Hello everyone, I am new to chocolate decorating (mostly do cake and cookie but the chocolate molding, etc... could enhance my decorating so much). I am trying to understand what tempering is all about. I have used candy melts, etc... but am not always pleased with the consistency results. I did a search on tempering on CC but had SO many results. Does anyone have a link to explain what tempering is all about. If so it will be most appreciated!

tempering requires fully melting the chocolate, then cooling it to a specific temperature to set the crystals.

There are several methods. Some are described in threads here, there are instructions in most chocolate books, and there are several web sites that include directions.

It is complicated and it requires patience. I bought a machine.

There is a product you can add to melted chocolate that instantly creates temper. It is call Mycryo and you can buy it at pastrychef.com It costs about $39 for a bit more than 3 pounds. (Ijust order some) However, it makes using good chocolate a whole lot easier. You only need to use 1% of the product so it would last a long time.

That's great info, JoAnnB.

Source of good chocolate for molds, best chocolate and tempering info:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-229031-.html

HTH

There's a wonderful course online you can take at Ecole Chocolat. There's also truffle books (that is, chocolate truffles) that explain tempering with picture aand in great detail.

WOW! This is great information. Thank you all. I've gone through all the links and am looking forward to trying this (and eventually mastering it!).