microwave :)

I do not have access to real chocolate where I live. I can only get Compound Chocolate and candy melts which seem to be both the same and tasteless. My question is can I buy baking chocolate bars, melt them down and then temper them?

@@mrwinkel yes unless you are baking with it is cookies

@@mrwinkel Hmm where do you live? I am curious why you can't get couverture chocolate there! I understand your discouragement with compound and candy melts, they are definitely inferior. Baking chocolate is formulated differently than couverture, though, and usually unsweetened so it won't work the same as far as I know. There probably is a way you could make your own chocolate for tempering, but I have never done that!

@@BrittneeKay I live in Indiana and the only time I can really order it is in the winter because of constantly having 80 plus degree weather in the summer. And it's just so high to ship it. I just do this for fun but I want a real chocolate.

😂😂😂

Haha glad I can help! 😄😄

You're so welcome, happy to help!

I am so glad to hear it, thank you for your comment!!

@@BrittneeKayyou said it perfect, she simplified the science

thanks! that is a great compliment! : )@@taragggg8225

Yay I’m so glad! Thanks for being here!!

😁 good!

Aw thank you so much!!

Glad you enjoyed! You're welcome! : )

Sure! ☺️☺️

Aww thank you ☺️🥰 you’re so welcome!

Welcome! I'm so glad you've enjoyed the videos! Thanks for the comment and you'll have a fun time making more chocolate and practicing new techniques! :)

It is quite a workout! Yes that’s good you can add them a bit at a time to prevent it from cooling to quickly! Oh I’m curious to read what you’ve experienced with the thermometer! 😄😄

You're welcome 😊

You're welcome!!

Of course! Yes higher quality chocolate is called couverture and must be tempered before each use. Yes those brands come tempered but as soon as you melt them they become untempered. There is a whole lot more to the process of tempering, but the basic idea is that you produce stable crystals as you cool the chocolate. Melting chocoalte melts the stable crystals! Hope this helps!

You’re welcome! In theory forever within its freshness date. As long as you don’t burn it or accidentally contaminate it with something you should be able to keep reusing it!

Thanks!

Of course!

You’re welcome!! Unfortunately I can’t help you on that, I have never made my own chocolate!

ok. I'm going to jump in and try it out 😍 @@BrittneeKay

🤩@@ThroughTheLensofTruth

Yeah unfortunately! Lol I wish not! It is pretty frustrating to hold the chocolate at the working temp! The heat gun works but gets annoying! If you want to do a lot of chocolate work I recommend investing in a warming tank and then you can just hold the chocolate at the correct temp!

I can’t say for sure because I’ve never tried but I’d imagine the temperatures would change because of the combination.

Sure! What type of chocolate twirls do you mean? I have this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rZ2FZb2QsZPZYX0.html

Thank you!! You should be able to use any tempering method for re-tempering! You can chop up your chocolate and use the chopped pieces as the seeds. Or use the microwave method (melt 50/50 and stir) or tabling method works as well!

@@BrittneeKay thank you so much. Sorry one more clarification. Do you need to add fresh seeds to bloomed scraps?

@@BrittneeKay I'll have to experiment more with the tabling method!

@@Moonbutnosun Yeah! I'll post a video on tabling hopefully soon as well!

Yes there are but it can get tricky...overtime the chocolate will get thicker even if held at consistent temperatures. Depending on how big your production, you could look into temper machines because that is what they are made to do! Otherwise I recommend getting a chocolate warming tank. You can hold it at a given temperature. In order to keep it fluid and not thicken you will need to stir it. When some chocolate up on the edges sets up you can melt it with your heat gun and mix it in and that helps keep it fluid as well. But it will take some practice!

It's hard to say without being there and seeing your full process. What do you mean by the chocolates got hard? Was the chocolate too thick before your tried molding with it?

Oh no! Tell your husband I say he needs to get you a nice bag of couverture! 😉 Maybe you can sell a couple creations here and there to fund your hobby! 🤩🤩 Just keep at it!!

You're welcome! So, if it is melting really fast in your hand, like you can barely pick it up then it sounds like it wasn't tempered properly. Of course chocolate will melt in your hand, but it should be slow. To contract your chocolate from a mold you do want to pop it into the fridge for about 20 minutes, but after that store the chocolate in a cool place.

Yes same exact process!! Seed about 20% until you get below 34C. Working temp is 30-31C If you click the link in the description you can download my tempering curves for each type of chocolate too if you want them for reference 🙂

@@BrittneeKay oh okay sounds great, so I looked at the tempering chart in your description, it says for white chocolate that the working temp is 84-86F, but here I see you said the working temp is 86-88F. But on the actual bag of callebaut chocolate it says the working temp is 82-84F, so I’m just confused about the temps, there are so many different ones for the same brand of chocolate. Also, should I stop seeding that many degrees from the working temp? Would I still get a good temperature if I stop adding seeds that far from the working temp? I’m not sure what to do, also does white chocolate take long to set up? Because when I feel like I tempered it it’s still soft after about while and melts kinda easily. Does it also also take 24 hours to crystallize? Because it did snap after several hours after I had stored it

Yep! No problem! : )

Ohh interesting, I wonder why it was so thick! Yes I have tried mycryo for tempering and it works great but because it is so tempered it sets up really fast! So I don't like working with it when molding because honestly the speed of it setting up makes it hard to work with in my opinion. It is also expensive! : )

Your chocolate may be thick because the amount of cocoa butter is lesser, you can fix by adding cocoa butter or use high percent cocoa butter. Hope this helps

Yes! You must re-temper each time you use chocolate! : )

If you do the full tempering method you heat, cool, then warm. I can’t remember exactly what I said here but with the seeding method you don’t have to cool to 27!

No need to add oil! But the appropriate fluidity for your purpose 🙂 couverture will already be formulated for what you need it for most likely

For relatively small amounts I think seeding is great or the microwave method, either one! But for really small amounts like 1/2 lb - 1 lb or something like that using mycryo works really really well! (I have a video on that too if you're interested!)

@@BrittneeKay I was thinking like 200g or something (😅) as that’s the standard package I get in my country. If I use microwave I found it quite easily to melt everything too quickly

@@vitang8095 Ohh yes, you have to be super careful! Do even 10 seconds at a time if you need!

I don't see any major reasons you wouldn't be able to use a stand mixer other than it could introduce too much movement and stirring to the chocolate and overtemper it. The blending is really only to assist emulsifying the seeds. Not only that, it's going to make a mess of your blender which is hard to clean than a small hand mixer. The stick blender isn't that much of a hand workout, I promise, and is so much simpler to use! Also, you don't have to use a blender at all. You can simply add the seeds in and stir! As for adding in mix-ins, wait until the chocolate is tempered to do so. Once you get your chocolate to working temperature then just stir the mix-ins into it and it's immediately read to use!

to much movement can over temper??? @@BrittneeKay 😱😱😱😱😱

Yeah, you can actually develop too many stable crystals sometimes!@@borisrodriguez-cw3dr

how can you know if this has happened?@@BrittneeKay

I would say mostly the thickness. I wouldn't worry about it too much though, most likely if you follow the recommended processes it isn't going to happen to you. I only worry that it could if you're putting chocolate through a standard blender. But with that being said, don't be afraid to experiment and see what happens! :D@@borisrodriguez-cw3dr

Exactly! And make sure your seeds get you all the way down to a couple degrees higher than working temp. If they all melt too fast at the beginning you won't get a good temper. : )

@@BrittneeKay I see. Will do. Thanks for the help!

You're so welcome!@@angelvaldovinos4123

Check the links in the description box for a download with each full temper chart! That’ll be helpful!

Yep! The goal with seeding, after heating it to melt the beta crystals, you should have enough stable crystals by the time it cools to working temp, around 88!

In theory yes...? I don't know why you'd need or want to. I recommend selecting the correct chocolate from the beginning so that you don't mess with the formulation : )

Over the stovetop I use stainless steel because it works well to heat up with the steam! In the microwave plastic is best 🙂🙂 so just different methods!

Not enough to prevent the chocolate from cooling down!

With the seeding method you can cut out that lowest temperature because you're adding already stable crystals. So you're right, you can just cool straight to 31/32! :)

@@BrittneeKay That's blooming marvelous news, thank you!! If you'd like to see my chocs, I'm called The Cultural Chocolate Company ❤️

@@jenny666barnish hahaha yes it is!! Oh fun! I will check you out! :)

Nope! That is a small melter, a chocolate melting tank it rectangle and pretty large and costs a lot more (around $500 and up)

No, you don't want to ever use glass because during the heating process glass will retain the heat and can actually easily get your chocolate too warm. The reason my chocolate cooled too quick here is because I dumped all the seeds in at once, which you can do for sure and be fine, but now I usually just add them half at a time : )

Once it cools to the working temperature it is good to use in molds! Working temp for dark chocolate is 32-31ºC

Thank you so much I’ve always thought I needed ti heat it up again. Someone told me that I should heat dark chocolate to 48 then cool it down to 26 and then heat it up again ti 32. But with your method it’s enough to heat it up to 45 then down to 32? I’m using callebaut

Well, that is true, it's just a different method of tempering. So heating it up to the top temperature, then cooling it down, then warming it to working temperature is the full tempering method. This is the seeding method and it works a little bit differently. Instead of cooling it down to 26-27, you heat it to it's top temperature, then use the seeds to cool it and temper it to working temperature. Hope this helps!@@Saf-uv7cn

Thank you so so much for your replies. You have no idea how helpful your whole channel is. I just found you😅

You're so welcome! I love helping when I can!@@Saf-uv7cn

Keep trying, you'll get it! I use this one and so far it has worked great for me! amzn.to/3IGG94l

Ok awesome! Thanks for all the details. The methods you are using sound great! You're spot on with reusing the chocolate but seeding with fresh chocolate from the bag. And you did a temper test and mentioned that it passed, great! The more chocolate you have (thicker), the longer it will take to set up! So when you spread it on the parchment it will take longer to set up than the temper test...but that doesn't mean it isn't tempered. Also, it may not have the same "snap" depending on when you break it up and also if it's cold. Chocolate actually takes 24 hours to fully crystallize, so if you break it up before that it may not have as big of a snap and it also may still melt a bit quick in your fingers, especially if thin. I would say a better test than analyzing the leftover chocolate on your parchment is to try molding with it! Have you molded any chocolates with your tempered chocolate? I feel like that will give you a much better idea. Do the bonbons come out of the mold easily? Does the chocolate have a nice snap when you bite into it? Is it shiny with no streaking? Let me know if you've done this! Hope it helps!

@@BrittneeKay thanks so much for replying. Good to know that reusing chocolate isn’t the problem. The thing you said about chocolate taking 24 hours to crystallize fully is very helpful. I think it is tempered because it did snap and also it didn’t have any streaks. So I actually have never molded it I’ve only been practicing with tempering until I get it down, but I will definitely try molding them next time. Would you recommend I fill the molds, scrape, and leave at room temp for 24 hours? Or should I fill the molds and tap out the excess? Also should I put it in the fridge for the chocolate to contract from the molds? I will definitely mold them next time I try tempering, thanks for all the great tips and advice as well, really helps a lot!

@@angelvaldovinos4123 Good for you for wanting to master the tempering before jumping into molding, that'll save you some heartache! If you are doing a flat candy bar you can practice that way by filling the molding and keeping the chocolate solid. Otherwise I would recommend for bonbons tapping out the excess and filling and capping them. Just because the solid chocolate will crystallize and behave differently than the shells. So if your goal is to make bonbons practice and test with that! If you don't want to focus on fillings quite yet just fill them with anything that you'll enjoy eating! Brownies, caramel (you can cheat a little and use Peter's), or cake pop filling! Once you shell, fill, and cap let the chocolate harden oustide the fridge and only pop them into the fridge for 20 minutes right before unmolding! Hope this helps!

@@BrittneeKay sorry for the late response, but thanks for the help! I will definitely try experimenting with filling and also just using bar molds as well. I’ve learned so much from your videos as well so thanks a lot!

@@angelvaldovinos4123 Aww I'm so glad, thanks!!

You’ll melt it up to the top temp on your temperature chart!

Yes I will try to soon!

You can add the seeds as soon as you've melted your original chocolate and warmed it up to 45ºC. Mine just happened to be at 44.9 when I added it :)

You should have a temper chart on the package of chocolate that you chose to use. Generally however white chocolate is to melt to 45°C, cool to 26°C, and reheat to 29°C. Hope this helps!

It shouldn’t bloom but can still bloom if not stored properly! No need to cool it in the fridge unless you’re trying to release it from molds 🙂

Anywhere from 67 to 71 F, 72 tops!

Yes exactly!! 🙂

Yes once it has set up you will need to retemper it. And be sure that you always use properly tempered chocolate as your seeds 🙂

@@BrittneeKay By that, do you mean the left over chocolate can be used as seeds as well? i.e. can we split the left over chocolate to 80/20 and use the 20% of this leftover as the seeds for tempering the entire batch again? Many thanks in advance, really appreciate your channel and enjoy your videos!

I have used leftover chocolate as seeds as long as it's tempered correctly, but if you have fresh callets I would use those. Because when it's fresh from the manufacturers bag it is at it's best, and when we temper it we don't actually know the amount of stable crystals. Sometimes even though chocolate is tempered it can be a little under or a little over tempered. So...it can definitely work but for the 20% seeds I like to always use brand new callets!@@diakhianey

@@BrittneeKay So it would be wise to always have some fresh callets on hand? One more question, I also use those bags of Callebaut 811 couverture chocolate.. are those already tempered? can they be directly warmed to 32 degrees Celsius at first use when taken fresh from the bag? Sorry to be so specific 😅 you have the patience of a Saint

Yes! Or you can always use the tradition temper scale and hit all three temperatures to ensure the chocolate is tempered correctly, no seeds required. No you are asking great questions!! Questions I've also asked and the answers can surprisingly be hard to find! Yes all packaged couverture comes tempered, but unfortunately no, you cannot simply warm it up to working temperature :( You must temper chocolate each time you use it! @@diakhianey

Working temperature of 31-32 C 🙂

You’re right they were from the same bag and that is fresh chocolate from the manufacturer, tempered. So all of the chocolate is tempered, including the 20% seeds. Chocolate must be tempered before each use, whether tempered before or not. When seeding, for the pot you can use untempered but the seeds must always be tempered. If you don’t have tempered seeds you can use another method of tempering your chocolate.

Ok, that clears things up, I just didn't know couverture chocolate was tempered. OK, so on another note, can you make a video showing how to temper chocolate using the coco butter method when you can? I see other videos looks pretty easy but some use 1% and some use 2% coco butter, wondering if the extra 1% makes a difference. Thanks for all your hard work, I'm kinda amazed on how you can do all that by yourself as I have a large company the past 50 years and work 12 hours a day almost everyday of the week to try to keep up. Aloha @@BrittneeKay

Oh good! Yes, it is always tempered right out of the package! : ) Yes that is actually on my list of videos coming soon. You are so welcome, I am glad you've been enjoying my videos! Yes, I work full-time doing accounting and run KZfaq in my "free time" hehe Hoping to do it full time one day! @@fritzbabler6459

You will do great, lots of ambition and inspiration. Your format really stands out on KZfaq. Aloha@@BrittneeKay

Wow thank you 🥰❤@@fritzbabler6459

Well chocolate will begin to get melty at pretty low temperatures, lower than your body temperature. Ideally you want your room temperature to be around 69F.

@@BrittneeKay I tempered the chocolate and poured it into the mold. When I took it out, it gradually softened at the ambient temperature of 25-27 degrees, and when I wanted to take it, it stuck to my hand and became deformed. Do you think I tampered wrongly? How do those whose job is making chocolate make large quantities of chocolate and the chocolate does not become soft and lose its shape? Thank you for guiding me 🌹

Yeah it may just simply be because 25-27 C is quite warm for chocolate. Aim for around closer to 20-22, the cooler the better! It is just really hard in a warm environment to create and keep stable chocolate!@@zahra.bano5753

@@BrittneeKay Thank you dear ❤️

You're welcome! : )@@zahra.bano5753

Not true! : )

I use Callebaut but there are many great couverture chocolate brands!!

Yes, every time you use your chocolate it must be re-tempered!

Hmmm ok lets see... what chocolate are you using? dark or milk? Next time you test it instead of adding all of the seeds at once try to add about 1/2 of the seeds and stir until they're all melted, it will probably get you to around 100 F. Then add in almost all of the rest and stir until melted. Then add more until you get down to around 90-93. Then keep stirring occasionally until it cools to working temp. See if that helps you with the temper and streaking!

@@BrittneeKay It’s the Callebaut 811 dark callets. Could I be stirring to vigorously? Is it ok to re-temper leftover chocolate?

@@esthergrissom5422 ​ Does it have snap and shine? Is the only problem the streaking?

@@BrittneeKay not really. Maybe a little snap after it sets. It’s splotchy and streaky once it sets, but before that it’s shiny.

@@esthergrissom5422 Hmm to me sounds undertempered then rather than overtempered if no real snap...so I wouldn't say you're stirring too vigorously!

20% for all types of chocolate! : )

Can you clarify what you mean here?

Download my tempering charts from the description for full temperature instructions! 🙂

I highly recommend getting one if you want to get into chocolate work. 🙂

I'll answer each of your questions separately: I get your frustration with the temper test along with letting your chocolate sit in a bowl cooling. A couple thoughts on this...once you get the tempering methods down (whichever one you use) you don't have to do a temper test. If you're confident that you've tempered correctly, which you will be once you've done them enough, then you can skip the test. Even without taking time to do the test you'll most likely still worry about the chocolate setting up in your bowl. It will, but the bulk of the chocolate in the bowl won't cool down all that fast really. You will notice the edges setting up which you can gently keeping fluid and warm with a heat gun (or hair dryer if you don't have a heat gun). I'll admit, working with chocolate from a bowl is annoying and frustrating and can present temperature problems very easy. This is the first step to learning though! If you know you are interested enough in chocolate work and want to excel invest in a warming tank ASAP. This will make you so happy! 😃 The warming tank will hold your melted chocolate at working temperature and you can focus on your project and bon bons without worrying about the temperature of your chocolate! Now to your tempering question. Adding another 20% could work in theory but there are so many factors to tempering. If your chocolate has already cooled and is out of temper my suggestion would be to "start over" by warming it all the way back up to the top temperature and then repeating the seeding method by adding that 20%. Now if it's almost cooled and there are no longer seeds sometimes you can add a handful of extras and save it. I know its frustrating and can be a struggle but the more you practice the better you'll become at tempering. And you'll start to notice things about the process that are hard for someone to teach you. You'll get a feel for things and observe how your chocolate behaves. My biggest suggestion would be to keep practicing and also I would say keep using the seeding method, for me it is the most successful and easiest to master. Here's my final tip, after you bring your chocolate to the top temp add in about 1/2-3/4 of your seeds, stir them in, use a stick blender to smooth them in. Measure the temperature and if it is not yet down to working temp add in the rest of your seeds. Blend those in until smooth. Measure your temperature again and if you're in between 32-34º C you can stop adding seeds, if you're not quite that low add a small amount at a time until you get there. I am always learning new things so I didn't mention this in this video, but this has also helped me. Keep practicing and let me know how it goes! 🙃

@@BrittneeKay thanks so much. To be honest I have been doing this for awhile now and I do hope to get that fee and I suppose I have improved but the inconsistent hit and miss factor and time involved is outrageous. I do use the seeding, I can’t do the quartz countertop thing and microwave is also hit and miss. But I suppose I have improved. The chocolate that seems to be almost impossible is the caramelized white chocolate. 😳 I’ve never blended the chocolate up, I always just try to pick them out, so I will try that. As far as investing in the warming trays… any suggestions for brands or styles? Thanks again. 😊

@@michellekelly6346 Yes keep practicing! Maybe stick to seeding for now and if you really do it carefully I think you'll find success. I haven't tried the caramelized white chocolate. Maybe I will pull that out of my pantry and test it out! Long story, but I bought my warming tank from Australia and it works great but I don't recommend ordering that one because the plug is Australian lol Check out this video and in the description you will find links to a brand I think will be great and this website is a trustworthy place to buy: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gr6cYM2mtsDXpYk.html

It’s a bit confusing but when you use the seeding method you don’t have to go down to the low temp! Adding the tempered seeds and moving the chocolate around develops enough beta 5 stable crystals to temper it!

@@BrittneeKay Oh ok. I learned we must bring the temp up, down, then up again. Can't wait to try this. Thanks gorgeous!

@@user-uc6ki1nu6t Yes, when I first learned I learned the same thing even using seeding. And you can do that for sure, but you don't have to! It is confusing...just know that when you do it by tabling you'll want to follow the exact curve. Seeding you can cut the low temperature out. Just make sure you are seeding it until you get a couple degrees to the working temp. And then you can also do it in the microwave where you melt half and then the other half acts basically as seeds so when you stir it they melt but encourage the stable crystals to form. So really there are different ways, but you can never go wrong by following the temper curve! :)

I think I have it in the link in the description or check out Amazon. Another good store that is local by me but shops is www.gygi.com/chocolate/couverture-chocolate/couverture-dark-chocolate

When you melt down chocolate there are types of crystals that are stable and some that aren’t as stable. The process of tempering encourages the most stable crystals to develop which gives your chocolate a great texture, shine, and snap!

🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Hahaha touché

Of course!!