Need advice about chocolate melting

[dakcp2001]

This is getting expensive!

I have been making the same recipe for years, it calls for 2 bags of white chocolate chips to be melted and mixed in. I have always used Nestle Morsels to make my candy, and it has always worked wonderful. ONE TIME I bought the store brand, and it just didnt work, they wouldnt melt correctly it got all lumpy and yucky and hard. I ended up running out tot eh sgtore that time too and the name brand worked fine.

So today, I go to make my candy with the morsels, and it got all lumpy & gross. I figured I must have done something wrong, sent my hubby to the store to get 2 more bags of morsels. The same thing happened. I called my mom to complain, and she said the same thing actually happened to her, and she thought she had just burned the chocolate too. SO now i am out 4 bags of morsels, and all of the other ingredients (i had already mixed together) and Im a little annoyed. Is it just a coincidence?

So what brand chocolate do you use for melting? Where do you buy it? I need like 2 lbs of white choclate for my candy. I am trying to keep it affordable if I dare try again. I think Nestle must have changed something in their recipe, what are the odds that me and my mom had this same exact problem. Has anyone else? I am so frustrated...

 

[MN_Gal]

It's not the chocolate, per se, but how old the chocolate is (and it is not bad) but the longer it "sits" the more moisture (oil) evaporates from the morsels. I typically add a little shortening (not oil, but crisco shortening) while it melts. Start with about a teaspoon and as it melts, you can add more. Always start with less so that it doesn't get too runny. HTH!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

great thread, Im thinking of trying this myself, thanx!!!

 

[lovesmurfs]

If the shortening doesn't work, you might want to try candy making supplies -- I think you can get the chocolate discs at Michaels?

 

[RNMOM]

I have also seen the candy making discs at our local grocery stores now.

Are you certain no moisture got into the pan or utensils? Even a drop or two of water will make chocolate go off. I hope the crisco works for you.

 

[momxx5]

I learned to hard way how to melt chocolate.

I do it in the microwave on med temp for short spurts of time. I take it out and stir it into itself helping the melting choc to start the rest melting.

On the stove I have to be very careful. I put the chocolate in a med pan....if you use a pan with a larger bottom you have to watch it very carefully. I heat the choc on med until it starts to melt then I pull it off the burner and stir, put it back on burner to melt a bit more and then stir it all together letting the hotter melted choc melt the rest.

When it turns lumpy and yucky that is called "seizing". It usually happens when it is heated too fast. I can happen to white choc chips and butterscotch chips too.

Check this out:

http://candy.about.com/od/workingwithchocolate/a/chocmistakes.htm

 

[RNMOM]

Don't they recommend using a double boiler to heat on the stove? This is always what I have done. I hate melting chocolate so much I avoid recipes that use it melted.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

If you have a Sam's Club membership, they sell blocks of Ghiradelli melting chocolate at Christmas time. They have it in white chocolate as well. It's $6 and some change for a huge bar of it (4 pounds I think?)

 

[Kycha]

I learned to hard way how to melt chocolate.

I do it in the microwave on med temp for short spurts of time. I take it out and stir it into itself helping the melting choc to start the rest melting.

On the stove I have to be very careful. I put the chocolate in a med pan....if you use a pan with a larger bottom you have to watch it very carefully. I heat the choc on med until it starts to melt then I pull it off the burner and stir, put it back on burner to melt a bit more and then stir it all together letting the hotter melted choc melt the rest.

When it turns lumpy and yucky that is called "seizing". It usually happens when it is heated too fast. I can happen to white choc chips and butterscotch chips too.

Check this out:

http://candy.about.com/od/workingwithchocolate/a/chocmistakes.htm

I melt my chocolate in the microwave too. I use melting chocolate, bakers chocolate, chocolate chips...whatever I have on hand. And I have never had a problem. I make candy as gifts at the holidays every year. I prefer using chocolate chips because of the small size. Doesn't take long to melt at all in the microwave. It only takes about a minute. When you take it out, the chips will look weepy, not melted. But, once you stir it, then it gets nice and smooth. There may be a few unmelted pieces. I just let it sit for a minute and let the carryover heat melt any remaining chips. Then I stir again and have perfectly melted chocolate.

 

[dakcp2001]

Thanks guys!I was using a double boiler when teh choc got all gross both times, it was so bizarre, cuz I have done this a million times, this recipe used to be my favorite. I ended up late last night just getting refrigerated cookie dough, and stayed up SO late baking. I need a nap....

 

[jax677]

White chocolate is so much more sensitive than milk chocolate. I have a simmer burner on my stove and I love it. But if I am melting white chocolate I always do it in the micro for 20 seconds at a time. I have ruined alot of white chocolate before I started doing this.

I wonder if they changed the recipe or something?

 

[kaytieeldr]

You know something? That's possible. If the OP still has one of the bags, she should call or write to Nestle.

One batch seizing or going bad is one thing - but two of her batches plus her mother's? Sure, it's possible all the bags were bought from the same store/lot, but...

 

[enlmomma]

You can also melt chocolate in the crock pot. It keeps the temo even and you don't have to worry about burning the chocolate.

 

[blackforest]

My DMom, who makes chocolate at the holidays for her church and the family (she even "paints" with the chocolate!) always melts her chocolate on an old warming tray (think buffets). It is a nice even temperature and no scorching. Good luck, I hate ruining ingredients, especially expensive ones!

 

[niclodn]

If you have a Sam's Club membership, they sell blocks of Ghiradelli melting chocolate at Christmas time. They have it in white chocolate as well. It's $6 and some change for a huge bar of it (4 pounds I think?)

I second this! The Ghirardelli baking bars melt great and taste delicious I always use them when making my candy. You can also order it from the Ghirardelli website if you don't have a Sam's near you -- about $10 per block.

 

[daughtersrus]

I also use buy mine at Sam's or buy the melting chips from Wilton but in the past, I did try Nestle's chips and had the same problem. When I called Nestle, they said that their chips are designed not to melt but to hold their shape so that when you make cookies, it looks like a chip.

The other thing could be that the white chocolate is old. I tried to use the Ghirardelli that was left over from Christmas at Easter and it just wouldn't melt. I called and was told that the shelf life it's very long (a few months I think). If it's old, it will clump and almost burn even when melting it slowly in the microwave.

If you have a Meijer near by, the melting bark is scanning at 79 cents a package even though the shelf price is $2.59.

 

[Todd&Copper]

If you have a Sam's Club membership, they sell blocks of Ghiradelli melting chocolate at Christmas time. They have it in white chocolate as well. It's $6 and some change for a huge bar of it (4 pounds I think?)

I've been buying hunks of those giant bars from Trader Joe's. They sell random hunks of white, milk and dark Ghiradelli. The huge bar at Sams is probably a better deal, but I do not trust myself nor my husband with the leftover chocolate (and there would certainly be leftovers).

 

[LisaNJ25]

I learned to hard way how to melt chocolate.

I do it in the microwave on med temp for short spurts of time. I take it out and stir it into itself helping the melting choc to start the rest melting.



Check this out:

http://candy.about.com/od/workingwithchocolate/a/chocmistakes.htm

Thats what I do. I am actually making baby carriage lollipops for friends shower tomorrow right now.

I am doing 30 seconds on 50% power and stirring.

 

[dakcp2001]

Thanks for all the tips!I am sending Nestle an email, i def think they changed the recipe or something, because it used to do the same thing when I got the store brand from one particular store. Something is def different!

 

[robb01]

Didn't Hershey's recently change something about thier milk chocolate? I remember a news article, but forgot what they changed, I remember them saying some people could tell a difference or something.