I need your help please!! I took an order for 200 chocolate covered pretzels (due tomorrow) and now that I am dipping them, the milk chocolate is turning white as it hardens! I bought wilbur milk chocolate coating chocolate and I did not add anything to it. Also I am heating it up over a double boiler very slowly. Anyone have any suggestions to help me?? THank you!

i jsut heard on alton brown that for regular chocolate you have to temper. if you dont then you cant let the chocoalte rise above 91 or 92 degrees.

hope someone else can help.

I've only used Candy melts or chocolate chips with a bit of crisco...

I usually use the chocolate almond bark to cover pretzels, never had a problem with the milk solids separating like that.

I hope you can get it figured out, maybe it is getting too warm. Melt maybe half and remove from the heat then stir in the other half until it's smooth. Maybe it'll help.

I always use almond bark to cover cake balls and marshmallows. MAybe you could try that? Sorry can't be more help.

is milk chocolate coating chocolate REAL chocolate???

I use compound chocolate to do things like dipping, also, I would do a few at a time and then place in the freezer to harden. If you let cool too quickly at room temp, you can get a marbled effect which I think is what you are descibing.

Good Luck!

If you are using regular milk chocolate then yes you have to temper it. But it sounds like you are using a milk coating chocolate which doesn't need to be tempered. Are you putting the pretzels in the fridge to harden? It sounds like the chocolate is blooming and that usually happens when chocolate has a drastic change in temp. Also make sure your pretzels are room temp.

I think it is called blooming which is when the chocolate is not store properly and the cause is temperature fluctuations. The cocoa butter melts above 75 degrees and it can rise to the surface and causes discoloration. I have heard to eliminate blooming you have to temper the chocolate.

You need to temper your chocolate and there are several ways you can do this.

Try this site for video instructions on how to temper and why you need to...sorry it's a bit long and complicated to explain here!

http://www.callebaut.com/en/

It looks like the Wilbur is actually chocolate and not candy coating, in which case it does need to be tempered. The pp's link is a good place to start. The chocolate should already be in temper when you purchase it, but overheating it (over 93 degrees farenheit) destroys the crystalline structure, so it has to be re-tempered. Bear in mind that 93 degrees is cooler than body temperature, so if it feels warm to the touch (a good place to test is just above your upper lip, with the added bonus of licking it off), it's probably way too hot.

You only need to temper it if it's real chocolate. Coating chocolate is not usually real chocolate. What does it say on the package??

Courtney

it says it is coating chocolate..... i have not placed it in the fridge. thanks for all the advice ......