How to Temper Chocolate in a Chocolate Melting Machine

Bakers use chocolate in cakes, cookies and candies. Temper your chocolate when using it for making candy. You can tell when chocolate is tempered because it is shiny and snaps when you break pieces of it apart. Chocolate that is improperly tempered may be sticky, grainy and dull in appearance, making it unappetizing to eat. Tempering chocolate involves melting it and then cooling it to specific temperatures. Temper your own chocolate at home using a microwave, a double boiler or a chocolate-melting machine. Does this Spark an idea?

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Chocolate
Serrated knife
Cutting board
Wooden spoon
Candy thermometer

Instructions

- 1
  
  Cut the chocolate into small pieces for best results. Use a cutting board and a serrated knife. Start at one corner of the chunk of chocolate and work from corner to corner to easily cut off small pieces.
- 2
  
  Put the chocolate chunks into the bowl of your melting machine. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for turning on your machine.
- 3
  
  Cook the chocolate for about 30 seconds. Stir the chocolate with a wooden spoon. Melt the chocolate for another 30 seconds and stir again.
- 4
  
  Keep melting the chocolate at 30-second intervals and stirring between each until the chocolate has completely melted and is smooth. Stirring frequently helps to keep all of the chocolate at the same temperature so that it melts evenly.
- 5
  
  Measure the temperature of the candy with a candy thermometer. Make sure the temperature is between 115 and 118 degrees F, which is the required temperature for breaking down the cocoa butter crystals.
- 6
  
  Remove the bowl from the machine or turn off the melting machine to stop the heat from raising the temperature of the chocolate any further.
- 7
  
  Cool the chocolate until it reaches 89 to 91 degrees F for dark chocolate, 86 to 88 degrees F for milk chocolate and 80 to 82 degrees F for white chocolate. This allows the cocoa butter crystals to align correctly and leave you with perfectly tempered chocolate. Use your chocolate as desired for candy-making or dipping.

Tips & Warnings

Do not add any moisture to your chocolate while it is melting. If the chocolate becomes stiff and you cannot stir it, the chocolate has seized and is no longer good for melting. Throw the batch away and start over using a lower temperature setting on your chocolate-melting machine. Stir more often, and do not leave the melting chocolate unattended.

Suggest item

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Companion; 2000

Cooking for Engineers: Tempering Chocolate

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