I am trying to find a supplier of some good tasting chocolate that is already tempered. I work for a non profit and my boss and I have a volunteer that is going to be melting some chocolate into some molds for us for a thank you event we're having. I've tasted the chocolate wafers of several different companies and frankly, they taste waxy to me and don't even taste like chocolate to me. (My boss and I both like European chocolate, or good dark chocolate or even Dove dark chocolate). We both really like good chocolate and want the gifts to be really nice. We used some Gheradelhi (sp??) chocloate that we got at Sams club that was for melting and molding but they don't carry it anymore and we have more to make. My question is, does anyone know of a good supplier of good chocolate that is already tempered so our volunteer won't have that worry?
Thank you for any help you can give!

Okay, this is the Ghirardelli you liked:

http://www.ghirardelli.com/products/bars_dipping.aspx

http://www.dealtime.com/xDN-Food_and_Drink--desserts_and_sweets-spice_place-ghirardelli

http://www.christianchefs.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000071.html

Guittard:

http://www.anoccasionalchocolate.com/guittard-chocolate.html

Other:

http://www.bulkfoods.com/Drops.asp

http://www.dippingchocolate.net/?gclid=CIXy-tLMlosCFR0CPwodMFQxWA

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

HTH

I have had such great customer service from Marque Foods in S. San Francisco. Here is there website, click on catalog and choose the category, then click on pictures. I haven't gone through each one to see if they carry a pre-tempered but I am sure if you call them they can tell you and offer advise on which would work best for your project. The nice thing about Marque is they have no minimum on orders and they can special order just about anything in the way of chocolate or pastry products.
http://marquefoods.com/index.htm

The Ghirardelli that you bought at Sam's is not "real" chocolate. It's confectionary coating--in the same vein as Merckens, Wilton Candy Melts, etc. Sam's only carries it around the Christmas season (so I try to stock up).

All real chocolate--of any brand name-- that is sold is in temper (if it's been stored properly while in transit and on the store shelf). If it's not "in temper", it will be grey/dusty looking and it may feel greasy or soft when you open it.

If you want to melt chocolate for molds, coating, etc., because you are heating it, you have to basically re-temper it. If you want nice, shiny, professional looking chocolates with that nice "crack" when you bite into it, there's no getting around using melted chocolate that you have put back into proper temper. You can't buy anything that is pourable that is "in termper".

I have "fudged" on tempering by following a suggestion from a member here--You can mix chocolate candy melts (1/3 of total quantity needed) with real chocolate (2/3 of total quantity needed). Chop the real chocolate. Melt the candy melts (not too hot, or they scorch) and pour that over the real chocolate and stir. Microwave the mix on half power for short bursts until any chunks of chocolate are melted--again, don't get it too hot. Most people can't tell the difference and it works and tastes great.

HTH
Rae

Thanks everyone for all the great tips. I would like to temper some real chocolate instead of using melts, but I can't ask the volunteer to do that for me. I think I might try the "fudging" method of mixing melts with chocolate myelf in the future. For now, I ordered some melting chocolates that were supposed to taste really good off of An Occasional chocolate. I will keep all your comments and great tips for when I make my own chocolate molds. I tried once before on my own and they didn't do what I wanted to so all the input is greatly appreciated!
Thanks everyone!

How did you like the Guittard confectionary coating "chocolate" ?

I've thought about trying it when I can't get the Ghirardelli at Sam's Club, but I hate to pay shipping charges unless I've had a good review of a product

Hope things went well.

Rae

If you are licensed as a business get with a supplier--like sysco, US foods...ets, there are a lot of them. You can get Chalibeut (sp?) chocolate through them, which is great! Cocoa Barry is a wonderfully rich and high quality chocolate product but very expensive. For an 11 pound box it's almost $100

I really like the Merckens real chocolate line. That has to be tempered though!

For a GREAT chocolate source try www.chocosphere.com. You can get pretty much any top notch chocolate from around the world from that site...

Robert