December 4, 2005
I was recently reading in a newly acquired book (Fine chocolates, great experience by Jean Pierre Wybauw of Callebaut) that one of the fastest and easiest methods of pre-crystallising chocolate is by using the seed method, which is great, it seems fairly consistent in the results but I am faced with a bit of a problem, the book states that I can use a block or pistoles(chunks/drops)of chocolate to seed the melted chocolate which is good because the chocolate that I use is only available in pistole form but after I have added the chocolate, some obviously melts out and I'm left with small pieces of chocolate in my soon to be tempered chocolate...... how do I get these out?!? (the book doesn't mention that part) Plus if I dont remove the seed chocolate properly and then increase the temperature by a few degrees to finish the process will the leftover unmelted pieces affect the quality of the temper apart from the fact that its lumpy[V]? My apolygys in advance in case I'm missing the answer right under my nose.
By the way already tried an automatic tempering machine, it blew up!! So I would rather master the art of tempering by hand.
September 30, 2004
take them out with your dipping fork 8-)
regarding temperatures and the seed - it's a balancing act, always. as you work with your tempered chocolate, it will thicken over time due to temperature falling or agitation forming more seed crystals. most likely both. to balance this, you'll need to warm up your chocolate slightly. once you become familiar with it, you'll know how far you can heat it w/o destroying temper. in the beginning, you're very likely to overheat it, and if you do, reseeding it with your tempered pistoles can be a very effective way to 'save' the process. leaving unmelted pieces behind won't affect the quality, usually, but you've got to then work around them so you aren't getting bits and pieces stuck to your finished product.