24 minutes ago, dannysdesserts said:I have to admit that I've read TONS of posts here about tempering. I'm honored to be getting advice from all of you experts here, particularly you Kerry.
My latest attempt is cooling now. I used the seed method again, heating the mass to 113F, cooling to 86F and then back up to 89F. I have had success with some Valrhona using this method.
I think you are misunderstanding a little about the seed method. It is explained on the website of your chocolate manufacturer. You don't need to go down to 86F or to any temperature lower than the final working temp. As the Santa Barbara website states: "Add 4oz of unmelted coins to the fluid chocolate, stir until all pieces are melted and the temperature of the chocolate has reduced to 89°F or 86°F depending on which chocolate you are working with." So all you have to do for dark choc. is to go from the melting point down to 89 (86 is for milk choc.). It doesn't do any harm to go lower, then back up, but you are wasting time.
