Why Balance a Ganache and Is It Necessary?
Why Balance a Ganache and Is It Necessary?
A good balance ensures:
- Ideal texture
- Ideal sweetness.
- Good stability over time.
- Ideal water % for the desired shelf life.
- Consistent texture over time.
Balancing also:
- Allows us to quickly see potential problems before making a new recipe.
- Enables us to evaluate our results.
- Helps us to improve the shelf life while maintaining the desired texture.
- Allows us to work faster by not making repeated mistakes.
- Teaches us about the ingredients we use and how they interact together.
Previous Article
But Do I Need to Balance My Ganache Recipes?
The answer is... Maybe.
Consider the questions below. "Yes" answers indicate that you may want to consider balancing your recipes. "No" answers mean balancing might not be something you need to worry about at this point. There are no right or wrong answers!
- Do you like math?
- Are you unhappy with a recipe?
- Do you make a lot of ganaches already?
- Do you make a lot of different ganaches?
- Do you change your recipes often?
- Are you trying to maximize profits?
- Are you striving for consistency?
- Are you trying to extend shelf life?
- Do you want your recipes to be unique?
- Are you a curious pastry chef?
Balancing can be as straightforward or as complex as you'd like. The more you know about your ingredients, the deeper your understanding of your recipes will become. Even with limited knowledge, you can make decisions that, for many chefs, will be more than enough.
Countless pastry chefs throughout history have not only survived but flourished without ever having balanced a single recipe. However, armed with just a little time, patience, and knowledge, balancing can help the chef become more creative, more profitable, and ultimately more successful.
