How To Make Smooth Chocolate Covered Strawberries

How to get the right consistency for chocolate covered strawberries?

Tips for perfect chocolate covered strawberries: –

• Pick good strawberries.
  • Choose firm, ripe strawberries without bruises and if possible, strawberries that are red all the way up to the stem.
• Use room temperature strawberries and DRY THEM really well.

  Take the strawberries out of the fridge 15-30 minutes before dipping them. Wash them and gently dry them all over with a paper towel. You want to make sure they’re very dry, otherwise the chocolate won’t set on them properly.

• Temper the chocolate.
  • Tempering the chocolate will help prevent the chocolate covered strawberries from looking streaky, gray or dull after the chocolate sets. All you need to do to temper melted chocolate is set aside some of the chocolate to stir in at the end, after most of it has already been melted.
    • Melt all but 1 heaping tablespoon of the chocolate chips, and set the extra chips aside. Once you’ve melted the chocolate and it’s smooth, remove the bowl from heat and add the reserved chocolate chips.
    • Stir them into the mixture until they melt. The chocolate added at the end will help temper the warm chocolate to make it the right consistency and temperature for dipping.

What temperature should chocolate be for dipping strawberries?

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

To make tempered chocolate, chop the chocolate into pieces and place 3/4 of it in a small glass bowl in a microwave for 20 seconds exactly. Stir the chocolate and continue to microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is smooth and shiny. Add the remaining 1/4 of the chocolate and stir until smooth. The chocolate should register 87 to 89 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Dip each strawberry into the tempered chocolate and place on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 2 minutes to set.

2010, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved : Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

What makes chocolate silky smooth?

The science that makes chocolate silky, smooth, and crunchy all at the same time! – Cocoa butter is a very special kind of fat that has unique properties. This makes chocolate famously “melt in your mouth but not on your hands,” and it also adds the silky and smooth taste.

• Cocoa butter’s melting temperatures are in the range of 81 to 95°F.
• Many fats have only one solid phase, but cocoa butter has actually six different solid phases, or crystals.
• Each crystal is formed at different temperatures, from 64 to 97°F.
• When using chocolate, we’re only interested in the fifth type of crystal, which is produced when the chocolate is kept at 86°F.

The fifth crystal helps obtain the shiny chocolate that snaps when breaking. Tempering the chocolate promotes only the desired crystal to form. To do this, it’s first melted at 115-120°F. A portion of the melted chocolate is cooled down to 82°F on a cold surface, like a marble slab.

• Then both parts of the chocolate (the one cooled down and the one that was not cooled) are mixed again to obtain a final mixture of 86°F.
• By quickly cooling down the chocolate from 115 to 86°F, all the crystals are dissolved, and only the desired one is formed.
• If the chocolate is not tempered, there will be a mix of crystals on the chocolate, the appearance will be opaque and difficult to solidify due to the structure of the other crystals.

So, the next time you’re enjoying chocolate, remember the silky and smooth texture along with the satisfying crunch comes from properties that make chocolate very special. : What makes chocolate silky, smooth, and crunchy all at the same time!

Should I add oil to melted chocolate?

Melting in the microwave – Melting in the microwave may be the faster of the two methods, but it is still important to watch it carefully. Uneven heating inside a closed box means you will have to be extra attentive and patient throughout the entire process to prevent accidental scorching.

1. Place your chocolate in a heatproof bowl and only microwave for about 30 seconds at a time, stirring well after each time.
2. Depending on how much chocolate you’re melting, it may take 2 to 4 minutes total.
3. Once the chocolate is looking almost completely melted with just a few lumps, resist the urge to microwave it until completely liquid: just stir the hot chocolate mixture until it is smooth and homogenous.

Letting the carryover heat redistribute itself through the stirring action will help you avoid overcooking and burning the whole batch. Adding a tablespoon of coconut oil or vegetable oil while microwaving helps the chocolate melt more smoothly and makes it the perfect consistency for dipping! The caveat here is that once cool, the chocolate won’t set up quite as hard as it did to begin with due to the added fat content. Parker Feierbach