Surely there are still many of you who don't know how to harden chocolate without a refrigerator. In some applications, such as coating or molding , chocolate must be able to harden again in order to produce a hard, shiny, chocolate coating that can produce a " snap" when bitten.
Through this article, you will learn how to easily harden chocolate without a refrigerator. Let's see the full explanation below!
Can Chocolate Harden Without a Refrigerator?
Before explaining how to harden chocolate without a refrigerator, there must be some of you who are wondering "Can chocolate harden without a refrigerator?" The answer is yes!
Melted chocolate can harden again without needing to be refrigerated. However, to do this, you must first process the chocolate using some technique. When it's been through this process, the chocolate will definitely harden again without a refrigerator and have a glossy appearance and a snap texture when broken.
Also read: How to Make Simple and Easy Chocolate Ganache
Hard Chocolate to Harden? What caused it?
If you just melt the chocolate just like that, there's a good chance it won't harden again if you don't put it in the fridge. Chocolate that has been melted will harden again even without being put in the refrigerator if it has gone through the tempering process .
Simply melting chocolate and tempering are two very different things. Even though in practice the chocolate is both melted, in the tempering process you make the molecular structure in the chocolate more stable, so that it can produce a chocolate layer with hard, crunchy, and shiny characteristics.
Usually, chocolate that must go through the tempering process first is couverture chocolate . So, make sure to always temper before using couverture chocolate . If you simply melt it, the chocolate will most likely not harden again and the resulting layer of chocolate will be dull and melt easily.
Also read: Get Acquainted with Delicious Types of Pralines
3 Ways of Tempering So Chocolate Can Harden
As explained above, you need to do the tempering process first so that the melted chocolate can harden again without putting it in the fridge. The following are several ways to harden chocolate without a refrigerator that you can follow.
1. Ice baths
As the name suggests, the tempering process through the ice bath method involves "bathing" the chocolate in water filled with ice cubes. The following are the tempering steps using the ice bath method .
- Melt the chocolate at approximately 45 to 50 degrees Celsius using the au bain-marie or double boiler technique . Make sure no water gets into the chocolate mixture.
- Place the bowl of melted chocolate on top of the bowl of ice. Make sure the bowl at the bottom is bigger
- Stir the chocolate to reveal the beta crystals until it reaches a maximum temperature of 27 degrees Celsius.
- Reheat the chocolate in the hot water to the working temperature of the chocolate.
- Dark couverture : 31 to 32 degrees Celsius
- Milk couverture :30 to 31 degrees Celsius
- White couverture : 29 to 30 degrees Celsius
- Check the temperature using a thermometer.
If so, try making a sample of the chocolate first to make sure that beta crystals have formed on the surface. If the chocolate layer looks perfect, then the tempering process using the ice bath method has been successful.
2. Seeding
Seeding is a method of tempering chocolate which is done by adding chocolate little by little to the chocolate mixture. The following are the steps for tempering chocolate using the seeding method .
- Place chocolate over large bowl. Then, leave about 20 percent and store it in a small bowl.
- Heat the chocolate over hot water until melted using the au bain-marie or double boiler technique . Make sure no water gets into the chocolate mixture.
- When it has melted, gradually add the remaining 20 percent chocolate, a little at a time, to the melted chocolate mixture.
- Stir until smooth and it reaches the working temperature of the chocolate.
- Dark couverture : 31 to 32 degrees Celsius
- Milk couverture : 30 to 31 degrees Celsius
- White couverture : 29 to 30 degrees Celsius
- Check the temperature using a thermometer.
As before, try sampling the chocolate first to ensure that beta crystals have formed on the surface. If the chocolate layer looks perfect, then the tempering process using the seeding method has been successful.
3. Microwaves
As the name suggests, you will use the microwave to temper using this method. The following are the steps for tempering using the microwave method .
- Put the chocolate in a bowl. Melt for 30 seconds periodically in the microwave .
- Stir the chocolate thoroughly and reheat it in the microwave .
- Re-melt the chocolate for 30 seconds periodically in the microwave .
- Stir the chocolate until it reaches working temperature.
- Dark couverture : 31 to 32 degrees Celsius
- Milk couverture : 30 to 31 degrees Celsius
- White couverture : 29 to 30 degrees Celsius
- Check the temperature using a thermometer.
When finished, sample the chocolate first to ensure that beta crystals have formed on the surface. The perfect layer of chocolate from the tempering process should have a texture roughly like the image below.
To get directions on how to do tempering visually, you can visit the following video: 3 Correct Ways of Tempering Chocolate: Ice Bath, Seeding & Microwave .
Also browse the YouTube channel for other interesting videos regarding food recipes that use chocolate to tips and tricks on how to use chocolate.
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