Why Temper Chocolate?
Tempering chocolate is a fundamental technique for chocolate processing. For this reason I will give you some more technical information to understand why some steps should be taken. Pastry is a very precise world, in which one must work with imagination but respect certain rules, especially technical ones like tempering the chocolate!
What is tempering?
Tempering is done by melting solid chocolate to a temperature high enough that the crystals in the cocoa butter break down. This temperature is between 45-48°C. Once the chocolate is fully melted, it must be cooled to about 28°C, a temperature at which crystals will start to form again so that the chocolate can eventually re-solidify. The chocolate’s temperature is then raised back to about 31°C, where it is very fluid and can be poured into chocolate moulds and used for other applications.
The crystals that start to form when the chocolate is cool (Beta 5 crystals) are stable crystals contained in the cocoa butter of chocolate. They provide the necessary structure for the chocolate to become shiny, smooth and have a good “snap” when it is set. The chocolate that has not been tempered or that has been improperly tempered will look flat or discolored. It will lack the sharp “snap” of tempered chocolate and will typically not be as smooth as it melts.
Why temper chocolate?
It is therefore necessary to temper chocolate correctly in order to obtain only stable crystals and therefore a brilliant, shiny & durable final product, with a greater number of aromas and greater crunchiness & that all important “snap” we look for In high quality chocolate.
Un-tempered chocolate:
There are no formed crystals or, if there are any, they are the wrong (unstable) ones.
It didn’t have any manipulation or an incorrect temperature
It solidifies very slowly.
Once solidified, it will look very ugly and a structure even worse.
It is very unstable and over time the surfacing of cocoa butter will occur on the surface.
A well tempered chocolate:
Contains a high percentage of stable crystals.
Correct & consistent temperature during the chocolate tempering process.
Quickly solidified after tempering.
Once solid it is shiny, without spots, streaks or cracks.
It comes off easily from any molds due to contraction from chocolate.
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