Tempered chocolate has a precise crystalline structure, making it more stable, shiny, and crunchy. It can be made with a machine or by hand, but the process is painstaking. The cocoa butter in chocolate creates the structure, and it can lose its temper. To make it by hand, melt the chocolate, add seed chocolate, and keep it at a specific temperature. Tempered chocolate is used to make various chocolate candies and desserts, and it should be kept dry.
Tempered chocolate is chocolate that has been heated and specially cooled to form a precise crystalline structure. Most of the chocolate available for sale is tempered and can be recognized by a shiny appearance and pleasant “click” when broken or bitten. As a general rule, a home cook doesn’t need to temper chocolate unless he or she is making chocolates, and most cooks use a machine to temper chocolate. It is possible to temper the chocolate by hand, but the process is painstaking.
The main reason for tempering chocolate is to change the texture and make it more stable. Tempered chocolate is less likely to develop an unsightly bloom from exposure to excessive cold or heat. It also has a captivating sheen and unique texture. Chocolate that hasn’t been tempered tends to be almost chewy, rather than crunchy. Tempered chocolate and sweets made with it simply taste better.
The structure of the chocolate is created by the cocoa butter in the chocolate. When chocolate melts and then solidifies, the cocoa butter forms a distinctive crystalline structure. By holding a certain temperature as it cools, the texture will be radically different, creating tempered chocolate. Tempering is a two-step process, involving melting the chocolate and then holding it at a set temperature while it cools and is worked.
Chocolate can lose its temper, which is why it bakes retemper chocolate to make chocolate desserts such as dried fruit and filled chocolates. With the use of a tempering machine, tempered chocolate is very easy to make. The chocolate is broken up and melted before mixing in the seeds of the already tempered chocolate. The mixture is kept at the right temperature electronically and is ready for use.
To make tempered chocolate by hand, start by breaking the chocolate into pieces and heating it in a double boiler until melted, not allowing it to go above 133 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius). Next, take the chocolate out of the boiler, add a few pieces of the “seed” chocolate and keep the chocolate warm with the use of a hot pad while stirring it so it cannot solidify. If you don’t have a hot pad, dip the chocolate in and out of the double boiler. For dark chocolate, keep the temperature at around 88° Fahrenheit (31° Celsius). Milk chocolate should be stored at 86° Fahrenheit (30° Celsius), while white chocolate prefers 80° Fahrenheit (27° Celsius). Test the character by spreading a thin layer of chocolate on a flat surface and chilling it. It should be dry, hard and shiny. If not, recover the chocolate.
Tempered chocolate can be used to make a variety of chocolate candies and desserts. In all cases, you need to work with the chocolate while it’s hot and melted. If the chocolate cools and hardens, coat it. Even tempered chocolate prefers to be kept completely dry, and even a small addition of water will cause the chocolate to coagulate and “seize,” making it useless for chocolate candy.
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