Chocolate becomes hard and brittle if it is not properly tempered because the fat crystals present in the chocolate are not correctly aligned during the cooling process, resulting in an unstable structure and unpleasant texture.
When tempering goes wrong, it disrupts the natural crystallization of cocoa butter in chocolate. Normally, cocoa butter forms small, regular, and stable crystals called beta crystals, which ensure a nice firm, smooth, and shiny texture. However, by messing up the tempering, other unstable crystals appear: as a result, the chocolate becomes hard, brittle, and dull. The cocoa butter then crystallizes in a disorganized manner and forms rough clumps, with that well-known whitish appearance. Without precise temperature conditions, goodbye good texture, hello "concrete slab" effect.
Poor tempering causes cocoa butter to form large unstable crystals. These coarse crystals, unlike a fine and harmonious crystallization, make the chocolate brittle, dull, and very hard on the teeth. Normally, successful tempering produces small uniform crystals: that’s when your chocolate is shiny, crunchy, and melts just right. Conversely, the large crystals formed when cooling is poorly managed give a grainy and unpleasant texture. In short, your chocolate loses all its silky quality due to these large crystals that spoil the tasting experience.
During cooling, if the temperature is not right, the chocolate will struggle to form stable crystals. A temperature that is too high prevents the formation of those famous beta V crystals, and you'll end up with a soft and sticky texture. Conversely, if you cool it too fast or too cold, crystallization turns into chaos: the crystals form in a disorderly manner and become large and irregular. As a result, your chocolate becomes harder, brittle, with an unappetizing white-gray appearance known as fat bloom. Maintaining just the right and stable temperature is therefore the secret to making your chocolate both shiny to bite into and nicely crunchy.
Humidity is a real problem in chocolate preparation, as it leads to a thick and pasty coagulation. In the presence of water, the sugar in the chocolate partially melts and then recrystallizes into coarse crystals, resulting in an unpleasant granular or sandy texture. The result: your chocolate becomes pasty, difficult to handle, and loses its smooth and shiny aspect. Even a tiny amount of water is enough to produce thick, brittle, and grainy chocolate that ruins the desired melting sensation.
The shiny chocolate that 'crunches' perfectly in the mouth has been carefully tempered, promoting the formation of specific cocoa butter crystals known as Type V crystals.
The fine white film sometimes visible on chocolate, known as 'fat bloom', forms when it is improperly tempered or exposed to temperature fluctuations, changing the arrangement of the cocoa butter crystals.
Even a low humidity level can cause the phenomenon known as 'seizing' of melted chocolate, making it grainy, dull, and difficult to work with in baking or chocolate-making.
When chocolate is properly tempered, it melts at a temperature close to that of the human body (around 34 to 35°C), which explains its pleasant melting sensation in the mouth.
Common signs include the appearance of a grainy texture, a lack of shine, a dull color, and a break that is brittle or crumbly instead of a clean and smooth break.
In general, for dark chocolate, heat to between 50 and 55°C, then cool to around 27-28°C before slightly raising it to 31-32°C. For milk chocolate, heat to 45-50°C, cool to around 26-27°C, and then raise it to 29-30°C. For white chocolate, heat to 40-45°C, lower it to about 25-26°C, and then finish at 28-29°C.
The complete tempering usually takes between 15 and 25 minutes, depending on the amount of chocolate used, the equipment employed, and the specific tempering technique chosen (seeding or tabling).
These whitish marks called "fat bloom" generally appear when cocoa butter rises to the surface of the chocolate due to poor tempering, temperature fluctuations, or excess moisture.
Yes, it is entirely possible to salvage poorly tempered chocolate by gently melting it again in a double boiler, and then re-tempering it while precisely following the recommended temperature curves according to its type (dark, milk, or white chocolate).
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