Tempering with Silk

 

Key Concepts

  • Do not melt Silk.  It will destroy the temper and its usefulness as a seed.

  •  To use, finely grate approximately 1% per weight of the chocolate you are using. 

  • Feel free to round up or down.  The amount is not highly critical.

  • You use the same temperatures whether the chocolate is dark, milk or white.

Instructions

You will need:

  1. 1oz of silk to every 6.25lbs of chocolate

  2. A good thermometer

  3. A bowl

  4. Molds

  1. 1 oz will temper 100 oz or 6.25 lbs of chocolate.

  2. Melt your chocolate and stabilize it at 94-95 F.  Yes, this is much hotter than traditional tempering methods.  You use the same temperature for all chocolate types.

  3. Stir in the Silk.  As you can see I often just let my chocolate cool in the Melanger and mold straight from there.  Of course you can just melt your chocolate, making sure it is over 95 F, then let it cool 94 F.

  4. Wait 2-3 minutes and stir again ensuring Silk has melted.  The temperature should have dropped to about 92 F.  Try and let it not drop below 91 F.  It will not mess it up but may make it too thick.  Part of the beauty of Silk is that you can work with it at a higher temperature so your chocolate is less viscous or thinner.

  5. Pour your Silk seeded chocolate into waiting molds, rap them well, taking care not to over work your chocolate.

  6. Let it set up and unmold as usual.            

Troubleshooting

If your chocolate isn't quite 94 F or your Silk is particularly cold, you may find the Silk does not fully melt or your chocolate drops below 91 F.  In either case very gently heat your chocolate, stirring constantly, until the Silk melts, taking care not to go over 93 F. 

All other issues tend to be around over handling your chocolate and causing streaks or other minor bloom.  None of this is related to the Silk.  You just need to review your technique.  Luckily the aggresive nature of Silk even improves these issues.