Start Tempering Chocolates with This Know-How
People in the know won’t consider chocolate candy making as a straightforward procedure, just because all the items necessary in making them–like a kitchen thermometer, knife, double boiler, spatula, mixing bowl, cookie cutters, and chocolates–are readily available in any kitchen.
Constant stirring of the contents is necessary when chocolate strips made from the chocolate bar are heated and melted on a double boiler. You can either use the candy molds or cookie cutters to shape air-dried chocolates or coat your favorite fruits to make fruit-filled candies with the chocolate mush.
If the candies are for offering to close relatives and friends, you need not worry much about correct tempering; a thermometer is not needed. For chocolate candies meant for commercial trade, proper tempering should be done for which a thermometer would be a highly important accessory.
When you temper chocolates, the qualities like shine, snap, smoothness and creamy texture that are not their natural qualities, are passed on to them. This tempering process is done in three serial steps: heating, cooling and re-heating, during which you keep chocolate temperatures accurate and not allow chocolates to lose temper.
All chocolate varieties like dark, semi-sweet and white chocolates do not get tempered at the same temperature. Tempering becomes tricky only due to the non-formation of type V crystals since other types of crystals also proliferate at uncontrolled temperatures. These crystals are created due to the crystallization of the fatty acids comprising cocoa butter. If type V crystals are not formed, chocolates cannot have the requisite shine, snap and smoothness.
You can temper big quantities of chocolates comfortably only with a tempering machine since it comes equipped with a microchip to preserve precise temperatures. It’s only the artisan chocolatiers who prefer tabliering or seeding, the manual methods, because they have a market for these confectioneries.
Chocolatiers are sure to benefit from knowing manual tempering because they may be required to do so occasionally. In tabliering, one method used, you work chocolate on a marble slab to lower its temperature. In “seeding”, the other method, you temper with solid bits of chocolates which will serve as “seeds” during crystallization.
If there is a lapse in maintaining accurate temperatures, your chocolates will not be tempered properly and you will be forced to repeat tempering many times. This is the most dreaded part of manual tempering.