If you have ever wondered why temper chocolate or want to learn how to temper chocolate, this video recipe will (hopefully) give you some sort of reassurance as to the benefits and how long it takes using the seeding method, you just need a digital thermometer and a little patience, but as you’ll see from the video it is very rewarding in comparison to microwaving the chocolate in blasts creating very different results!
The video explains most things you need to know here, but the different types of chocolate have different melting and cooling points for tempering, following these will enable your chocolate to go back to it’s former glory and not be a faded, clammy looking chocolate alternative! This was my first time tempering chocolate and I was delighted with the results!
First up slice your chocolate into small pieces (grate it if you like or even just use chocolate chips!)…. take two thirds of the chocolate and place into a large mixing bowl, reserve the rest for the moment. Add some water to the pan, but only a small amount so that it does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Place the bowl on top of the pan and start a low flame… other guides suggested to simmer the water, but I Was using such a small amount I thought that the temperature would go up too quick with a small amount of chocolate!
Once it reaches the desired temperature remove from the heat and stir in the remaining chocolate you reserved earlier, this will help the sugar crystals apparently! Keep mixing with a spatula until nice and melted. Now leave to cool to the stated temperatures below, I placed mine outside and it worked well to speed it up a little but keep your eye on it!
Now place back onto the pan of water and increase to the heat specified, it is then usable for your mould, or other things and will set fairly quickly in the fridge! If it starts to set and you want to use it, just warm it up again!
Here are the temperatures for tempering milk, dark and white chocolate….
Temper white chocolate:
Melt 2/3rds of chocolate to 43-45c, add remaining 1/3 of white chocolate, cool to 25-27c, heat to 28c
Temper milk chocolate:
Melt 2/3rds of chocolate to 45-47c, add remaining 1/3 of milk chocolate, cool to 27-28c, heat to 29-31c
Temper dark chocolate
Melt 2/3rds of chocolate to 48-49c, add remaining 1/3 of dark chocolate, cool to 28-29c, heat to 30-32c
If you are interested, I have actually done a follow up to this video here where I compare 4 different chocolate tempering methods!