How to make a "softer" tempered chocolate

[JSkilling]

You can add hazelnuts (or hznut paste) to chocolate and still maintain the SOI for chocolate.

So that's why the tempered gianduja block I have is so much softer than my others. Didn't know that.

For a ganache made with coconut oil - I've got some Trader Joe's expeller pressed here - do you just heat the two together or do you add oil slowly to the melted chocolate? Will this be soft like a ganache center or is it merely a more softened chocolate?

I'm using the Cocoa Barry 58% and found the shells to be too hard when I molded truffles. I'd like to be able to have a slightly softer feel when you bite into them so that they don't crack all over your hand - same issue as Lysbeth has. Can you expand on the anyhdrous milk fat a bit here and explain what it will do? Will it change the chocolate classification to a milk chocolate at all?

[chocartist]

Whatever you do, don't add store bought butter to your chocolate without clarifying it first--a task that's easier said than done. Otherwise, the water in the butter will cause your chocolate to seize.

Some of you seem to be shooting down my suggestion to add a tiny amount of coconut oil to the chocolate to soften it. Despite the incompatiblity issue, coconut oil is what's frequently used to make soft meltaway centers.

Many confectioners make their own house blends of chocolate by combining milk or white chocolate with one or two different dark chocolates. If you've added a considerable amount of milk or white chocolate to dark chocolate, it's best to temper it as if it were milk or white chocolate. I've done it successfully many times.

[Sebastian]

JSkiilling - nut oils are notoriously short in fatty acid length (it's partially the reason they also go rancid easily, they're not saturated). Because they're so short in chain length and are unsaturated, they have very low melting points. It's the same thing with AMF - I can't techinaclly give you a very good explaination of what's going on (believe me, i've looked for years). The best I've been able to surmise is that due to the chain length distribution of the fatty acids in AMF, the interference on the crystallization properties of cocoa butter is sufficient to slow it down, but not stop it, unless AMF's used excessively. Because AMF has such a low melting profile, when the cocoa butter does crystallize, most of the AMF remains liquid trapped between the spaces of the cocoa b utter crystals, or dispersed within the liquid cocoa butter (at room temperature, about 20% of your tempered, solid cocoa butter is still liquid, believe it or not). Add'n of AMF to chocoalte won't affect it's classification in the least. Most of the dark chocolates I formulate have AMF in them, actually. Makes them less brittle, and more resistant to blooming.

If you're adding coconut oil to the chocolate, i've always used the natural, liquid at room temperature oil. since both the chocolate and the oil are fat based, you can just mix them directly together. the more coconut oil you add, the softer your end product will be.

elaine - i'm certainly not shooting your idea down, in fact that's exactly what i was endorsing. I make veg oil center material all the time at work, specifically taking advantage of the incompatibility issue. usually it's seen as a bad thing - for center material we're taking advantage of that specifically for it's softening

[JSkilling]

So would Ghee work here? To get AMF it looks like you need to order 200K drums of it. Um, no space

[Sebastian]

I'd never h eard of ghee before - quick web search seems to suggest it's the same thing as clarified butter, so yeah, i'd think you'd be fine with that. main concern is just don't be doing anything to add water to your chocolate..

[JSkilling]

This site says in Asia AMF is called ghee, which luckily we can get at the nearest Whole Foods!

http://www.wsus.com/en/products/foodtec_bu..._butter_oil.htm

[chocartist]

JSkiilling - nut oils are notoriously short in fatty acid length (it's partially the reason they also go rancid easily, they're not saturated).  Because they're so short in chain length and are unsaturated, they have very low  melting points.  It's the same thing with AMF - I can't techinaclly give you a very good explaination of what's going on (believe me, i've looked for years).  The best I've been able to surmise is that due to the chain length distribution of the fatty acids in AMF, the interference on the crystallization properties of cocoa butter is sufficient to slow it down, but not stop it, unless AMF's used excessively.  Because AMF has such a low melting profile, when the cocoa butter does crystallize, most of the AMF remains liquid trapped between the spaces of the cocoa b utter crystals, or dispersed within the liquid cocoa butter (at room temperature, about 20% of your tempered, solid cocoa butter is still liquid, believe it or not).  Add'n of AMF to chocoalte won't affect it's classification in the least.  Most of the dark chocolates I formulate have AMF in them, actually.  Makes them less brittle, and more resistant to blooming.

If you're adding coconut oil to the chocolate, i've always used the natural, liquid at room temperature oil.  since both the chocolate and the oil are fat based, you can just mix them directly together.  the more coconut oil you add, the softer your end product will be.

elaine - i'm certainly not shooting your idea down, in fact that's exactly what i was endorsing.  I make veg oil center material all the time at work, specifically taking advantage of the incompatibility issue.  usually it's seen as a bad thing - for center material we're taking advantage of that specifically for it's softening

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Sebastian, I took no offense to your comment. I am a great admirer of your technical knowledge and wish that I could understand the science of chocolate as well as you do!