2 hours ago, bbrizend said:First off I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone that has assisted me with their knowledge and advice. It is truly appreciated.
Now on to my next issue:
I've been making chocolate covered peanut butter balls for several years now but I have 2 issues that I cannot seem to over come.
The 1st issue is getting the ball, which is about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter, fully covered in tempered chocolate. I use a round dipping fork to hand dip each ball and deposit it onto parchment. But inevitably, once the chocolate sets, the bottom of the piece is no longer covered with chocolate. It's like the center is too heavy and pushes the chocolate coating aside as it rests.
The other issue is that while the coated piece is cooling it 'leaks' an oily substance that I believe is coming from the fat in the peanut butter or the butter that is added to the recipe. It leaks from the exposed bottom and, sometimes, from the top where the chocolate shell is thin from where the dipping fork made contact. I've tried reducing the butter in the recipe, but the center only gets crumbly without it and won't hold together.
As always, any thoughts, tips, advice is much appreciated.
I can't stand dipping tools for round things. I roll round stuff twice in my hands - gloved hands - scoop a bit of chocolate onto my left palm - roll the ball between my palms - drop off the fingers onto the parchment. When fully firmed up - if there is an issue with the bottom - I'll go under them with a little offset - then repeat the process for a second layer. Often the first layer is quite thin like a skim layer on a cake and thicker for the second one.
I'll see if I can find some pictures somewhere but I'm not sure if I have any.
RE the leaking - a huge issue with peanut butter fillings. Adding something like tapioca maltodextrin can stabilize and minimize the leakage, or perhaps some non fat peanut powder.
