How to Temper Chocolate by Carmen SanDago

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How to Temper Chocolate
by Carmen SanDago

The most important consideration

while tempering chocolate is to

have control of the temperature of

the melting chocolate. This is

best accomplished with the use of

a double boiler, a simple double

boiler can be made by placing a

bowl onto a pan, using about ½

inch or water in the bottom of the

pan allows you to melt the

chocolate.

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Bring the water to a boil, if you

are melting a small amount of

chocolate you can remove the pan

from the heat at this time and the

heat from the water will melt the

chocolate in the bowl. If you are

melting a large quantity of

chocolate, reduce the heat to

simmer. Place the bowl of

chocolate on top of the pan and

stir with a silicone spatula until

it melts.

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Removing the bowl from the pan

allows you to slow the heating

process and replacing it will

introduce more heat as needed.

A crystal structure forms when the

cocoa butter in chocolate is

melted and then cooled, returning

to a solid form. The structure it

takes on depends on the

temperature it was at when the

crystals were formed. Allowing

chocolate to cool on its own may

cause the crystals to be loose,

causing the chocolate to be dull,

soft, malleable and greasy to the

touch. It is better to maintain a

temperature of 88 degrees F

allowing the cocoa butter to form

a dense structure. Holding this

temperature while stirring allows

these crystals to form providing

seed crystals to form in the

chocolate. With enough of these

seeds when the chocolate is

finally allowed to cool it will

harden properly having a slight

sheen and snap when it is broken,

when stored properly at a cool

room temperature it will keep for

months.

The seed method of tempering

chocolate is the easiest, and

doesnt require a marble slab!

Because most of the chocolate now

available is tempered we can use a

piece of this to provide seed

crystals to temper our chocolate.

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When the chocolate has reached a

temperature of 105 degrees F

remove it from the heat, add a

piece of un-melted chocolate to

provide the necessary seed

crystals. Stir until the

chocolate comes within the

tempering range, 88-90 degrees F;

maintain this temperature until

the chocolate is ready for use.

Thank you,

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Author's Biography:

C. SanDago used to be an office and motel cleaner earning minimum wage on a contract by contract basis, working very hard to make ends meet. Being forced to stay at home after her baby, she says it was like a

Posted on: March 19,2008

Email: bkoffice@ez1click.com
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