Streaks on hand-dipped chocolates

[Pastrypastmidnight]

I’m wondering why I keep getting pieces with streaks when I hand dip chocolates. I use a Mol d’Art melter and temper by heating the chocolate to 45-47C, cooling to 32C and adding 1% silk. I never start until I have a perfect temper test. I stir the chocolate after dipping every 4-6 pieces, and I retest the temper every 10 minutes or so. I hand enrobe by placing the piece in upside down, flipping it over with the fork, tapping it on the surface of the chocolate 3-4 times, then scraping the bottom of the fork on the edge of my melter. Room temp is usually 19-20C. Last night all of my temper tests were perfect but I still have random pieces with streaking. It’s not bad, it’s just not a perfect matte like the other pieces and I’d like to understand why. Thanks, guys  .

 

[Kerry Beal]

Are you putting them in the fridge for a few minutes during the time they are rapidly crystallizing? That's when they are giving off the most latent heat  of crystallization and might actually throw themselves out of temper causing streaks.

 

Other than that they look quite striking though (and I don't think I would have even noticed those streaks had you not circled them)!

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Jim D.]

I wasn't going to say anything, but since Kerry has commented:  I would be happy with that dipping job. Those feet! Amazingly small for a non-machine job. I think you might need to accept that there are imperfections in chocolate work (particularly without an enrobing machine). And how did you make those green dots? A pastry bag? Very nice work, I would say. Certainly a steady hand at work. IMHO you should be pleased.

[keychris]

are you reheating the surface of chocolate to remove excess beta crystals regularly? (I assume yes otherwise the chocolate would become too thick to use). Overcrystallised chocolate will probably still test fine as it's still "in temper".

[Pastrypastmidnight]

10 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Are you putting them in the fridge for a few minutes during the time they are rapidly crystallizing? That's when they are giving off the most latent heat  of crystallization and might actually throw themselves out of temper causing streaks.

 

Other than that they look quite striking though (and I don't think I would have even noticed those streaks had you not circled them)!

 

 

I’m not putting them in the fridge. I don’t even know how I would time that since they’re already setting up when I do the 5th of 6th one after that. I honestly didn’t know that was something people did when hand-dipping. 

9 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I wasn't going to say anything, but since Kerry has commented:  I would be happy with that dipping job. Those feet! Amazingly small for a non-machine job. I think you might need to accept that there are imperfections in chocolate work (particularly without an enrobing machine). And how did you make those green dots? A pastry bag? Very nice work, I would say. Certainly a steady hand at work. IMHO you should be pleased.

Thank you, Jim. I’ve worked hard on my neatness with hand-dipping . I’ve wondered a bit about what is realistic without an enrober and automatic tempering machine. What I wouldn’t give for a vibrating belt and a blower!  

9 hours ago, keychris said:

are you reheating the surface of chocolate to remove excess beta crystals regularly? (I assume yes otherwise the chocolate would become too thick to use). Overcrystallised chocolate will probably still test fine as it's still "in temper".

So, I do reheat the chocolate in the side of the melter where I scrape my fork before mixing it back in if it looks thick. I only dipped 64 pieces—took less than an hour—and the chocolate hadn’t thickened significantly. But maybe that is the issue. How often do you typically reheat the surface of your chocolate when you’re working?

 

Thanks for all the feedback!

[Avachocolate]

Even if you test the temper before it does not mean that it will all stay in temper evenly during the dipping time.

The Mol 'Art has a rather large exposed surface area (unless you use one of the smallest ones) and in my experience some areas can get slightly out of temper before others...and if you touch that chocolate with your dipped piece that may be responsible for streaks.

Thats why you may get 6-8 perfect pieces and all of a sudden one streaky one....then back to perfect again.

Just for reference, in the first few years of my shop I hand dipped about 1000 -2000 pieces month.....then I finally switched completely to polycarbonate molds as it is much easier on my wrist...

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, Avachocolate said:

Even if you test the temper before it does not mean that it will all stay in temper evenly during the dipping time.

The Mol 'Art has a rather large exposed surface area (unless you use one of the smallest ones) and in my experience some areas can get slightly out of temper before others...and if you touch that chocolate with your dipped piece that may be responsible for streaks.

Thats why you may get 6-8 perfect pieces and all of a sudden one streaky one....then back to perfect again.

Just for reference, in the first few years of my shop I hand dipped about 1000 -2000 pieces month.....then I finally switched completely to polycarbonate molds as it is much easier on my wrist...

I am interested in what you write about maintaining chocolate's temper. The theory under which we all operate is that properly tempered chocolate has a predominance of Type V crystals. I think most of us take that on faith since it is impossible to test the chocolate constantly (and still keep working with it); we don't really know how predominant those crystals are or if other types are also present. I have long wondered what keeps the undesirable ones from re-forming as the chocolate cools, but I am not a chemist. And then there is the over-crystallization issue--too many Type V crystals--but then one wonders how many is too many?  It seems to me that testing temper by spreading a little chocolate on parchment or marble is somewhat inexact--how long is too long to wait for it to set? or is that actually a streak or not? From what I have read about temper meters, they take quite some time to perform a reading, and it would seem that by the time the meter has the verdict, the chocolate has moved on to another state.  With all of these issues, it's a wonder any people continue to work with chocolate!

[Avachocolate]

15 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

I am interested in what you write about maintaining chocolate's temper. The theory under which we all operate is that properly tempered chocolate has a predominance of Type V crystals. I think most of us take that on faith since it is impossible to test the chocolate constantly (and still keep working with it); we don't really know how predominant those crystals are or if other types are also present. I have long wondered what keeps the undesirable ones from re-forming as the chocolate cools, but I am not a chemist. And then there is the over-crystallization issue--too many Type V crystals--but then one wonders how many is too many?  It seems to me that testing temper by spreading a little chocolate on parchment or marble is somewhat inexact--how long is too long to wait for it to set? or is that actually a streak or not? From what I have read about temper meters, they take quite some time to perform a reading, and it would seem that by the time the meter has the verdict, the chocolate has moved on to another state.  With all of these issues, it's a wonder any people continue to work with chocolate!

I dont have any scientific evidence or explanation for all that....just something I have observed after hand dipping a large amount of chocolates and this is the reasoning I came up with...but I know for a fact that the chocolate temperature at the side of my melter and in the middle of it can vary quite a bit...so in my mind that should affect the temper.

A Mol d'art (or something similar) is a useful piece of equipment for a small chocolate shop (and I have used one for a long time and was happy with it) but technically speaking it is a rather simple and not very precise machine...

And I also got some streaky chocolate pieces, maybe about 3 or 4 per 100...I just put those aside for friends and family and did not worry about it too much...

 

[Jim D.]

1 minute ago, Avachocolate said:

I dont have any scientific evidence or explanation for all that....just something I have observed after hand dipping a large amount of chocolates and this is the reasoning I came up with...but I know for a fact that the chocolate temperature at the side of my melter and in the middle of it can vary quite a bit...so in my mind that should affect the temper.

A Mol d'art (or something similar) is a useful piece of equipment for a small chocolate shop (and I have used one for a long time and was happy with it) but technically speaking it is a rather simple and not very precise machine...

And I also got some streaky chocolate pieces, maybe about 3 or 4 per 100...I just put those aside for friends and family and did not worry about it too much...

 

I use a tempering machine, and I have also observed the temperature variations from one part of the bowl to another. And there is the issue of the variable temperature that comes from having the heat turn on and off with a thermostat in the chocolate--very inexact. In actuality I can usually tell if the heat has come on because the chocolate varies sightly in consistency--and the size of the "foot" (when I am dipping) fluctuates accordingly. Like you, I try not to worry (too much) about what I consider spoiled pieces; often, I have discovered, those who receive my chocolates don't appear to notice streaks or other imperfections, and, of course, with the right decoration on a dipped piece, no one notices! I believe @Kerry Beal has a temper meter but don't know whether she uses it regularly or not.

 

I was interested that you switched from dipping to molding. I think of molded chocolates as much more difficult to make and more prone to "user error."

[Avachocolate]

4 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

I was interested that you switched from dipping to molding. I think of molded chocolates as much more difficult to make and more prone to "user error."

Yes, the "foot"on the bottom of the chocolate will tell you a lot about the state of your tempered chocolate ...

I know it is contrary to popular wisdom but for my numbers the molded pieces are more efficient...

I have my workflow dialed in just about perfect for both hand dipped and molded chocolates...and once you are at that point then (at least for me) working with molds is faster and a lot easier on my wrists than hand dipping.

It is probably worth mentioning that 95 % of my chocolates are done in a single style mold (30 mm halfsphere) and I mostly stay away from full coverage airbrushing....meaning I only use my airbrush as an airsupply to push melted cocoabutter around the mold for decorative effects.

The molds are easy to polish, no recessed corners....and I also dont need to clean my airbrush.

Both those things save a lot of time and make working with molds more efficient for my workflow....your mileage may vary.

All those fancy beautiful designed bonbons are done in classes or to impress on instagram (and I have certainly done my share of that...)...but for an actual person to make money from them they are completely impractical....even Melissa Coppel told me as much.

 

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I use a tempering machine, and I have also observed the temperature variations from one part of the bowl to another. And there is the issue of the variable temperature that comes from having the heat turn on and off with a thermostat in the chocolate--very inexact. In actuality I can usually tell if the heat has come on because the chocolate varies sightly in consistency--and the size of the "foot" (when I am dipping) fluctuates accordingly. Like you, I try not to worry (too much) about what I consider spoiled pieces; often, I have discovered, those who receive my chocolates don't appear to notice streaks or other imperfections, and, of course, with the right decoration on a dipped piece, no one notices! I believe @Kerry Beal has a temper meter but don't know whether she uses it regularly or not.

 

I was interested that you switched from dipping to molding. I think of molded chocolates as much more difficult to make and more prone to "user error."

Temper meter used only on rare occasions for very specific tests - never used when I'm just working with chocolate on a day to day basis.