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Why does my chocolate not harden?
I am referring to chocolate used for making chocolate-dipped fruit and such.
I live in Malaysia which has a tropical climate - warm & high humidity with an average room temp. of approx. 80^F.
I typically follow instructions as per specified.. some just use plain melted chocolate, some add shortening, some add heavy cream, etc.. but no matter which recipe I use, the chocolate never re-hardens!
I always melt the chocolate over a double boiler, water is always just barely simmering, and I'm very careful to not get a single drop of water in the chocolate. I've used cooking chocolate, semi-sweet chips, couverture, dark chocolate bars.. just about every type of chocolate there is, I've tried it.. but still no hardening, no matter how long I wait.
I've even tried cooling them in the fridge but they start melting as soon as they start to warm up to room temperature.
Can anyone tell me anything about what makes chocolate not re-harden? And it cannot be due to my region's climate condition because other people seem to be able to do it just fine!
Please help!
4 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
try omitting the shortening and add a little less cream. The shortening in hot humid climates tends to give you a sticky consistency instead of a shell. You don't really need the shortening if you're using heavy cream.
- 1 decade ago
well to be honest I think it has something to do with how you are preparing your chocolate. I learned how to do this in a bakery in south Florida which has pretty much the same climate that you do. I would suggest buying fondue chocolate and a fondue set and see if that works. But you need a chocolate that is extremely thick when melted. you really can't use just any chocolate, manly because of their added ingredients. You need a specific melting chocolate. Try a white chocolate first, since this is usually the hardest chocolate to work with
once you master white than you will never have a problem with the dark chocolates. Good Luck!
- 5 years ago
Both? When I make these, I get a few of the huge packages of strawberries, so I'll eat them warm while making them until I get full, then save the rest and eat them later after they've hardened lol I don't think there's a bad way to eat a chocolate covered strawberry =)