Trouble tempering Valrhona Couverture Manjari (64%) Chocolate
I have tried to temper equal amounts of Valrhona Couverture Manjari (64%) chocolate + baking chocolate (Van-Heusen brand, dark chocolate) without any success.
Used the seeding method & followed the instructions given by Valrhona, ie melt @ 131-136F, cool to 82-84F, reheat to 88-90F. Working with a very small batch (~400g), used a bain-marie, IR thermometer.
The chocolate is nice and shiny but simply does not harden at room temperature.
The instructions provide by Valrhona say it needs to be melted for 12h, but I have read articles where others have been able to temper it without melting for 12h.
I have no clue what's going wrong. Would be grateful for any guidance.
Thanks in advance, Asha
Best Answer
A couple of thoughts...
Not commenting on Valrhona specifically but 12h at 131F seems like a very long time at a very high temp. Can you temper it on its own at a lower temperature? Cooling the chocolate to 84F without contact to a cold(er) surface won't seed it well. You can also try adding rough shaved tempered chocolate in sufficient quantities during the 82F-84F state.
What is the cocoa butter content of the Van-Heusen? I don't know anything about it but if it is extremely low, you may be creating a low cocoa butter chocolate that is difficult to temper.
Take all of this with a grain of salt (please don't add any). I worked in chocolate for 10 years but haven't for the past 15 and I may be losing my mind. These are the steps I would take if it were up to me.
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Can you temper couverture chocolate?
There's Compound Chocolate and Couverture Chocolate. If you want chocolate that will be easiest to melt down for dipping, you should use a compound chocolate. Couverture chocolates require tempering.Why did my chocolate not temper?
Even perfectly tempered chocolate can become untempered again. This usually happens when you leave your chocolate at the wrong temperature for too long, destabilising the crystals. The good news is, chocolate can be re-tempered again and again.How do you temper couverture milk chocolate?
Temper the STRAWBERRY INSPIRATION by carefully melting it, then following the tempering process with the curve below. Heat the STRAWBERRY INSPIRATION to 95-104\u02daF, then cool it to 81-82\u02daF before heating it back up to 86-88\u02daF.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska