Great. Thanks Ben! I have a Chocovision rev2 (just starting out). So I assume that you just remelt all the chocolate to the first stage (108 deg), then add brand new seed chocolate to temper, and all is good?
Thanks again. 
Hi Brian. Yep, you can remelt and re-temper bloomed chocolate.
Okay, quick question: I've had a few of my pieces of chocolate that I've been trying to mold have some "bloom" in them. I was wondering if I can re-melt and re-temper the chocolate and use it again or since it "bloomed" it's pretty much not useable anymore..
Thanks in advanced.
I'm having trouble with some two-color transfer sheets I had custom printed. In the past, I've used single-color custom transfer sheets from the same manufacturer without problems, but for some reason the second color in the two-color sheets is not adhering properly (see photo at bottom).
The transfer sheets are printed with vegetable fats (not cocoa butter). The gold "outline" is actually a solid gold shape with the red printed on top. I'm dipping my room-temperature centers in tempered chocolate (Valrhona Extra Bitter) and immediately putting the transfer sheets on top, as I've done in the past. Then I allow it to harden for several hours to overnight at room temperature (65-70 degrees). But the transfer sheets are not transferring properly.
I've noticed in the past that the vegetable-fat transfer sheets seem to require more time to bond with the chocolate. I tried leaving the chocolates overnight to see if that improved adherence, but no luck. I also tried chilling the chocolates in the refrigerator to firm up the chocolate coating. Chilling for 20-30 minutes had no effect. Chilling for several hours did work, but of course would cause problems with moisture as soon as the chocolates were removed.
I'm wondering whether anyone can provide suggestions, either for how to make these sheets work, or how to fabricate a custom transfer sheet that will adhere better. I'm particularly wondering if the vegetable fat base is part of the problem - I've noticed that transfer sheets with actual cocoa butter transfer faster. If so, I'd also love to know where I can get small runs of custom transfer sheets that are printed with cocoa butter, not vegetable fat.
Thanks!
Tien
Thank you Michael and Sebastian, very helpful information. I should also mention that I'm actually tempering fudge, but I believe the points you both made still hold true for my purposes. I've only been using a marble slab, but getting ready to expand my work area and thought I'd consider other stones surfaces. But I must confess, I do like the elegance of the carrera marble slab.
Thanks again gentlemen!
I wouldn't overthink it to be honest. if you're tempering on a slab, you're using small quantities of chocolate. I've never done the math, but suffice it to say that i temper more than the average bear, and i've never encountered the thermal limit of the stone whereby it had absorbed so much heat that it no longer was an effective heat sink for my chocolate. Mike's right in his answer, but the chances of you tempering so much that you saturate your stone is very low. If you are tempering so much chocolate that you hit your stone's thermal limits, you're at the point where your equipment is jacketed and made of stainless steel, not rocks.
Yes.
There are two factors you want to look at when choosing a stone for this purpose: thermal conductivity and thermal capacitance. The first is the ability of the material to conduct heat (or cold), the second is the ability of the material to hold on to that heat (or cold).
When it comes to tempering you need a material that will conduct heat well enough to cool down fairly quickly, so that your slab will be cool in a cool room or easily cooled with refrigeration. That's the conductivity part. But at the same time you want that material to hold on to that cool temp for an extended period of time while you place warm chocolate on it. That's the capacitance part. That part is actually even more important.
This is why people don't use metal to temper chocolate. Its conductivity is terrific. Better than marble. But its capacitance is crap. In other words metal heats up or cools down easily. But it loses that heat or cool too fast for this purpose.Marble is used because it hits the sweet spot of cooling relatively quickly, but holding onto that cool for a longer period of time. In other words just the right mix of thermal conductivity and thermal capacitance for this job.
Can you get other stone or artificial materials to work for you? Probably, but you'll want to check their thermal properties compared to marble first. Tempering chocolate with this method is finicky to begin with, and there's no reason to make your job harder than it has to be.
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I'd have to ask next time I get the chance! The rep seemed convinced that looking for a way to lower copper content was his only route to break the impasse. Maybe it's as you say though, and he just didn't pick up on the subtext of what the official was hoping to receive.
They're not. The hurdle isn't copper. What you've got is a local official who's looking for some extra money. I'm going to guess that you've not been given any official documentation with the official's name on it, pointing to copper standards?
I was speaking with the Asia rep of a chocolate company not too long ago, and he asked me if I might be able to get to the bottom of what his company could do about the fact that his higher percentage bars were being refused by China due to their higher copper content.
Chocolate IS in china, and higher percentage bars are higher in copper, but as for dark chocolate I'm not sure what percentages are most common in this market or if certain ways of making chocolate could help reduce copper. After researching his problem further I have a few hunches as to why China might be concerned about copper content of imported food, but I'm still drawing a lot of blanks. Anyone have any insight?
Hi Thomas
I was in Lyon last year and in Zurich the year before.
Lyon is nice, but not that big. Zurich was great, but like Lyon very focused on the local manufacturers. I guess it depends in which market you are actually interested.
I will be giving presentations on Friday and Saturday, so look me up and introduce yourself.
Thanks Clay for all those information, I live in London anyway so I think I'll go to the Salon here, and see if I can find what I'm looking for.
I was just wondering if it was worth the trip to Paris, or even Lyon because it is the capital of the gastronomie, in France as you already know. I guess I'll decide after see how it is in London.
Thomas:
I am going to be at the Salons in London and Paris but not Lyon. In between I will be attending the Origin Chocolate conference in Amsterdam - which has a very different audience.
This is the 1st year for the Salon in London (previously Chocolate Unwrapped). This will be my 3rd visit to the Salon in Paris and my 3rd visit overall to Unwrapped/SdC in London (where I will be giving presentations on Friday and Saturday).
Paris is certainly the largest of the three. You probably get the widest variety of participants (as exhibitors), and this year the Salon du Chocolat Professionnel overlaps the consumer Salon on the 30th.
That said - you'll end up learning mostly about French chocolate. The reason to consider London is that it probably has the most vibrant chocolate scene in Europe at the moment - maybe even the world. It will attract mostly smaller companies doing more interesting work, but you don't get any of the French stars.
A lot of the exhibitors in Paris are large companies from other parts of the country. Their appeal is to people who grew up in those cities who now live in Paris and who want to go buy "childhood favorites." LOTS of varieties of guimauve - shapes, sizes, and flavors.
So it really depends on what you're looking for. In Paris you can meet Stephane Bonnat, Franois Pralus, Jean-Paul Hevin, several of the younger generation of the Cluizels, and more. I don't know who's going to be at Lyon. In London you will meet Paul A Young and a host of others doing lots of really interesting work, but who mostly don't have the same status as some of the French.
Is anyone already been to the Salon du Chocolat?
I will go this year but I'm not sure which one of those three cities is the most interesting, London, Paris, Lyon?
That's not a question that's easily answered i'm afraid. I could attempt but i'd likely end up boring even myself with long technical explanations, followed almost immediately with caveats depending on particular formulations. Try it, and see what happens 8-)
If I use invertase in my product would it be effective in stopping lactose crystallization along with stopping sucrose crystallization?
My truffle genache consist of using Sweetened condensed milk and after a while it starts to crystalize. I don't know if the crystals are from sucrose or lactose. Would using invertase be effective to stop both types of crystallization?
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Thanks a lot for the help I appreciate it! Say the crystals that are forming are from the Lactose (lactose crystals) will the invertase work to inhibit their growth also?
Invertase will soften a fondant center but may not necessarily prevent crystallization or give the same result in a ganache. While cooking, you may want to add a tablespoon of glucose-or any amount in small enough proportion to your recipe that it will not change the consistency much. Glucose can help prevent crystallization. Hope this helps.
I'm not sure about a specific recipe to refer you to, but this thread has some great information on invertase.
http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/invertase
I'd also suggest looking into Wybauw's book Fine Chocolates - Great Experience 3 http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Chocolates-Great-Experience-Extending/dp/9020990209/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380666490&sr=1-1&keywords=fine+chocolates+3
It specifically discusses shelf life and is very insightful.
Have a great day,
Larry
So this is my issue. I have a truffle recipe I am trying to create and after a few days it crystalizes(sandy texture inside the filling). The ingredients inside consist of sweetened condensed milk, table cream, cocoa powder etc. I then put this in a pot over the stove to cook it until it reaches a certain consistency then cool it off until it is ready to go inside truffle shells.I would really like to extend the shelf life by stopping the crystallization from occurring. Some people told me that invertase is the solution to the problem. I ordered some from Lorann oils but I have no idea how to use it. Please, anyone who may have some information will be helpful!
Thank You!!
A gum arabic solution is often used to seal items such as dried fruits and nuts for panning because it stops fat and moisture migration and enhances shelf life. My guess is a similar process could be used on inclusions by spraying the proper solution with a compressor onto inclusions in a panning drum, letting the solution set on items, then dropping them into your bars/bark/whatever.
Thank you all for your replies . I will see which works best for me .
Dear Steve,
We also have two Selmi's and include nibs (through the Selmi) and sometimes other inclusions (like bacon) that we mix outside the Selmi. Cleaning the Selmi is quite a task, so we prefer to keep dark and milk chocolate separate (the reason why we use two) and avoid to the max any inclusion (nib is fine because you can re-work if needed. Mixing outside the Selmi works well, but you need to be quick!
Rainins and almonds don't go through a Selmi so you would need to mix in a bowl before it goes into a mold.
Best and success
Rodney Nikkels
Amsterdam
Brad -
You are absolutely right that it's completely possible to take chocolate out of any temperer, add inclusions, and hand mold.
My experience in selling continuous tempering machines tells me that one of the early questions that arises is, "Can I directly deposit inclusions by adding them to the chocolate in the working bowl?" People are looking to continuous tempering machines to get away from the need to have to hand mix and pour. This is what I think Steve is looking to do.
For everyone reading this thread - what are the various different ways you handle inclusions? And what sort of tempering approach are you using (hand, small batch machine, continuous, etc)?
You bought directly from Selmi? Or through a dealer in some other country? Whoever you bought the machine from should be your first line of contact for training and technical support.
Contact TomBauweraerts here on TheChocolateLife. He works for Selmi and has chimed in on a number of discussions related to continuous tempering. There is a lot to know about using continuous tempering machines that is different from batch tempering. Selmi may be at the Salon du Chocolat Professionnel next month and if they are you might be able to get some hands-on training there.
Sebastian -
Good to know, thanks for that tidbit. Goes against everything I have ever heard on this subject.
Any way to process the inclusions to form an effective oxygen barrier that's not to heinous (from an ingredient perspective) or cost-prohibitive overall?
Actually, chocolate is a fantastically poor oxygen barrier. Ensuring they are completely covered in chocolate results in ever-so-slightly more protection vs just letting the nuts lie out on your kitchen countertop. Counter-intuitive, i know.
My staff make a couple of hundred pounds of bark (chocolate with inclusions) per month, and the easiest they have found is to temper the chocolate, and pour everything into a stainless steel bowl mix it well with a spoon, then working quickly, pour it into trays to set.
I know of other chocolatiers who make bars in the manner in which Clay describes below. It's very time consuming, and you have to work quickly because once the chocolate goes into the molds it begins to set almost immediately.
Coppeneur does theirs in small plastic trays, and then sells the chocolate right in the tray. That's a pretty cool way of doing things. I was actually thinking of copying them.
Cheers.
Brad
Steve -
You should talk to your local dealer to get specific instructions on how to clean your machine and change over from one chocolate to another (those two procedures are not the same thing).
I know that Tom B., who know Selmi well, is a member here, and he may have some guidance on those topics for you as well.
It's also my understanding (and I know Tom can provide exact dimnsions), that the maximum size of inclusion that you can add to the chocolate will be about 3mm (1/8"). If your inclusions are larger than that they can't be pumped through the machine so you can't add them to the working bowl of chocolate. You need to sprinkle them on top of the chocolate after the mold is filled and then vibrate them in. This creates a shelf life issue if the items are not completely covered as the nuts can go stale or rancid if they are not completely covered. [ Turns out not - see Sebastian's reply below. One reason why I still read TheChocolateLife - I learn something new almost every time I do. ]
:: Clay
i just get chocolate int callets a meltbarry callebaut no beans
Hi Laura, where are you currently getting your cacao beans from, if I may?
This book gives a good introduction to a complex topic
http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Chocolates-Great-Experience-Extending/dp/9020990209/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380443919&sr=1-1&keywords=fine+chocolates+3
Hi all
Currently I make chocolates at home but I would like to start a bigger production
I would like to know if anyone know's how to get a good shelf life for a ganache?
I know you can add trimoline invert sugar or sugar but I have not had much experience in using it so I don't know how much to add
I mostly just make a simply ganache eg
100g cream 250g chocolate 100g puree few drops of flavour
As you will know this type of recipe is great for small batches to be eaten within the next few days ??? or a week ??? I think, but not so good if you plan to keep then for a while .... they will get mould !!!!
If i were to add invert sugar and cook it with the puree, will this extend the self life ? I don't know If this is the right sugar to add or how much to add.
can you help ??
Hello Clay Gordon,.......
I want to know few attractive ideas to make chocolates and how to increase my production.
regards.
Satish Agnihotri.
