Eat your face! -need help with chocolate experiment!

[Ludichris1]

Ok I have this like, cool idea but I don't know if it would work so I need you guys'(girls') advice (lol). It's a food idea (well it's not a recipe, eh? :specs. This is what I was thinking the 'recipe' (can't think of the word) goes like:

1. Buy yourself your favorite chocolate. :biggrin:
2. Get out a microwavable tuba-ware. Put your chocolate in the tuba-ware and heat in the microwave (a minute maybe?)
3. Now, get some alluminum foil and mold it over an object (even your face!).
4. Pour the cream/liquidated contents into the alluminum foil mold, and refrigerate (for an hour maybe?)
5. Finally take out the package and take off the alluminum foil. Wow you're eating stuff like your face, action figure, or mug! Amazing!


Ok many questions arise:
First, does all chocolate melt the same way? What if it's white chocolate (pastele)? What if it has other contents such as nuts or chocolate chips? Will it still melt the same way? :barf:
Second, how long should you melt the chocolate?
Third, is alluminum foil the right thing to use? I don't know, would it stick to the chocolate? Lol please help with this question it needs the best answer. :wink:
Fourth, how long should you refrigerate the contents?

PLEASE answer these questions I really want to mold my chocolate into different objects (or shapes)!! :thumb:

 

[united washcloth express]

...Why not just try it?

 

[Ludichris1]

chocolate doesn't fall out of trees ya know... lol

By the way, I think everything in the experiment will work, but I'm still scepticle over the mold thing. Is alluminum foil the right material? Would the alluminum foil stick to the refrigerated chocolate real hard?

 

[Venetia]

working with chocolate is more delicate than most novice cooks think.

if you heat up chocolate too hot and then cool it too quickly, it will become brittle and more bitter/tasteless. if you tried to mold it, it would crack.

never mix water with it when melting. this means also that you should never melt chocolate directly from the refrigerator (condensation forms, ruining it). Work with room temperature chocolate only.

the perfect temperature to heat most chocolate to is 43 degrees celsius (109F). This will slowly melt it to a thickened sauce.

some chocolate, like dark chocolate, which contains less cocoa butter, will need a higher temperature. this is usually about 55 degrees celsius (131F). cocoa butter and/or any fat or oil is the key here. white chocolate is high in fat and will melt easier than dark. Just think about the softness of it. White chocolate is the softest, milk is in the middle, and dark is hard. So adjust the temperatures accordingly.

It doesn't have to be *perfect*, but keep your thermometer handy because like I said, if it gets too hot, it'll be ruined.

Never let it get hotter than 66C (144F). I think thats the "fail" temperature, where it starts to break down. Your goal here is to melt the chocolate, not burn the sugar. When sugar burns it becomes "carmelized". It hardens and loses sweetness. If you burn the sugar in chocolate the rest of the mixture will separate, leaving you with either a goopy mess or something that fractures and crumbles.

If you are trying to pour it into a mold i would recommend adding a very small amount of vegetable oil (like, a tsp or less) so the chocolate will fill into the mold gaps more easily, and resist crumbling.

I wouldn't recommend using the microwave, as you can't monitor the temperature.

I wouldn't recommend cooling in the fridge. Let it cool naturally in a room that's about 70 degrees fahrenheit. Cooling it too quickly makes it crack.

Any nuts or additives should only be added at the very very end of the heating process. If you're pouring it into a mold I wouldn't recommend using anything additional, as it'll screw up the shape and compromise the structure.

I wouldn't recommend aluminum foil, as anything coming from it would be wrinkly and mis-shapen (wrap tin foil over something, see all the wrinkles and ridges? the chocolate will get trapped in there and your stuff will get ruined and snap inside the folds/wrinkles).

To effectively make a mold you'd have to do it out of plaster, and temper it.

Honestly you're setting yourself up for a huge amount of work and mess and turmoil.

But I hope I've taught you a thing or two about tempering chocolate

 

[Venetia]

if you're hell-bent on fitting it to a mold ... if you get it to the PERFECT temperature and you're working with a soft chocolate, like white, you way be able to pour it into a waxpaper mold, held together by foil (so long as the chocolate doesn't touch the foil). granted, waxpaper won't form a shape very well. but you can do real simple stuff with it.

Something neat you could do is to heat up the chocolate into something so it forms a flat pool, and then, when it's in a semi-soft state of cooling, you can mold it with your fingers, like clay. you gotta work fast, though, you only have a window of about 5 minutes. at this point you could powder something with confectioner's sugar and then press it into the pool of chocolate (but not your face! it'll burn you :x), to make an indentation.

 

[Venetia]

in case you can't tell, i love cooking :x
if you do end up doing this, take pics of your results

 

[Tindy]

It sounds like a cool idea, but like vennie said really difficult...

the best way I've found to melt chocolate is to use a double-boiler. Just set up a big pot of water to near-boil, and stick a smaller pot on top. It heats it a lot more evenly and more gently so the chocolate melts nicely.

And don't EVER microwave it - every single time I've tried that my chocolate burned. (though maybe it was just Hershey's.)

vennie we can nerd out together about cooking XD

 

[Venetia]

ooh yeah that method is a must, i totally forgot to mention that.

and hey if you love fondue, it's easiest to use that method, and add one part cream/milk and one part liquor or beer to approx. 2-3 parts chocolate or cheese. it'll keep it smooth and creamy, and the boiling water under it will keep the bottom/sides from burning.

actually that works super well for cooking a lot of stuff, especially if you have a shitty electric stove like i do. it gradually warms and keeps a steady temperature all over instead of having varying levels of heat at certain points all over the pan. Using this method, scrambled eggs won't dry out, chocolate won't burn, gravy won't get that weird burnt film all around the sides, wine reductions won't steam up too much, and you can make a nearly perfect roux (a butter/starch mixture used for bechamel/allemande sauces and many types of other fancy sauces and gravies).

if you place a metal strainer over a pot of boiling water and cover it with a lid, you have nig'rigged yourself a steamer. Use it for vegetables and add a splash of lime or lemon: it'll keep them green and with just the right amount of crunch. Give fresh, raw sausage a thin coating of salt and then steam them until they're mostly done, then broil or barbeque them, and you're guaranteed a perfectly cooked frank.

:d now i wanna cook ;-;

 

[Ludichris1]

I would've posted sooner but the server was down :biggrin:. Anyway, thanks for ALL the LOADS of information. I looked more into the mold thing. One thing you can do is get this food-grade silicion-putty or something and you put it over an object. Then u bake it to harden it. I think the chocolate Im gonna use is just chocolate chips (different flavors) lol. Unless... could I melt and use chocolate bars? Like Hershey's Cookies n' Cream or something? LOl what if I used the baking version of M&Ms even with the shells or Reese's Pieces... :huh:

 

[Ulqiorra]

Actually, from what I can tell, chocolate chips are good for melting. I'm not sure, but I've always used chocolate chips and it's always worked fine.

And I think I'll try this chocolate molding thing...

And @ Ven: I love cooking too. And I'm part Italian. I'm a part-italian chef :biggrin:

 

[Tindy]

Chocolate chips will work and work well, but they're made to retain their shape (they have some weird coating) so you'll have to actively stir/mix them as they melt. Chocolate bars should just melt nicely on their own.

 

[bashful crobat]

Chocolate is easy as balls to melt in the microwave without burning it, you just have to do it right. Check it and stir after like 15 seconds and then every 5-10 after that, since chocolate is mostly fat and sugar, which microwaves are attracted to (and so cook high fat/sugar foods quicker). You don't want it to actually melt into a puddle in the microwave, because by that time it'll burn; it'll still look a bit solid when it's ready but if you stir it than it'll be done.

 

[bacon]

I wpuld use Hershey's kisses, as the will take less time to melt and would melt at a more equal level.

 

[Ludichris1]

What if i used M&Ms or Reese's Pieces? What if I used a filled candy like Hershey's Kisses w/ Caramel for example?

 

[Ludichris1]

LAST QUESTION @ Venetia: You told me HOW to 'cook' chocolate, but for how LONG? I know some chocolates are different but how long does it usually take YOU to melt the three different types of chocolate?

Oh and btw I just made a total fail chocolate thinggummy. I didn't get any supplies yet or whatever so I just decided to make something lame. I used a few fun-size Hershey's milk chocolate bars laying around and melted them in a microwave (he he). Then I tried white chocolate but burned it :. So i decided to get a little more white chocolate and crush it up. Btw I got some alluminum foil and moulded around a circle and I brushed the insides with the milk chocolate and then filled it with the white chocolate bits. I TOTALLy think it won't work but oh well. I just put it in the fridge, we'll see how it comes out lol :cheers:

 

[Venetia]

i couldnt tell you the exact time. microwaves and stove temps vary wildly. it's more a game of stirring, judging, and thermometers. you can get a food thermometer, a digital one, for like ten bucks. i recommend the stove because you can just let the thermometer chill in there and you watch it. (but dont let the tip touch the bottom or the sides of the pan, you'll get an inaccurate reading!)

like i said earlier i wouldnt recommend using candied chocolate or nuts, it will bork up the necessary temperature and consistency (btw: candied sugar, like the coating on M&M's, is already cooked. re-cooking will do nothing but carmelize it, or harden it further).

but you're experimenting and questioning, and experience--that's the best way to expand your culinary prowess.
it's more of a craft than a science!

 

[Ludichris1]

I FINALLY made some REAL chocolate! Ok this is what I did. My chocolate inventory, first of all, consists of Nestle White Chocolate Chips, Nestle Swirled Chips, and Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips. I used the Swirled and and Milk Chocolate chips for this one. Anyway, I FINALLY found two molds that were hiding around the house. The first one is a big shell, the latter an ice cube tray with different types of flowers in it. Now first I did the double boiler thing and set the heat to '5' on the stove. Then I put in the Milk Chocolate chips and used a wooden spoon to mush them around. Then I put the melted chocolate into the molds. Oh and I added almonds and Swirled chips into the shell, and like one or two Swirled chips into each flower. Then I put it in hte fridge (it was 10pm when I did).

But something weird... the next day (or 9hrs later) I touch it and it doesn't feel TOTALLY solidish. It's like it's a bit melted or something. Though I don't think it's any problem. I think it's like that with all chocolate right? Anyway, I was wondering if using a freezer for a shorter amount of time would be better?

Btw, I'll upload the pictures in about 4hrs.

 

[Venetia]

if the consistency is strange, it means that you probably overheated it a little. you also mixed different types of chocolates with different consistencies.

the "swirled" chocolate is probably the culprit. it contains more oil so the two chocolates don't combine too much in the initial mixing process. that means that once you melt it down you release all those oils. when the sugar was probably slightly burned, the oil couldn't recombine with it properly and separated a little.

freezing it will make it harder but it also likely will crack and fall apart

don't worry, it's a learning process. working with chocolate is difficult for even skilled cooks :kiss:

 

[Ellie]

I heard you can't freeze chocolate out of the packet, something to do with the moisture ruining the surface. I don't know how true that is, in fact it's probably bs, but yeah.

 

[Venetia]

no, it's right, moisture on chocolate = chocodeath.

it causes something called sugar bloom. the wet build-up causes the sugar to dissolve. Once the moisture evaporates, sugar crystals remain on the surface. it causes greying/discoloration and brittleness. if you try to cook chocolate with sugar bloom it will turn out funky and chunky because it doesnt melt right.


what i was talking about earlier with oils is a similar thing, it's technically called fat bloom

of course chocolate that undergoes these blooms is ok to eat. it just makes the consistency and taste weird, and makes it difficult to work with.


(packet on or off, moisture will form on chocolate improperly cooled or thawed!
have you ever opened a sort-of-old candybar or one that was cooled/thawed/cooled and saw grey patches on it? sugar bloom.)