Tempered Chocolate Tips

 

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Listen now to Chef Erika discuss a simple solution to fixing Clare’s problem with her chocolate shortcake. Although her chocolate tastes great, the tempered chocolate coating “blooms” with grey streaks.

Here is some helpful information from the Chocolate Manufacturer’s Association:
Chocolate Bloom Defined
Chocolate bloom is the tell-tale sign that chocolate has not been stored correctly. The most obvious type of bloom, fat bloom, looks like gray-white blotches and streaks on the chocolate and occurs when the chocolate is exposed to heat during storage. Sugar bloom, which leaves the chocolate feeling rough, occurs when the chocolate is stored in damp conditions. Melting and/or tempering bloomed chocolate eliminates the problem, although chocolate affected with sugar bloom should not be melted and used for fine candy making.

Storing Chocolate
Store chocolate at cool room temperature in a dark place with good air circulation; the refrigerator in not recommended although if your kitchen is particularly hot and humid, it might be your only choice. Wrap it well to protect it from odors.

Ideally, chocolate should be wrapped first in foil and then in plastic and stored at a constant temperature of 65F and 50% humidity. Slightly higher temperatures and humidity are acceptable although the chocolate may not last as long. Stored under perfect conditions, unsweetened and dark chocolate will last for 10 years, and certainly up to a year in good home kitchen conditions; milk and white chocolate for 7 to 8 months.

Formed chocolate candies such as truffles and pralines can be frozen and defrosted in the refrigerator before being brought to room temperature for serving.

Following is an easy, fool proof method for tempering chocolate.

Quick Tempering Method for Chocolate
By Carole Bloom, CCP

METHOD

Chop 1 pound of chocolate into very small pieces and set aside one third of them. Melt the remaining two thirds in the top of a double boiler over hot, not simmering, water, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula to ensure even melting. The chocolate should not exceed 120F (110F for white chocolate). Or melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl on low power for 30 second bursts. Stir the chocolate with a rubber spatula between each burst to make sure it melts evenly.

Remove the double boiler from the heat, then remove the top pan of the double boiler and wipe it dry. Stir in the remaining chocolate in three batches, making sure that each batch is completely melted before adding the next. The finely chopped chocolate will cool the melted chocolate and the warm melted chocolate will melt the chopped chocolate.

When all the chocolate has been added, test the chocolate by placing a dab under your lower lip. If it feels comfortable, not too hot and not too cool, it is tempered. If the chocolate is too warm, stir in more finely chopped chocolate and test again until the chocolate is tempered. There is no need to use a thermometer to register the temperature of the chocolate using this method of tempering.