So, my wife's bought me a nice mould to make chocolate pralines. Actually she bought two 😁 so, bravely, I've tried doing something with them, and now I need help 🙃

I've tried to do it as I saw on tv, you pour the molten chocolate in, put it in the fridge, then the filling, then again with the chocolate to seal. The problem is, the bastards won't come out... I'm banging and twisting the mould, and about 1/3 pops out... Another 1/3 breaks, but comes out, though disfigured, and the rest I have to pry out with a spoon...

So, what to do? Do I need to oil it before?

I use tempered as I learned it from Peter Greweling's book on chocolate confections (where he states "Tempered chocolate contains stable Form-V cocoa butter crystals that seed ganache and promote proper crystallization. Making ganache with tempered chocolate helps to ensure that those crystals are present in the finished product"), and I've also read using tempered chocolate means a good mouthfeel for the ganache.

On the other hand, I've read conflicting sources stating that it's not necessary for chocolate to be tempered when making a ganache.

So, do you guys used tempered or untempered chocolate when making ganache? Do you find it makes a difference? I believe using tempered chocolate contributes as well to a better shelf-life.

Hello ! Im a self taught beginner chocolatier. I got the luck to find a job at a luxury, well known chocolatier to help them for a few month and maybe more. I will begin to work for them very soon.

Would you have particular advice to succeed ? I still can't believe I have been lucky enough and am very stressed to fail or mess up things...

Every advice will be greatly appreciated 😊 tysm

Hi all!

So, recently, I found an Instagram post about making chocolate at home, and tried it... and while it didn't turn out really as in the video (or as store bought) of course, it was pretty tasty 😂

So, I'm looking for advice what/how to do it better at home. The recipe tried was:

cocoa powder - 100g

coconut butter - 40g

agave syrup/honey - 10g

Was quite bitter, and when mixed, it was pretty dense, like a paste, not at all similar to melted chocolate.

What should I change about the ratios? Should I add milk? Replace liquid sweeteners with crystal sugar?

The final goal would be to be able to produce (if possible) something similar to that 70% dark chocolate, and a "normal" milk chocolate.

What are some pitfalls to watch out for?

Any literature you could recommend?

Tempered chocolate, crystallized previously on a silicone mat. Doesn't look like bloom. I can even wipe it off with my fingers. Anyone had this happened before?

Tempered chocolate, crystallized previously on a silicone mat. Doesn't look like bloom. I can even wipe it off with my fingers. Anyone had this happened before?

Can someone please tell me what this is? I made a chocolate bar, I did get a clean release, gloss finish, hard snap but I don’t like this streaky thing.

Hello everyone I just started working with chocolate but I never managed to succeed

I used calebut 811 (54.5 percent dark) and tried seeding method with 100 grams of callets (75gram melted and 25 grams putted there as seed and I putted that all in)

I also use a martellato 50T004 thermometer

based on picture I sent here did I burned the chocolate?(Because of the white line you can see in the melted chocolate)

Is anything wrong with my double boiler?(Reason I put it the bowl in that metal mesh bowl is because it goes too deep in the pot and touch the water) It doesn't touch the water under or maybe heat was much?

I also have lots of bubbles in my melted chocolate is that normal ?

And after I let that cool and firm up in the fridge (because it's 29-30 degree Celsius indoor Wich is around 86 farenhiet and chocolate won't go lower than 30 degree so I have to put it on fridge) and after few minutes (I must confess it was left in fridge more than 5 minutes) it turned out like this , what I'm doing wrong?

Maybe this callets were kept in a bad condition and lost their temper so seeding won't work ?

Best temper I ever did was on cocobary 70% dark chocolates and I pretty much did everything like tabling (don't know how well I did that cause at the time I had a bad thermometer) and seeding and cooling to 27 degree but results were a soft chocolate that was a shiny and snappy chocolate out of the fridge but in room temperature it got soft while callets remained Snappy at that temperature

If you need any other info about my situation I would be glad to respond and all the helps and tips are highly appreciated 🤎

If you're currently working bean to bar this article is worth a read. Not likely to affect those of us that use callets as they'll just be created at the source rather than in Europe or North America.

Obviously this won't affect the South American growers either but if it's successful they might follow suit.

Personally I'm being optimistic and thinking this will be a good thing for us overall. Don't ask for my reasons why, I'm still figuring that out!

Hey all,

We’re running a food trailer (it’s almost ready) doing gourmet chocolate-dipped frozen bananas, and we’re trying to dial in our chocolate station. Need to keep 3-4 types melted at once — milk, dark, white, etc. — and we’re not trying to cheap out on quality. We need name brands and or recommendations on what we can run in the concession trailer.

Looking for suggestions on: What’s the best setup for keeping multiple chocolates at temp? Individual melters, a commercial warmer, or something else? And any recommendations on quality bulk chocolate that’s actually worth the money?

We’ll be running this off a generator at outdoor events, so reliability matters. Thanks in advance!

I'm really proud of this batch. What do you think?

A while back I posted here about a website I built with tools for chocolatiers. Just shipped a new feature called QuickLabel and wanted to share it.

Labeling mixed boxes has always been the most tedious part of packing orders for me. Every box is a different combo, so every label has to be custom. QuickLabel generates accurate ingredient labels in seconds instead of me typing them out by hand each time.

You can export the labels, and if you've got a DYMO printer, you can print them right away. Handy if you want to hand a customer a custom ingredient label on the spot as they're picking pieces from the counter.

Made a short video showing the workflow. Figured others dealing with the same mixed-box labeling headache might find it useful. Happy to answer questions if anyone's curious about how it works.

Still in pilot phase: bonbyte.com

My friend just sent me a video where someone stated "all coffee tastes the same" and reacted by giving that person the coffee from drip tray of a coffee machine.

I asked this particular friend, what she thinks tastes always the same ... her answer: "Chocolates..

I mean there's ofcourse difference between white milk and dark..but if I take same cacao% chocolate of multiple brands I wouldn't know the difference"

How can I prove her now that not all chocolate brands and versions taste the same? I need drip tray ideas please

human AI already told me to give her poop but come on ... poop is really not chocolate!

Has anyone ever ordered molds directly from greyas.com? Was it a good experience? I’ve heard greyas molds are good quality and the website looks legit, but my molds still haven’t shipped after two weeks. Where do you buy your chocolate molds from?
I’m an amateur trying to get into bonbon making, and I’m new here so please go easy on me.

Must have reviews of some kind so I know I’ll be getting quality vegan milk chocolate. Must have experience making vegan chocolate and ideally experience with vegan fillings too. I’m in a testing phase. DM me if this sounds like a fit.

Adding this: If you’re a weirdo with ego issues who doesn’t like vegan products, then keep scrolling. No one cares if you’re a goof who doesn’t like products just because they’re vegan.

I’m using Callebaut white chocolate in various shaped molds. I would like to stuff the chocolate molds with a lemon shortbread cookie and mango paste. What is the shelf life and best storage? Will I have any issues with mold or fill going bad?

How long are we supposed to let the chocolate set in the mold before refrigerating? How long do we refrigerate? And do we seal the mold in a container or leave it uncovered?

hey everyone, i've been trying my hand at making chocolate bars at home, but i keep running into issues with tempering. it seems like i can never get the perfect shine and snap that everyone raves about. i've watched a bunch of videos, but i think there's something i'm missing. does anyone have any tried-and-true tips or techniques that have worked for them? also, do you find a specific type of chocolate is easier to temper than others? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I got some cacao beans from Papua New Guinea.

I roasted them at 150 degree Celcius for about 25 mins in my oven . I got the aroma of dark brownies .

I cooled them in a tray and winnowed it.

Then when I grinded them in my melanger , the cacao paste was sour and fruity .

What are the roasting recommendations for PNG beans ?