How to Temper Chocolate

Not all chocolates are created the same. That's obvious to anyone who has eaten their way down the candy aisle. And if you have ever worked with chocolate in order to create confections, you have also learned that different chocolates need different care and preparation to look as great as they taste.

The dividing line among chocolates is whether you need to temper them or not. Non-tempering chocolates sometimes advertise that they don't require this process because it makes it immensely easier with which to work. However, you will be compromising a great deal of taste in your confections. If making chocolate sculptures that you don't plan on eating, then these economical chocolates work perfectly because they are flexible and cheap. You can find these at most craft stores like Michael's.

The kind of chocolate that you must temper is better tasting and can be of varying cost from reasonable to high-end. You can find these at many grocery stores and also online in bulk. I recommend Chocosphere.com which also carries a variety of ready-to-eat confections too. The tempering process can be somewhat finicky, and does require some practice. But the end result of beautiful, shiny, tasty chocolate is one worth working for, so roll up those sleeves and let's start chocolatiering!

The first step is to melt between one or two pounds of chocolate. The easiest way to melt the chocolate is in the microwave. Try to break up the chocolate into the smallest pieces you can if you are using bars or chunks of chocolate. Put these into a microwave safe bowl and cook it for 45 seconds the first time. Take the bowl out and stir it well, put it back in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well and repeat until the chocolate reaches 110 degrees for milk and dark chocolates or 105 degrees for white chocolate. White chocolate can burn quite easily, so if you have a real strong microwave, you may want to decrease the increments to 15 or 20 seconds.