can someone explain in careful detail the right way to go about doing this? thanks so much.

bump

This is how I was taught:

- stir chocolate until it is 115 F over a pan of hot water - not simmering (the chocolate is in a glass bowl).
- remove bowl from the hot pan and stir until the temp drops to 75 F
- warm the chocolate over the hot water again until it is 90 F and now its ready to use

thanks snowshoe1. can you help me understand why its brought down and then back up in temperature?

This is my understanding (don't quote me as I'm not trained in this but this is what I remember from books and google searches). Due to the fats in the cocoa butter there are different sizes of crystals in the chocolate. You heat it up to break down different types of crystals (I think there are a total of 6); then lower it to the lowest tempature to allow only two types of crystals to form; then you need to heat it back up to break down the 'bad' crystal and you have only the 'good' crystal left. Once this is all done properly you don't get streaks in your chocolate; it won't crumble as much but instead you can work with it better (e.g. pieces break off instead of crumbling, etc....).

Hope this makes sense...

Melysa,
The reason the chocolate is brought up then down, then up again is for speed.
The easiest way for one to temper chocolate is to melt it at 85-87 degrees to melt all the undesirable crystals, but have the desirable crystals form (beta type 5) BUT this would take forever. By heating the choc. to a higher temp, this melts all the cystals. Then the temp is lowered to restart crystal formation (to around 75) then brought back up to about 85 degrees to ensure that any crystals that have formed are the right kind. The other 'bad" crystals melt at that temp. since they start to form at lower temps. This process is faster than just melting at a lower temp.

Does this help???

thanks guys. i normally just melt the chocolate for 30 seconds or so in the microwave (its like body temp) for wraps and stuff. but i recently bought a chocolate ruffler, and it comes with a mold. so i need to make this one and a half pound circle of chocolate to shave off of, and it says to temper the chocolate. so, i want to do this right. thanks so much for the information. i am assuming i can use a candy thermometer for this?

FYI there are different temps for white, milk, and dark chocolates.

koryak, do you know the temps for the different chocolates? thank you for letting me know.

snowshoe1, i got mine on ebay, new for $25 plus shipping. but here is a link to an online store that carries them and a description. this one comes with a mold which i like better than the la girolle, however, its got a wood base rather than stone like the la girolle. so, take your pick...i decided to try this out because it was such a good deal and i was thrilled to know i wouldnt have to spend $43 on ONE 1.1 lb round of chocolate!

http://www.chefsresource.com/swissmar-girouette-cheese-chocolate-curler.html

i just noticed (haha) that they didnt do a good job tempering their chocolate in the stock photo. yuck!

The only thing about using a candy thermometer is that the temp increments are widely spaced so it's kind of hard to tell when it hits the right temps. You can also buy a chocolate thermometer which is easier to read, although it's harder to handle b/c it's a long glass thermometer. I bought one b/c I was worried about screwing up the chocolate and it came out perfect.

I don't think you need to go all the way down to 75 either, more like 80-85, and then back up to whatever temp you need to keep it at. Also, to cool it down more quickly and start the crystallization you add unmelted chocolate to the melted chocolate. Last time I tempered chocolate I added chopped chocolate and whizzed it in with a hand blender.(saw this on a jacques torres show) You need to add quite a bit to bring it down, like 1/2 to 2/3 of the melted amount. Sorry if this is confusing...I"m not an expert, lol.

http://www.candylandcrafts.com/temperingchocolate.htm

courtney

thanks courtney, i'm going to keep that link and read over it several times till it makes sense to me.