I think of this post as something essential but kinda boring, in the sense that I'm not going to post any photos. So why do we need to temper chocolate? Well, the answer lies in the aesthetics. You have probably noticed how a good bar of chocolate looks shiny, and is firm but easy to break while baking chocolate looks kinda dull and unappealing, right? That's because the chocolate bars meant for direct consumption are in temper.
Most home cooks rarely need to temper chocolate because the process is unnecessary when chocolate is mixed into some sort of dough or batter. But it is absolutely essential if you want to create chocolate-coated fruits or candies that process the beautiful shine making them look like they have been obtained from a professional shop.
Tempering chocolate sounds scary, doesn't it? It took me a while before I made my first attempt. I have since done it a few times and find that the advice you get when you do a quick "tempering chocolate" google search: 1) it's much much easier to temper chocolate in large quantity, and 2) it requires PATIENCE!!!!!! And if I can do it, so can you because I have never been known for my patience!
So, tempering really means melting, cooling, and reheating. These processes disrupt the structure of the cocoa butter in the chocolate and then re-stabilize it. However, the range of temperature to reheat the chocolate is small so an instant thermometer is needed for this process.
So start out with at least 1 pound of premium-quality chocolate, finely chopped. Take some time to do this if you must, you don't want to have to melt big chunks of chocolate later on. I have tried half a pound but that really required extreme care as the chocolate reheats very quickly.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering (but not boiling) water. If you want to "seed" the chocolate later on, keep about 1/4 of the chocolate. You could also melt the chocolate in a microwave by heating it up in spurts and then stirring but it's less easy to control. Make sure the chocolate melts completely by allowing it to reach at least 115ºF (or 45ºC).
Remove the chocolate from the heat, allow it to cool to a temperature between 80ºF and 83ºF (or 27-28ºC). This can be achieved by either leaving the chocolate to cool at room temperature, with occasional stirring, or by adding some chunks of the same type of chocolate (but not more than 30% of the weight of the melted chocolate) to the melted chocolate (this is referred to as seeding).
Before you reheat the chocolate, make sure you have a heating pad wrapped in a towel or a heat lamp ready if you are going to work on the tempered chocolate for a while.
Reheat the chocolate to restabilize the cocoa butter crystals. The range of temperatures for different types of chocolate are:
- dark chocolate: 87-89ºF, 30-32ºC
- milk and white chocolate: 85-88ºF, 29-31ºC.
If you accidentally heat the chocolate to above the range for its type, no worries, all you need to do is to heat it back up past 115ºF and repeat the process of cooling and reheating.
The chocolate is now in temper and ready to use. You can do a quick test by dipping a knife in the chocolate and put it in the refrigerator for a few seconds. It should come out with a shiny, streak-free layer of chocolate. While working with the tempered chocolate, if you use a heat lamp, make sure it's at a fair distance away so that the chocolate is not over-heated.
Have fun tempering chocolate! I can't guarantee that your temper will remained tempered during this process though :D
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