Level: Novice
Read Time: 7 minutes
You mentioned I should keep adding cocoa butter when my milk chocolate batch is thick; if am making a 1kg batch and i keep adding more cocoa butter, then my final batch no longer becomes 1kg or is it that when am making a batch of 1kg, I should always make sure my cocoa butter is higher than all the other ingredients on paper before starting
Eg 40% milk
100g nibs
300g cocoa butter
250g whole milk powder
350g sugar
or
200g nibs
200g cocoa butter
200g whole milk powder
400 sugar
Also, I find that when my total fat content is higher than 36, the batch am making keeps splashing on the working surface during grinding even after pouring the coca butter slowly in between the grind. Is it normal?
Lastly how many hrs must I be grinding milk chocolate for? 24hrs or 72hrs in a premier melanger
I get variations of this question on a pretty regular basis and from what I can tell, it seems to stem from some notion that there is only one right way to make chocolate when the opposite is the actual case. Sure, there certain absolutes like not adding water based ingredients, and…..well, that might be the only absolute. I could well, and probably am, wrong there, but literally nothing else comes to mind. Ok, there is another – you will never get a sugar to melt/dissolve in an oil and you can’t make smooth chocolate with basic kitchen equipment – you have to have some ilk of refiner (melanger or ball mill). But I’m digressing.
The point I’m looking to make is that recipes and process are fluid. There are certain general guidelines but after that, making chocolate, like so many from scratch creations, are a dynamic process that simply cannot be set in stone. Chocolate is no exception.
By looking at two recipes I can’t tell which will behave better or worse in many cases unless one is radically wrong (like having 10% fat in your chocolate). In your case, the first one will probably behave better because there is about 35% fat (I’m ignoring the milk fat) and the second one is only 30%. But. If I don’t ignore the milk fat (which for whole milk powder is around 25-30%) then the first is 40% and the second is 35%.
With that in mind both meet the guideline of at least 35% fat so both should work in theory but in practice may not. Clearly the first 40% one has a better chance but that is no guarantee. It also has more milk powder that increases the fiber and ash content which can increase viscosity…..but the second one has more nibs which also increases the fiber content which can affect viscosity in unpredictable ways. And from a general perspective, you don’t mention which nib you are using. Some behave better than others.
It is also worth noting that neither recipe has cocoa butter as the greatest ingredient if counted alone so basing your maths off that won’t really help. This is why I council basic minimums and then adding more butter if it is too thick. And sure, if you are making a 1 kg batch, and add more cocoa butter then yes, the batch will be more than 1000 grams. It could be 1050 or 1100 g but I guess my response is so what. I can’t think of a batch I make that pours up exactly. I basically always have extra chocolate or a not perfect bar. That is part of making. There is waste and odds and ends. Just add the cocoa butter and move on with a batch a tiny bit greater than you anticipated.
As for the splashing, again, that is a spot case for what you are working on and not across the board. I’ve had batches at 45% fat that have not splashed out. But mess is part of chocolate making. You can either put a lid on it or even a hair net. That later will still get messy but will allow moisture to escape and keep the surrounding table clean. The other thing you can do is to make a larger batch. If you can get enough chocolate on the wheels, the chocolate won’t flip out. So, yes, splashing is normal.
And here we are again at process. There is absolutely no way I can tell you how long to refine your chocolate. 1 lb takes longer 8 oz. 2 lb takes longer than 1 lb. But it isn’t linear or predicable due to other factors. Some recipes refine faster, some slower. Plus how worn are your stones? How much tension has left your spring? Do you like your chocolate more or less fine than I do? I can no more tell you how long it will take than I can tell you how long a random steak will take to get to medium rare on your grill. Thickness matters. Distance from the heat matters. Temperature matters. There are just too many variables and it is why they have instant read insertion thermometers….because you can’t predict it well.
So here we are at basically the same recommendations.
Refine your chocolate 24-72 hours, stopping when it has achieved your desired level of smoothness and has the flavor you want.
Start with at least 35% cocoa butter (butter and nib portion).
Add more cocoa butter if your chocolate is too thick and don’t worry it is over 1 kg
Consider adding the extra butter right at tempering as milk chocolates sometimes will thicken again (fiber effect) if added at the start and you might need to add more.
Expect larger batches to refine longer.
And finally, embrace the process.
Stop looking for exact answers as they don’t exist. Revel in the experience and listen to the chocolate and give it what it needs. I wish I had more specific answers but I don’t. All I can offer are tools for you to learn the process.
Become a chocolate whisperer.