Chocolate Tempering: Tips and Troubleshooting

[Kerry Beal]

I can't really comment on length of time - I tend to do things in my Selmi at a single sitting and if I leave the chocolate in it I just retemper the next day.

To clean the older Selmis you can't use water - so essentially you run fresh chocolate through it. So if the chocolate is contaminated by nuts etc - you will never fully remove that. The newer Selmis have a removable screw so they can be pulled apart and cleaned with water.

That said - I have seen the guys at Tomric setting up a garden hose and running water through the old Selmi - drying them would be the huge issue.

[Alleguede]

You can follow kerry's suggestion. I would recommend you keep some of your melted 45degree chocolate on the side. Seed with about 25to30%. Bring it down to 32ish. Then test. Put that test once set in the fridge for 2 min and see how it results. If you have the streaks, add a little of the melted chocolate. Not higher then 33degrees.

Does your chocolate appear thick? or very fluid? How old is it?

[parameda]

ok, I tried it on higher working temp, as Kerry suggested and the choc wasn't tempered. I was just thinking, could it be residual cacao butter on my moulds? I don't wash them, just rinse with warm water and polish with cotton cloth. Those streaks are not white but yellowish. I appreciate your help and please have patient since I've just registered and restricted to two posts per day

[Kerry Beal]

Are you confident in your thermometer?

[parameda]

yes, I have IR thermometer I recently bought

[Kerry Beal]

I have a number of IR thermometers - not all are accurate. Do you have a way of testing them?

[parameda]

it's a brand new and it has been calibrated in accordance to HACCP

[parameda]

For past two days I tried every single thing you guys mentioned and it worked. Apparently, my "calibrated" thermometer wasn't as accurate as I thought and my moulds also needed proper cleaning and polishing. Just wanted to thank you all for the help.

[minas6907]

How do you go about calibrating an ir thermometer? Whats a good test to do?

[parameda]

Nothing in particular, just tested my chocolate and that was it. If it helps, I know there's a test with ice and water on the net or you could contact companies which are specialized in calibrating thermometers.

[Meenap101]

So I tried making some chocolate bars, sprinkled cocoa nibs and ground coffee on the surface, however the chocolate must not have been in proper temper and therefore I got fat bloom on the bars. So my question is can I try to re-temper the bars and remodel them or even make chocolate bark out of them, how will the cocoa nibs and ground coffee in the chocolate effect the tempering of the chocolate?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

[keychris]

for my food safe registration, I have to calibrate my thermometers, they say to do it with boiling water and ice water.

[Kerry Beal]

You will probably get away with it since they aren't really fat containing ingredients (at least not a different fat than cocoa butter).

[YetiChocolates]

For all those out there who use melters, I remember Kerry mentioning that she sometimes uses untempered chocolate to reduce the viscosity of the tempered chocolate when you've been using it for awhile due to the buildup of the beta crystals. What temperature would be ideal to have the chocolate at (I'm assuming close to 90 F/30 C) to add to the tempered chocolate to make sure it doesn't go out of temper?

[Canerrity]

I recently completed a one week course/49 hrs on making chocolates. Upon returning home and trying to make chocolates on my own I have failed every time. I cannot temper it using the table method. I was able to do this the first time in the course and about 20 times afterwards, but I cannot get it to work in my house.

I am following the same procedure, using the same chocolate, and working on a granite slap I bought, but after 8 attempts, nothing. I am using Cocoa Berry dark. I heat the chocolate to 40-50 C/104-122F in the microwave and let it sit for min of 10 minutes. Then I table it until it is at least 27C/81F, return the seed to the bowl and maintain at 32-3C/ 90F to work with. However, when I do a parchment test, it never sets. It looks good on the surface but does not dry for many minutes.

All I can think of is environment. I live in Canada. It is -23C/-10F outside. Inside, the house is 21-22C/70-72F and humidity 25%. I am feeling very frustrated and disappointed. I invested a lot in learning the basic skills of chocolate making. I did not have any particular problems in the course but I cannot even get started on my own. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

[Jim D.]

I can't help with the tabling method, but have you tried seeding? It's generally considered much easier. I know what it's like to want to conquer a major hurdle, but sometimes practicality is the way to go.

[Jim D.]

I've posted many times on failures in tempering, but this time I have a bizarre success to report. I had a little leftover mint ganache and decided to make a few pieces; my main desire was to try some new decorating techniques. I swirled cocoa butter into the cavities, then tempered (or perhaps not) some milk chocolate. The test for tempering was inconclusive, but by the time I had placed the mold in the refrigerator for a while, I knew that the chocolate was not tempered (after half an hour, the chocolate in the mold was still soft). The leftover chocolate on parchment was a mess, did not harden for a long time. But I persevered and filled the cavities with the mint ganache. For closing, I made sure the chocolate was tempered. I knew the effort would be a failure, but out of curiosity I wanted to see what would happen. After 30 minutes in the refrig, I turned the mold upside down--and out popped perfect chocolates, shiny, nothing left in the mold.

In some ways this is more annoying than a successful effort as it makes absolutely no sense.

[Kerry Beal]

I recently completed a one week course/49 hrs on making chocolates. Upon returning home and trying to make chocolates on my own I have failed every time. I cannot temper it using the table method. I was able to do this the first time in the course and about 20 times afterwards, but I cannot get it to work in my house.

I am following the same procedure, using the same chocolate, and working on a granite slap I bought, but after 8 attempts, nothing. I am using Cocoa Berry dark. I heat the chocolate to 40-50 C/104-122F in the microwave and let it sit for min of 10 minutes. Then I table it until it is at least 27C/81F, return the seed to the bowl and maintain at 32-3C/ 90F to work with. However, when I do a parchment test, it never sets. It looks good on the surface but does not dry for many minutes.

All I can think of is environment. I live in Canada. It is -23C/-10F outside. Inside, the house is 21-22C/70-72F and humidity 25%. I am feeling very frustrated and disappointed. I invested a lot in learning the basic skills of chocolate making. I did not have any particular problems in the course but I cannot even get started on my own. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

So a couple of questions for you - (sounding like a broken record here I know) - are you sure of the thermometer temperature. Are you pouring part of the chocolate out on the slab and reserving some in the bowl to reheat the mass? Are you sure that when you return the part you have tabled back in to the bowl that you aren't exceeding the working temperature?

Where in Canada are you located? Got to be a bit north of me if you are -23 outside.

[Kerry Beal]

I've posted many times on failures in tempering, but this time I have a bizarre success to report. I had a little leftover mint ganache and decided to make a few pieces; my main desire was to try some new decorating techniques. I swirled cocoa butter into the cavities, then tempered (or perhaps not) some milk chocolate. The test for tempering was inconclusive, but by the time I had placed the mold in the refrigerator for a while, I knew that the chocolate was not tempered (after half an hour, the chocolate in the mold was still soft). The leftover chocolate on parchment was a mess, did not harden for a long time. But I persevered and filled the cavities with the mint ganache. For closing, I made sure the chocolate was tempered. I knew the effort would be a failure, but out of curiosity I wanted to see what would happen. After 30 minutes in the refrig, I turned the mold upside down--and out popped perfect chocolates, shiny, nothing left in the mold.

In some ways this is more annoying than a successful effort as it makes absolutely no sense.

Chocolate as the great equalizer!

[Darienne]

As for the accuracy of IR thermometers... Confectionery partner Barbara and I were making toffee last week and using my IR thermometer. Strangely the batch was beginning to burn but didn't register the required temperature on my thermometer. Barbara brought out her thermometer and it registered much hotter than mine...which would explain the slight burning smell. (The toffee was scrumptious anyway.)

Then Barbara noticed that my battery was signaling 'low'. Aha! So that was the reason. New battery in. Thermometer back in the running...

[Jim D.]

As for the accuracy of IR thermometers... Confectionery partner Barbara and I were making toffee last week and using my IR thermometer. Strangely the batch was beginning to burn but didn't register the required temperature on my thermometer. Barbara brought out her thermometer and it registered much hotter than mine...which would explain the slight burning smell. (The toffee was scrumptious anyway.)

Then Barbara noticed that my battery was signaling 'low'. Aha! So that was the reason. New battery in. Thermometer back in the running...

Have you found that IR thermometers are reasonably accurate (with fresh batteries)? I have been wondering. Yesterday I tested, and both IR and non-IR gave approximately the same reading. Other times they have been too far apart for comfort. I am new to using IR and am still not confident enough in the accuracy. But they certainly are convenient, especially when testing two different mixtures at the same time and when one of them is tempered chocolate (it's difficult to remember that I mustn't dip a regular thermometer into some liquid and then into tempered chocolate).

[Darienne]

As for the accuracy of IR thermometers... Confectionery partner Barbara and I were making toffee last week and using my IR thermometer. Strangely the batch was beginning to burn but didn't register the required temperature on my thermometer. Barbara brought out her thermometer and it registered much hotter than mine...which would explain the slight burning smell. (The toffee was scrumptious anyway.)

Then Barbara noticed that my battery was signaling 'low'. Aha! So that was the reason. New battery in. Thermometer back in the running...

Have you found that IR thermometers are reasonably accurate (with fresh batteries)? I have been wondering. Yesterday I tested, and both IR and non-IR gave approximately the same reading. Other times they have been too far apart for comfort. I am new to using IR and am still not confident enough in the accuracy. But they certainly are convenient, especially when testing two different mixtures at the same time and when one of them is tempered chocolate (it's difficult to remember that I mustn't dip a regular thermometer into some liquid and then into tempered chocolate).

First low battery/low inaccurate reading for me, so I can't really comment.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Darienne (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I don't trust the IR on boiling stuff - just on chocolate - even then I know some of mine read a little off - so I tend to read the chocolate more than anything. It starts to look tempered - one of those things that only experience can give - and I still get fooled when I'm using a new chocolate which doesn't react as I expect it to.

[chopperreed]

Hi everyone i was wondering if anyone has experience with making perfectly tempered couverture chocolate to get that brilliant shine to make truffles etc? any help appreciated!

[minas6907]

Tempering chocolate just takes time and practice, but once you get it down, your golden. What exactly are you having trouble with? Have you tempered chocolate before? What kind of chocolate are you using? Is it safe to assume that since you want that sheen on your bonbons, your molding the chocolates rather then hand dipping them? What references have you consulted for tempering?

I honestly dont mean to just throw all those questions out there. It can be overwhelming if your new to working with the stuff, but the more info you provide the easier it is for everyone to pitch in for a solution.