Chocolate isn’t really that glossy, rich and creamy as all chocolate manufacturers and other chocolatiers temper their chocolates to make chocolate appear so. Even if the process of conching helps in refining cocoa liquor particles, chocolate tempering will make the granules even finer so that you won’t “feel” them on your tongue.
Once you perform proper chocolate tempering, you can ensure that the chocolates will have such fine qualities that chocolate lovers love like the glossy sheen, that sharp snap when you break it, the creaminess, and even that longer shelf life. Chocolates that didn’t get tempered is susceptible to blooming, a condition where tiny white spots appear over its surface.
If you want to do some chocolate dipping and molding, you’ll have to begin by heating chocolate at accurate temperatures and if chocolate goes 90F and above you’ll need to temper again.
Most chocolatiers definitely want to increase their production within a short period of time; this is why most rely on chocolate tempering machines to speed up their work. But there are external factors that could affect your tempering machines such as power outages but if you knew how to temper chocolates by hand, you wouldn’t have to panic.
One way you can temper your chocolate manually is through the process of tabliering which some call the marble-slab technique. This method comes from France and it includes working on the melted chocolate on a heat-absorbing stone or marble slab, working on the melted chocolate until it finally cools down to its right temperature.
To do this, you’ll need such materials and ingredients like a pound of chocolate, mixing bowl, chopping board, double boiler, rubber spatula and a bread knife. Cut the chocolate into strips with the break knife and place it in the double boiler to melt. Gently stir the chocolate to avoid burning. Once the mixture is totally melted, place half of the mixture over the marble slab and using spatula, fold and scrape until the mixture becomes matte and creamy. Do the same to the rest of the mixture and combine them until the whole pound of chocolate is already uniform in texture. Remember that while you’re folding and scraping you have to check on the temperature of the chocolate to make sure it doesn’t fluctuate. Fluctuations cause chocolate to lose temper so you’ll have reheat and cool the chocolate once again.
The other technique is called seeding, which in some way resembles tabliering. The only difference is that the crystals in the non-melted chocolate act as models for the other crystals to replicate.
The materials and ingredients you’ll use are the same as in tabliering but you have to melt three-fourths of the chocolate strips. Once melted, pour onto a mixing bowl, gradually stirring in the non-melted chocolate strips until the whole chocolate mush cools down to precise temperatures. For both methods, re-warm chocolate to proper temperatures again after cooling before you can start with the dipping and molding part.