Build your own chocolate tempering machine

[Madsandersen]

Hello eGullet!

 

I have been thinking about building my own chocolate tempering machine (as I can't afford a professional expensive one). Have been thinking about combining some kind of mixer with my sous vide? Do you have any good ideas? Or heard of someone, who have done the same?  

[jrshaul]

I just bought a used revelation mini for about $70. eBay is your friend - can't build one cheaper.

 

If you're somewhere bereft of ebay and commercial stuff has crazy markups, you're basically looking at a blow dryer attached to a sous vide PID controller and some sort of constant stirring device. Not easy to fabricate, but not impossible.

 

I'd just practice using the microwave. An electric blanket will help you evenly warm it if it gets too cool.

Edited September 7, 2018 by jrshaul (log)

[Madsandersen]

22 minutes ago, jrshaul said:

I'd just practice using the microwave.

 

Have no problems tempering chocolate eighter in the microwave or at a marble slab, just tired of tempering the chocolate all the time - using to much unnecessary time on that  

[Madsandersen]

32 minutes ago, jrshaul said:

I just bought a used revelation mini for about $70

 

That is not possible in Denmark;

1. The products are not sold in Denmark

2. ChocoVision Mini sold in UK costs about 1300USD from new, meaning that they are priced extremly high! (in general products are much cheaper in US).

 

[Madsandersen]

37 minutes ago, jrshaul said:

you're basically looking at a blow dryer attached to a sous vide PID controller and some sort of constant stirring device. Not easy to fabricate, but not impossible.

 

I think the smartest method would be to use the sous vide as the source of heat, mounting a bowl in some enclosed box with water, controlling the temperature by the sous vide in the water. While some kind of mixer keeps the chocolate in motion?  

[Tri2Cook]

3 hours ago, Madsandersen said:

 

I think the smartest method would be to use the sous vide as the source of heat, mounting a bowl in some enclosed box with water, controlling the temperature by the sous vide in the water. While some kind of mixer keeps the chocolate in motion?  

I suppose the best way to find out would be to give it a shot. Personally, I'm not a big fan of having water or potential condensation anywhere too close to my chocolate as a general rule. Maybe just a melter instead of a tempering machine? You still have to do the tempering that way but you said you're not having any trouble with that anyway.

[Kerry Beal]

The Kitchen-aid Precise Heat Mixing bowl theoretically could do what you want. I know we've discussed it before but I can't recall what conclusions we came to. It is available in Europe - I saw it first in France and posted a picture of it on eG well before it was available in North America. I believe @JoNorvelleWalker has one (or had one).

 

Totally in agreement with @Tri2Cook re getting water anywhere near your chocolate. 

 

Brad Churchill of Chokolat in Edmonton Alberta has been making himself something similar (can't recall what the heat source is) since I believe 2013. You might want to contact him and see how it's coming along. 

[ChocoMom]

When I started dabbling in all things chocolate (without my Grandma), I had little greenery  ($) to work with, also.  Over time, I acquired a used copy of the 1985 book Candymaking (by @Chocolot ) , and started from there.  If memory serves me correctly, one of the alternative tools for tempering mentioned in there  - and someone, please correct me if I am wrong -  was to try using an electric frying pan to melt the chocolate, then table it, then warm again.  This is the only method I used for the first couple years until I earned enough funds to purchase the small Rev by Chocovision.  

I would think the electric frying pan would still work as a melter, and you could probably just switch it off for the cooling time, then, hit the heat again when you're ready to dip.  Are you able to get your hands on one of those where you live?   The upside to this is, there is no water/condensation to be concerned about. The downside is the time commitment required for stirring/circulating.   Perhaps a tweeked stand mixer with a paddle attachment set over the electric fry pan could act as a stirring mechanism.  I could not find a setting low enough to do that with my mixer set- up back then, but with some finagling, maybe you could. 

For me, the electric fry pan was too shallow for a lot of hand dipping.  So, I had to change my set up. I found my Mom's old, rectangular electric warmer/hot plate to keep the chocolate warm in a bowl. I found that wrapping a towel around the bowl acted as buffer against hot spots.  (An electric heating pad or electric blanket would work also, but I always feared getting chocolate on the fabric. ) After adjusting the size of the bowl, and amount of melted chocolate, I was able to find a depth sufficient for my needs.  

The baby REV was a lifesaver for me, though. And, I threw every last bit of birthday money, Christmas money, bottle return money, and pocket change into buying that first one from King Arthur!  Back when I bought it, over 20 years ago, I think it was over $400 USD.  Whatever the cost was, it was still a lot of moolah to throw into a machine, but I am SO glad that I did. 

I do hope you find something that works to your satisfaction.  It is such a joy to work with chocolate! =) 

[Chocolot]

The electric fry pan was used only to hand dip from, never melt. The idea was to turn it on only for a few seconds to get the edges to melt back in. It was very limited to hand dipping literally with your hands, not a fork. Kerry came up with a great way to keep your melted chocolate melted, using a warming tray from the thrift store and a lamp dimmer from IKEA.

Once you get your initial chocolate in temper, you can feed it with untempered chocolate and work all day. No need to stop and retemper when you run out.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

The Kitchen-aid Precise Heat Mixing bowl theoretically could do what you want. I know we've discussed it before but I can't recall what conclusions we came to. It is available in Europe - I saw it first in France and posted a picture of it on eG well before it was available in North America. I believe @JoNorvelleWalker has one (or had one).

 

Has one.  Never tried for chocolate though.

 

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Has one.  Never tried for chocolate though.

 

Would you be willing to do the experiments? We can talk you through it!

Edited September 7, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Sure, what's involved?

 

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Sure, what's involved?

 

Melting some chocolate in it - to around 45•C , turning down to around 30•C and adding some unmelted Chocolate until it cools to 30C. You want the seed to be just melting out when you get down to 30 - if it melts out too early there will not be any crystals left to temper

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Melting some chocolate in it - to around 45•C , turning down to around 30•C and adding some unmelted Chocolate until it cools to 30C. You want the seed to be just melting out when you get down to 30 - if it melts out too early there will not be any crystals left to temper

 

 

 

Remember Kerry I know nothing (relatively speaking) about chocolate.  When you say "some unmelted chocolate" what exactly do you have in mind?  Would a grocery store chocolate bar be sufficient?  And how can I tell if the experiment worked?  Do I stir as this is going on?  And if so with the whisk or with the flat beater?

 

Oh, and I don't know what "seed" means in context.

 

[Kerry Beal]

Ok - we shall talk more later to help sort this out. Trader Joe’s pound plus bars would be fine

[Kerry Beal]

Looks like there is a YouTube video of tempering using the bowl. I can't get it to load for some reason. Video

 

So what I picture is this - chop about 1/2 of a pound plus bar into shards - put in the bowl and set the heat to 120º F. Give it a stir on occasion until chocolate melts completely. (I'm assuming dark chocolate here)

 

Turn down the heat to around 90º F or a bit less, add about 1/4 lb chunk of chocolate and stir on occasion until the chocolate get's down to 90º F. (I'd probably use in second thermometer to monitor that).  

 

Remove the remainder of the chunk of chocolate. 

 

Now test your temper - dip an offset spatula into the chocolate, tap to remove excess. Place on counter and watch for around 5 minutes. If chocolate is in temper - after it completely hardens - there won't be any streaks, you should be able to rub your finger on the surface without causing significant marks. Alternately you could smear some chocolate on a piece of parchment and after it hardens, check with the finger swipe and also see if you can snap it in half crisply.  

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

It would also be interesting to know how long each of these stages take to determine how efficient this method would be. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Ok - we shall talk more later to help sort this out. Trader Joe’s pound plus bars would be fine

 

Due to a terrible miscalculation of scale (of my paycheck) it will be close to two weeks before I can do any experiments beyond canned soup.  Meanwhile I shall be studying the subject.

 

But there is a possibility.  I have about half a kilogram of several year old milk chocolate bars.  Made in Canada.  Some filled with caramel, some with almonds.  In their present state the bars are pretty vile.  In truth they were pretty vile when fresh.  But I could melt them down in the Precise Heat Mixing Bowl if that would help for science.

 

Unfortunately Trader Joe's is too far for me to get to.  What chocolate should I use that one could find at Shoprite?

 

[Kerry Beal]

24 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Due to a terrible miscalculation of scale (of my paycheck) it will be close to two weeks before I can do any experiments beyond canned soup.  Meanwhile I shall be studying the subject.

 

But there is a possibility.  I have about half a kilogram of several year old milk chocolate bars.  Made in Canada.  Some filled with caramel, some with almonds.  In their present state the bars are pretty vile.  In truth they were pretty vile when fresh.  But I could melt them down in the Precise Heat Mixing Bowl if that would help for science.

 

Unfortunately Trader Joe's is too far for me to get to.  What chocolate should I use that one could find at Shoprite?

 

You could do the ones with almonds - I'd skip the ones with caramel. Those I'd bin immediately - the others you can bin after your tempering trials. 

 

I don't know about Shoprite but a Walmart will usually have big bars that I believe are French or Belgian - the brand is Waterford or something like that.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

You could do the ones with almonds - I'd skip the ones with caramel. Those I'd bin immediately - the others you can bin after your tempering trials. 

 

I don't know about Shoprite but a Walmart will usually have big bars that I believe are French or Belgian - the brand is Waterford or something like that.

 

 

I have 255 grams of ancient milk chocolate with almonds.  No vegetable oils that I can see.  Is that enough for the experiment?

 

 

[jrshaul]

Jumping back in on this a bit late, trying to temper pound plus bars is friggin' impossible - at least, it was when I tried. Proper coverture is much easier.

[nickrey]

Serious Eats has a description of how to temper chocolate in a sous vide set up. The chocolate is sealed in a plastic bag so contact with either water or condensation is not an issue Click here.

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I have 255 grams of ancient milk chocolate with almonds.  No vegetable oils that I can see.  Is that enough for the experiment?

 

 

Sure - melt about 3/4 of it. And reserve the rest for seed.

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, jrshaul said:

Jumping back in on this a bit late, trying to temper pound plus bars is friggin' impossible - at least, it was when I tried. Proper coverture is much easier.

They may have changed - it was probably 15 years ago I last used them. The President’s Choice bars changed enough that they are useless to temper now.

 

Jo - PM me your address - I’ll send couverture from Texas while Im here 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

They may have changed - it was probably 15 years ago I last used them. The President’s Choice bars changed enough that they are useless to temper now.

 

Jo - PM me your address - I’ll send couverture from Texas while Im here 

 

Done.  Thank you, Kerry.