Why The Tempering Process is Important to Chocolate
Chocolate tempering is considered as the major procedure in making chocolate candies as this is the very reason why most chocolatiers are very meticulous when it comes to the chocolate tempering process. They always make sure that the chocolates are in proper tempered state before they even let it out to the buying public. Chocolates go through different procedure such as conching and tempering before it can even be called chocolate.
The perfect chocolate candy is made out of cocoa butter; this element is what causes the chocolate to be glossy, rich and smooth. The cocoa beans are roasted and pulverized to be able to get the chocolate paste, which contains 55% to 60% cocoa butter. If you try to bypass chocolate tempering, it will result into the disintegration of cocoa butter resulting in white blotches on the chocolates called the “blooming.” To avoid blooming, chocolates must pass through tempering for proper crystallization.
Tempering chocolates can be classified in three ways, the hard way, the easy way and the fastest way. The hard way is called as such, since you have to do the whole process manually. You have to melt the chocolate until you are sure that there are no lumps. Next, you have to fold the chocolates repeatedly on a stone slab until it reaches the appropriate density and consistency. The chocolate is then melted all over again while stirring constantly up to certain a degree of temperature, depending on the type of chocolate that you are making.
The easy way of chocolate tempering is called seeding. Seeding is done by mixing pre-tempered chocolates to melted chocolate to start the fat crystals bonding correctly. Just like the artisan’s way of tempering chocolates, you have to melt two third of the chocolate. Once done, mix in 1/3 of the unmelted chocolate. Stir it slowly until the seeds are melted, and reach the proper temperature and consistency.
The fastest way to temper is the easiest one since all you have to do is use a chocolate tempering machine. This machine will do the chocolate tempering for you with software that directs the tempering cycle. You do not have to bother checking on temperature and constantly stirring your chocolates, since the machine is already programmed to do the procedure.
