Well if it's sugar bloom it's due to humidity. That looks like fat bloom and it could be because of your room temperature during the night perhaps or incorrect tempering. Try doing the temper test at room temp instead in the fridge to see how it comes out.
Your chocolate might need a cooler environment to take out the latent heat produced by cristallization itself. It might also be affected by the thickness of your piece.
Hmm what's your room temperature? Did you make a temper test before pouring it?
I couldnt find a piece to my temper machine so I had to use the microwave. I put a cup of chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl then heated it to 118 degree in short 15-20 second bursts. I then let the chocolate cool to 95 degrees while stirring every little while. When it hit 95 I started to add my seed chocolate. Then I got the temp to 90 degrees. At this point I poured the chocolate on my candy and let it sit on the counter. When I came back a little while later it looked like this. What am I doing wrong?
Nathan, my name is Tom Polk with TCF Sales and we represent Dedy in the US. Certainly I can provide the information you are looking and assure you that the quality and support is there with Dedy. Better yet I can provide you references who tell their experience with the machine. Please call us at TCF Sales, 512 201 4443.
I am looking to purchase a 65lb chocolate grinder/melanger. I would love to hear suggestions.
I currently have 3 small grinders. 2 Santha and 1 cocoatown. The Santha grinders have been a pain and we have had to rebuild them and make changes constantly so I am leery about purchasing one of theirs unless someone has had any other luck with them.
Would love your feedback and ideas.
I have used a Rev 2 for a while now. It has worked like a champ and haven't table tempered since. What questions do you have.
Would like to know if anyone knows how to use the machine without using seed.
Hi Seth,
I haven' bought anything yet. I would appreciate your thoughts on your Mini Rev.
I don't know if you have bought one yet, but my mini rev arrived today. I'm going to take it for a test drive tonight, and hopefully put several miles on it in a couple days. I'll tell you my experiences. Like you, I'm a hobbyist and my chocolate production has gotten too large for my kitchen stove double boiler. I have to say I'm a little worried about only a 1.5 lb. capacity, I'll have to use a reserve of melted chocolate to keep refilling. I guess I can't toss out the double boiler yet.
Hi,
I am seriously considering ordering a Chocovision Mini Rev. I'd like to hear the thoughts/experiences of others with this machine. I'm just a hobbyist and it's hard to justify the extra expense of a Rev 2 even though I can see how useful things like adjustable temperature would be. Is anyone using a Mini Rev that is happy with its performance? Should I bite the bullet for a Rev 2? Are there other machines I should consider?
Thanks,
Walt
It sounds like tempering. Your chocolate can come out of temper as it sets if the room is not cold enough or is too cold.
Could you reply with the temperatures you are using? i.e. melt the chcocolate to xxx, add seed, cool to xx degrees, the room is xx degrees.
You could also add air movement.
Reading the little dipper manual would be helpful. discussions/1-1000/90-LITTLEDIPPERanalog.pdf
yes, I realize you are using a minirev. There is a lot of very valuable information about chocolate quality in general you can glean from the little dipper instructions.
Thanks,
Larry
Bryan -
Just a quick technical note to follow on to what Andrea mentioned about the technique she uses: Chocolate does not dry as there is little to no water in it. When chocolate cools down the cocoa butter crystallizes. There are several forms of crystals, and proper tempering ensures that the right crystals set up.
I am wondering what experience people have with the Savage Bros FireMixer in making caramels. Would so love to hear opinions on this machine as it is a very hefty investment to make.
Bryan,
You could look into flow wrapping, but it would probably be cost prohibitive.
Could you put the caramels into glassine candy cups and then put them in a box?
Pictures would also be helpful.
What did you do with the tempered chocolate? Enrobe something, or just leave in the bowl? If it was all left in the bowl, you would get streaking from the large mass of chocolate and the latent heat of crystallization. If the streaking is on an enrobed piece, the chocolate wasn't truly in temper, or the room was too warm.
did you mix it while doing so?
you did that just in a bowl or you have a marble for tempering?
my best gues is that you did not mix it.
Melanie (and all ChocolateLife members):
Posts like these belong in the Classifieds.
Thanks,
:: Clay
I am looking for a Savage Bros FireMixer.
Would love to hear from you if you have one available or know of someone looking to sell one. Thanks!
Melanieparkcity@msn.com
To All ChocolateLife members:
Posts such as these belong in Classifieds.
Thanks,
:: Clay
Standard Grade A cocoa beans Description/ Specification of our COCOA BEANS 1. TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR COCOA BEANS: Commodity Name: Mature Cocoa Beans Sierra Leone Origin. Presentation: Dried and Fermented. c.Quality classification: Standard Grade A d.Other technical specifications: - Bean counts: 95 100 per 100 grs - Moisture grade: 4 % - Acidity: 4% Max - Moulds: 2% Max - Defective matters: 2% Max - Strange matters: 0.5% Max - Breakage: 1% Max PACKAGE : Seaworthy Jute Bags of 65 Kg/Net LOADING: 1 x 20 Dry - FCL (25 MT of product loaded) QUANTITY AVAILABLE: 500 / 1.000 / 5.000 Metric Ton according Client demand and Purchase Contract closed
She succumbed to the BS in person....
Ok just watched it. Pure hype. He deferred to his website constantly. Its marketing garbage. Watch his eyes; even he doesn't believe the horse shit he is spewing.
Rave review of Toak from Los Angeles Times food critic S. Irene Virbila.
To'ak Chocolate founder Jerry Toth was on a news segment debuting his $260 bars. http://www.wciu.com/videos/youandme/-260-chocolate-bars
As is typical, the news hosts seemed to know very little about artisan chocolate. The host on the left took a small bite, then at 6:32 she dropped her piece out of the small wood tweezer onto the ground! Hilarious! (Her original piece was ~1/16th of the bar, so it was worth ~$16. After her little bite, the piece that dropped was probably priced ~$10.)
this is a travesty. It in no way defines the concept of a 100$ chocolate bar. This is pure unadulterated marketing. plain and simple. while they will certainly sell every bar they have, only a fool would believe they made 1 batch of 28 kilos. That is one tank in a cocoatown. This is not real. The website is beautiful, for sure, but the story of these beans and the process is a bit muddy. rare secret trees....yet they have 14 farmers?....which is it guys?
whatever....like NOKA this will disappear....
