Chocolate Tempering: Tips and Troubleshooting

[Chelseabun]

Chopperreed: Have you made any attempts at tempering yet? 

[Lisa Shock]

We've got a variety of topics about chocolate tempering and finishes.

[chopperreed]

ive tried tempering lindt dark couverture, going off by books by heating up the chocolate to a certain temp (cant remember to be exact), cooling it down, heating again, cooling it down, i was making bourbon chocolate truffles and dipping the balls in the chocolate and letting it set cold in the fridge, the final shine is ok but i think im still not getting it right since ive seen people doing it and the shine when its set is immaculate, i know a plastic mould would get a shiny surface under some circumstances but that hand rolled truffle is difficult to get perfect.

[curls]

Do you have pictures of the truffles you made? Was your chocolate in temper...  Was it a uniform color when it dried? Did it have a nice snap to it when you bit into a truffle? You will not get the same level of shine from a dipped piece as you will get with a molded piece.  Also, you should not have to put your dipped truffles into the fridge to have them set up. Just wondering if your chocolate was tempered and not as shiny as you expected or if it was out of temper.  Also, have a look at the link Lisa Shock included, they will provide a lot more information.

[emmalish]

As someone who doesn't temper chocolate often, I'm just going to chime in to say that the more you do it, the easier it will get. I started off the same as you – learning from a book, raising-lowering-raising the temperature. But the more you do it, the more you'll get a feel for how the chocolate should behave at certain temperatures and how it will feel when it's in temper. Now I don't even need to bother with a thermometer if I'm just doing a small amount.

 

Read the info at the links suggested above, and keep practicing!

[chopperreed]

thanks for all the replies guys! will keep trying and perfect it!

[keychris]

letting it set cold in the fridge, the final shine is ok but i think im still not getting it right since ive seen people doing it and the shine when its set is immaculate

 

Unless you have a warm room, if you have to set your chocolate in the fridge, it's not tempered correctly. (If you do have a warm room, don't try to temper chocolate     ) The problem with the methods on the internet that say 'heat to 45 / cool to 27 / heat to 32' © are that they never mention that to get the correct crystals to form, you need to give the chocolate plenty of movement - ie, stirring! LOTS of stirring! When you think you've got the chocolate right, take a test - dip a spatula into the chocolate, clean off one side and leave it on the bench. Dark chocolate should set in under 5 minutes at room temperature (say, less than 22C). When you look at the set chocolate, it should be smooth and perfect, there shouldn't be any streaks or dots on it. You can get away with a few streaks/dots - this means you just need to stir it a bit more to create more crystals.

 

You won't get the reflective shine on an enrobed chocolate that you do with a moulded chocolate. The best you can hope for is smooth and perfect, but not shiny!

[Tania]

I've been hearing that using an instant-read thermometer really help, have you ever tried it?

[mrk]

I used to tempering chocolate many time was success, but recently have problem in tempering, I used "seeding method" to tempering and below is my process

 

300g dark chocolate, 100g for "seed"

 

step1: melt chocolate the temperature reach about 46C-48C (recommend temperature of chocolate brand)

 

step2: drop "seed"chocolate in melt chocolate to stirring bring down temperature to 31C-32C

 

step3: test the result

 

Why I wasn't success of result? what part have problem? Thank

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

At what temperature did your seed all melt?  You need to have a tiny bit of unmelted seed when you get down to your working temperature - which will be around 33-34 for dark.

[danield]

what is the exact problem?

 

are you using right "seed" chocolate?

It must be perfectly tempered unmelted chocolate so the right crystals can seed.

 

are you using enough seed chocolate?

Does it all melt? If so, try to use more.

 

today i saw a video on youtube about chocolate tempering with seeding method. Maybe you are interested in it:

 

he uses one big piece of chocolate for seeding and removes it when the chocolate reaches working temp.

 

31-32°C is the right working temperature for dark chocolate.

Edited May 25, 2014 by danield (log)

[mrk]

At what temperature did your seed all melt?  You need to have a tiny bit of unmelted seed when you get down to your working temperature - which will be around 33-34 for dark.

I think 38C the seed all melt

[mrk]

what is the exact problem?

 

are you using right "seed" chocolate?

It must be perfectly tempered unmelted chocolate so the right crystals can seed.

 

are you using enough seed chocolate?

Does it all melt? If so, try to use more.

 

today i saw a video on youtube about chocolate tempering with seeding method. Maybe you are interested in it:

 

he uses one big piece of chocolate for seeding and removes it when the chocolate reaches working temp.

 

31-32°C is the right working temperature for dark chocolate.

I don't know what is problem, I using right "seed" chocolate 

the seed all melt at 37C-38C, if I add more "seed" than temperature reach 31-32C, the seed not all melt

[keychris]

if I add more "seed" than temperature reach 31-32C, the seed not all melt

 

This simply means you added a little too much seed the second time around.

 

A different way to seed is to add that 100g in three batches, ie. about 33g at a time. When the first handful of seed melts, add the second, when that melts, add the final handful.

 

The most important thing to remember is you're trying to create these stable crystals, and they melt at too high a temperature. So if all of your seed has melted at 38C, you don't have anything to do the seeding at 32C. You can always add a tiny bit of seed when the chocolate reaches the temperatures Kerry mentions, and let that tiny amount melt out with the last degree or two.

[Kerry Beal]

What I do when I get down to my working temperature if there is too much seed - is to microwave for 6 to 8 seconds at a time on high, stirring well until it melts out - being careful not to exceed my maximum working temperatures.  

[mrk]

This simply means you added a little too much seed the second time around.

 

A different way to seed is to add that 100g in three batches, ie. about 33g at a time. When the first handful of seed melts, add the second, when that melts, add the final handful.

 

The most important thing to remember is you're trying to create these stable crystals, and they melt at too high a temperature. So if all of your seed has melted at 38C, you don't have anything to do the seeding at 32C. You can always add a tiny bit of seed when the chocolate reaches the temperatures Kerry mentions, and let that tiny amount melt out with the last degree or two.

Hi keychris, I follow your method but not success, could you post your whole process because I found out some book that said melt chocolate to 45-50C and than seeding cool down to 27C and reheat to 32C, but another book just seeding cool down to 32C, I really confusion

before always tempering chocolate success in winter, in this summer my room temprature around 25C(in air condition) that factor will affect my result? Thank

[mrk]

What I do when I get down to my working temperature if there is too much seed - is to microwave for 6 to 8 seconds at a time on high, stirring well until it melts out - being careful not to exceed my maximum working temperatures.  

I get tiny seed into chocolate and all melt at 33-34C and than stir cool down at 32C but result also fail, I don't why before success experience I also do that

[Kerry Beal]

So - there are a couple of ways to temper dark chocolate - 

 

1.  Heat up to around 45 C, cool down to 27 - reheat to 32,33.  Dropping to 27C promotes the growth of all but one of the 6 types of crystals.  Heating up again to the working temperature melts all but the form V crystals.  So when you are done you have a bunch of form V crystals that will reproduce in the bowl.

 

2.  Heat up to around 45C, seed chocolate introduced - cool down with seed in place until you reach the working temperature of 32, 33C.  As long as there is some seed present when you get down to the working temperature - you will have a bunch of form V crystals in the bowl that will reproduce themselves.

[mrk]

So - there are a couple of ways to temper dark chocolate - 

 

1.  Heat up to around 45 C, cool down to 27 - reheat to 32,33.  Dropping to 27C promotes the growth of all but one of the 6 types of crystals.  Heating up again to the working temperature melts all but the form V crystals.  So when you are done you have a bunch of form V crystals that will reproduce in the bowl.

 

2.  Heat up to around 45C, seed chocolate introduced - cool down with seed in place until you reach the working temperature of 32, 33C.  As long as there is some seed present when you get down to the working temperature - you will have a bunch of form V crystals in the bowl that will reproduce themselves.

I success, I think the problem is room temperature too hot, Thank you

[Kerry Beal]

Glad it worked out - it's hard to get the right temperatures when your room is too hot.  When I've had that problem I've sometimes had to cool the chocolate over a bowl of cold or even ice water to get it down the the lowest temperature.

[mrk]

Glad it worked out - it's hard to get the right temperatures when your room is too hot.  When I've had that problem I've sometimes had to cool the chocolate over a bowl of cold or even ice water to get it down the the lowest temperature.

yes, in winter is easy to get result but in summer room temperature just about 25C even turn on air conditioner, Thank your advice

[mrk]

Glad it worked out - it's hard to get the right temperatures when your room is too hot.  When I've had that problem I've sometimes had to cool the chocolate over a bowl of cold or even ice water to get it down the the lowest temperature.

Oh, I'm feel frustrate, I try many time again just a few good result, any suggest tempering chocolate work out with room temperature at 25C-28C. Thanks

[Kerry Beal]

Try cooling over a bowl of cold water.

[mrk]

Try cooling over a bowl of cold water.

you mean when seeding at the same time cooling over a bowl of cold water?

[asadus]

Hiya,

 

I don't know should i start a new topic if I need to ask something of should I just jump in to already created thread related to the questions

I have in mind?

 

Forgive us I wasn't supposed to post my question here.

This is my 2nd attempt working with chocolate and 1st time to work with polycarbonate mould.

 

I've managed to temper chocolate pour in mould, crystalised and fill up with ganache.

During all this process my tempered chocolate in stainless steal bowl has gone rock solid.

My question is can I melt the rock solid chocolate and and retemper with seeding method?

 

Cheers.