Chocolate Tempering: Tips and Troubleshooting

[chefpeon]

Most large blocks (5kg) and boxes should have the "ideal" temp for that brand on it

Hmmmm....maybe some other brands do.....my Scharffenberger doesn't though.....

[aidensnd2]

Most large blocks (5kg) and boxes should have the "ideal" temp for that brand on it

Hmmmm....maybe some other brands do.....my Scharffenberger doesn't though.....

←

According to the Scharffenberger website you should aim for 91-92 F.

[PassionateChefsDie]

Hi all I've tempered by hand a few times I've used the microwave on defrost, and the Bain Marie, I've no longer use a seed and consistently produced chocolates with a crack and shine.

First yes I believe it is true that tempered chocolate can be melted back to it's original temper but to achieve this would need an excact holding temperature a lot lower than for tempering.

First if you understand what your doing this is easier. The aim here is to melt all the chocolate fats with the solids suspended and then to reincorparate them into a blended mass. With all the fats melting and setting at different temperatures our aim is to get all the fats evenly distributed and set so they wont leak out, I've learnt to use my eyes to temper and no longer use a thermometer as you can see what I call the oil slick dissapear in the right light, you see a rainbow effect where the stirrer went, when this has gone its tempered.

All chocolates behave differently the hardest chocolate to temper is Valrhona(IMO) yet with a little cocoa barry added it becomes completly different and far easier to temper for months I struggled with Valrhona, I reckon if you can temper Valrhona by hand any come easy after this.

By seeding your dropping the temperature down to the lowest setting point of tempering yet stirring can and does temper just a little slower. Hope this helps someone!

Stef

[aidensnd2]

...All chocolates behave differently the hardest chocolate to temper is Valrhona(IMO) ...

←

I've always found Valrhona to be one of the easiest to temper....

[sanrensho]

Is there any chance that someone could do a demo on tempering chocolate? I'd like to try my hand at this.

[Trishiad]

I'm not sure it would demo very well. You either do it by temperature or by look and feel. Unfortunately, that look and feel won't photograph well. But maybe.

[scordelia]

Here is a trick that I learned from a great pastry chef that I used to work with--and this works every time!

Melt your chocolate over simmering water. When the chocolate melts, take a bit on the tip of your finger and touch it to your lip. It should feel hot enough that it almost (but quite) burns--like a bath that is a little too hot. Remove the chocolate from the heat and stir vigorously to incorporate cool air. As you are stirring, continue the lip test until the chocolate feels pleasantly warm (like a nice bath that is just right) but not on the edge of burning your lip. Also, note the texture and appearance of the chocolate--it will have thickened slightly and be glossy.

Edited September 24, 2005 by scordelia (log)

[PassionateChefsDie]

...All chocolates behave differently the hardest chocolate to temper is Valrhona(IMO) ...

←

I've always found Valrhona to be one of the easiest to temper....

←

It might be it was just damn hard because thats what I learnt with! I just found I couldn't get rid of the rainbow shine for months then it came and I never looked back. Maybe its all the same just practice, but learning this took me months and I had a Pastry chef for a Head Chef!

[Aria]

Hello all,

I just rolled some dark choc. ganache in dark couverture ( Valrhona ) and although the chocolate was in perfect temper, I still got some white streaks on the coating. The temp. is rising around here and it was about 72 deg. when I rolled the chocolates and as a result, the coating didn't set till about 3 1/2 min. Could that be the problem? I did double dip because a dry enough coat didn't form on the ganache balls. Could that be it? Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks.

[rraaflaub]

What were you using to hold the couveture's temperature, and how thoroughly and often did it get stirred? It is likely, if the temper was otherwise good, that it was simply chocolate at slightly different temperatures within the bowl and it needed more frequent stirring. If you were using a double boiler or something not finely temperature controlled (such as a somewhat expensive chocolate melting tank), the temperature difference between the bottom/edges and the center can be significant (especially if the air is cold or there is a draft over the vat's surface). In any case, the chocolate needs to be stirred & mixed regularly to ensure it is homogenous.

That's my immediate thought in any case.

[Aria]

I think the problem is infrequent stirring. Thanks so much!!

[chefette]

The stirring could have been the problem

Or- if you rolled them by hand - and have warm warnds - the chocolate on your hands may have been pulled out of temper - when hand rolling truffles - especially if you have warm hands or are working in a warm room - it is wise to clean off your hands every 10 centers or so. Also, by the time you are working on center 6 - center 1-3 should be obviously crystalized - if not then you need to recheck the temper. Normally you get clear signal of crystalization in 1 minute.

what test did you perform to verify temper?

Are you basing perfect temper solely on temperature or do you do test strips or some other test?

3 1/2 minutes to set up and not 'dryinging' which is hardening or setting up indicate that you may not in fact have been in temper at all.

However there are other factors that can influence and affect the final appearance of your chocolate - even if it is in perfect temper - that result in streaks.

if you were working in a warm room - and it sounds like you were the temp can actually be high enough to retard the chocolate crystalization in which case even well stirred, perfectly tempered chocolate may well streak - it just doesn't like to set up slowly.

If there was alot of humidity - then your chocolate may well react to that and streak or take on a grayish/whitish cast as if it had bloom from not being in temper

If your ganache centers were cold and damp then they could have reacted with your chocolate to cause streaking

[John DePaula]

If your room temp is too high, the chocolate will take too long to set and can go out of temper. Try popping the centers into the refrigerator just until set. Don't try to do all of them at once or the first ones may sit too long. HTH

Edited May 13, 2006 by John DePaula (log)

[chiantiglace]

Quite honestly it sounds like you brought the chocolate up too high. If it takes too long to set that means your chocolate got too hot.

Also, you cannot agitate chocolate too much. Do not be shy at all to keep that chocolate stirred. The more often its agitated the better.

And if there are streaks then that means it wasn't properly tempered. But the closer you get to properly tempered the longer it takes for the streaks to appear because there is a certain percentage of the fats that are being properly melted and cooled. The higher the percentage the longer it takes for the streaks to appear. So an almost perfect temper could take 24 hours to streak. Depending on the room conditions.

Try not to use a thermometer. Gauge it with your forearm. It should be slightly hot to the touch. If you use a thermometer, by the time it says 120, and you take it off, its possible it could go up to 122, 123, 124.

[Trishiad]

Weighing in here (now that I have a moment after Mother's Day) I think it's the room temp. This time of year is challenging for chocolates. If they took a while to set and your work room was in the 70's, I think Mother Nature is the culprit. I learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago and now begin work at 4 am during the warmer months.

[chiantiglace]

70's doesnt sound too bad to me. Even 79 would be great. Usually this time of year for me is around 88, and thats outside. Inside would be around 90.

[tammylc]

Darn, I wish I'd read this thread a little earlier! I attended a truffle making class a few weeks ago. Came home and the next day turned out a perfect batch of truffles. Thus convinced that I knew what I was doing, I decided to do a little fundraising for my future culinary adventures by making and selling truffles for Mother's Day. Demand was greater than anticipated, and next thing I knew, I had orders for 250 truffles. Tempering did not go nearly so well this time. Definitely passable, given who my market is, but not up to my own standards. (Of course, realizing halfway through tempering my first batch of chocolate that my thermometer was no longer reading accurately was not a good way to start the day...)

But now, having read this thread, I know why my first time worked so well, why the next times messed up, and how to make it so much less stressful next time. Thank you. eGullet!

[alanamoana]

tammylc,

i haven't read this thread completely, but eGullet has much more to offer you!

this is a demo on one method of tempering.

also, please don't make yourself slave to a thermometer. even if you're using a thermometer, you should test your chocolate on a strip of paper or on the counter to make sure it is in temper. use your eyes to get used to seeing what in temper chocolate looks like. use your hands to get to know what it feels like. try different techniques to see which works best for you.

although i mostly stick with seeding nowadays, i'll use the different techniques if i'm concerned my chocolate won't temper for any number of reasons.

and...practice, practice, practice!

[Aria]

70's doesnt sound too bad to me.  Even 79 would be great.  Usually this time of year for me is around 88, and thats outside.  Inside would be around 90.

←

Do tell, Chiantiglace! How do you temper in such high temperatures! I'm intrigued, what kind of chocolate do you use?

[John DePaula]

70's doesnt sound too bad to me.  Even 79 would be great.  Usually this time of year for me is around 88, and thats outside.  Inside would be around 90.

←

Do tell, Chiantiglace! How do you temper in such high temperatures! I'm intrigued, what kind of chocolate do you use?

←

Paraffin + Brown Food Coloring?

[Aria]

Thank you so much for all your responses! Thanks chefette for your detailed response. Still haven't heard from chiantiglace though!!

[chiantiglace]

Its very difficult to temper chocolate in those conditions. Those are actually the conditions I taught myself to temper chocolate, what a boot camp huh. I failed so many times its unbelievable. I guess there are a few tricks.

I find its best to do seeding method when tempering at high temperatures, even when I had a marble slab. I put a half sheet pan in the reach in to cool for a while before tempering. It would be one quick sweep of events, because once everything is said and done you can always find a cool spot somewhere to keep your finished products. Once I start to melt my chocolate I pull my cooled sheet pan out and place my grated/fine chop chocolate on top for the seeding. By them time I am at the proper temp (119ish) my fine chocolate would be around 65-70 degrees roughly. Much cooler than the room temp 89. So I would seed to cool. I always had plenty of fine chopped chocolate ready to go. All the projects I made would me hardened in the reach in right next to me and I would keep a close eye on them. The second they hardened I pulled them out and stored them. If my chocolate got too hot at room temp I would heat it back up to 120 and re-seed with quick chilled grated chocolate.

That always seemed to work, but I had to be quick and on my toes. Also its not good to have too many projects that need attention during that time.

[chiantiglace]

Its very difficult to temper chocolate in those conditions. Those are actually the conditions I taught myself to temper chocolate, what a boot camp huh. I failed so many times its unbelievable. I guess there are a few tricks.

I find its best to do seeding method when tempering at high temperatures, even when I had a marble slab. I put a half sheet pan in the reach in to cool for a while before tempering. It would be one quick sweep of events, because once everything is said and done you can always find a cool spot somewhere to keep your finished products. Once I start to melt my chocolate I pull my cooled sheet pan out and place my grated/fine chop chocolate on top for the seeding. By them time I am at the proper temp (119ish) my fine chocolate would be around 65-70 degrees roughly. Much cooler than the room temp 89. So I would seed to cool. I always had plenty of fine chopped chocolate ready to go. All the projects I made would me hardened in the reach in right next to me and I would keep a close eye on them. The second they hardened I pulled them out and stored them. If my chocolate got too hot at room temp I would heat it back up to 120 and re-seed with quick chilled grated chocolate.

That always seemed to work, but I had to be quick and on my toes. Also its not good to have too many projects that need attention during that time.

[David J.]

Just this Sunday I tempered a batch of Callubet bittersweet chocolate for Fluer De Sel caramels and it flowed beautifully. Monday and today I molded with white chocolate and that worked out ok. But today I tried the bittersweet again and it just curled up in the tempering machine several times thicker than Sunday night. I tried it once again thinking that perhaps I had left a drop or two of water in divider, but it was just as bad.

The humidity is 52% even with the air conditioner running and keeping the temp in my basement workshop down to 68 degrees F. Is this just too high? Do I need to make an emergency run for a dehumidifier? I've got three more batches to make for wedding favors for a reception on Saturday and I don't want to have to roll them all in cocoa!

[Squirrelly Cakes]

I don't know the humidity level in the air that chocolate can handle but the humidity most definitely will make the chocolate seize. I have had this experience on a reasonably cool rainy day where the kitchen window was open and enough humidity got into the kitchen that my chocolate kept seizing.

Sounds like a de-humidifier is what you need, unfortunately!

Hugs Squirrelly Cakes