If you’re making chocolate with cocoa butter as one of the key ingredients, it’s essential to temper it. A chocolate tempering machine controls the crystallization of cocoa butter and prevents the formation of uneven crystals, which give a dull finish to the chocolate.
It also creates smaller crystals by heating the chocolate slowly and cooling it even slower. Besides, it gives a silky smooth luster to the chocolate, which not only makes it look alluring but also feels delicious in the mouth.
When should you temper the chocolate?
As mentioned earlier, tempering is a necessary step in creating covertures and ultra covertures that require cocoa butter as one of the important ingredients. You shouldn’t temper the chocolate if you’re going to serve it immediately, for example over an ice-cream or in the form of molten chocolate. However, you should temper it while preparing candies or dipped items, even if you’re going to serve it within 24 hours to provide the much-required sheen and of course, the ‘snap’. Tempering also enhances the flavor of the chocolate, so you can try it out to offer an unforgettable experience to the consumers.
What is tempering all about?
When the chocolate is melted and again solidified to create the delectable candies, bars, and dipped items, the cocoa butter crystallizes in six different forms and creates white patches or blooms, which separates the chocolate at the slightest effect (in most cases, the first bite). While some of these crystals are soft and crumbly that easily melt, some others are firmer but melt easily again. Tempering aims to create shinier and snappier crystals that don’t melt easily or melt somewhere near 37 C, which is our body temperature.
In the process of tempering the chocolate, it’s first heated to melt into the six different forms of crystals and then it’s slowly cooled to form most of the desired crystals. The temperatures need to be carefully controlled throughout the process to prevent excessive heating and cooling and ensure the right level of crystallization.
How to temper chocolates
You can temper the chocolate on a slab of marble by using a thermometer, a metal scraper, and a spatula. The process can be tiring and need more effort than usual, as you have to keep a track of the temperature constantly and maintain it as per the specified levels to ensure perfection. You can also buy a chocolate thermometer to ease up the process a bit.
But the best way to temper your chocolate professionally is by investing in a high-quality tempering machine to speed up the process without affecting quality. You will also save a lot of time to enhance your creativity in decorating the chocolates.
