15:02, 19 Jan 2024, author: Ermakova M.

Tempering chocolate at home

Name: Tempering chocolate at home
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 5
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Chocolate – 150 g; Cocoa butter - 15 g (if needed)

To make homemade sweets, chocolate must be tempered. Different types of chocolate have their own nuances in this process.

Photo source: https://ru.123rf.com/profile_foodandmore

When making homemade chocolate-covered walnut candies, I had to deal with the concept of tempering chocolate, that is, to produce candies we need not just melted chocolate, but tempered chocolate. What is it and what is it for?

Tempering is the sequential heating and cooling of chocolate in order to give it a crystal lattice. Well, you need to temper chocolate so that the finished products are crispy, glossy, harden quickly, come out of the mold easily, and are stored better.

For dark, white and milk chocolate, the heating and cooling temperatures will be different:

we heat dark chocolate to 45-48 degrees, then cool to 27 degrees, and then heat again to 32 degrees
milk chocolate must be heated to 45 degrees, then cooled to 26, and then heated to 31 degrees
white chocolate needs to be heated to 45 degrees, then cooled to a temperature of 25-26 degrees and heated again to 29-30 degrees

It is convenient to melt chocolate in a water bath or in the microwave. But the cooling process can be done in different ways: stirring the chocolate mass on a stone, moving the chocolate into a cold bowl, using the sowing method. At home, when you have to work with a small amount of chocolate, it is most convenient to cool the mass using the sowing or seeding method.

To do this, we melt not all the chocolate, but three quarters of the total mass. When the chocolate melts, add whole chocolate to this mass and mix. Whole pieces will set the process of crystallization for the entire mass. If all the added chocolate has already melted, but the temperature has not yet dropped, then add more chocolate until the mass has cooled to the desired temperature.

Well, then heat the chocolate to operating temperature.

Today I will temper milk chocolate. I have already told you how to temper dark chocolate. In the case of dark chocolate, I also added cocoa butter for better melting. You don’t have to add milk chocolate, but it’s still better to have a little cocoa butter in case the chocolate turns out to have low fluidity.

So, tempering chocolate at home...

Tempering chocolate at home

Кухня: European, десерт, калории: 522, время приготовления: 00:45

Ингредиенты

Chocolate – 150 g

Cocoa butter - 15 g (if needed)

Рецепт

1. Divide the chocolate into 2 parts. We will use a quarter for seeding. To make the process faster, we cut the pieces. You don't have to do this, but it's more convenient.

2. For melting, I make the following structure: I pour water into a teapot, and put a bowl of chocolate on top. The bottom of the bowl should not come into contact with water. We put our building on fire. When the water boils, reduce the heat.

3. The chocolate begins to melt quickly. Stir it all the time while we melt the chocolate.

4. Bring to the desired temperature of 45 degrees. It is best to use a non-contact thermometer - a pyrometer.

5. Add the reserved chocolate and temper the chocolate using the seeding method. Mix the mass. You can't just set the chocolate aside and wait for it to cool. It is necessary to cool it during the mixing process.

6. Once the temperature reaches 26 degrees, crystals will begin to form. The mass will become more viscous. You can check whether the crystallization process was successful. To do this, apply a thin strip of chocolate to a spoon or parchment. If the strip freezes within five minutes, then the tempering process has occurred. But this is true if the room temperature is no higher than 15-18 degrees.

7. Well, the last stage is heating the chocolate to a working temperature of 30 degrees for milk chocolate.

8. Tempering chocolate at home is complete. You can make chocolate bars with various fillings, chocolate figures in molds, and candies from it.