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I have now twice experienced that when I'm tempering dark chocolate is becomes incredibly thick - almost solid- in the cooling phase When it happens I will accidentally heat it up to much as to get it into a texture where I can work with it. (I make filled chocolates)

I use real chocolate, a water-free heating device, the right tempering method, and a good thermometer, so I have no idea why this happens

The chocolates usually turn out okay, but it's frustrating that I can't figure out, what I'm doing wrong

I hope someone out there can help me with some advice! Thank you on beforehand!

Anna
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  • Welcome to Seasoned advice. **:-)** Could you please [edit] your question and provide the ratio between cocoa solids and cocoa butter? (If you don't know: provide a list of ingredients of the chocolate itself) – Fabby Sep 09 '18 at 21:38
  • Check your cooking thermometer for accuracy by inserting it into boiling unsalted water... I think the issue lies in how hot you get the chocolate. – elbrant Jan 04 '19 at 17:58

2 Answers2

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Based on what you’ve written, i can think of two possible reasons why you’re getting thick tempered chocolate.

  1. As the ratio of cocoa solids increase, the viscosity of your melted chocolate will increase. If your chocolate is high on solid content, you might need a bit more cocoa butter to decrease viscosity.

  2. Even though, you have a water-free heating device; due to the moisture of the environment and condensation caused by cold could introduce some water into your chocolate. Adding something to bind the water might help, the go-to emulsifier to bind some water is Lecithin. 0.5% to 1% Lecithin could help with binding the water, thus reducing the viscosity in a couple of minutes.

zetaprime
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The dark chocolate has less fat, thus it's more dense. You can adjust by adding some flavorless fat like coconut oil or cocoa butter; or even combining with a fat that enhance the taste of the chocolate, like hazelnut oil.

I'm not sure if this will impact the tempering, but when I use melted chocolate I like to add some coffee.

Croves
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