Chocolate bloom issues😡

[RWood]

So for Christmas, I decided to make chocolates. This is the first time since we've moved that I've done anything with chocolate. I've been used to dry California weather, so I'm wondering if the Georgia humidity is my problem. 

We have a second detached garage with a room above it. I'm turning it into my hobby room. I have my Rev Delta set up along with all my other equipment. 

I tempered milk chocolate, tested it, molded about 10 molds. The test was still fine and the molds looked great. I turned the heater to around 66F so the room wouldn't be too cold when I came back and went to the main house for lunch. The room was probably about 70F while I was working. 

I came back and every mold had bloomed. The test was still fine, the leftover chocolate was set around the edges with no bloom (the center had a little because it was thick). 

The molds were on their sides on sheet pans on a rolling rack. They were nowhere near the heater. 

Needless to say, chocolates have been shelved for this holiday. To much going on to fight with it right now. 

Anyone in a humid area have any ideas? It's the only thing I can think of that might be the issue. The bottom floor of the garage is very humid, we've had mold issues on some stored furniture there. We are looking at dehumidifiers anyway.  

[pastrygirl]

Ouch, so disappointing   I think humidity does play a role, especially when the room is on the warm side.  65F and humid might be ok, 70 and dry can still work, but 70 and humid is much more challenging.

[Kerry Beal]

Are you cooling during the period of rapid crystallization to prevent the latent heat of crystallization from knocking your chocolate out of temper?

[RWood]

46 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Are you cooling during the period of rapid crystallization to prevent the latent heat of crystallization from knocking your chocolate out of temper?

Well, my machine is doing it. I usually use the temper 2 mode on the Rev Delta, which is the full temper mode. Add the seed at the beep and let it go until I need to remove any leftover. I've always had good luck with this machine and it seems very accurate. I used to check the temp with another thermometer but haven't done that for awhile.

It's just so frustrating that the drips on the paper where I was working and on the utensils were totally fine, and the molds were not. 

 

[Kerry Beal]

I mean cooling your molds after you pour them. Here’s my canned talk 

 

latent heat

When chocolate is rapidly crystallizing (particularly if it is in good temper) - it gives off heat - “the latent heat of crystallization”. It can get warm enough to throw itself out of temper. You see this sometimes on the side of enrobed pieces that are too close together and not put through a cooling tunnel.  If you pour a large egg, and put it flat side down on the table without air circulation then enough heat will be produced - and hot air rises - to leave a big spot on the top of the egg curve that is out of temper. 

So once you have molded your item, made your shell etc - wait until you see it starting to lose shine and become glossy around the edges - that is the time of most rapid crystallization and the time to pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes or so to carry off that latent heat. A fridge with wire shelves that gives good air circulation all around the mold is ideal. With clear molds - I leave it in until I see the chocolate starting to separate from the mold. 

You don’t want to leave it in too long - if the item gets too cold it will get below the dew point and when you take it back out, condensation will form on the surface. Sugar from the chocolate will move into the water and as that water evaporates you will be left with fine sugar crystals on the surface - ‘sugar bloom’.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Kerry Beal (log)

[RWood]

17 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I mean cooling your molds after you pour them. Here’s my canned talk 

 

latent heat

When chocolate is rapidly crystallizing (particularly if it is in good temper) - it gives off heat - “the latent heat of crystallization”. It can get warm enough to throw itself out of temper. You see this sometimes on the side of enrobed pieces that are too close together and not put through a cooling tunnel.  If you pour a large egg, and put it flat side down on the table without air circulation then enough heat will be produced - and hot air rises - to leave a big spot on the top of the egg curve that is out of temper. 

So once you have molded your item, made your shell etc - wait until you see it starting to lose shine and become glossy around the edges - that is the time of most rapid crystallization and the time to pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes or so to carry off that latent heat. A fridge with wire shelves that gives good air circulation all around the mold is ideal. With clear molds - I leave it in until I see the chocolate starting to separate from the mold. 

You don’t want to leave it in too long - if the item gets too cold it will get below the dew point and when you take it back out, condensation will form on the surface. Sugar from the chocolate will move into the water and as that water evaporates you will be left with fine sugar crystals on the surface - ‘sugar bloom’.

Well I was wondering that ☺️, wasn't sure what point you meant.

Unfortunately, I don't have a fridge over there yet. I I left them on their sides on the table. The room wasn't terribly warm so I'm just not sure about it. I have rarely put them in the fridge at that point though. Maybe I should start.

[Jim D.]

I am in Virginia, so not too far from you, and I have had humidity problems from time to time.  Kerry's suggestion is crucial.  Once I started dealing the latent heat, I have had fewer problems.  Do you have a hygrometer?  I check it in warm weather, and if it's over 50%, I turn on the AC (regardless of what season it is--it was around 70F here yesterday).  What did the bloomed molds look like?  Did you happen to take a photo?  Sometimes, if it's not too bad, you can go ahead and the chocolates will turn out OK (especially if you have decorated the mold so that the bloom doesn't show so much).

[RWood]

16 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

I am in Virginia, so not too far from you, and I have had humidity problems from time to time.  Kerry's suggestion is crucial.  Once I started dealing the latent heat, I have had fewer problems.  Do you have a hygrometer?  I check it in warm weather, and if it's over 50%, I turn on the AC (regardless of what season it is--it was around 70F here yesterday).  What did the bloomed molds look like?  Did you happen to take a photo?  Sometimes, if it's not too bad, you can go ahead and the chocolates will turn out OK (especially if you have decorated the mold so that the bloom doesn't show so much).

 

I don't have a hygrometer. Once the holidays are over, I'll try to figure it out.  Hopefully I'll get a fridge in there so as to try her suggestion.

The molds are still on the rack. I can get a photo. I thought about chilling a couple to see if I get any sign of them wanting to release. A few are decorated, some not, and some with transfer sheets (which is gonna suck if they are wasted 😡).

[Jim D.]

40 minutes ago, RWood said:

 

I don't have a hygrometer. Once the holidays are over, I'll try to figure it out.  Hopefully I'll get a fridge in there so as to try her suggestion.

The molds are still on the rack. I can get a photo. I thought about chilling a couple to see if I get any sign of them wanting to release. A few are decorated, some not, and some with transfer sheets (which is gonna suck if they are wasted 😡).

 

I find transfer sheets are very forgiving, so those may be OK (maybe the bloom will show only on the sides).  I would definitely invest in a hygrometer--they are not expensive.  As you undoubtedly know with your experience, making caramel on a humid day is a form of confectionery suicide.

[RWood]

6 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

I find transfer sheets are very forgiving, so those may be OK (maybe the bloom will show only on the sides).  I would definitely invest in a hygrometer--they are not expensive.  As you undoubtedly know with your experience, making caramel on a humid day is a form of confectionery suicide.

I will do that, I put one in my Amazon cart. It was really overcast and damp that day too, so it may help. 

I'm thinking I'm going to have to figure out a lot of stuff here. I'm really dreading trying macarons 😬.

[Kerry Beal]

16 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

I find transfer sheets are very forgiving, so those may be OK (maybe the bloom will show only on the sides).  I would definitely invest in a hygrometer--they are not expensive.  As you undoubtedly know with your experience, making caramel on a humid day is a form of confectionery suicide.

Often if you see bloom inside the shell - the outside will still be pretty much ok.

 

[RWood]

10 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Often if you see bloom inside the shell - the outside will still be pretty much ok.

 

Let's hope 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[Haley]

I am in Alabama and currently work out of my home so I feel your pain on the humidity. On really damp days I don’t even attempt some things. It is also usually much more humid in the mornings so I don’t start early. I have found that the EZ temper silk helps with humidity issues when I temper by hand. I haven’t tried it with machine tempered chocolate. I also store my chocolates in a wine fridge for humidity control. When heating the kitchen I don’t like to go above 64/65 degrees and when cooling I like it at 68/69 degrees. But it does make it hard on days like we’ve had recently where neither my AC nor my heat kick on to dry out the air because the house is sitting right in between those temps. As others have said, sometimes the bloom doesn’t show through and the chocolates come out of the molds fine. Good luck!

[RWood]

I was in Florida for a few days, so i haven't gone back to check the molds. Before I left though, I did the ice tray crack on them and they did release some. And the transfer sheets are on there, but you can see bloom in the background. Since these are just for family giveaway, if I have time before Saturday, I may attempt filling a few. I was gonna put a couple in the freezer and see if they will come out first. 

 

[GRiker]

On 12/20/2021 at 5:19 PM, Haley said:

I also store my chocolates in a wine fridge for humidity control.

@Haley What kind of wine fridge are you using?  Does it specifically have humidity control as a feature? 

[Haley]

On 3/29/2023 at 1:28 PM, GRiker said:

@Haley What kind of wine fridge are you using?  Does it specifically have humidity control as a feature? 

I was using my wine fridge until it broke 😫. I don’t recall the brand and I don’t think it had any specific humidity controls. It was left with the house when we bought it from the previous owners so I didn’t specifically choose it. But until it stopped working, it did a great job for chocolate storage and since I’ve been without it, I have been missing it, especially with the humid spring weather. I didn’t end up replacing it because I’m getting my commercial kitchen built with a cool room built in (an AC split and a dehumidifier).

[Saltychoc]

Here's a question  - I haven't had this happen before so I'm not sure what the issue is.

 

The other day I set up two melters.

Melter 1 had the leftover chocolate from the last batch broken into pieces and melted to about 110 (43).

Melter 2 had chocolate straight from the bag melted to 110 (43) and then kept around 100 (37/38) the rest of the day.

 

I set these up around 8a and didn't end up having time to get to them until about 1p. I took the pan out of Melter 1 and left it on the counter for a couple of hours stirring occasionally. Then, I come back to melter pan1 and it looks like there is sugar bloom all over it. No idea how water would have gotten into the pan. So I call it for the day, skim off the top layer of chocolate into a bowl, and then pour the rest (maybe 3.5kg) onto a full size sheet pan. I left the tray on a rolling rack to cool at room temp.  Today I take a look at the chocolate on the sheet tray - there is no evidence of bloom. I break the chocolate - no evidence of bloom. I guess I am going to use the chocolate? Melter 2 was fine and I left it overnight to use today.

 

I know the chocolate from melter 1 sat way too long at an unstable temperature but beyond that I'm not sure... What happened here?

 

Other factors - Humidity was maybe 55%. Room temp was 60-64 (15.5-18). Chocolate was 1/2 and 1/2 Cacoa Barry Fleur de Cao and Callebaut 811 3 drops. No excessive moisture added to the air during the day.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Saltychoc
Add information for clarity (log)

[pastrygirl]

Maybe it wasn't sugar bloom after all, just some weird fat bloom from hanging out all day?

[Kerry Beal]

I'm guessing fat bloom too - what happened to the layer you scooped off?

[Saltychoc]

23 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Maybe it wasn't sugar bloom after all, just some weird fat bloom from hanging out all day?

 

21 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I'm guessing fat bloom too - what happened to the layer you scooped off?

 

It must have been! I wish I had taken a picture, I've never seen anything like it.

 

I scooped the layer into a bowl and I haven't done anything with it yet, still sitting there covered in plastic with plenty of fat bloom, I don't see any sugar bloom in there. I'll have to try tempering it and let it sit for a week or so and see what it does.