Need help tempering chocolate.
September 10, 2010 7:54 AM Subscribe
My tempered chocolate isn't setting properly, any tips?
After watching some of the videos from the French Culinary Institute on youtube I wanted to try my hand at making some chocolate decorations for cupcakes I'm baking for a friend. I found some instructions for tempering chocolate and tried them out. Garidelli's 60% bittersweet chocolate chips, heated in a double boiler to 116º, removed from heat, added 1/3 additional chocolate, stirred and cooled in a water bath till 80º, then popped back onto the double boiler till back up at 89º. Spread it on some tin foil to test, saw the shiny coat so it all looked good. But as I sat and waited, it never actually got any harder.
I feel like the videos imply that you can create chocolate decorations which are firm and hold a shape at room temp. Am I mistaken about this? I even tried popping sheet of it in the fridge for a few minutes and that definitely got it harder, but within a minutes or so of bringing it out of the fridge it went right back to runny.
Am I doing this wrong and if so, any tips/thoughts?
After watching some of the videos from the French Culinary Institute on youtube I wanted to try my hand at making some chocolate decorations for cupcakes I'm baking for a friend. I found some instructions for tempering chocolate and tried them out. Garidelli's 60% bittersweet chocolate chips, heated in a double boiler to 116º, removed from heat, added 1/3 additional chocolate, stirred and cooled in a water bath till 80º, then popped back onto the double boiler till back up at 89º. Spread it on some tin foil to test, saw the shiny coat so it all looked good. But as I sat and waited, it never actually got any harder.
I feel like the videos imply that you can create chocolate decorations which are firm and hold a shape at room temp. Am I mistaken about this? I even tried popping sheet of it in the fridge for a few minutes and that definitely got it harder, but within a minutes or so of bringing it out of the fridge it went right back to runny.
Am I doing this wrong and if so, any tips/thoughts?
Here's another set of tempering instructions that cites slightly different temperature goals. I don't know how much that would make a difference.
This is what they say in their troubleshooting section:
If the chocolate doesn't set up even after you've gotten it down to the correct temperature and stirred the crap out of it, please don't hurt me but, you should start over. I know, it's unfair, but chocolate is very finicky. Ambient temperature, humidity, and many other factors out of your control can have an adverse effect on how chocolate decides to temper (or not). Hell, why do you think they call it "temper?" But practice makes perfect, and once you do get it, which you will, it'll be that much more rewarding.
posted by phunniemee at 8:13 AM on September 10, 2010
This is what they say in their troubleshooting section:
If the chocolate doesn't set up even after you've gotten it down to the correct temperature and stirred the crap out of it, please don't hurt me but, you should start over. I know, it's unfair, but chocolate is very finicky. Ambient temperature, humidity, and many other factors out of your control can have an adverse effect on how chocolate decides to temper (or not). Hell, why do you think they call it "temper?" But practice makes perfect, and once you do get it, which you will, it'll be that much more rewarding.
posted by phunniemee at 8:13 AM on September 10, 2010
Your temps are a bit off.
First temp should be between 105-110, no higher. Remove from heat and add the seed (doesn't have to be exactly 1/3, just a large piece of chocolate). Stir until the temp drops to 87-92. Don't use the water bath; it cools down too quickly. The temp shouldn't go down past 85.
Keep the tempered chocolate at or near 89 as you're working. If it gets too cold, reheat very gently to 92 and then hold at 89.
posted by cooker girl at 8:14 AM on September 10, 2010
First temp should be between 105-110, no higher. Remove from heat and add the seed (doesn't have to be exactly 1/3, just a large piece of chocolate). Stir until the temp drops to 87-92. Don't use the water bath; it cools down too quickly. The temp shouldn't go down past 85.
Keep the tempered chocolate at or near 89 as you're working. If it gets too cold, reheat very gently to 92 and then hold at 89.
posted by cooker girl at 8:14 AM on September 10, 2010
And yeah, you should look in to getting tempering chocolate. I've never used the Ghirardelli chips for tempering.
posted by cooker girl at 8:17 AM on September 10, 2010
posted by cooker girl at 8:17 AM on September 10, 2010
Tempering chocolate is really fussy, which is why they normally do it at the factory. I'd second the recommendation of trying a different chocolate. The Trader Joe's "pound plus" dark chocolate bars are my preferred source for truffle materials if you have a store in your area.
posted by ecurtz at 8:18 AM on September 10, 2010
posted by ecurtz at 8:18 AM on September 10, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, it might be that happened because you were using chocoalte chips instead of chocolate made for melting. It shouldn't really make a difference.. but Garidelli probably designed the fat and cocoa content of the chips with baking in mind. Not with melting.
The method they showed you is a valid tempering technique.
posted by royalsong at 8:09 AM on September 10, 2010