The 12-step chocoholics program: NEVER BE MORE THAN 12 STEPS AWAY FROM CHOCOLATE! Terry Moore

 

 

Tempering is a crucial step in creating any types of truffles, bonbons, pralines, or any type of chocolates. Tempering or crystallization is the process of developing "Beta" crystals in chocolate. Below you will find the temperatures to properly temper chocolate, the process and a little knowledge about the 6 crystals in chocolate will be reviewed.  The supplies needed are listed.

Items Needed:
1) Medium to Large Pot
2) Stainless steel bowl
3) Spatulas, putty knives, both triangular and straight 
4) Precise Thermometer
5) Chocolate already in temper (any chocolate you buy will already be in temper).  I recommend beginning with dark chocolate as it is the easiest to temper
6) Digital scale will help
7) kitchen towels
8) knife or spoon to check temper

I highly suggest you watch some demonstrations before beginning.
  Video (Callebaut-you need to register -for free)       
  Video (Ghirardelli shows the two methods described below) 

Temperatures

Type of Chocolate	Melt  the temperature  to (follow recommendations of the manufacturer)	Bring temperature down to (follow recommendations of the manufacturer)	Raise temperature to the "working temperature" (follow recommendations of the manufacturer)	Highest possible temperature range for chocolate that has thickened and grown too many crystals
Dark chocolate	45-58 C 113-136.5 F	28-29 C 82.4 -84.2 F	31-32 C 87.8 -89.6 F	Gradually ,as needed raise temp in increments of  0.5 C ( 0.9 F)not higher than 34.4 C  (93.9 F)
Milk chocolate	40-48 C 104-118.5 F	27-28 C 80.6 - 82.4 F	29-30 C 84.2 - 86 F	Gradually ,as needed raise temp in increments of  0.5 C ( 0.9 F)not higher than 32.2 C  (89.9. F)
White chocolate	40-45 C 104 - 113 F	26-27 C 78.8 - 80.6	28-29 C 82.4 - 84.2	Gradually ,as needed raise temp in increments of  0.5 C ( 0.9 F)not higher than 31.C (87.7 F)

 

Method 1 - Tabliering
 Please read everything first!

Ensure that the working environment is not more than 21 C (70 F) and under 60% humidity. An air conditioner should be able to accomplish this.

1) Fill Pot 1/4-1/2 full with water

2) Heat water to a boil, Then turn off heat, and place a folded kitchen towel over the pot and then, on top of the towel, the stainless steel bowl (The bowl over the pot of hot water is called a "Double Boiler" or a Bain Marie). The towel absorbs moisture. If necessary, the water can always be warmed up a bit at any point.

3) Place the chopped up chocolate in the stainless steel bowl .The idea is to gently melt the chocolate through the subtle heat of the water). Do not let the bowl touch the water in pot. If it does, remove some water or use a smaller pot or bigger bowl.

4) Let the chocolate melt gently in the bowl and stir to let the chocolate heat evenly.

5) Place thermometer in the chocolate and heat chocolate to "Melt to" temperature in the above chart, always check what the temperatures that the manufacturer recommends.

6) When the chocolate has reached the recommended temperature take  the bowl off the heat and wipe the bottom of it as to not get ANY moisture near the chocolate. If moisture gets in the chocolate it will seize (become lumpy and grainy and be ruined).

7) Pour about 2/3 of the melted chocolate onto the marble or stainless steel countertop. The idea is to create the correct crystals in the chocolate by using time, temperature (it is cooling) and movement. Using the spatulas that suit you, spread the chocolate out thinly into a large pool and constantly move it around. You can gather it all up and then spread it out thinly over and over. When you observe that the chocolate has thickened and the edges seem to be crystalizing or hardening, it is time to pour or scoop this mass of thickened chocolate back into the bowl of melted chocolate. Do not let it harden too much!

8) Mix well and make sure the chocolate is at the  "bring down to" temperature, according to the chart above or the manufacturer's recommendations. If it is not, either stir constantly until it is, or remove some to the marble once again.

9) Once it reaches  the temperature it should be brought down to, it now needs to be reheated, in order to melt out the undesirable crystals and leave only the stable "beta" ones. So the bowl needs to be VERY gently wamed with an accurate thermometer in it in order to bring the temperature up to the " raise temp to" on the chart above or according to the manufacturer's instructions.

10) The chocolate should now be at its working temperature. Always always test for perfect temper by placing a metal knife or spoon in the chocolate and set it aside for a few minutes. After 4-5 minutes it should be hard and shiny.  There should be no signs of streaking. If it is not perfect , the process needs to be repeated. Eventually it will be perfect. Patience is needed!

Note: I highly recommend first timers to get some cocoa butter to temper first. Cocoa butter is tempered according to the temperatures of dark chocolate. You can visually see the changes occurring during the tempering process. The cocoa butter goes clear upon melting and then whitens while hardening. It is a learning experience and is fascinating. You can also leave some cocoa butter aside at different stages during the tempering process in order to compare how it looks, tastes and feels at different points of the process.

 Method 2 - Seeding

Please read everything first!

This method begins as the tabliering method does. Please note that the chart is the same, only we omit or ignore the   " bring temperature down to" column.

1) Weigh the chocolate prior to melting it.

2) Follow all the instructions above 1-6

7) Seed Chocolate: add about 25% of the amount of chocolate you melted. If you melted 1000g, so you need to about 250g. This will be used to "seed" the chocolate.

8) Place the bowl with the melted chocolate onto the marble or stainless steel countertop. The idea here is to mix in and melt the solid "seed"chocolate by constant stirring or agitation until the chocolate reaches its "working temperature" according to the above chart or the manufacture's recommendations, while always having some chocolate in the bowl that did not melt. This, in my opinion, is crucial to a perfect temper.

Now the problem: if you throw all the solid pieces (the "seed" chocolate into the melted chocolate all at once, you may be left with many small half melted pieces that are impossible to totally fish out at the end of the process. So, there are a few solutions: 
      a. Use a hand held emulsifier/blender to melt them in
      b. Use one large chunk for seeding instead of pieces, so it can easily be fished out
      c. Don't throw all the pieces in at once. Throw in most, but leave some behind. Then when you see the pieces have mostly melted, add some more, and then some more, until the chocolate reaches its working temperature and now you can fish out those last few pieces that you finally threw in! You maintain control!

The beauty of this method is that it is clean, and if the chocolate is not perfectly tempered, you can lower the temperature of the poorly tempered chocolate to the "bring the temperature down to"  according to the chart, and then reheat it to its working temperature.

9)  The chocolate should now be at its working temperature. Always always test for perfect temper by placing a metal knife or spoon in the chocolate and set it aside for a few minutes. After 4-5 minutes it should be hard and shiny. 

For both methods:

If the chocolates cools down to the lower end of its working range, it may be too thick to work with. This can be remedied by gently heating the chocolate over the bain Marie, guarding that it does not go above its higher end of the range. You can also zap it with a hair dryer.

After a while the chocolate thickens due to over crystallization, and then it can be carefully heated up, in increments of 0.5 C or 0.9 F. above its usual  highest working temperature range. Just follow the chart and test for temper all the time.

Crystals in Chocolate

Form I (γ) melts from 16-18°C (מתאים לציפוי גלידה)

Form II (α) melts from 22-24°C 

Form III (β'2) melts from 24-26°C

Form IV (β'1) melts from 26-28°C

Form V (β2) melts from 32-34°C

Form VI (β1) melts above 34-36°C

When chocolate is heated and then begins to cool crystals WILL form. Because of this we want to control that cyrstalization. Alpha, Beta Prime, Beta Double and Gamma are not stable in chocolate. They will make the chocolate soft (not a good snap when broken). There won't be a good shine and there will be light brown streaks in the chocolate (Fat Bloom). We want to form the "Beta" Crystals. Those are the crystals that will give us a good shine on the chocolate and a hard snap when the chocolate is broken.

Form Vl(6) is a form that occurs when "Beta" Crystals have already formed. This form Vl usually occurs months after the chocolate has been tempered and hardened. The Form Vl crystals form and allow just a small amount of cocoa butter to escape to the top of the chocolate. This will form a haze on the top of the chocolate.

 

CDN digital candy thermometer
This is what I use                                                       Sper Infra red thermometer

 

                                                         

 

 Products that can help you:

For the small producers or beginners: Melters and dippers:
 

 



Tempering machines:These melt, agitate and along with your adding the
"seeds" (solid pieces of chocolate), will raise
and lower temperature, thereby tempering the chocolate:

 smaller quantities          larger quantities