Why chocolate tempering is a must

We all know and love the melt in mouth feel of the chocolate, the glossy finish and the snappy quality of a premium chocolate.

There are many methods of achieving these particular traits of chocolate and almost all of them include tempering the chocolate.

But what is tempering?

Tempering is nothing but increasing and lowering the temperature of chocolate in a methodical manner so as to achieve the texture, the glossy finish and the snap ability of the chocolate.

But what is tempering? And it seems to do with something metal? Isn’t it?

Well, the term tempering literally comes from metal processing where the metal temperature is increased and decreased, to achive specific physical properties.

But, what use does it have in chocolate?

You see, the process of tempering effectively stabilises the crystal structure of the product on which the tempering is being done. With each different type of crystal, the physical properties of the end result are different.

Chocolate Crystals

Chocolate has 6 basic types of crystal structure and the most widely used and accepted crystal structure is the type 5. So, when the chocolate is first produced from cocoa butter and cocoa beans, all 5 types of crystals are present.

Using the method of tempering, all crystal types from 1 to 4 are eliminated. And after certain cycles and certain number of hours, voila, you get the chocolate crystal number 5, with the mouthfeel, the snap ability and the glossy finish.

Chocolate crystal number 6 has a higher structural integrity, but that requires days of tempering, which is a difficult thing to do.

What if i have not done tempering or something has gone wrong?

If not done correctly or not done at all, there are few results which can happen:-

• Your chocolate may get burnt, in which case, start again.
• Your chocolate may not have the glossy finish
• The mouth feel is not there
• The snap, the satisfying break is not there.
• The chocolate can have white powdery appearance, called chocolate blooming.
• The chocolate may stick to the mould and difficult to take out.

Different type of chocolates have different temperature range inside which they can be tempered. The ranges are different for dark chocolate, white chocolate and milk chocolate.

Does Compound chocolate needs tempering?

One question I do get asked often is that does chocolate made from chocolate compound require tempering?

The answer is not straight forward.

All compound chocolate manufacturers swear that it is just enough to melt, and tempering is not required. But as you know, compound chocolates do also have fats other than cocoa butter. Now what can happen is during melting, some of the fats can become incompatible with the chocolate and may result in chocolate blooming. Its up to the manufacturer to take the decision.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, chocolate tempering is a vital and crucial process in chocolate manufacturing.