bocastephen

I'm hoping there is an experienced chocolatier in Omniland who can help me salvage some damaged chocolate. I bought two very large (i.e., Costco) bags of double-dipped chocolate Macademia nuts which I stupidly included in a box of items I sent to myself via Priority Mail. Needless to say, the chocolates in both bags melted en route and turned into a solid mass.

My goal is to redo the chocolate into individual servings, and my thinking is to melt the mass in a saucepan, and when liquid, scoop out some of the chopped nuts and chocolate into little waxed paper cups and let it re-harden into individual serving sizes again.

I know there is a process called 'tempering', but since this is already processed chocolate that I just want to melt and separate, I am curious if I need to follow a special procedure re: temperature, double-boiler or cooking time to avoid burning or spoiling it altogether.

Cassie55

I always melt chocolate in a Bain Marie to avoid burning it.

You could still temper it if you want a shiny finish to the set chocolates. Even though it's already processed chocolate the cocoa butter will separate as it's melted.

readywhenyouare

You have excellent self control. Those macadamia nuts would never have made it in the mail with me.

corky

I am not sure that you can re-temper chocolate especially since it was done commercially. Why not try just taking a little bit and melting them as an experiment. Chocolate can be melted in the microwave in small increments--maybe about 20 seconds at a time. It may not look melted when it is so keep stirring every interval. If it works you know that you can do it with the entire batch. If it doesn't then maybe you could just break them all up into little pieces or smash them and stir them into some new melted chocolate...kind of like making chocolate bark. Of course that means you will need to buy some more chocolate.
Regardless, it will still taste good!

bocastephen

I don't have self-control, but I have a spouse who watches me like a hawk near sweets and bought the story I was taking the chocolates to my parents, while I shipped them to my FL home for later, undetected consumption. Thanks to the USPS and the weather, the plan backfired.

Could I get away with putting it in a large pot on the stove at the absolutely lowest heat setting and just let it soften slowly? I don't really need the shine as they won't last long enough to be admired. I'm concerned with burning it with too-high a temperature and making it sour.

Cassie55

What i do is put water in a saucepan on the stove and bring it to a simmer. Put the chocolate in a plastic or glass bowl and put it in the saucepan but it has to be the size so that it'll be supported by the top of the pan and the bottom of the bowl won't touch the water. Steam it gently until it melts.

You can do it in the microwave but I would do it in less than 20 second bursts. Chocolate can seize very quickly and once it does you can't rescue it.

My sister once called me at midnight in tears as she was making a chocolate mousse for a dinner party the next evening, had decided to microwave the chocolate and had ruined over a kilo of very expensive stuff. It had to be thrown out.

emma69

Don't melt it directly in a pan on the heat, that is a surefire way to wreck the chocolate.

I have two suggestions - one would be to melt in a double boiler (glass bowl over a pan of simmering water), the second would be to put the chocolate on to a lined swiss roll pan in a very low oven, possibly with the door open a little, depending on how low your oven goes. Keep a close eye on it, and once it has started to melt, help it along with a palette knife until it spreads across the whole pan. Leave it to cool a little, and then score lines (as you would see on a bar of chocolate), and then leave to harden fully, and then break into pieces.

milepig

I'm in favor of the "put them in a large plastic bag and break the mass into clusters" idea.

bocastephen

Thanks everyone! I will try and put a double boiler together and see how that goes...if it doesn't work, then I'll take a hammer to it

milepig

Note the advise above that the bowl must be above, not in, the boiling water. This is critical to success.

corky

If you do this make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Also know that if any water gets in the chocolate you are screwed and will be forced to eat it all yourself.
I would still try a small test amount rather than dump the whole batch in even if you don't do the microwave method. Either way, watch it like a hawk. ...better to undermelt than overmelt. Be gentle with it.

pseudoswede

The bottom of a bag of Kirkland Signature chocolate-covered almonds got warm, so we had a solid chocolate/almond chunk. Hammer method was perfectly acceptable for us.

milepig

Have some waxed paper ready. If the melting works, spread it out as quickly as possible and let cool. You'll almost certainly have some conjoined pieces, but they'll be easy enough to snap apart.

VickiSoCal

Yeah I'm in the if the goal is just to break it up into pieces to eat why not just do that now rather than remelt camp

bocastephen

Oh, that part is already assured regardless