EZtemper silk troubleshooting

[Dark side]

Hello! after reading everyone's glowing reviews I finally ordered an EZtemper, and though I am still very excited, I haven't yet dialed it in and was hoping for some guidance. 

I've tried a couple different cocoa butters, one from a local distributor, and the other Belcolade pellets from Chococolat-Chocolat. I realise they may have different set point sweet spots. 

To focus on the Belcolade pelllets, at this point I have my EZ as low as 33.1, and the silk is very melted (pourable even), but yet grainy, and doesn't seem to be doing the trick of tempering.  I've tried melting/cooling/remelting and also ensured my fan is on 🤦‍♀️ (thank you @Kerry Beal). I was expecting a smooth, frosting-like consistency. Am I looking for the wrong consistency?

-Does anyone use this Belcolade cocoa butter? What set point are you using? 

-Should I continue trying lower set points 33.1?

-Does anyone use grainy silk sucessfully?

-Should the little black hole in the top of the unit be plugged?? is this my issue? ahhhhhh help!

 

[Kerry Beal]

Grainy likely means old with form VI transformation.  Try melting it to 60C and letting completely set at room temp. That might work if it’s not too far gone.  using it grainy might show little lumps in the chocolate but it will temper. 
 

Then down another 0.2 or 0.3 and creep up as tolerated. 
 

 

[Dark side]

Thanks Kerry, I will try melting it to that temp and cooling before trying again. 

Is the little black plug meant to be in or out during operation or does it matter?

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, Dark side said:

Thanks Kerry, I will try melting it to that temp and cooling before trying again. 

Is the little black plug meant to be in or out during operation or does it matter?

In/closed - it’s a port to check temperature inside machine,

[Haley]

I have had grainy texture with a couple different brands of cocoa butter. I get the best results if I melt and temper the cocoa butter myself then pour it out flat on parchment to set. Then I break it up and put it in the ez temper and it comes out perfectly silky. It’s an annoying extra step, but well worth the results.

Edited November 11, 2021 by Haley (log)

[Chocolot]

On 11/10/2021 at 8:34 PM, Haley said:

I have had grainy texture with a couple different brands of cocoa butter. I get the best results if I melt and temper the cocoa butter myself then pour it out flat on parchment to set. Then I break it up and put it in the ez temper and it comes out perfectly silky. It’s an annoying extra step, but well worth the results.

That is a real pain! You should be able to source some fresh cb and just put it in. I have two EZ's and I have two different sourced CB's. I have to use different set points until the old one is used up.

[Dark side]

On 11/12/2021 at 6:59 AM, Chocolot said:

That is a real pain! You should be able to source some fresh cb and just put it in. I have two EZ's and I have two different sourced CB's. I have to use different set points until the old one is used up.

Which brands are you using?

[Dark side]

On 11/10/2021 at 7:34 PM, Haley said:

I have had grainy texture with a couple different brands of cocoa butter. I get the best results if I melt and temper the cocoa butter myself then pour it out flat on parchment to set. Then I break it up and put it in the ez temper and it comes out perfectly silky. It’s an annoying extra step, but well worth the results.

Thanks Haley, I will be trying Kerry's suggestion first and then if it doesnt work, tempering is next!

I was really hoping for the reliable convenience factor. I'd so love to dial it in!

[Chocolot]

On 11/17/2021 at 11:06 AM, Dark side said:

Which brands are you using?

The softer one is from Mexico. The firmer one from Africa. I buy 20kilo blocks. It’s a pain, but much cheaper. I chip off a chunk and melt then put in deli containers. Put the deli container in EZ. 

[curls]

9 hours ago, Chocolot said:

The softer one is from Mexico. The firmer one from Africa. I buy 20kilo blocks. It’s a pain, but much cheaper. I chip off a chunk and melt then put in deli containers. Put the deli container in EZ. 

Wow Ruth!!! How many pounds of chocolate do you go thru in a year?

 

I'm beyond thrilled that the cacao butter drops that I have bought have all worked with my EZTemper straight out of the box. Each time I get a new batch of cocoa butter I wonder if I'm going to have to melt it or change the temperature on my EZTemper. I'm sure it will happen at some point.

Edited November 20, 2021 by curls (log)

[Chocolot]

On 11/19/2021 at 2:46 PM, curls said:

Wow Ruth!!! How many pounds of chocolate do you go thru in a year?

 

I'm beyond thrilled that the cacao butter drops that I have bought have all worked with my EZTemper straight out of the box. Each time I get a new batch of cocoa butter I wonder if I'm going to have to melt it or change the temperature on my EZTemper. I'm sure it will happen at some point.

 

The first block, I bought for a real bargain. I thought it would last me the rest of my life. It didn't! I'm pretty sure this one will.

[GRiker]

On 11/4/2021 at 6:29 AM, Kerry Beal said:

Try melting it to 60C and letting completely set at room temp.

@Kerry Beal 
 

What would happen if you put fully melted 60C cocoa butter in the eztemper set at 33.1C? Wouldn’t the type V crystals form at that temperature?  

[Kerry Beal]

3 hours ago, GRiker said:

@Kerry Beal 
 

What would happen if you put fully melted 60C cocoa butter in the eztemper set at 33.1C? Wouldn’t the type V crystals form at that temperature?  

short answer - nope

 

You need to keep it at room temperature for the form lll, IV and V for form in it - then when you put it into the EZtemper the form 3 and 4 will melt out - leaving only the 5's. If you overheat and the crystals are gone - they are gone. 

[Jim D.]

7 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

short answer - nope

 

You need to keep it at room temperature for the form lll, IV and V for form in it - then when you put it into the EZtemper the form 3 and 4 will melt out - leaving only the 5's. If you overheat and the crystals are gone - they are gone. 

 

But as in the traditional method of tempering chocolate (without seed), if you let the cocoa butter cool down to the point where all the crystals re-form, then reheat it to the point where  everything but the Type V melt, couldn't it be used in the EZtemper?

[GRiker]

When talking about the temperature element of tempering chocolate Greweling mentions that after the chocolate is heated to above the temperature where all crystals are melted out, it's the "reality of tempering" (as I understand it the need to use the chocolate in the near future) that "in order to form crystals relatively quickly, the chocolate is usually cooled to well below 32C/90F during seeding."  This lowering of temperature speeds up the formation of all crystals, then raising the temperature back to 32C/90F ensures that only the type V crystals remain, and more of them because the chocolate was cooled down.

 

He seems to suggest that while it's not practical to go from all crystals melted out chocolate (or cocoa butter) directly to chocolate in temper at 32C/90F, it is time that is the limiter, not that the crystals won't ever form.  

 

Perhaps the residence time or the time that cocoa butter spends at the proper temperature for crystal formation during tempering is much shorter going from solid room temp. to being held 33.1C than the time to for those same crystals to form when going from liquid cocoa butter to held at 33.1C?

 

@Kerry BealIt sounds like you're saying that coming down from liquid that the crystals will never form if held at 33.1C. but maybe it's just impractical because they'll take too long to form? 

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

But as in the traditional method of tempering chocolate (without seed), if you let the cocoa butter cool down to the point where all the crystals re-form, then reheat it to the point where  everything but the Type V melt, couldn't it be used in the EZtemper?

not quite sure what you are asking

[Kerry Beal]

23 minutes ago, GRiker said:

When talking about the temperature element of tempering chocolate Greweling mentions that after the chocolate is heated to above the temperature where all crystals are melted out, it's the "reality of tempering" (as I understand it the need to use the chocolate in the near future) that "in order to form crystals relatively quickly, the chocolate is usually cooled to well below 32C/90F during seeding."  This lowering of temperature speeds up the formation of all crystals, then raising the temperature back to 32C/90F ensures that only the type V crystals remain, and more of them because the chocolate was cooled down.

 

He seems to suggest that while it's not practical to go from all crystals melted out chocolate (or cocoa butter) directly to chocolate in temper at 32C/90F, it is time that is the limiter, not that the crystals won't ever form.  

 

Perhaps the residence time or the time that cocoa butter spends at the proper temperature for crystal formation during tempering is much shorter going from solid room temp. to being held 33.1C than the time to for those same crystals to form when going from liquid cocoa butter to held at 33.1C?

 

@Kerry BealIt sounds like you're saying that coming down from liquid that the crystals will never form if held at 33.1C. but maybe it's just impractical because they'll take too long to form? 

I will leave the experiments to you. 

[Yulsam]

I did some experimenting with dodgy looking chocolate I bought a few months ago, that was parted out by the seller in 1 kg bags with a printed label and no expiry date.

 

I put about 150 grams in my tempérer at 33.5C  overnight. It was easy to mold, and the final result after cooling was great.

.

 

I think that tempering and crystal formation is a function of temperature and time, and if the chocolate is left for a sufficiently long time at the proper temperature, form V crystals will form predominantly.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Kerry Beal]

That is essentially correct - the form VI  crystals that are there will still be there. 
 

You just may find it hard to mold