Tempering Trouble?
I don’t stress about tempering chocolate in a hot and humid environment. Here’s how I do it.
If you are having trouble with tempering, you are not alone. Tempering is notoriously the hard step for beginners working with chocolate. And yet it is a critical skill to master if you would like satiny or shiny chocolate that breaks with a snap. Tempering can be tricky even for people in climate controlled rooms, and even more so for those of us living in a hot and humid environment. Fortunately, I’ve learned the secret, and I don’t fret about tempering anymore. Want to be confident in your tempering? I have some advice to turn your tempering angst into tempering zen!
Tempering is the process of crystallizing the cocoa butter within chocolate. It grants a higher melting temperature, resistance to bloom, and a shiny and snappy experience. Many chocolate applications don’t require tempering, like drinks, frozen confections, or baked goods, but tempering is usually expected for a stellar eating chocolate experience. Tempered chocolate is a recent development, discovered in Europe. The process is best in temperate climates and climate controlled rooms, since heat and humidity can prevent crystallization.
When I first started tempering chocolate, I learned two basic methods. One is easy, but you had to start with already tempered chocolate. It’s perfect to chocolatiers starting with tempered block but does not work with your untempered, homemade batch. The other method is challenging, both an art and a science, but will work without needing a scaffold of already tempered chocolate to build on. I learned the second method but never mastered it to the point that tempering was no longer a source of angst.
Now though there is a third solution, which is both easy and not needing already tempered chocolate. I learned it from John Nanci and Mackenzie Rivers who learned it from Kerry Beal. I wrote about it in my book One Cacao Tree.
I like to call this miraculous method cocoa butter seed tempering but many call it silk tempering. People everywhere love it, yet it is the biggest gift to those of us whose kitchens have no idea what a temperate climate is. Cocoa butter seed tempering is the reason I temper with confidence and ease. I don’t worry that my chocolate will not be tempered correctly, as long as I follow some guidelines. Really only two guidelines.
Use cocoa butter seed.
Only temper when it’s 72°F or lower.
Cocoa butter seed is such a powerful nucleator for crystallization that the process becomes much less finicky and more forgiving. You can use either solid or liquid cocoa butter seed. I prefer liquid because it is convenient and mixes in thoroughly. Unfortunately liquid seed needs to be stored at a specific, warm temperature. I use an incubator, but some people use a sous vide or an EZTemper machine. Solid cocoa butter seed can be stored at room temperature, but you need to chop or shave it into small bits before using, and those bits may show as light spots in dark chocolate. This is only an esthetic concern. The chocolate will still be tempered, taste great, and feel smooth.
Using cocoa butter silk is easy. Melt the chocolate to around 108-110°F, let it cool to about 93.5°F, add a bit of liquid or shaved solid seed (about 0.5% or more), stir and use. You can let the chocolate set at room temperature, but I generally cover the chocolate and put it in the refrigerator for 4-10 minutes. I let it finish tempering at room temperature or in my chocolate cooler (about 65°F).
So why do I only temper if the temperature is 72°F or lower even though that means I’m often tempering before dawn? Heat and humidity interfere with tempering. At 72°F, I am confident that both the temperature and the absolute humidity are low enough, regardless of the relative humidity. I found this number by experimentation. Of course I will sometimes temper when the temperature is 73°F or 75°F, but sometimes I get unsightly bloom on the chocolate.
Because I have received so many questions about tempering, I am currently working on an online mini-course geared toward helping chocolate hobbyists in a tropical environment master the step of tempering without expensive machine or angst.
I recently filmed my full process of liquid cocoa butter seed tempering and molding. The 12 minute video below mostly consists of stirring chocolate, but I wanted to include the whole story. As you can see, this is the real deal from my non-fancy kitchen. Is this video helpful? Please let me know.
Do you have tempering troubles? What questions do you have?
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As mentioned above, I’m working on an online tempering course and others. Sound interesting? What would you like to learn about? I’d love your feedback!
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