Things You'll Need:
- serrated knife
- cutting board
- dark chocolate bar; fine chocolate
- microwave
- spoon
- spatula
- mixing bowl
- whisk
- candy thermometer
-
Step 1
Take a bar of fine, high quality dark chocolate and place it on a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to chop the chocolate into small, consistent pieces.
-
Step 2
Pour 3/4 of these pieces into a microwave safe mixing bowl and place in the microwave. Microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until the chocolate begins to uniformly melt.
-
Step 3
Once the chocolate has begun to melt, make sure you watch it carefully, checking the temperature between each melting interval until the chocolate reaches 110 degrees.
-
Step 4
Once the temperature reaches 110 degrees, remove the bowl from the microwave and add in the leftover 1/4 of the chocolate pieces and stir vigorously while checking the temperature every so often.
-
Step 5
Once the chocolate cools to 89 degrees it is in tempering range and you can use it in chocolate molds or for dipping fruits, pretzels, cookies and more.
-
Step 6
Before dipping you might want to test the chocolate by dipping a spoon into the mix to see if the the chocolate is properly tempered for dipping. If tempered correctly the chocolate on the spoon should begin to dry and set in 3-5 minutes.
-
Step 7
If the chocolate begins to harden, place the bowl back in the microwave for about 4 seconds and return to step 5.
-
Step 8
If the chocolate does seize you don't have to throw it out. You won't be able to use it for tempering, but you can still smooth it out so that you're able to use it in other recipes. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to every 6 ounces of chocolate and whisk vigorously. This will allow you to use the chocolate in recipes that don't require tempering.
