Mini incubator for cocoa butter crystals (Easy tempering machine)

Cocoa butter silk is a concentrate of stable cocoa butter crystals. Such butter has a pasty consistency, which is why it’s called «silk». In fact, these are the same crystals that we create in chocolate during tempering, only in the purest form.

You can learn more about «silk» tempering from this video and this article.

The reason is temperature.

It may not be enough for the cocoa butter to reach the desired paste-like consistency. The incubator is set to 32.5–33°C by default, but the success in «silk» preparing mainly depends on the air temperature in the room in which the device is used. The 2 kg incubator has a special lid design with a rubber gasket and clip-locks, it’s also equipped with an additional plastic container — this allows the device to maintain the exact set temperature due to increased tightness and the thermos-like effect inside. The mini incubator doesn’t have an airtight lid or plastic cup, so you may need to find the right temperature yourself by adjusting the controller. We recommend monitoring, adding or decreasing 0.5°C, depending on the consistency of the cocoa butter in the incubator.

More about incubators and cocoa butter silk here.

The perfect consistency of cocoa butter silk should be the same as regular mayonnaise.

More clearly in this video at 30 second.

The working temperature of «silk» is 32.5ºC.

The average cooking time for cocoa butter silk is from one day or more, but it can be reduced to 4 hours with an immersion blender and a microwave.

More in this video.

24/7. You may not turn it off at all.

Even if you have tempered the chocolate in compliance with all the rules (including «silk») various defects may appear on its surface after hardening. The causes may be the following:

Pouring chocolate into a mold that is too cold can lead to stains on the surface.

Solution: Before pouring chocolate into the mold, it must be slightly warmed up with a heat gun. This will even out the temperatures a little and avoid the appearance of stains, since crystallization will occur more evenly and at the right pace.

Too much temperature difference between the room and the fridge can lead to condensation and, as a result, white spots on the surface of the chocolate (sugar bloom).

Solution: Adjust the room and refrigerator temperatures and room humidity levels to avoid condensation.

Poor chocolate mixing during work leads to uneven crystallization and, as a result, to the formation of whitish stains.

Solution: Stir the chocolate regularly and thoroughly while working.

The cause for the appearance of white stains on the surface can also be recrystallization.

Too many stable crystals are formed in the mass. A sign of recrystallization is the thickening of the mass at working temperature.

Solution: Gently heat the mass until fluidity is restored.

There may be several reasons.

The «silk» is too thick and does not mix well in the mass.

Solution: Increase the temperature on the incubator controller (not higher than 33.6ºC). This will help to make cocoa butter silk softer for effective mixing into the mass.

Too little «silk» was added.

Solution: Add the optimal amount of «silk» — 0.3–0.4% of the total mass.

«Silk» was added to too warm chocolate, the temperature of which exceeds the temperature of stable crystals destruction — 34ºC.

Solution: Cool chocolate to 32–33ºC.

The room is too warm.

Working with chocolate becomes difficult at 24ºC and above, because the main crystallization processes become uncontrollable.

Solution: Adjust the room temperature within 18-20ºC.

Improper cooling after pre-crystallization.

This means that the pre-crystallization process is done, but the cooling did not go well, so the defects appear on the chocolate, which are often mistakenly associated with pre-crystallization.

Solution: Adjust the cooling mode for chocolate products.

All the things you need to know about tempering with cocoa butter silk are in this video.

Yes, «silk» can be added to pastes and spreads that contain cocoa butter. We recommend doing this, because pre-crystallized paste doesn’t delaminate and saves its marketable look longer. The paste lamination is the natural process of nut fats exfoliating. Adding «silk» will make the paste more stable, but still quite creamy.

Cocoa butter silk will help to avoid the formation of lumps in the paste.

If your recipe contains cocoa butter, then 2–3 days after the paste making lumps may form in it — these are cocoa butter crystals. They appear for two reasons: improper cooling and / or incorrect proportions of cocoa butter in relation to other ingredients.

Solution: Adjust the recipe, pre-crystallize the paste before pouring it into jars and make sure to cool it in the refrigerator.