temperature to 92.3F?  (ie:  does the working temp range for white an milk extend from 84-86F to 84-92.3F, and does the working temp range for dark extend from 88-90F to 88-92.3F?)

 

Since you are starting at a higher temperature particularly when working with white and milk - it does extend the range as you noted. And you can reheat to 33.5 as it cools.

 

Thanks for the answers to all these questions.  Super helpful.

 

I'm just starting to make more chocolates as a hobby right now and am fascinated by the idea of using silk.  I made some and tried it out and it works very well.  

 

I'm still perplexed about the temperatures.  I have tried using silk and working with my milk and dark chocolate at 92.5F.  It worked great.  

 

When I look at the melting temps of the different crystalline forms, the wider temperature range makes sense. Type V crystals melt at 93.2F (34C), and the next highest temp crystals melt at 82.4C (28C).  So it seems like as long as your above 83.5F or so and below 92.5F or so, you should only have type V crystals in your bowl (assuming you tempered correctly in the first place) 

 

But it begs the question...if property pre-crystallized chocolate can be worked with at these temps, why do chocolate manufacturers suggest a working temperature of 84-86 for white and milk and 88-90F for dark?

 

It's so much easier for me to work that these higher temps.  Especially for milk chocolate.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

It’s because when you are tempering by other methods the tempering curve is necessary - with the EZtemper silk you have about 15% form V crystals so it’s the perfect seed.

 

 

[GRiker]

Thanks for the reply.

 

So, let me see if I understand: since the EZtemper silk contains lots of type V crystals already, you have sufficient seed to pre-crystallize the chocolate quickly even at the higher temperature.

 

I've always used the saying that tempering correctly is about time, temperature and agitation.  

 

Using the standard tempering process (seed is what I've used before) the reason for lowering the temperature to the standard working temps mentioned above is that it takes that much time to have enough type V crystals to properly pre-crystallize the chocolate.  

 

If, for example, I were to use well tempered solid chocolate as seed, when I got to 92.5F I wouldn't have enough type V crystals to efficiently seed the chocolate I'm trying to temper.  Using the seed method since I couldn't start adding until 94F, there's no way I would have enough seed the term I got to 92.5F.  Am I understanding this correctly?

 

In theory (and practice), I could seed using well tempered solid chocolate and enough time and agitation and get a proper temper at the standard temps.  Once I had enough seed to temper the chocolate well, could I theoretically raise the temperature to 92.5F? since none of the type V crystals would melt out until higher than that?  Of course this method would take lots of time, but I'm just trying to work out if in theory it's possible.  

[pastrygirl]

54 minutes ago, GRiker said:

In theory (and practice), I could seed using well tempered solid chocolate and enough time and agitation and get a proper temper at the standard temps.  Once I had enough seed to temper the chocolate well, could I theoretically raise the temperature to 92.5F? since none of the type V crystals would melt out until higher than that?  Of course this method would take lots of time, but I'm just trying to work out if in theory it's possible.  

 

Sometimes, if the chocolate has been tempered then left to sit, it thickens enough that you have to raise the temp above the usual range to melt out excess crystals. The right proportion of the right crystals is more important than temp (within reason).