Tempering is the process by which you give shine and smoothness to chocolate, which is not their natural quality. Blooming is prevented and the chocolate breaks cleanly with tempering.
Improper tempering is the basic cause for formation of crystals and blotches on chocolate surfaces. The natural temper that is lost while heating the chocolate can be returned by tempering.
Cocoa butter, that is the basic ingredient of chocolate, has in it, large quantities of solids and these solids and the butter’s crystals get suspended during heating. But during melting, the crystals separate from the solids and rise to the surface separately.
Cocoa butter’s unique quality of re-crystallizing into six forms, and these six types of crystals behaving dominantly at six different temperatures make it necessary to closely monitor temperatures during tempering. Out of these six types of crystals, type V, gives snap and shine to chocolate.
Hence tempering is done to increase the quantity of type V crystals. Along with type V crystals, type IV is also formed and to eliminate it and retain type V crystals, reheating is done. For achieving the aim of strict maintenance of temperatures, you can use a digital laser thermometer.
Each variety of chocolate has specific heating and cooling temperatures. General tempering methods are tabliering and seeding by hand and the microwave method. Of course, chocolate tempering machines can make tempering easier, but chocolate makers will immensely benefit if they learn tempering by hand.
Tabliering starts with cutting a mass of chocolate into small strips. These strips are melted by heating to a specific temperature on a double boiler. The melted chocolate is divided into two and the first half is poured on a marble surface and worked upon to obtain smoothness and shine; then it is cooled to a specific temperature. After working on the other half, the entire mass is mixed to distribute temperatures evenly. Then come the dipping and molding of your candies. The mass of chocolate should not lose its shine and smoothness and not harden also.
Similar is the seeding process except that a “seed” or an already-tempered chunk is used to “inoculate” the melted chocolate. This enables type V crystals to dominate the crystallization process. Temperature maintenance is a must in this method also.
Microwave method also requires strict adherence to fixed parameters over variables like wattage of the oven, the level of cocoa butter in the raw chocolate and the quantity of chocolate added to the bowl for melting purpose.
The hassles in chocolate tempering arise due to not maintaining the required temperature, over-mixing and under-mixing and due to humid weather conditions. Even experienced chocolate makers face the brunt of humidity in weather.
It is true that the tempering process in chocolate making is a tough one but it is worth the pleasure you get when you gift your chocolates to others; it becomes more than the difficulties you face in chocolate making.