Ganache: Tips, Techniques & Troubleshooting

[Kerry Beal]

Tammy! Your method works well. It set up while in the mold and was nice and fluid to fill. Now I still want to figure out the re using method because I know some people even freeze ganache in containers to pull out as needed...

Thanks so much!

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I leave my ganache in the piping bags, seal the ends with the heat sealing part of the food saver. When I take them out of the fridge I put them in the microwave at the lowest power possible, I check it every 10 to 30 seconds and stop as soon as it softens. Same times and power levels I would use to soften butter.

I wonder if reheating more gently would prevent your ganache splitting problems.

[tammylc]

Great, Lior, i'm glad it worked out for you this time. When i have leftover, i use the same method Kerry describes, although without the food saver for sealing.

[Lior]

thanks.

Now I need to try that!!

I'll let you know

[Desiderio]

Lior , with my left over I fill chocolate bars that I give away as gifts or attach my business card to the cello bag , to give around.

I also keep the ganache in the piping bag as Kerry and Tammy .

[Lior]

Oh nice! Are the chocolate bars thick? Mine are thin but if the thickness is what counts I can get some thick ones no problem. How are the business issues working out for you?

[tb86]

any insights for making ganache more shelf stable in molded chocolates, preservatives, ect tricks tips???

[Kerry Beal]

Wybauw's first book - "Fine Chocolates" does an excellent job of explaining the concept of 'Aw' or available water. By reducing available water (that is water that is available to bacteria to aid their growth) you prolong shelf life.

Things that help with this are alcohol, invert sugar syrup, glucose, fats. Things that reduce it are liquids that are high in water content.

I'm sure there are some other threads around here about this, and I'm betting someone will link to one here soon.

[David J.]

any insights for making ganache more shelf stable in molded chocolates, preservatives, ect tricks tips???

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In "Fine Chocolates 2" Wybauw uses Sorbitol to lower water actvity in some of his ganaches.

[HQAntithesis]

Obtain/maintain the emulsion: if water droplets, you have areas of high active water in the ganache.

Beware of humid environments, repeated exposure to humid environments can cause moisture to accumulate between the shell and the ganache, creating a high active water zone.

Boil your sugars with your cream.

Sterilise your equipment before use.

Use a sous vide (if using, make sure to sterilise the suction tube too).

Increase the sugar content of your ganache (which decreases Aw).

Minimise dairy fat content (dairy fats go rancid reasonably quickly) or use clarified butter (texture will change though).

Minimise changes of introduct of foreign matter (eg dust while waiting for fillings to set before placing cap on).

[KKLL00b]

I add 0.1% (by weight) potassium sorbate. I had a problem with sugar free ganache early on with mold developing after a two/three of weeks, but no problems since I used potassium sorbate.

I have not tried it with regular chocolate, but I'm fairly sure it will work as well. I normally use honey and or glucose in my regular ganaches.

[tb86]

yeah humidity is a worry for us were in thailand so heat and humidity are issues as well as sanitation in dairy were not sure what the best way to deal with the dairy issue is we have been using potassium sorbate, as well as uht cream but im not sure of the exact effectiveness of the uht if it has any advantages,,,, were trying to maintain the flavor/ creaminess of pure 1 to 1 ganache for a "liquid ganache" texture but i know this is inherently apt to spoilage,, just dont have much industrial chocolate experience,, we used sorbitol at daniel and the chocolates lasted for quite a while.....but im used to restaurant production where we made only enought to last a week or less,, any online links would be great as we have limited acess to western books here

[tb86]

as for adding sugars to the ganaches i have never needed to use them before, how do they effect the ganaches flavor/ texture or are they used in trace ammounts?

[John DePaula]

yeah humidity is a worry for us were in thailand so heat and humidity are issues as well as sanitation in dairy were not sure what the best way to deal with the dairy issue is  we have been using potassium sorbate, as well as uht cream but im not sure of the exact effectiveness of the uht if it has any advantages,,,, were trying to maintain the flavor/ creaminess of pure 1 to 1 ganache for a "liquid ganache"  texture but i know this is inherently apt to spoilage,, just dont have much industrial chocolate experience,, we used sorbitol at daniel and the chocolates lasted for quite a while.....but im used to restaurant production where we made only enought to last a week or less,, any online links would be great as we have limited acess to western books here

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uht cream is definitely a good way for you to go; especially if there are sanitation issues for dairy where you live.

you are going to need to keep your chocolates cooler than "room temperature" if you live in a very warm/humid environment. just keep them well packaged to/from the 'fridge.

[phan1]

Hi, I see that a lot of recipes for chocolate ganache or syrup call for a bit of corn syrup. Can you tell me what it's for? It's usually such a miniscule amount, I'd like to know what it does.

[Crookedplatipus]

Helps to keep the sugars from crystallizing.

[gap]

In a ganache is reduces water activity and extends shelf life of the chocolate product

[K8memphis]

Doesn't it increase the shine factor also?

[John DePaula]

Doesn't it increase the shine factor also?

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I don't think so but it's definitely added to keep the ganache from crystallizing and to extend shelf life by reducing the amount of free water.

[etalanian]

You can also add a little glycerine syrup or other invert sugar syrup in place of the corn syrup.

Eileen

[gap]

Worth bearing in mind that although invert sugar is often used for the same reasons as corn syrup, they do have different "sweetness" levels so substituting one for the other can affect taste

[JeanneCake]

It doesn't increase the shine factor when used as a glaze for a cake (you'd want a mirror glaze for that kind of shine) but it can help hold the glossy look for longer than it would without the corn syrup. Usually I sub about an ounce of corn syrup for an ounce of cream in a small batch (2# choc/2# cream/8 oz butter) if I am going to glaze a cake with it or fill tartlet shells or dipping cupcakes. If not, I don't add it.

[chefpeon]

I don't think so but it's definitely added to keep the ganache from crystallizing and to extend shelf life by reducing the amount of free water.

In what circumstances does a ganache crystallize? I don't think I've ever seen a crystallized ganache........it must take quite a while for that to happen, right?

When I use ganache for the outer coating on a cake, after a few days the ganache will crack. Do you think adding corn syrup will delay this from happening at all? My ganache is just cream and chocolate.......no butter or anything. I'd sure like to solve this problem.....if it's solve-able.....

Edited April 8, 2008 by chefpeon (log)

[JeanneCake]

I have this problem happening on my flourless chocolate cakes. I think it has more to do with the case they're stored in sometimes, but this is just a guess. I used to use a water/choc with a little butter glaze and it cracked horribly, I had to use two coats to get decent coverage so I stopped using that kind of glaze.

When I go with the cream/choc/butter, the coverage is perfect (only one coat) the shine is acceptable for a few days and it doesn't crack in my walkin. But at this one customer's site, it might crack. I played around with the proportions of cream/choc/butter and found that if I used more than 2 oz corn syrup, it would break, especially if I rewarmed it. It would break if I didn't weigh the butter properly - it has to be the 8 oz (or 4 oz for a half batch). Not all of them crack, and they tend to crack as they sit there (like, the cracks appear on the third or fourth day, but not always). It drives me nuts.

[Mike B4]

Doesn't it increase the shine factor also?

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Yes

[oli]

Will ganache set up stiffer using chocolate chips vs using block chocolate such as Calebaut?