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

[Douglas K]

In my defense, I don’t think I’ve used the term “silk” for the solid cocoa butter, it just doesn’t seem right to me. If I have, then it was an honest mistake. However, I am making “silk” in the sous vide. I’ve only timed it right once where I could use it right out of the jar for tempering. My original question still remains which is still about slightly too warm of “silk” in what I’ll call a “milk” phase. If I just lower the temperature a bit would it go back to the “silk” phase? I’ll experiment this weekend and see since I have the same cocoa butter, and my notes on the temperatures.

 

I guess we’ve just defined new phases of matter: solid, silk, milk, liquid, gas. 🤪 Now to make the confectioner’s periodic table.

[Kerry Beal]

16 minutes ago, Douglas K said:

In my defense, I don’t think I’ve used the term “silk” for the solid cocoa butter, it just doesn’t seem right to me. If I have, then it was an honest mistake. However, I am making “silk” in the sous vide. I’ve only timed it right once where I could use it right out of the jar for tempering. My original question still remains which is still about slightly too warm of “silk” in what I’ll call a “milk” phase. If I just lower the temperature a bit would it go back to the “silk” phase? I’ll experiment this weekend and see since I have the same cocoa butter, and my notes on the temperatures.

 

I guess we’ve just defined new phases of matter: solid, silk, milk, liquid, gas. 🤪 Now to make the confectioner’s periodic table.

It won't go back - once the crystals are gone - they are gone. You need to take it back down and back up again.

[keychris]

On 10/30/2020 at 2:48 AM, Kerry Beal said:

I really hesitate to get into the long story of how the term 'silk' that I coined for the texture of the cocoa butter produced in the EZtemper was taken over by another person and is now used to describe something that is not 'silk'. Guess I should have trademarked that term rather than EZtemper!

 

 

 

I would be interested in hearing that story! (if you can be bothered typing it )

[Kerry Beal]

@Chocolot had a great idea - she put the silk into a squeezy bottle instead of a piping bag. Less mess, less need to have something in there to stop the piping bag from dirtying up the bottom. I was in search of a squeezy bottle this am to put sweetened condensed milk into in the fridge when I decided to fill a nice flexible one that I found and pop it into one of my units. 

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Here's what happens when a fork truck goes through an EZtemper box. 

 

 

Here's what it looks like after hubby gets to work on it.

 

 

Lid doesn't open quite as it should - but it appears to still work. 

 

 

[Jim D.]

52 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Here's what it looks like after hubby gets to work on it.

 

 

 

 

I'm thinking he might be a keeper.

[Kerry Beal]

2 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

I'm thinking he might be a keeper.

Indeed he is!

[curls]

9 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Here's what happens when a fork truck goes through an EZtemper box. 

 

 

Here's what it looks like after hubby gets to work on it.

 

 

Lid doesn't open quite as it should - but it appears to still work. 

 

 

Wow! Your husband did an amazing job. Hopefully no other EZtempers were injured by the fork truck.

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, curls said:

Wow! Your husband did an amazing job. Hopefully no other EZtempers were injured by the fork truck.

This was one being shipped to Montréal - the courier did it. It’s cost me a fortune - the haven’t refunded the shipping so I’ve paid for shipping it, shipping it back and shipping a second one. 

[curls]

43 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

This was one being shipped to Montréal - the courier did it. It’s cost me a fortune - the haven’t refunded the shipping so I’ve paid for shipping it, shipping it back and shipping a second one. 

That is horrible! They should refund you; they damaged it.

[Kerry Beal]

Have a customer in NY - wants to know where best to buy cocoa butter - anyone have a good source?

[patris]

I've been very happy with Cocoa Supply - https://www.cocoasupply.com/. Seems to be good quality and prices are excellent.

[Kerry Beal]

39 minutes ago, patris said:

I've been very happy with Cocoa Supply - https://www.cocoasupply.com/. Seems to be good quality and prices are excellent.

thanks much

[JeanneCake]

I am clearly doing something wrong - I bought a case of cocoa butter three or four weeks ago from AUI, powered up the EZ and left two containers in for 24 hours.  Very lumpy so left it in another day.  Still lumpy.  Took them out, and forgot to put them back in for the day so the  next day they went back in - still very seed-y, lump-y looking.  No change after 24 hours.  In desperation I melted it all out (took the CB to 93dF) put it back in to see what would happen.  (I haven't changed the default temp setting, it's at 33.8)  I've lost track of how long it's been in there but this is what it looked like at the end of the day  yesterday.  These *$&%^ chocolate bombs are killing me - I don't know how to temper chocolate to begin with and learning on a curve during a holiday season in the midst of a pandemic is probably not the best time to learn something new   And I am learning that working clean when working with chocolate is simply not possible as a novice 🤣.

 

What am I doing wrong?  Should I have melted the CB to a higher temp? Or just wait longer?

 

Edited to add: I don't really want to bother Kerry with such a trivial question because she's busy saving our lives in the pandemic so I'm hoping someone else has had this issue and can tell me what worked for them.

Edited December 10, 2020 by JeanneCake
ETA that I don't really want to bother Kerry because she's busy saving our lives from the pandemic and this is kind of a trivial thing by comparison. (log)

[Kerry Beal]

36 minutes ago, JeanneCake said:

I am clearly doing something wrong - I bought a case of cocoa butter three or four weeks ago from AUI, powered up the EZ and left two containers in for 24 hours.  Very lumpy so left it in another day.  Still lumpy.  Took them out, and forgot to put them back in for the day so the  next day they went back in - still very seed-y, lump-y looking.  No change after 24 hours.  In desperation I melted it all out (took the CB to 93dF) put it back in to see what would happen.  (I haven't changed the default temp setting, it's at 33.8)  I've lost track of how long it's been in there but this is what it looked like at the end of the day  yesterday.  These *$&%^ chocolate bombs are killing me - I don't know how to temper chocolate to begin with and learning on a curve during a holiday season in the midst of a pandemic is probably not the best time to learn something new   And I am learning that working clean when working with chocolate is simply not possible as a novice 🤣.

 

What am I doing wrong?  Should I have melted the CB to a higher temp? Or just wait longer?

 

Edited to add: I don't really want to bother Kerry with such a trivial question because she's busy saving our lives in the pandemic so I'm hoping someone else has had this issue and can tell me what worked for them.

This is the sort of thing I hope to be bothered for!  You'd laugh like my admin does when she hears me on the phone and says "that was a chocolate issue wasn't it?". 

 

That looks like form VI conversion to me. Melt that out to 60º C - then let cool completely before putting back in the EZtemper. If it persists then the cocoa butter might be too far gone but often it can be rehabilitated.  If you have some good silk around that doesn't have lumps then you can seed your melted stuff when it's get's back down to 33 or so - keep cooling outside the machine though until it firms up before putting it back in the machine.

 

If it doesn't rehabilitate after that and still has those grainy little lumps - get your money back from AUI cause they've sold you old or poorly stored CCB. Have you got someone close by you can borrow a cup of fresh cocoa butter from in the meantime?

Edited December 10, 2020 by Kerry Beal (log)

[JeanneCake]

Thanks, Kerry, I'm glad you have a chance to take a little break from the pandemic 😁

 

I'm getting some Felchlin cocoa butter.  What i had was Orchid, and it was on sale..... I've asked for help figuring  out  the age and how it was stored and they are responsive.  There is no one around me that has anything, and this tempering by hand is confusing (to me) and time consuming. I've gotten it right,  which is encouraging but I have so many questions!  I'm using a really viscous 58% and it takes an hour just to make shells for about 2 dz bombs.  I have a long long road ahead as far as chocolate goes!

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, JeanneCake said:

Thanks, Kerry, I'm glad you have a chance to take a little break from the pandemic 😁

 

I'm getting some Felchlin cocoa butter.  What i had was Orchid, and it was on sale..... I've asked for help figuring  out  the age and how it was stored and they are responsive.  There is no one around me that has anything, and this tempering by hand is confusing (to me) and time consuming. I've gotten it right,  which is encouraging but I have so many questions!  I'm using a really viscous 58% and it takes an hour just to make shells for about 2 dz bombs.  I have a long long road ahead as far as chocolate goes!

Melt down some of that defective stuff you have and add maybe 2% to your thick chocolate to make it less viscous and easier to work with.

[curls]

@JeanneCake if you have an Instagram account, Brian Donaghy  from Tomric posted a short video about making hot cocoa bombs that might help. I liked his tip of putting the spheres together in the mould and twisting them while letting them set up. Good luck with your chocolate work!

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CH8BfvHFsqO/?igshid=1qjemc9q6o965

[Tri2Cook]

2 hours ago, curls said:

@JeanneCake if you have an Instagram account, Brian Donaghy  from Tomric posted a short video about making hot cocoa bombs that might help. I liked his tip of putting the spheres together in the mould and twisting them while letting them set up. Good luck with your chocolate work!

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CH8BfvHFsqO/?igshid=1qjemc9q6o965

Thanks! I already discovered the benefit of the lip on my own, I started flipping my molds onto my marble slab after dumping the excess after some battles with the thin joining edge. I also assemble in mold but I hadn't thought of turning them in the mold to line things up nicely. I'm definitely going to play with his suggestion to double-coat the shell. I was also happy to hear his thumbs-up regarding the dehydrated mini marshmallows since that's what I've decided to use. I'm still not completely happy with my results so they haven't gone public yet but I'm getting closer.

[curls]

24 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

Thanks! I already discovered the benefit of the lip on my own, I started flipping my molds onto my marble slab after dumping the excess after some battles with the thin joining edge. I also assemble in mold but I hadn't thought of turning them in the mold to line things up nicely. I'm definitely going to play with his suggestion to double-coat the shell. I was also happy to hear his thumbs-up regarding the dehydrated mini marshmallows since that's what I've decided to use. I'm still not completely happy with my results so they haven't gone public yet but I'm getting closer.

I’m glad that the video was of help @Tri2Cook! It is a short video but contains so many helpful tips. I’m not making these, my customer base is almost all gone with the rising COVID numbers in my area (and I don’t ship). But it is fun to see how these hot chocolate bombs have captured everyone’s fancy and the folks that are selling them seem to be having trouble keeping up with the demand (a nice problem to have). Looking forward to seeing your results when you are ready to go public.  😁

[JeanneCake]

Thanks @curls for the video link!  I thought I was buying polycarbonate molds from D&R a few weeks back during the black friday sale (there was no picture of the molds on the site and not ever having bought molds before, what did I know!) but they are flimsy plastic so I am not using them and hoping to return them but haven't heard back yet.  I also got some plastic molds from a candy supply store before they sold out so that's what I'm using. 

 

Anyway, today I just had to do something - we cannot keep up with demand for these things.  So, I melted some Felchlin ultra molding and did exactly what he describes - I fill the molds with a 2 oz ladle, and kind of dunk it in so the chocolate comes up to the rim.  Then when all the molds are filled, I turn it over on a grid to let the excess drip; slide it off the grid, clean the edge and then leave it upside down on a piece of parchment while I fill the rest of the molds.  then I repeat it so it's more sturdy. I only have to do it once with the tempered chocolate though; this  molding stuff seems more "fragile" for want of a better word.    Sealing them (at least for me!) is the easy part. 

 

I don't understand this cocoa butter issue, though.  My AUI rep is very nice and more than willing to work through the issue; but they are already saying, well no one else has complained ....  and personally I want to say, well how many of your other customers have an EZ Temper?  And would you guys like to tell the Chocolate Doctor she is wrong?  Yeah.  Didn't think so. 

 

I don't know how you guys do this.  I'm determined to get it but OMG .... temps, crystals, seeding.  I flunked Algebra twice in high school (aced Geometry with straight As though!) and I feel like I'm back in math class! 🤣

[Jim D.]

10 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

I don't know how you guys do this.  I'm determined to get it but OMG .... temps, crystals, seeding.  I flunked Algebra twice in high school (aced Geometry with straight As though!) and I feel like I'm back in math class! 🤣

 

With your expertise in all things baking, you will master this--but perhaps best at a slower time of year!  As you already know, you will find all the help you need on eG on tempering chocolate.  Chocolate always has its surprises, but once you "get" tempering, it will not seem so mysterious.

[pastrygirl]

20 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

I don't know how you guys do this.  I'm determined to get it but OMG .... temps, crystals, seeding.  I flunked Algebra twice in high school (aced Geometry with straight As though!) and I feel like I'm back in math class! 🤣

 

If you understand crystallization in sugar, chocolate is essentially the same.  If you get an undissolved bit of sugar in your caramel it will crystallize, with chocolate you're substituting un-melted cocoa butter crystals.   If you make fudge or fondant you have to stir at a certain temp to get crystallization, same with chocolate.  Stir, stir, stir.  If it seems like it should be tempered but isn't, let it cool a little more, stir a little more and test again.

Edited December 11, 2020 by pastrygirl (log)

[curls]

EZTemper seen and mentioned in a tour of the Modernist Kitchen!!! 

 

referenced at about the 23 minute mark

 

 

They also show a homemade spray booth that looks interesting. 

I have an EZtemper, wish I had some of the other equipment that is in the Modernist Kitchen. If I win the lottery… enrober, freeze dryer, vacuum sealer, and who knows what else!

Edited May 21, 2021 by curls (log)

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, curls said:

EZTemper seen and mentioned in a tour of the Modernist Kitchen!!! 

 

referenced at about the 23 minute mark

 

 

They also show a homemade spray booth that looks interesting. 

I have an EZtemper, wish I had some of the other equipment that is in the Modernist Kitchen. If I win the lottery… enrober, freeze dryer, vacuum sealer, and who knows what else!

The tour that we took there did make me drool a bit.