Coating Dessert Items in Chocolate...

[KleinTxHusker]

This has been a major frustration...

It always is too thick, incomplete coverage then thickens to an unusable poor tasting state...

I have seen people in the past who didn't have this problem, DQ didn't have this problem (think Chocolate dipped cones), and professional cake and candy shops don't have this problem...

Every recipe I have seen calls for using a double boiler (which I have done)...

I have seen recepies calling to add to the melted chocolate: a) nothing; b) butter; c) shortening. I haven't tried Canola Oil (next) and I once ignorantly added water when the chocolate got too thick (absolute worst mistake).

It seems to me that there are two or more issues...

First, what do you blend the chocolate with, if anything? When you melt chocolate it is still too thick, so you need something to thin it down and yet will not lower the melting temperature too much (Canola Oil?) as you want it to cool to a hardened shell.

Second, and probably more importantly, I have come to the suspicion that even a double boiler is way too hot; Chocolate melts in the low 100-110 F range and steam off the double boiler is going to be 212 F. Is there a cooking appliance that can keep the temperature at the low range? do Crockpots work? I have wondered about a bath of hot water (Water Heater set at 130 F).

This has been aggravating... wasted too much work, Chocolate and dipping items. Also have had the same problem with Almond Bark...

[RedPhoenix]

I used to have the same problem.....until.... I found a product at the grocery store. Im trying to find it online now, but it's chocolate in a bowl that's specifically made for dipping desert items. You just microwave it and start dipping. Ive used it several times now with great success.

[RedPhoenix]

Found it!

http://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Dipping.../dp/B000E1DRSC

[KleinTxHusker]

Found it!

http://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Dipping.../dp/B000E1DRSC

I have tried these before... still not what I am looking for... They work for small batches, but not large and wind up being fairly expensive... I run into the same problem as with heating chocolate in a double boiler. Maybe I am just terrible at melting chocolate, but I suspect that the problem is that the basic recipes and things out there just do not work for larger batches...

Everything I read indicates chocolate really cannot be heated to much over 120 degrees F, and microwaves basically work by heating the water in food (essentially steaming) so eventually you will over heat chocolate in a microwave every bit as much as with a double boiler.

[KleinTxHusker]

I think I found the problem I have been having with melting chocolate... In-law's food prep bible (literally, this thing weighed as much as an unabridged dictionary!)

Remember, 120 F is the maximum temp that chocolate should ever reach.

When melting with a double boiler, the max temperature of the water in the lower pan must not exceed 140 F. I have been boiling the water... since steam hits the bottom of the upper pan at 212 F, eventually, you will way overheat the chocolate in the pan. Never let the water in the lower pan touch the upper pan. I will probably stop using a metal upper bowl. I would suspect a thicker, heavier glass bowl should have greater temperature drop across it keeping the temperature down.

Do not put a lid over the chocolate (I did to try to hold in heat and get it to melt faster) as water may condense and cause the chocolate to seize.

Also, microwaving - since it heats the water in the food - will eventually scorch the chocolate, too. This is why the microwave chocolate coatings didn't work so well.

I am surprised no one has made a low cost chocolate melting appliance that would be designed to keep temps below 120 F. The only things I have seen are the chocolate fountains you see at receptions.

[sdsjrode1]

Good to know

[4evrHusker]

I am surprised no one has made a low cost chocolate melting appliance that would be designed to keep temps below 120 F. The only things I have seen are the chocolate fountains you see at receptions.

Believe it or not, there are manufacturers that have made chocolate melting apparati that function at a lower heat than boiling:

wolf_gas_range_front_36.jpg

See those red things, those control the temperature underneath the bottom pot of the double boiler ....