ChocolateHQ

Chocolate troubleshooter

Start from what you can see and find every recorded cause and fix, across melting, tempering, ganache, moulding, baking and drinks.

191 recorded problems from 92 techniques, grouped by what you can see. Pick the nearest description, then find the technique you were using.

Seized or suddenly stiff

It turned into a thick, dull paste, often all at once.

  • Thick and pasty with a dull, cooked smell

    While: Avoiding overheating

    Cause
    Past the ceiling. Sugars have caramelised.
    Fix
    Irreversible. Use in a strongly flavoured bake, or discard if the burnt note is pronounced.

  • Seized after adding a flavouring

    While: Chocolate has seized

    Cause
    A water-based flavouring — extract in an alcohol or water base, juice, coffee.
    Fix
    Use oil-based flavourings for chocolate work, or add water-based ones only to preparations that already contain liquid.

  • Sudden thick grainy paste while melting

    While: Chocolate has seized

    Cause
    Water: steam from a bain-marie, condensation on a cold bowl, or a damp utensil.
    Fix
    Add a tablespoon of warm liquid per 50g and repurpose as a sauce or ganache.

  • Chocolate seizes in a bowl that was washed

    While: Cleaning chocolate equipment

    Cause
    Residual water.
    Fix
    Dry thoroughly and, for tempering, dry with kitchen paper rather than a tea towel.

  • Chocolate seized when the flavouring was added

    While: Infusing flavour into chocolate

    Cause
    A water- or alcohol-based flavouring met melted chocolate.
    Fix
    Add liquid deliberately and repurpose as a ganache. Use oil-based flavourings next time.

  • Stays sandy and never becomes paste

    While: Making praliné

    Cause
    Under-ground, or the nuts were low in oil.
    Fix
    Keep going with rests. If it truly will not come together, add a spoonful of neutral oil.

  • Thick, dull, grainy paste appears suddenly

    While: Melting chocolate

    Cause
    Seizing, from a small quantity of water.
    Fix
    Cannot be returned to smooth melted chocolate. Add substantially more liquid — around a tablespoon per 50g — and use it as a sauce or ganache.

  • Chocolate turned stiff and grainy partway through

    While: Melting in a double boiler

    Cause
    Water or steam reached it.
    Fix
    It cannot be returned to melted chocolate. Add a tablespoon of boiling liquid per 100g and use it as a sauce.

  • Chocolate seized mid-service

    While: Running a chocolate fountain

    Cause
    Water from a wet dipper or condensation.
    Fix
    Not recoverable in the fountain. Empty, clean and refill — and dry the dippers.

  • Chocolate seizes into a thick grainy paste

    While: Tempering chocolate

    Cause
    Water. A drop of steam or a wet spoon causes the sugar to clump and pull the mixture into a paste.
    Fix
    It cannot be recovered as tempering chocolate. Add substantially more liquid deliberately and use it as a ganache or a sauce — the seized mass will smooth out once there is enough liquid present.

Back to the list of symptoms

Burnt or overheated

A burnt or cooked smell, or it got hotter than it should.

  • White chocolate turned yellow and clumpy

    While: Avoiding overheating

    Cause
    Milk solids scorched — white chocolate's characteristic failure.
    Fix
    Not recoverable. Next time melt at half power or off the heat entirely.

  • Grainy with a burnt smell

    While: Chocolate has overheated

    Cause
    Scorching. The solids have been heat-damaged.
    Fix
    Not recoverable. Start again at a lower temperature.

  • Gritty texture with a burnt smell

    While: Melting chocolate

    Cause
    Scorched, most often milk or white chocolate taken above about 45°C.
    Fix
    Not recoverable. Start again at a lower temperature.

  • Hot in places and solid in others

    While: Melting chocolate in a microwave

    Cause
    Not stirred between bursts.
    Fix
    Stir thoroughly and let residual heat even it out before heating again.

  • Thick, dull and slightly grainy, with a burnt smell

    While: Melting chocolate in a microwave

    Cause
    Overheated. The sugars and any milk solids have scorched.
    Fix
    Not recoverable for coating or tempering. Usable in a strongly flavoured bake if the burnt note is mild.

  • Overshot the temperature

    While: Tempering in a microwave

    Cause
    A burst too long, or a hot spot that stirring did not reach.
    Fix
    Add more finely chopped seed chocolate off the heat and stir until it comes back into range.

  • Grainy and yellow before tempering even started

    While: Tempering white chocolate

    Cause
    Scorched during melting.
    Fix
    Not recoverable. Melt white chocolate at half power and stop early.

Back to the list of symptoms

Split, oily or separated

Fat or liquid has come out of it, or it looks curdled.

  • Greasy or oily bake

    While: Baking with chocolate

    Cause
    Excess cocoa butter, often from substituting couverture for an eating bar.
    Fix
    Reduce the recipe's added fat to compensate, or use a standard bar rather than couverture.

  • Separated into oil and grainy solids

    While: Chocolate fondue

    Cause
    Too hot.
    Fix
    Take it off the heat, add a splash of warm cream and stir from the centre.

  • Buttercream splits or curdles

    While: Chocolate frosting

    Cause
    The chocolate was too warm, or the butter too cold, so the two would not combine.
    Fix
    Warm the bowl very slightly and beat again. Splitting from temperature mismatch usually recovers.

  • Sauce is grainy or oily

    While: Chocolate sauce

    Cause
    The emulsion split, usually from overheating or a large temperature difference.
    Fix
    Add a tablespoon of warm liquid and stir vigorously from the centre, or blend with a stick blender kept below the surface.

  • Heavy and greasy

    While: Choosing chocolate for a cake

    Cause
    Too much melted chocolate, which is largely fat.
    Fix
    Shift some of the chocolate to cocoa powder and add liquid to compensate.

  • Separated and oily

    While: Dairy-free ganache

    Cause
    Coconut cream that had separated in the tin, or the emulsion broken by overheating.
    Fix
    Stick blender, head submerged. Shake or warm the tin thoroughly before opening next time.

  • Oily film on the surface

    While: French chocolat chaud

    Cause
    The emulsion has broken, almost always from overheating.
    Fix
    Whisk hard off the heat; a stick blender will usually bring it back. Keep it below 75°C and it will not happen.

  • Separates into ice and liquid within a minute

    While: Frozen hot chocolate

    Cause
    Not enough fat or solids to hold the structure, or over-blending.
    Fix
    More chocolate, whole milk rather than skimmed, and a shorter blend.

  • Separates within a minute or two of standing

    While: Making chocolate milk

    Cause
    Normal, and not a fault. Nothing in a kitchen keeps cocoa particles suspended indefinitely; commercial chocolate milk uses carrageenan or a similar stabiliser to build a very weak gel that holds them.
    Fix
    Stir before drinking. If you want it to hold, use the melted-chocolate route — the cocoa butter and the emulsion give it more body — or accept the stir.

  • Greasy, grainy, visibly separated

    While: Making ganache

    Cause
    The emulsion has split — the fat has come out of suspension.
    Fix
    Add a tablespoon of warm milk or cream and stir vigorously from the centre. If that fails, blend with a stick blender kept below the surface to avoid adding air.

  • Separates or looks oily on standing

    While: Making hot chocolate

    Cause
    The emulsion has broken, usually from overheating.
    Fix
    Whisk vigorously off the heat. Keeping the temperature below 75°C prevents it.

  • Split or oily

    While: Making nama chocolate

    Cause
    The emulsion broke — cream too hot, or stirred too aggressively.
    Fix
    Warm gently and blend with a stick blender, keeping the head submerged to avoid adding air.

  • Split into grainy solids and liquid fat

    While: Whipped ganache

    Cause
    Whipped warm, or whipped too far.
    Fix
    Warm gently and re-emulsify with a stick blender, chill fully, and whip less next time.

  • Set soft and greasy

    While: Working with compound coating

    Cause
    Mixed with real chocolate.
    Fix
    Not recoverable. Keep the two entirely separate, including the bowls.

Back to the list of symptoms

Will not set, or sets too soft

It stays fluid, sets soft, or only firms up in the fridge.

  • Decorations melt when handled

    While: Chocolate decorations

    Cause
    Real chocolate melting at body temperature, which is what it is designed to do.
    Fix
    Use compound coating for anything handled repeatedly, or work with cold hands and a palette knife.

  • Freezes rock hard

    While: Chocolate ice cream

    Cause
    Cocoa butter is solid at freezer temperature.
    Fix
    Reduce the chocolate slightly and add a spoonful of alcohol or invert sugar.

  • Mousse does not set

    While: Chocolate mousse

    Cause
    Too little chocolate for the volume of aerated component, or a chocolate too low in cocoa solids.
    Fix
    White and milk chocolate mousses need proportionally more chocolate than dark ones.

  • Sets solid in the fridge

    While: Chocolate sauce

    Cause
    Too little liquid, or no glucose.
    Fix
    Add more liquid and a spoonful of glucose or golden syrup.

  • Never sets at all, stays fluid

    While: Chocolate will not set

    Cause
    Added fat or liquid. Oil and butter both prevent cocoa butter crystallising into a firm network.
    Fix
    Not fixable as a setting chocolate. Use as a sauce or a soft filling.

  • Sets only in the fridge and softens at room temperature

    While: Chocolate will not set

    Cause
    Out of temper — the unstable forms melt below room temperature.
    Fix
    Remelt and re-temper. Refrigerating to force a set will produce bloom.

  • Sets soft and fingerprints easily

    While: Chocolate will not set

    Cause
    Out of temper, or not couverture.
    Fix
    Remelt fully and re-temper with tempered seed. If it still sets soft, the material is the problem.

  • Perfect temper, nothing sets

    While: Chocolate work in hot climates

    Cause
    The room.
    Fix
    There is no chocolate-side fix. Change the room, the time of day, or the project.

  • Decorations wilted before service

    While: Choosing a chocolate garnish

    Cause
    Too warm, or placed too early.
    Fix
    Store cool and place at the last moment.

  • Coconut cream ganache will not set

    While: Cooking for dietary requirements

    Cause
    Different fat content from dairy cream.
    Fix
    Increase the chocolate proportion by roughly a quarter and re-chill.

  • Sugar-free couverture sets soft and streaky

    While: Cooking for dietary requirements

    Cause
    Tempered on the standard curve rather than the product's own.
    Fix
    Use the manufacturer's stated temperatures.

  • Will not set

    While: Dairy-free ganache

    Cause
    The plant cream was too low in fat and too high in water.
    Fix
    Melt down and add more chocolate, and use a higher-fat cream next time. This is a diagnosis, not a repair.

  • Chocolate stopped setting properly halfway through a batch

    While: Holding temper while working

    Cause
    Warmed too far during a top-up.
    Fix
    Re-temper by seeding. Add cool seed chocolate rather than starting over.

  • Set too hard to cut

    While: Making chocolate caramel

    Cause
    Cooked past the target temperature.
    Fix
    Not reversible. The bands are a few degrees wide, so use a thermometer.

  • Will not set firm

    While: Making ganache

    Cause
    Too much liquid for the chocolate used, or a chocolate with lower cocoa butter than assumed.
    Fix
    Melt in more chocolate of the same type. Refrigeration will firm it temporarily but it will soften again at room temperature.

  • Will not set firm enough to cut

    While: Making nama chocolate

    Cause
    Too much cream for the chocolate used, or a chocolate with a lower cocoa content than assumed.
    Fix
    Melt the slab down, add more chocolate, and set again. It is fully recoverable.

  • Ganache will not firm up enough to roll

    While: Making truffles

    Cause
    Too much cream for the chocolate type — usually the dark ratio used with milk or white.
    Fix
    Melt in more chocolate of the same type. Refrigeration alone will not fix a ratio problem.

  • Temper never sets properly despite correct temperatures afterwards

    While: Melting for tempering

    Cause
    The melt was too cool and unstable crystals survived it.
    Fix
    Remelt to 45–50°C and start again. This is the most common invisible cause of a failed temper.

  • A small batch of tempered chocolate set before it could be used

    While: Scaling a chocolate recipe

    Cause
    Small volumes lose heat quickly.
    Fix
    Temper at least 300g even if you need less. The surplus keeps and can be re-tempered.

  • Everything is right and it still will not set

    While: Temperature control

    Cause
    The room. Above about 24°C nothing sets properly however good the temper.
    Fix
    Move to a cooler room. This is the constraint people check last and should check first.

  • Chocolate sets solid on the slab

    While: Tempering by tabling

    Cause
    Worked too long, or the slab was very cold.
    Fix
    Scrape it up and remelt it into the reserved warm third. Nothing is lost.

  • Sets soft and fingerprints easily

    While: Tempering chocolate

    Cause
    Not in temper, or the chocolate is not couverture and simply has too little cocoa butter.
    Fix
    Check the seed was tempered and the temperature was reached. If both were right, the material is the problem — use couverture.

  • Never sets firm even when the numbers were right

    While: Tempering milk chocolate

    Cause
    Milk chocolate is inherently softer, and a warm room compounds it.
    Fix
    Set at 15–18°C. Milk chocolate needs a cooler room than dark to firm properly.

  • Very soft set

    While: Tempering white chocolate

    Cause
    White chocolate has no cocoa solids and the highest fat proportion, so it is soft by nature.
    Fix
    Set at 15–18°C and expect a softer result than dark chocolate gives.

  • Test never sets, but the temperatures were right

    While: Testing the temper

    Cause
    The room is too warm, or the chocolate contains added fat.
    Fix
    Test somewhere cooler. If it still fails, check that nothing oily was added.

  • Will not thicken at all

    While: Whipped ganache

    Cause
    Too much cream for the chocolate type.
    Fix
    Melt in more chocolate, chill fully, and try again.

Back to the list of symptoms

Dull, streaky, grey, bloomed or rough

The surface is matt, streaked, patchy, bubbled, or has a pale film or speckles.

  • Glaze is matt rather than glossy

    While: Chocolate glaze

    Cause
    No glucose or gelatine, or the glaze was disturbed after pouring.
    Fix
    Add glucose next time, and pour in one movement without touching it afterwards.

  • Thin, patchy coverage

    While: Chocolate glaze

    Cause
    Poured too hot, or the item underneath was not cold enough.
    Fix
    Chill the item thoroughly and cool the glaze to around 35°C.

  • Bloom appeared within days of making

    While: Chocolate has bloomed

    Cause
    The chocolate was not correctly tempered.
    Fix
    Remelt and re-temper. Rapid bloom is a temper problem rather than a storage one.

  • Rough, gritty white speckles

    While: Chocolate has bloomed

    Cause
    Sugar bloom, from condensation — usually refrigeration.
    Fix
    Cannot be reversed. Keep chocolate out of the fridge, or wrap airtight and thaw fully before unwrapping.

  • Smooth pale film or streaking

    While: Chocolate has bloomed

    Cause
    Fat bloom, from warm or fluctuating storage or from poor tempering.
    Fix
    Cannot be reversed. Melt and use in cooking, and store the rest at a steady temperature.

  • Hard flecks of chocolate through the mousse

    While: Chocolate mousse

    Cause
    Cold cream met hot chocolate and set it instantly on contact.
    Fix
    Not recoverable in the finished mousse. Next time bring both closer in temperature and loosen the base first.

  • Filling tastes dull

    While: Chocolate tart filling

    Cause
    Served straight from the fridge.
    Fix
    Cold suppresses aroma. Let it come to room temperature.

  • Moulds no longer give a glossy finish

    While: Cleaning chocolate equipment

    Cause
    Detergent film or micro-scratching.
    Fix
    Not recoverable. Polish with cotton wool and expect a duller result; replace for professional work.

  • Streaks and dull patches

    While: Coating with chocolate

    Cause
    Out of temper, or the item was damp.
    Fix
    Re-temper and dry the item thoroughly.

  • Hard flecks of chocolate through the drink

    While: Frozen hot chocolate

    Cause
    Melted chocolate met something cold before it was emulsified and cooled gradually.
    Fix
    Build and cool the emulsion completely before it goes near ice. A stick blender makes a much more robust emulsion than a whisk.

  • Grey streaks or a pale film

    While: Handling and storing chocolate

    Cause
    Fat bloom, from warmth or temperature cycling.
    Fix
    Harmless and edible. Best used for cooking, where melting destroys the crystal structure anyway.

  • Gritty white speckles

    While: Handling and storing chocolate

    Cause
    Sugar bloom, from moisture — usually condensation after refrigeration.
    Fix
    Also harmless. Prevented by wrapping airtight and thawing fully before unwrapping.

  • Damp toppings caused streaks

    While: Making chocolate bark

    Cause
    Moisture from fresh fruit or wet inclusions.
    Fix
    Use dried fruit and dry toppings. Anything with water in it will mark the chocolate.

  • Chocolate turned dull

    While: Making chocolate clusters

    Cause
    Warm inclusions knocked it out of temper.
    Fix
    Cool everything to room temperature before folding.

  • Chocolate smears and sticks to the peeler

    While: Making chocolate curls

    Cause
    Too warm.
    Fix
    Chill briefly — five minutes, not thirty — and retry.

  • Grainy from the start, never becomes glossy

    While: Making ganache

    Cause
    The chocolate was overheated before the cream was added, or water got in.
    Fix
    Blending may rescue an overheated ganache. A water-seized one is not recoverable as ganache.

  • Cocoa dusting goes damp and patchy

    While: Making nama chocolate

    Cause
    Condensation, from moving the pieces between cold and warm air.
    Fix
    Dust cold, keep cold, and re-dust just before serving if they have been out.

  • Air bubbles on the face

    While: Moulding chocolate

    Cause
    Insufficient vibration after filling.
    Fix
    Tap the filled mould firmly on the bench for longer, or use a vibrating table.

  • Dull or patchy finish

    While: Moulding chocolate

    Cause
    A dirty or scratched mould, or chocolate out of temper.
    Fix
    Polish the mould with cotton wool. If a clean mould still gives a dull result, the temper is the problem.

  • Rough, uneven surface

    While: Panning

    Cause
    Too few layers.
    Fix
    Keep going. A smooth dragée is many more coats than most people expect.

  • Bloom appeared within days of making

    While: Preventing bloom

    Cause
    Almost certainly a temper failure rather than storage.
    Fix
    Test the temper next time. Well-tempered chocolate stored properly takes months.

  • Test strip is dull and streaky

    While: Tempering by seeding

    Cause
    Out of temper — usually too warm, so the seed crystals dissolved.
    Fix
    Remelt to 45–50°C and seed again.

  • Dull grey film appears after a few days

    While: Tempering chocolate

    Cause
    Fat bloom: unstable crystals converting to the stable form and migrating fat to the surface.
    Fix
    Harmless and edible. Prevented rather than cured, by tempering correctly and storing at a steady 15–18°C away from the fridge.

  • Streaky or marbled surface once set

    While: Tempering chocolate

    Cause
    Unstable crystal forms present alongside the stable one, usually because the chocolate was not cooled far enough or the seed was insufficient.
    Fix
    Remelt fully to 45–50°C and start again. Streaking cannot be corrected in place.

  • Sets hard but dull

    While: Tempering dark chocolate

    Cause
    Too much crystal — over-seeded or over-tabled.
    Fix
    Warm to the top of the working range to dissolve the excess.

  • Sets with grey streaks

    While: Tempering dark chocolate

    Cause
    Rewarmed too far, so Form V melted along with the unstable crystals.
    Fix
    Remelt and repeat, watching the rewarm closely — it is a two-degree margin.

  • Chocolate thickens through a long session

    While: Using a tempering machine

    Cause
    Crystal load building as the bowl circulates.
    Fix
    Warm briefly to the top of the working range, or add a little untempered melted chocolate.

  • Machine says it is in temper and the test strip is dull

    While: Using a tempering machine

    Cause
    Over-crystallised, or the melt cycle did not fully erase the previous crystals.
    Fix
    Run a full melt cycle to the top of the melt range and re-temper. Verify by strip, not by display.

  • Re-tempered chocolate blooms again quickly

    While: Using bloomed chocolate

    Cause
    The storage conditions that caused it in the first place have not changed.
    Fix
    Store at a stable 15–18°C. Re-tempering fixes the bar, not the cupboard.

  • Pattern smeared or incomplete

    While: Using transfer sheets

    Cause
    Peeled too early, or the chocolate was out of temper.
    Fix
    Wait for a full set. If the chocolate never contracted, it was not in temper.

  • Colour looks cloudy or streaked

    While: Working with coloured cocoa butter

    Cause
    Cocoa butter not tempered.
    Fix
    Temper it exactly as you would chocolate.

Back to the list of symptoms

Cracks, breaks or will not release

It cracked, shattered, stuck in the mould or fell apart.

  • Piped lines break when lifted

    While: Chocolate decorations

    Cause
    Piped too thin, or lifted before fully set.
    Fix
    Pipe slightly thicker and allow full setting. Acetate peels away more cleanly than paper.

  • Coating cracks after setting

    While: Dipping in chocolate

    Cause
    The centre was too cold, so the coating contracted faster than the centre.
    Fix
    Bring centres to room temperature before dipping. A cracked batch cannot be repaired invisibly.

  • Coating cracked after setting

    While: Enrobing by hand

    Cause
    The centre was too cold and expanded as it warmed.
    Fix
    Bring centres to room temperature before enrobing.

  • Toppings fall off

    While: Making chocolate bark

    Cause
    Added after the surface began to set.
    Fix
    Scatter immediately after spreading, and press them in.

  • Clusters fall apart

    While: Making chocolate clusters

    Cause
    Not enough chocolate to bind them.
    Fix
    Fold in more and re-spoon. Nothing is lost.

  • Case will not release

    While: Making chocolate cups

    Cause
    Out of temper, so the chocolate has not contracted.
    Fix
    Chill briefly to force contraction, and re-temper for the next batch.

  • Shell cracked when peeling the case

    While: Making chocolate cups

    Cause
    Only one coat, or peeled before fully set.
    Fix
    Two coats, and wait for a complete set.

  • Chocolate shatters into flakes

    While: Making chocolate curls

    Cause
    Too cold.
    Fix
    Warm the block in your hand for a minute and try again.

  • Shards bend rather than snapping

    While: Making chocolate shards

    Cause
    Not in temper, or not fully set.
    Fix
    Test the temper before spreading the next batch.

  • Air gap between filling and cap

    While: Making filled chocolates

    Cause
    The filling was too cold to settle level before capping.
    Fix
    Fill at around 30°C and tap the mould to settle before capping.

  • Filling leaks out of the base

    While: Making filled chocolates

    Cause
    The shell had a gap, or the filling was warm enough to melt through it.
    Fix
    Check the shell is complete before filling, and cool the filling to around 30°C.

  • Pieces will not release

    While: Making filled chocolates

    Cause
    Out of temper.
    Fix
    Remelt and re-temper. Forcing them will break the shells.

  • Halves will not release

    While: Making hollow figures and Easter eggs

    Cause
    Out of temper, so the chocolate has not contracted.
    Fix
    Chill for ten minutes to force contraction. If it still sticks, remelt and re-temper.

  • Shell cracked while unmoulding

    While: Making hollow figures and Easter eggs

    Cause
    Walls too thin.
    Fix
    Two coats, and let the contraction complete before attempting to unmould.

  • Visible seam

    While: Making hollow figures and Easter eggs

    Cause
    Uneven rim melt, or the halves were pressed at an angle.
    Fix
    Melt the rim evenly on a flat warm surface and press square. A little residue can be scraped once set.

  • Toppings fall off

    While: Making mendiants

    Cause
    Placed after the surface set.
    Fix
    Work in small batches — pipe six, top six.

  • Coating cracks off the truffle

    While: Making truffles

    Cause
    The centre was too cold when it was enrobed.
    Fix
    Let chilled centres sit for ten minutes before coating.

  • Collapsed on turning out

    While: Molten chocolate puddings

    Cause
    Under-baked, or turned out too soon.
    Fix
    A minute longer in the oven and a minute's rest before turning out.

  • Will not release from the mould

    While: Moulding chocolate

    Cause
    The chocolate was not in temper, so it did not contract.
    Fix
    Remelt fully and re-temper. Freezing to force release will work once and will bloom the piece.

  • Pieces stuck together

    While: Panning

    Cause
    Too much chocolate added at once, or the room is too warm.
    Fix
    Smaller additions, longer between them, cooler room.

  • Decoration breaks when peeled

    While: Piping chocolate

    Cause
    Piped too thin, or set too cold.
    Fix
    Pipe thicker and set at room temperature.

Back to the list of symptoms

Grainy, gritty or lumpy

It feels sandy or has lumps, flecks or specks in it.

  • Chips stayed as distinct lumps

    While: Baking with chocolate

    Cause
    Working as designed. Chips are formulated to resist melting.
    Fix
    Use chopped bar chocolate where the chocolate should melt into the batter.

  • Grainy at the bottom of the cup

    While: Café mocha

    Cause
    Cocoa or chocolate added after the milk.
    Fix
    Build the chocolate into the espresso first. Espresso is near boiling and is the only part of the drink hot enough to do the work.

  • Whipped ganache turns grainy

    While: Chocolate frosting

    Cause
    Over-whipping has broken the emulsion.
    Fix
    Not recoverable as a whipped ganache. Melt it gently back down and use it as a sauce.

  • Gritty

    While: Chocolate milkshake

    Cause
    Dry cocoa powder added directly.
    Fix
    Make a paste with a spoonful of hot water and cool it, or use syrup. Cocoa needs a water phase and a shake barely has one.

  • Grainy after a day in the fridge

    While: Dairy-free ganache

    Cause
    Coconut fat crystallising, which it does more readily than dairy fat.
    Fix
    Bring to a cool room temperature before serving. It is a temperature effect rather than a broken emulsion.

  • Chocolate specks or a set film on the surface

    While: Iced chocolate

    Cause
    Cocoa butter from melted chocolate solidifying on contact with cold milk, which happens abruptly at around body temperature.
    Fix
    Emulsify the base thoroughly while warm, ideally with a stick blender, and chill it gradually. A well-made emulsion holds; a poorly made one seizes into flecks the moment it meets ice.

  • Grainy

    While: Italian hot chocolate

    Cause
    The chocolate was added to milk that was too hot, or was not chopped fine enough.
    Fix
    Whisk hard off the heat; a stick blender rescues it if whisking does not.

  • Caramel is grainy

    While: Making chocolate caramel

    Cause
    Sugar crystallised during the cook.
    Fix
    Brush the pan sides with water during cooking and do not stir once it is boiling.

  • Grit at the bottom of the glass

    While: Making chocolate milk

    Cause
    The cocoa was never properly wetted, so dry cores inside clumps sank as soon as stirring stopped.
    Fix
    Make a paste first, with a small amount of liquid and enough force to feel resistance. Once it has settled, re-stirring redistributes it temporarily but the clumps are still clumps — a stick blender is the only real rescue.

  • Tastes dusty or chalky rather than chocolatey

    While: Making chocolate milk

    Cause
    Too much cocoa for the sugar, or a natural cocoa whose acidity is showing on a cold palate.
    Fix
    Cold suppresses sweetness and aroma perception, so a chocolate milk needs to be sweeter than the same recipe would be hot. Try more sugar before more cocoa. A Dutch-process cocoa is smoother and less acidic if the dustiness is sharp rather than flat.

  • Shavings clump together

    While: Making chocolate shavings

    Cause
    Warmed by handling.
    Fix
    Grate directly onto the dish and do not touch them.

  • Lumps of undissolved powder

    While: Making hot chocolate

    Cause
    Cocoa powder added directly to hot liquid.
    Fix
    Slake it to a paste with cold liquid first. A lumpy drink can be rescued with a stick blender.

  • Lumps that will not disperse

    While: Malted chocolate drinks

    Cause
    Powder added to full-volume liquid; the starch in the powder gels on the outside of each clump.
    Fix
    Paste first, always. A lumpy malted drink is harder to rescue than a lumpy cocoa because the gelled starch holds the clump together.

  • Thick and grainy

    While: Melted chocolate is too thick

    Cause
    Seizing from water contact.
    Fix
    Add substantially more liquid and repurpose as a sauce. It will not return to melted chocolate.

  • Lumpy

    While: Spanish drinking chocolate

    Cause
    Starch added to hot liquid rather than slaked cold first.
    Fix
    Pass through a sieve. It rescues the batch and it is not as good as doing it in the right order.

  • Tastes floury or chalky

    While: Spanish drinking chocolate

    Cause
    The starch was not cooked out — the mixture never reached a simmer.
    Fix
    Return to the heat and hold at a bare simmer for a further minute or two, whisking.

  • Unmelted lumps remain

    While: Tempering by seeding

    Cause
    Too much seed added, or the melt had cooled too far before seeding started.
    Fix
    Warm very gently to 33–34°C to dissolve them, then bring back down. Do not exceed 34°C or the temper is lost.

  • Gritty unmelted specks that will not disperse

    While: Tempering in a microwave

    Cause
    Too much seed added too late, or the chocolate cooled below working range.
    Fix
    Warm for five seconds at a time, stirring between, until they dissolve — and no further.

  • Lumpy

    While: Traditional drinking chocolate

    Cause
    Cornflour or cocoa added dry to hot liquid.
    Fix
    Slake into cold liquid first. A stick blender rescues a lumpy batch.

Back to the list of symptoms

Too thick

It will not flow, pour or coat thinly enough.

  • Melted chips are thick and will not coat

    While: Baking with chocolate chips

    Cause
    The formulation, not the technique.
    Fix
    Nothing fixes it. Use a chopped bar or couverture for anything that has to flow.

  • Thickened in the pot

    While: Chocolate fondue

    Cause
    Cooling, or evaporation over a long service.
    Fix
    Stir in a little warm cream.

  • Thickened but smells normal

    While: Chocolate has overheated

    Cause
    Probably over-crystallisation during tempering rather than scorching.
    Fix
    Warm gently by a degree or two while stirring. That usually loosens it.

  • Coating is thick and uneven

    While: Coating with chocolate

    Cause
    Chocolate too viscous — either an eating bar, or couverture that has cooled too far.
    Fix
    Warm back into working range, or switch to couverture.

  • Thick, heavy coating with a large foot

    While: Dipping in chocolate

    Cause
    Chocolate too cool and therefore too viscous, or not enough tapping.
    Fix
    Warm the chocolate back into working range and tap the fork firmly on the bowl edge.

  • Thick foot around the base

    While: Enrobing by hand

    Cause
    Not enough excess shed before setting down.
    Fix
    Tap more, and draw the fork across the rim to scrape the base clean.

  • Later pieces are thicker and heavier than the first

    While: Holding temper while working

    Cause
    The chocolate has cooled and thickened through the batch.
    Fix
    Warm briefly back into range. This is normal rather than a failure.

  • Too thick to drink

    While: Italian hot chocolate

    Cause
    Too much starch, or cooked too long.
    Fix
    Whisk in more hot milk. Do it off the heat and add gradually, or it will loosen past where you want it.

  • Thick but smooth

    While: Melted chocolate is too thick

    Cause
    Over-crystallisation, or an eating bar rather than couverture.
    Fix
    Warm slightly while stirring. If that does not work, add melted cocoa butter.

  • Thickens progressively during a long run

    While: Melted chocolate is too thick

    Cause
    Continuing crystallisation as the chocolate sits at working temperature.
    Fix
    Warm gently and stir. Over a very long session a full remelt and re-temper is sometimes needed.

  • Thick but thin-tasting

    While: Spanish drinking chocolate

    Cause
    Too much starch and not enough chocolate. The body is coming from the wrong place.
    Fix
    Melt in more chocolate. Adding starch to fix a weak chocolate load makes it worse.

  • Thick and hard to coat with

    While: Working with compound coating

    Cause
    Too cool, or a low-grade product.
    Fix
    Warm gently. Adding a little flavourless oil thins it without consequence, since there is no temper to break.

Back to the list of symptoms

Too thin or watery

It runs off, coats too thinly, or drinks like water.

  • Thin and soupy

    While: Chocolate milkshake

    Cause
    Over-blending, too much milk, or ice cream that had already melted.
    Fix
    Nothing rescues a collapsed shake except more ice cream and a short burst. Next time: softened rather than melted, short bursts, milk added last.

  • Chocolate element tastes of nothing

    While: Chocolate on a plated dessert

    Cause
    Served too cold.
    Fix
    Serve chocolate components at or above room temperature wherever the plate allows.

  • Thin and watery despite plenty of cocoa

    While: Choosing chocolate for drinks

    Cause
    Cocoa powder carries little fat, and fat is what gives body.
    Fix
    Switch to chopped bar chocolate, or add a knob of butter to a powder-based drink.

  • Coating slides off the centre

    While: Dipping in chocolate

    Cause
    Surface moisture on the centre, or a centre that is greasy.
    Fix
    Dry the centres thoroughly. For very moist centres, a thin first coat as a sealing layer helps.

  • Thin, despite plenty of chocolate

    While: French chocolat chaud

    Cause
    A low-percentage chocolate, which is mostly sugar and milk solids, or insufficient whisking.
    Fix
    Use a chocolate at 60% or above, and whisk rather than stir. Do not add cornflour — that is the Spanish drink, and a good one, but a different one.

  • Chocolate tastes of something else

    While: Handling and storing chocolate

    Cause
    Odour absorption from nearby storage.
    Fix
    Not reversible. Store wrapped and away from aromatics.

  • Tastes bitter and thin, though the same recipe is good hot

    While: Iced chocolate

    Cause
    Cold suppresses sweetness and aroma while leaving bitterness largely intact. This is a perception effect, not a mistake.
    Fix
    More sugar, and a pinch of salt. Correct while cold.

  • Watery by the time it is drunk

    While: Iced chocolate

    Cause
    Too much ice, or ice added to a warm drink.
    Fix
    Chill the base first, use fewer and larger cubes — surface area drives melting — and build the drink stronger to start with.

  • Thin and watery despite using good chocolate

    While: Making hot chocolate

    Cause
    Too much liquid for the chocolate, or a low-percentage chocolate contributing little solid.
    Fix
    Increase the chocolate rather than reducing the milk — the ratio is the variable.

  • Correct temperature but still coats thinly

    While: Melted chocolate is too thin

    Cause
    A high-fat enrobing couverture, formulated for exactly this.
    Fix
    Nothing is wrong. Use a lower-fat couverture if a thicker coat is wanted, or apply a second coat.

  • Runs straight off the centre

    While: Melted chocolate is too thin

    Cause
    Too warm, and therefore out of temper.
    Fix
    Cool to working temperature with tempered seed while stirring.

  • Added cocoa butter powder and nothing changed

    While: Tempering without seed chocolate

    Cause
    Chocolate was too warm, so the seed crystals melted.
    Fix
    Cool to 34°C and add fresh powder. Above 35°C it cannot work.

  • Thin despite plenty of chocolate

    While: Traditional drinking chocolate

    Cause
    No starch. The traditional thickness is not achievable from chocolate alone.
    Fix
    Add slaked cornflour and cook briefly to activate it.

Back to the list of symptoms

Baking came out wrong

A cake, brownie or biscuit that is dense, dry, raw or has lost its chocolate.

  • Bake is far sweeter than expected

    While: Baking with chocolate

    Cause
    A sweetened chocolate used where the recipe assumed unsweetened.
    Fix
    Reduce the recipe's sugar by roughly the sugar content of the chocolate used — around 30g per 100g of a 70% bar.

  • Chips sank to the bottom of the cake

    While: Baking with chocolate chips

    Cause
    Batter too thin, or the chips were not floured.
    Fix
    Toss them in a spoonful of the recipe's flour before folding in.

  • Chocolate disappeared into the crumb entirely

    While: Baking with chopped chocolate

    Cause
    Chopped too fine.
    Fix
    Keep some pieces large. A mix of sizes is what gives both flavour and visible seams.

  • Cake came out flat and dense

    While: Baking with cocoa powder

    Cause
    Dutch-process cocoa used where the recipe relied on natural cocoa to activate soda.
    Fix
    Swap the soda for about three times as much baking powder, or add an acid.

  • Dry, tight crumb

    While: Baking with cocoa powder

    Cause
    Cocoa absorbs liquid that melted chocolate would have contributed as fat.
    Fix
    Add a little more liquid or fat when substituting cocoa for chocolate.

  • Dense rather than light

    While: Chocolate mousse

    Cause
    The aeration was knocked out during folding.
    Fix
    Fold rather than stir, and loosen the base with a small amount before adding the rest.

  • Cake tastes sweet rather than chocolatey

    While: Choosing chocolate for a cake

    Cause
    Not enough cocoa solid — a low-percentage chocolate contributes mostly sugar.
    Fix
    Use cocoa powder for flavour, or move to a higher percentage and reduce the sugar.

  • Dry and crumbly rather than fudgy

    While: Choosing chocolate for brownies

    Cause
    Percentage too high without a sugar or fat adjustment.
    Fix
    Add sugar back, and a spoonful more butter.

  • Chocolate vanished into the dough

    While: Choosing chocolate for cookies

    Cause
    Chopped too fine, or a low-percentage chocolate that dissolved.
    Fix
    Larger pieces, higher percentage.

  • No molten centre

    While: Molten chocolate puddings

    Cause
    Over-baked by a minute or two.
    Fix
    Chill the moulds before baking, which widens the window.

  • Doubled bake is raw in the middle and overdone at the edges

    While: Scaling a chocolate recipe

    Cause
    Deeper pan rather than a wider one.
    Fix
    Split across two pans at the original depth.

Back to the list of symptoms

Tastes wrong

Too sweet, too bitter, too faint, or of something else.

  • Harsh and bitter, though both ingredients are good

    While: Café mocha

    Cause
    Two bitter components at full strength with no sugar mediating them.
    Fix
    More sugar, or a lower-percentage chocolate, or a lighter-roast coffee. All three work; sugar works fastest.

  • Tastes only of coffee

    While: Café mocha

    Cause
    Not enough chocolate, or cocoa powder without enough sugar to carry it.
    Fix
    Espresso is intense and chocolate at drinking dilution is not. A mocha needs more chocolate than instinct suggests — closer to a hot chocolate's dose than to a syrup pump's.

  • Tastes mild despite plenty of chocolate

    While: Chocolate ice cream

    Cause
    Cold suppresses aroma perception.
    Fix
    Increase the cocoa powder rather than the chocolate, and serve slightly softened.

  • Cloyingly sweet

    While: Choosing chocolate for brownies

    Cause
    Sweetened chocolate used where the recipe expected unsweetened.
    Fix
    Reduce the recipe's sugar by roughly the sugar content of the chocolate used.

  • Tastes strongly of coconut

    While: Dairy-free ganache

    Cause
    Working as designed. Coconut cream carries its own flavour.
    Fix
    Use a refined coconut product where available, or switch to an oat or soya cooking cream where the coconut is unwanted.

  • Flavour is too faint

    While: Infusing flavour into chocolate

    Cause
    Under-steeping, or an aromatic that is not fat-soluble.
    Fix
    Steep longer, or infuse into cream rather than fat if the aromatic is water-soluble.

  • Tastes weak however much cocoa goes in

    While: Making chocolate milk

    Cause
    Cold, plus no salt, plus fat-free milk.
    Fix
    A pinch of salt and whole rather than skimmed milk both do more for perceived chocolate intensity than another spoonful of cocoa. Fat carries aroma compounds to the receptors; without it the drink is thinner in flavour as well as in body.

  • Bitter

    While: Making praliné

    Cause
    Caramel taken too far, or hazelnut skins left on.
    Fix
    Neither is reversible. Both are prevention rather than repair.

  • Tastes sweet and flat, with no malt character

    While: Malted chocolate drinks

    Cause
    Boiled, or made with water rather than milk.
    Fix
    Heat to steaming and no further, and use milk. The milk solids are part of the flavour these drinks are built around.

  • Chocolates taste of the cupboard

    While: Packaging chocolates

    Cause
    No sealed barrier. Cocoa butter absorbs odours readily.
    Fix
    Seal inside the box, and store away from anything aromatic.

  • All the bars taste the same

    While: Setting up a chocolate tasting

    Cause
    Palate fatigue, or too many bars.
    Fix
    Stop at four or five. Reset with water and plain bread between each.

  • Filling tastes stale after a week

    While: Storing finished chocolates

    Cause
    A cream ganache at room temperature.
    Fix
    Refrigerate cream-filled pieces, and make them closer to when they will be eaten.

Back to the list of symptoms

Other problems

Specific to one technique, and not like anything above.

  • Icy rather than creamy

    While: Chocolate milkshake

    Cause
    Ice added, or a low-fat ice cream with large crystals.
    Fix
    Do not use ice. Fat is what keeps ice crystals small and a shake creamy; a full-fat ice cream produces a fundamentally better shake than a low-fat one plus ice ever will.

  • Filling will not cut cleanly

    While: Chocolate tart filling

    Cause
    Too soft a ratio, or served too warm.
    Fix
    More chocolate next time. A hot knife wiped between cuts helps in the meantime.

  • Cream sinks straight in

    While: Italian hot chocolate

    Cause
    The drink is not thick enough to support it, or the cream was not whipped.
    Fix
    Whip the cream lightly first. It is meant to sit as a distinct layer.

  • Ragged cut edges

    While: Making nama chocolate

    Cause
    The slab was not cold enough, or the blade was.
    Fix
    Chill the slab thoroughly and warm the blade in hot water, wiping dry between each cut.

  • Melting very slowly and unevenly

    While: Melting in a double boiler

    Cause
    Pieces too large, or the water not hot enough.
    Fix
    Chop finer. A uniform small chop melts far faster than a hotter pan does.

  • Lines spread and lose definition

    While: Piping chocolate

    Cause
    Chocolate too warm.
    Fix
    Let it cool to the bottom of the working window before piping.

  • Chocolate is not climbing the auger

    While: Running a chocolate fountain

    Cause
    Too thick, or too cool.
    Fix
    Add cocoa butter and check the temperature is at least 40°C.

  • Cannot detect what the tasting notes describe

    While: Setting up a chocolate tasting

    Cause
    Chocolate too cold, or chewed rather than melted.
    Fix
    Room temperature, and let each piece melt against the roof of the mouth for a minute.

  • Skins over in the cup

    While: Spanish drinking chocolate

    Cause
    Normal for a starch-set drink with milk in it, and more pronounced the longer it stands.
    Fix
    Serve promptly, and whisk briefly before pouring if it has stood.

  • Recombined chocolate is above working temperature

    While: Tempering by tabling

    Cause
    The cooled portion was not taken far enough down.
    Fix
    Table a further portion and add it back, or add seed chocolate.

  • No slab and no cocoa butter powder

    While: Tempering without seed chocolate

    Cause
    Neither route is available.
    Fix
    Buy any sealed bar with a good snap and use it as seed. An unopened bar is tempered by definition.

  • Finish is smooth rather than velvet

    While: Velvet spray finish

    Cause
    The item was not frozen hard enough.
    Fix
    Freeze solid. This is the whole mechanism.

  • Gun blocks

    While: Velvet spray finish

    Cause
    Mixture too cool, or unstrained particles.
    Fix
    Strain the mixture and keep it near 40°C.

  • Bought a tempering machine and cannot use it for small batches

    While: What equipment you actually need

    Cause
    Minimum charge, typically one to three kilograms.
    Fix
    Temper the minimum, use what you need, and let the rest set for re-tempering later.

  • Colour lifts off with the mould

    While: Working with coloured cocoa butter

    Cause
    Applied too thick, or the mould was greasy.
    Fix
    Thin layers, and polish the mould with cotton wool first.

Back to the list of symptoms

What this cannot tell you

  • It can only list causes this site has recorded. A problem that is not here has not been ruled out; it has not been written down.
  • It cannot see your chocolate. Several causes produce the same appearance, and telling them apart depends on what happened before the symptom, which only you know.
  • The grouping is by the wording of each symptom. A problem described in unusual terms may sit under a different heading from the one you would choose, or under the last one.
  • Fixes assume real chocolate made with cocoa butter. Compound coatings, sugar-free and vegan chocolates behave differently, and where a technique page says so, that page is the authority.
  • It is about making and handling chocolate. Whether something that went wrong is still safe to eat is a different question, covered under food safety.

When the same symptom has opposite fixes

The reason to look at every cause of a symptom, rather than the first, is that the fixes disagree. Chocolate that turned to a thick paste because a drop of water got in is rescued by adding more warm liquid and using it as a sauce. Chocolate that is grainy with a burnt smell is not recoverable. Chocolate that has merely thickened as it cooled needs a degree or two of warmth. Three thick bowls, three different answers. Read the cause before the fix, and check it against what actually happened. For the underlying science see chocolate troubleshooting and chocolate defects and their causes.

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