Tips for Making and Storing Chocolates
Here are a few important tip for you to make great chocolates and also ensure that you can enjoy them for a long time:
Be very selective about sourcing raw material. Nuts should be in good condition & covering chocolate should be smooth & aromatic. Economy should not be the only Criteria for purchasing.
Hygiene & Temperature control of the environment should be of paramount importance while working with chocolates.
Product should be tempered & cooled perfectly in order to ensure a good-looking product.
Finished Chocolates should be perfectly wrapped & stored airtight to ensure shelf life & avoid contamination.
Beautiful packaging & after sales follow up will only encourage repetitive orders.
Water & heat are enemies of Chocolate. Exposure to water will cause fungus & heat will cause fat or sugar crystallization on the surface or sugar & cocoa bloom.
Warmth and moisture are two main enemies of chocolate. Therefore chocolate should always be stored in a dry, cool room and protected from sunlight. 15°to 18°C temperature with relative humidity of 55 to 65 per cent is ideal to store chocolates.
While making truffles, it is advisable to work in an air-conditioned room to avoid the truffle mixture from melting and becoming sticky when being hand rolled into balls and dipped in covering chocolate.
Covering chocolate is available in three varieties - milk, bitter and white and can be purchased in bars from retail stores or in slabs or tins from wholesalers.
Chocolate can be melted in a melting pan or in a vessel kept in a basin of hot water at a temperature of approximately 45°C to 50°C. The chocolate should then be allowed to cool to approximately 32°C and then be worked with in a room with a temperature of approximately 20°C to 22°C and temperature of the centers which are ready for dipping should also be of approximately 20°C to 25°C.
After the centers have been prepared and shaped into balls and are ready for dipping in the covering chocolate, the quantity of the covering chocolate melted and ready for dipping should be minimum 2.5 to 3 kg. After all centers are dipped and cooled and any remaining melted covering chocolate can be cooled and stored in an airtight container.
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