Tempering Chocolate

If you are looking to master the art of handling chocolate, learning to temper chocolate should be high up on your to-do list. Tempering is important to chocolate-making, as it preserves the chocolate's original characteristics.

Cool down your chocolate too quickly, and it will form sugar crystals that give it a rough, grainy texture. Cool it down too slowly, and it will retain a gummy, elastic quality.

Tempering stabilizes the relationship between the butter fat and the cocoa solids present in chocolate. This process (also known as emulsification) enables chocolate to be handled effortlessly when using molds and chocolate fondant. Tempering also aids in preserving the chocolate's flavor, quality, and appearance for longer periods of time, as well as preserving its flavor and appearance.

When a chocolate is manufactured, it is tempered before being molded and finished. But once a tempered chocolate is melted, it must be tempered again before it cools down into a solid piece.

It's easy to recognize untempered chocolate, because it blooms, acquiring a dull, brittle appearance, and sometimes looks cloudy and white on the surface.

To temper chocolate, you will need a plastic or silicon dough scraper and a cold, flat surface that will easily lower the temperature of your chocolate.

Professional chocolatiers prefer to use a slab of marble. If this isn't an option, use an baking sheet placed upside-down on the counter. If you wish to cool your chocolate faster, put a plate with ice beneath the baking sheet to accelerate the process.

Melt your chocolate and make sure that it's smooth and homogeneous before you start tempering.

Pour more than half of the chocolate over your tempering surface. Using your plastic dough scraper, spread the chocolate in a circular motion, thinning it gently. Scrape the chocolate up and spread it thinly in a circle once again. Repeat this process for about five minutes or until temperature reaches 82F.  Once the temperature is right, return the tempered chocolate into the bowl and mix it into the remaining melted chocolate. Once combined, the chocolate cannot exceed a temperature of 90F. Your chocolate is now tempered and ready for use!