Callebaut Chocolate

[Marion]

Hello there,

I am excited to got my Callebaut Chocolate today. I know it's professional Chocolate for Chocolatiering. 

I have great respect for this product, hopefully it will deliver what I am looking for.

I was reading on the packet should be stored between 16C to 18C ..Oh boy..I live in Florida..

And here again..the question Tabeling or Seeding..

I watched so many YouTube Video's..truly confused..One pro does the Bon Marie the other in the Microwave..

That's a world of difference. 

Anyway  I have a picture of the product...any experience with it?

Lastly,  which Chocolate has the highest flow ...this is only 3

 

Thanks

Marion

[keychris]

tempering isn't as hard as people make out. melt the chocolate to 45C, then "cool it to 32C". How you melt it, up to you. Microwave it, leave it in the sun on a hot day, sous vide, stove top, bain marie... doesn't matter. How you cool it, up to you. Either table it 2/3 of it down to ~27C then add it back to the hot chocolate to get it to 32. I know a guy who tables all of his chocolate directly to the working temperature. Or you can seed it by adding callets, or add mycryo, or silk from something like @Kerry Beal's EZ Temper.

 

That might sound confusing, but all I'm trying to point out is that there's so many ways to temper if you understand what the process is trying to do. If you don't understand what you're trying to achieve, all those combinations are going to seem pretty daunting. I'm sure if you want a crash course there's a tempering thread not too far away

[Avachocolate]

The Alto el Sol chocolate is one of my favorites for taste from the Cacao Barry line...if you are looking for something a bit more fluid I would recommend the Haiti (for using with molds, I get nice results with it).

As far as storage goes you would be better off to store it in a fridge...maybe if you have one with a dedicated vegetable drawer that is not super cold....just make sure your chocolate bag is sealed airtight as it will pick up flavor from other strong ingredients nearby.

A refridgerater is certainly not the best storage solution but it is much better than leaving it in the florida heat & humidity.

Best way to store chocolate for a homebaker or small shop would be a dedicated wine fridge at about 16 -18 degrees celsius...something you might want to look into if you want to play with chocolate more seriously. ....I think a small one is maybe a couple hundred dollars.

As far as the tempering goes ....@keychris above explained it well...there are many different roads to take, as long as you do them well and practice they will all get you to the same result with varying degrees of time/equipment involved...you just need to figure out what works best for you.

[pastrygirl]

Speaking of Callebaut, has anyone tried their W2 white chocolate?  Not sure if it is a new or longtime formula.

 

My regular supplier is out of my regular white, saw some W2 at Restaurant Depot but it was best by this April so I passed, didn't want to take a chance on unfamiliar chocolate that is also old ...

Edited January 9, 2019 by pastrygirl (log)

[CacaoC]

@pastrygirl

 

I used to work with Callebaut chocolate a couple of year ago when I started doing quality chocolate bonbons ( then switched to Belcolade until my supplier stopped selling it two years ago and haven't found another one in my area since), I was never a fan of their white chocolate, I do recall that they were a PITA to work with ( too thick, but could have been user error) and had a bad aftertaste, however I don't remember if I used the WNV or the W2 one.  Do you use it for chocolate bonbons or bars?

 

The only white chocolate that I use now is ''Zephyr'' from CacaoBarry even it's way more expensive.  It's a charm to work with molds and plus,  not as cloying sweet than most white chocolate.  I find that the ''Blanc Satin'' one from the same brand too sweet, but ''ok'' to use within ganache recipes that have an acidic component ( passion fruit and lemon for example).  What brand do you usually use?
 

[pastrygirl]

@CacaoC I usually use the zephyr for the same reasons you mentioned - good thickness, not too  sweet. I use it mostly on ganache and fillings.  It’s just that my wholesaler is expected to be out of stock for two more weeks. Guess I’ll wait, I don’t want to have to re-formulate too much. 

[keychris]

I would classify W2 as "gluggy"

[Avachocolate]

+1 for Zephyr

W2 from Callebaut I would definitely not recommend also ..

 

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, keychris said:

I would classify W2 as "gluggy"

 

35 minutes ago, Avachocolate said:

+1 for Zephyr

W2 from Callebaut I would definitely not recommend also ..

 

 

... and that's why I don't buy chocolate at Restaurant Depot 😂

 

(I go there for fresh squeezed lemon juice but most everything else is mediocre)

[Avachocolate]

 

11 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

 

... and that's why I don't buy chocolate at Restaurant Depot 😂

 

(I go there for fresh squeezed lemon juice but most everything else is mediocre)

Generally speaking Callebaut chocolate is nothing special....their Cacao Barry brand is awesome though....definitely worth the extra bit of money 😊

[Pastrypastmidnight]

On 1/9/2019 at 8:56 AM, pastrygirl said:

Speaking of Callebaut, has anyone tried their W2 white chocolate?  Not sure if it is a new or longtime formula.

 

My regular supplier is out of my regular white, saw some W2 at Restaurant Depot but it was best by this April so I passed, didn't want to take a chance on unfamiliar chocolate that is also old ...

 

I think W2 tastes gross. I like Zéphyr pretty well, and Opalys is my favorite tasting white.  

[akonsu]

On 1/4/2019 at 12:23 AM, keychris said:

I know a guy who tables all of his chocolate directly to the working temperature.

Hello keychris, this is interesting because I always thought that I need to go through a cooling stage before rising to the working temperature. Would you please explain why going to the working temperature skipping the cooling phase works? Or did I misunderstand what you said?

[keychris]

@akonsu The reheating stage is insurance. When you go below the working temperature, you start to form other unstable crystals that effect the temper. By reheating it back to working temperature with warm chocolate in the tank, you melt those unstable crystals.

If you hit the working temperature perfectly, with the right amount of beta crystals in the liquid chocolate, you don't need to reheat it. But if you miss it, then you have to reheat with a heat gun or something instead, warm chocolate is easier but you don't have in the tank any more!

 

This is why understanding what tempering is actually doing to the chocolate is important, not just slavishly following rules about temperatures and heating and cooling

 

(But those rules are important too lolol)

 

HTH

Edited January 30, 2019 by keychris (log)

[akonsu]

@keychris, thanks. Do you mean that the person you are referring to heats chocolate to the point where all crystals are destroyed (45 C) and then pours it on to a table to cool it down to the chocolate's working temperature? And he does not cool it to about 27 C first? Where do the right crystals come from in this case? My understanding was that they are formed at lower temperatures (than the working temperature). Or is he using the seeding method? I am not arguing I am trying to understand how this works.

Edited January 30, 2019 by akonsu (log)

[keychris]

I remembered this topic when I found this graph in a book I was reading recently. I thought it showed nicely why you don't have to cool the chocolate lower than the working temperature, the other crystals don't start forming until under 28C. So if your temperature is higher than that, you're only working with Type V crystals and the amount of them. Of course, other fats are going to interfere in milk and white chocolates.

[Kerry Beal]

18 hours ago, keychris said:

I remembered this topic when I found this graph in a book I was reading recently. I thought it showed nicely why you don't have to cool the chocolate lower than the working temperature, the other crystals don't start forming until under 28C. So if your temperature is higher than that, you're only working with Type V crystals and the amount of them. Of course, other fats are going to interfere in milk and white chocolates.

But remember - this is melting temperatures - there is no graph available that gives the forming temperatures of various crystals we can only extrapolate.