Hello, so happy to find a group that might help!
Hello, so happy to find a group that might help! I am just starting a caramel making company. I learned to temper chocolate in a culinary class but COVID… I am having trouble with my chocolate dipped caramels blooming/streaking. I seam to have the chocolate in temper then an hour later it blooms. My work area is struggling to keep cool during this hot summer. The room temperature is 76 degrees. I have a humidifier keeping the humidity at approx. 43%. Could my heat or humidity
be the issue? I am a very small operation with no budget. I have a kitchen aid temper/warmer which I have been keeping the dark chocolate around 90-92 degrees for dipping. Any suggestions anyone? Many Thanks, Teri
You let it sit at room temp for 3 minutes to assess temper. What is the process of getting to temper? What temperature did you use to melt out all the crystals? What temperature did you bring the chocolate down to before bringing it back up to 92? What did you use as seed chocolate? Again – a link to the machine you’re using would be really helpful.
I let it sit at room temp for 3 minutes.
Teri –
Glad you found us – Welcome to TheChocolateLife!
The chocolate is not tempered properly. It’s not possible to know from the one temperature you give if that’s the right temperature and a lot is dependent on how you melt and cool it and you seed it.
Kitchen Aid temper/warmer? I did not know they made one. Can you send a photo and/or a link to what you’re using?
It looks like the crystals in the chocolate might not be mixed in well enough so giving the chocolate a good strong stir will help that. Believe it or not you can use an immersion blender as long as you don’t introduce air into the chocolate.
Tempering at this level is as much or more art as it is science and I can tell you that your ambient working temperature – as much s 76F – is a large contributor to the problem. Ideally you want the temperature to be steady and you want it do be in the 68-70F range. Much above that and you’re going to struggle.
If you’re letting the chocolate crystallize in the same room at elevated temperature that’s also going to contribute to the challenges you’re facing with streaking and blooming.
How do you test the temper of the chocolate? Do you dip a knife in it and put the knife in a fridge?