Question About Tempered Chocolate.

Sugar Work By adree313 Updated 25 Oct 2009 , 3:22pm by elliebuff

adree313 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
adree313 Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 1:54am
post #1 of 13

first of all, i know i should put this in the "candy" forum, but that forum doesn't get a whole lot of action, so i figured i'd just do it here...

i'm wondering, can chocolate that has already been tempered, be left to cool and reharden, then melted again without having to retemper?

i have my culinary school book sitting here with me, and it says this:
"chocolate that has already been tempered may be melted in a microwave oven as long as the chocolate is not heated above temperatures that would unchain the fat molecules. simply heat the chocolate using the lowest power setting checking every 10 seconds so as not to exceed the max. allowed temperatures."

however... i did a search in the forums here and i came across one that says that chocolate needs to be retempered everytime.

so, my confusion is this: is my book talking about chocolate that has not COMPLETELY hardened be remelted without tempering again? or can it harden completely and, using the above process, be okay to use at a later time?

thanks everyone!

12 replies
xinue Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
xinue Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 2:34am
post #2 of 13

your book is right.
tempered and then hardened chocolate and even good quality choc that comes tempered from the factory, can be reheated under 86ºf and SHOULD be alright.

BlakesCakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BlakesCakes Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 2:41am
post #3 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by adree313


i'm wondering, can chocolate that has already been tempered, be left to cool and reharden, then melted again without having to retemper?

i have my culinary school book sitting here with me, and it says this:
"chocolate that has already been tempered may be melted in a microwave oven as long as the chocolate is not heated above temperatures that would unchain the fat molecules. simply heat the chocolate using the lowest power setting checking every 10 seconds so as not to exceed the max. allowed temperatures."




I was taught that hardened chocolate must be re-tempered in order to insure that the next time it hardens, it will be shiny, not bloom, and "snap".

When you think about it, the hardened chocolate that you buy is, or should be, in temper, but you need to melt it (take it out of temper) and then cool it (placing it back in temper) in order to use it.

My take on the reasoning for this is that there can be hot spots in chocolate when melting it from a hardened state. Those hot spots can wreak havoc with the end result.

Carefully rewarming already melted chocolate would be less prone to huge temperature differentials.

My solution to this is to often mix candy melts with real chocolate--1/3 melts to 2/3 real chocolate. You can avoid the issue of perfect tempering and still get a great result.

HTH
Rae

adree313 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
adree313 Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 3:13am
post #4 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlakesCakes


My solution to this is to often mix candy melts with real chocolate--1/3 melts to 2/3 real chocolate. You can avoid the issue of perfect tempering and still get a great result.

HTH
Rae




you would temper the candy melts along with the real chocolate? my book says (yes, i'm a culinary school drop out icon_redface.gif ) that you need to melt/heat 2/3 of the chocolate and then add in the other 1/3 to get to the correct temperature. so, with the candy melts, could i just heat the real chocolate and then add in the candy melts? how does this affect the taste?

thank you both for helping me out.

BlakesCakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BlakesCakes Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 3:25am
post #5 of 13

I gently melt the chocolate, using the microwave--usually 50% power for a minute, stir, 50% power for 30 seconds, stir, etc. until it's completely melted, but not extremely hot.

I then melt the candy melts the same way and mix the two together. I re-heat as needed, making sure that the bottom of the bowl is only warm to the touch--too hot and you get bloom like crazy or it can seize up.

I find that you can't tell that it isn't all real chocolate and it's easy to work with. It's my preferred method for covering strawberries or truffles.

HTH
Rae

JanH Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JanH Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 3:27am
post #6 of 13

adree313, I'm moving this post to "Candy" forum because most members view CC using "view posts since last visit" - not forum by forum. (So it will get just as many "hits" in the proper forum...)

And also, because when I'm trying to find this very helpful info - I'll be searching first in the candy forum. icon_smile.gif

adree313 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
adree313 Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 3:39am
post #7 of 13

thanks for all the help, rae. i'll try that out when i make my chocolate shells in a few days.

thanks, jan. i didn't even know there was such a thing... "view posts since last visit". icon_smile.gif

JanH Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JanH Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 3:51am
post #8 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by adree313

i didn't even know there was such a thing... "view posts since last visit". icon_smile.gif




If you hit "forums" after sign-in, you get your choice of "view unanswered posts" or "view posts since last visit" - they're located on the right side of the screen in the white space...

HTH

Ladybug78 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Ladybug78 Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 3:57am
post #9 of 13

OMG... I needed a forum like this. I am new to chocolate and tempering it. What is the best chocolate to get-locally. I was told to import some-yeah right and then I was told to go to William Sanoma for good chocolate. Okay, I really want to learn but don't want to break the bank but also I want a good tasting chocolate. Please help.

elliebuff Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
elliebuff Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 4:36pm
post #10 of 13

I'm also wondering what I can get locally. I have read that "good quality" chocolate is tempered already and as long as you don't heat it above a certain temperature (which varies depending on the type...white, milk, dark) when using it. I feel stupid asking, but can I use something like Ghiradeli (sp) chips or chocolate bars and not have to temper it?

I really hate the idea of ordering chocolate online if I can get it locally, especially if I am just starting to play with it.

Thanks in advance!!

BlakesCakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BlakesCakes Posted 24 Oct 2009 , 10:04pm
post #11 of 13

Hershey bars are tempered chocolate, the chocolate coating on Kit-Kats is tempered, the bulk chocolates (Peters, Callebaut, Ghirardelli, Dove, etc.) available at cake decorating stores--it's all tempered before it gets to the shelves.

Yes, you can technically avoid tempering chocolate--IF, and that's a big IF--you can melt it without ANY portion of it going out of temper (this varies with the type of chocolate--white, milk, dark).

Tempering machines do this--very expensive. Chocolatiers used to do it by placing a slab of chocolate in a gas oven overnight, using just the warmth of the pilot light to do the melting. If you have a gas stove with a pilot light, it takes hours, but it should keep the chocolate between 85 and 95 degrees.

As I said in my other post, it's the hot spots that result from using microwaving or double boilers to melt the chocolate that are the enemy.

Even a tiny amount of chocolate that is out of temper "infects" the entire batch, creating crystallization and leading to bloom, dullness, and possibly problems with the chocolate setting up properly.

All of the chocolate brands that I mentioned above are great, but vary in price greatly. I find that few people have the palate to know the difference between the $6/lb. and the $10/lb., so I buy whatever is cheapest.

HTH
Rae

adree313 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
adree313 Posted 25 Oct 2009 , 12:55am
post #12 of 13

wow, rae, thanks so much for all that information!!

hey, who needs culinary school when we have the wealth of knowledge that is the CC members?! icon_smile.gif

elliebuff Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
elliebuff Posted 25 Oct 2009 , 3:22pm
post #13 of 13

Great information, Rae--thanks so much!

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%