Key Concepts

  • you have to incubate your cocoa butter

  • stable temperatures during that period are absolutely critical

  • it takes 12-24 hours

Instructions

You will need:

  • an incubator

  • untempered cocoa butter

Silk Stock is seasonal, when it is too hot to ship it will go out of stock.

Making Your Own Silk

You need an accurate and precise incubator to make Silk.  It needs to hold the cocoa butter at 92.5 F for approximately 24 hours and not vary by more than +/- 1 F.   You have really 3 good options:

  • The purpose make EZTemper $1000 - Few ounce capacity

  • Circulating Sous Vide of your choice. $150-$250 (we offer the Nomiku) Few pound capacity.

  • Build your own ($50-$150). I built one with a cooler, a beer brewing temperature controller and a heating pad. Capacity up to you.

My choice is a Sous Vide hands down for price, capacity and ease of use.  A Sous Vide is nothing more than a water incubator.  The thermal mass of the water bath makes it super stable.  Let's go over how to use it.

  • Chop up your everyday, untempered cocoa butter and put it into a glass container. I like mason jars. The glass is to add weight so it sinks.

  • Alternatively you can melt your cocoa butter but I found more consistent results from chopping it up.

  • Set the controller to 92.4 F (or 122 F and make great steaks!!) If you decide to melt your cocoa butter, set your controller to 92 F.

  • Put your chopped up cocoa butter in the water bath and come back 12-24 hours later to Silk.

  • Note how it is opaque and thick. Melted cocoa butter is clear. That opaqueness and mayonnaise like texture at the right temperature (92.4 F) is the sign of successful Silk.

  • At this point you can either stir the Silk into your chocolate or let it set up (in a bag is handy) and grate it into your chocolate.

chunks of cocoa butter silk

Good Chunks to start

cocoa-butter-silk

Note The Opaqueness

Troubleshooting

  • The cocoa butter didn't melt. Turn the controller up 0.4 F or you didn't wait long enough.

  • The cocoa butter melted and is clear. Turn the controller down 0.4 F.

  • Their are hard chunks in your Silk. You didn't wait long enough or it is just a little too cool. Wait another 12 hours and/or turn the controller up 0.4 F.