Why Temper Dark Chocolate and How To Do It

Tempered Dark Chocolate
10 oz (283g) dark chocolate
1. Place 8 oz (227g) of dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl and melt gently over a water bath or in a microwave.
2. Make sure not to have the heat too high so that the chocolate never goes above 120F (49 C).
3. As soon as the chocolate reaches 120F (49 C), remove it from the heat and stir in roughly 1 oz (28g) of the reserved dark chocolate that came already tempered in the package.
4. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and check the temperature. You are aiming for a temperature between 88-90F (31-32 C). If the temperature is still above that, add more of your reserved chocolate and continue stirring.
5. Keep the chocolate between 85-90F (29-32 C) while working with it.

[@butoolrizvi8749]

That snap was SO satisfying. And can we talk about the shape and design of that chocolate? SO satisfying.

[@jheckie14]

Gurl... It's a circle... 😰

[@butoolrizvi8749]

@@jheckie14 a *perfect* circle... hence the true definition of 'satisfying'

[@jheckie14]

@@butoolrizvi8749 oh, wait you're totally right! My eyes have been opened 👁️👄👁️

[@spoj3922]

I guess? I mean lots of people like you watch cooking videos as a fetish and not for any actual information.

[@cbv2673]

@@jheckie14 close them.

[@thesleepyreader]

About different kinds of chocolate: White chocolate: 40-45°C Milk chocolate: 45°C Dark chocolate: 45-50°C This info was brought to you by my teacher

[@ItsJamieMateee]

Milk chocolate will have a good temper at 30-35 °c, depending on the type of chocolate. This info was brought to you by my 5 years of working with chocolate

[@gens0kyo]

Mm

[@numcookie1344]

*stares in Fahrenheit*

[@em90012]

@@numcookie1344 Just use a converter ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (coming from another Fahrenheit-er)

[@dpc3324]

@@em90012we don’t bow to dirty Europeans where I’m from 🤨

[@redfogwhitefrost2583]

I'm suddenly way more impressed by that one dude who makes those huge super intricate chocolate sculptures.

[@ghostderazgriz]

Most chocolate sculptures are formed using compound chocolate. Compound chocolate doesn't need to be tempered and doesn't melt at room temperature like real chocolate. Chocolate sculptures with real chocolate, especially large ones, require a cooled room and gloves to prevent melting while sculpting.

[@OutsideGamerGirl]

The 120° only applies to milk chocolate. 105° for white chocolate. Do not let water touch your chocolate, or it will seize.

[@TieflingKumasi]

I kinda want to see that happen now

[@jadebell8790]

@@TieflingKumasi no you don’t. Once it seizes it’s ruined and won’t melt again .. got to be careful not to get any water in it. Everything has to be clean and dry ..

[@TieflingKumasi]

@@jadebell8790 Well, I won’t do it. I just wanted to see a video 😅

[@TieflingKumasi]

Oh, wait, does nothing really happen? It’s mostly just anticlimactic?

[@coffeecrispy2673]

​@@jadebell8790 a chocolate that wont melt?

[@jheckie14]

Oh God, I can't look at tempered chocolate the same after Claire's tribulations from Bon Appetit

[@2GoatsInATrenchCoat]

I think that they made her pretend to struggle with it for views. No way someone with a Master's in pastry would struggle that much. I only have an associate's in pastry arts and I don't struggle to temper chocolate anymore.

[@raerohan4241]

​@@2GoatsInATrenchCoat Well, everyone has weaknesses, even in their own field. I agree that it was probably played up for entertainment purposes, but I think it's not a lie that Claire struggles with, or at least dislikes, tempering

[@epistarter1136]

@@2GoatsInATrenchCoat I forgot that she struggled, all I remember from watching bon appetit is Brad and Claire tempering chocolate (and making branded chocolate)

[@2GoatsInATrenchCoat]

@@raerohan4241 almost everyone dislikes tempering, but she would literally check the temperature of the chocolate, see that it's one degree off, and be like "good enough." She made that same mistake multiple times. Pastry programs hammer it into you that tempering chocolate is a scientific process. If you don't hit the correct temperature threshold, you will get the same poor result every. single. time. Imagine a scientist heating water to 211 degrees and asking why it's not boiling. It's simply not believable. Anyone with formal education in the field would know by now that "close enough" just doesn't cut it in science.

[@DimT670]

​@@2GoatsInATrenchCoat its an annoyingly hard thing to do and people have different strengths than you Especially since she was working in quantities that rendered the process even harder

[@dmr11235]

Fun fact! This is actually exactly the same process by which different types of steel are produced. Different cooling methods produce different dominant crystal compositions (in steel, ferrite, austenite, and martensite) and the same is true for many materials, including chocolate

[@Vanilla644]

Cool! Thanks for letting us know

[@not.cookie.lol.]

thanks

[@MyopicPowerhouse]

How is this exactly the same process as steel tempering? I've literally never seen steel tempered this way. The result is the same, sure, a harder crystalline structure - but adding an untempered billet of steel to the molten mixture, then just - stirring it around? Have you really seen this done?

[@dmr11235]

@@MyopicPowerhouse oh yeah no that’s not how tempering steel works I just meant that the relative crystal composition is dependent on the cooling process and you can alter the composition by heating and then cooling it in different ways. To my knowledge the addition of a solid to the molten mixture is only to initiate crystal formation by use of a seed crystal, which I have never seen in metallurgy

[@theangledsaxon6765]

@@dmr11235 and chocolate blooming is just spinodal decomposition ;P

[@BAN3FromNoWhere]

The untempered chocolate has a non-uniform crystal structure, a mix of alpha and beta crystals. Tempering gets rid of the larger alpha crystals, and allows the smaller beta crystals to get a more uniform pattern. The more uniform, the tighter the pattern, and the glossier/snappier the chocolate gets. Source: i work for one of the big choco corporations, Specifically in a department where this is essential knowledge.

[@EpicRaheem]

Sounds just like my engineering course! Martensite XD. Could you quench the chocolate to get the same results?

[@shadowthehedgehog182]

Goes great with ice cream

[@xenmaifirebringer552]

Materials science rocks!

[@fbi299]

Do you work in the laboratory? That sounds so cool

[@BestKCL]

Then where's all the snappy chocolate??

[@geenarae]

What's crazy is I've watched so many different videos on chocolate tempering and I still didn't understand the process of tempering and how to do it until I watched this. Quick, simple and to the point. It's wild that a video that's less than a minute in length taught me how to temper chocolate then a 30 min video could.

[@ghostderazgriz]

Well this teaches you how but doesn't teach you what tempering is. With that said, this isn't rocket surgery. Perhaps you just needed better teachers, or, if I may be so bold, perhaps you just need a longer attention span.

[@T_Teobokki]

I don't know why I'm laughing so hard at the "Yes tempered"

[@Your_Average_Rabbit]

my face when i see that be like: pipo inflating his face in doraemon when he tries to cry and i burst out laughing exactly 0.696969 seconds ☠️

[@ii-dh7lq]

Same lol

[@rl3d2008]

Funny grammatical error

[@jasmine4035]

​@@rl3d2008 it would be correct if he added a comma after "yes"

[@Ch3z_Borgor]

Same wth, why is that actually funny? It would be even funnier if the top one said no tempered

[@jaydenirawan3188]

the explanation of whats happening here is we are trying to manipulate the chocolate crystal structure, we give the melted chocolate a template to grow from hence the addition of reserve chocolate. hope that helps

[@tigerheaddude]

makes sense! would you know if it makes a difference in its mouth feel or how easily it melts in your mouth or does that depend on something else? thanks!

[@heta04]

​@@tigerheaddude it makes a BIG difference. You dont wanna eat untempered chocolat if you dont wanna waste your product.

[@gorillapl6531]

Yes but that's isn't the only thing happening, the snapping difference was also produced of the side he snapped, the second one was against the streaks.

[@jaydenirawan3188]

@@gorillapl6531 that's not true instead of grain its build more like hexagonal pattern so where ever you snap it doesnt matter

[@jaydenirawan3188]

@@tigerheaddude yeahh so the chocolate we want is that melt in your mouth but doesnt melt in your hand,diff crystal structure has diff melting point thats why untampered chocolate doesnt snap it was half melting in room temp so we aim for this structure similar to the reserve chocolate to get the right melting point, hope that make sense

[@NotOhCay]

OH MY GOT I NEVER KNEW RUBBERY NASTY FAKE CHOCOLATE WAS SIMPLY NOT TEMPERED I NEEDED THIS VIDEO

[@MrEggHead.]

It's not, it's usually low grade chocolate with palm oil or other cheap fats.

[@falconmaster21]

It's not fake chocolate, but it does contain other additives like soy lecithin that prevent tempering. You can only truly temper couverture chocolate. Everything else you can mimic a temper and get close, but not fully temper.

[@ryuu5751]

I tempered chocolate accidentally once, wasn't trying to temper it and I'm still genuinely impressed with myself to this day

[@zakariamedjiba8517]

how do you accidentally heat it to 120 F above a water bath and then add reserve chocolate at 90 F and then let it cool

[@dinoaurus1]

​@@zakariamedjiba8517lots of coincidences Also a double boiler is pretty common for melting chocolate

[@sporksto4372]

That makes no sense.

[@Nikki0417]

I thought tempering chocolate was just about preventing it from burning. I never knew they was actually a difference in the final product.

[@azell2913]

yeah its actually about making sure the fat molecules crystalize evenly to form a stronger structure thus making it snappy instead of floppy this method works but professionally people also use a marble or metal table that is being cooled from below then you mix it around constantly until its the right temperature instead of seeding or puting hard chocolates in.

[@nicolelavigne1700]

Yup. Chocolate that hasn't been tempered will also melt in your hands SUPER easily.

[@AnEnemyAnemone1]

Google the definition of “tempering” and see what it means in other contexts. It’s all about cooling, nothing to do with preventing overheating.

[@OoooshetriesSs]

Same, I 100% thought it was just melting them like a dickhead 😭

[@graciandhercats]

That snap was startlingly gorgeous

[@DraGnFly007]

Best explanation I've seen to date. Thank you! Straight to the point without the unnecessary scientific fluff!❤

[@kasan8495]

I’m learning about chocolate lore at 3am this is excellent information

[@Ripcstohre]

The easiest way to get "tempered" chocolate is to just never let it get too hot in the first place, the best way to achieve that is to take the chocolate off the heat while there's still solids and let the last bits melt from residual heat You can even use your microwave, just heat it in 10 sec. intervals, stirring in-between and stop once it's like 50% melted

[@D31taF0rc3]

That's how my mum taught me to temper chocolate. She said it's always better to remove it and put it back over heat than over heating it and getting burnt gritty chocolate

[@Osama-Bon-Jovi-01]

So I'm guessing this is something to do with the proteins denaturing, I was wondering why there was a difference between the two but it makes sense now lol

[@jaredf6205]

Also ask yourself if you really need or want it to be tempered. I don’t like the texture of tempered chocolate compared to just regular soft chocolate.

[@AnEnemyAnemone1]

If you’re using a microwave, you should always be giving time for heat to dissipate, chocolate or not.

[@Ripcstohre]

@@Osama-Bon-Jovi-01 Chocolate doesn't really contain proteins, but it's a similar concept. The conditions under which a liquid solidifies determines how the molecules in the solid will be arranged, "tempered" chocolate is just one of multiple different patterns the molecules in solid chocolate can adapt

[@JoelGonzalez-ud7qo]

Yes! No more blooming on my turtles 😢. Thanks!

[@YoungJence]

KZbin: "he'll watch anything at this point"

[@lord5582]

I genuinely learn much more from you than anyone else making food on here. Thank you

[@username666io]

That snap transported me to heaven

[@BloodRoseKitten]

There are several ways to temper chocolate and this particular method is called "seeding." When chocolate is melted, the crystalline cocoa butter structure breaks down at a specific temperature and needs to be correctly reconstructed as it cools to make a firm snappy chocolate. This method works because inntroducing the un-melted chocolate adds back more of the correctly formed molecules and makes the melted chocolate reform the structure correctly!

[@cherrybombcoffee]

You are the only good Shorts. This has everything you need to know about this often convoluted process.

[@SAZTAPO]

“Chocolate has quite a bit of temper, so be careful.”

[@skyesfallenxx]

Thanks for these tips!! I've been wondering how people get their chocolate to snap like that since they always turn out soft for me

[@akmaraleric]

when i was a child, i watched an anime about baking and stuff. there was a guy who would always temper chocolate, so each time anyone would talk about chocolate i felt the need to mention that i know what it is. once i went to an exhibition with chocolate figures, and GOD i was annoying.

[@wildgoosedreaming1]

"Knowledge is powerfully annoying in some of us! Lol. 😆

[@priceless8846]

What anime was it?

[@jennessabeckett3949]

Please tell me it was NOT food wars

[@Arguing.With.Idiots.]

​​@@priceless8846 If I may guess, I think the anime they're talking about is "Yumeiro Patissiere" because I watched that as a kid too, there's a short segment every end of the episode where actual live people are teaching us various techniques in making sweets like tempering chocolates. It's a cute lighthearted informative show.

[@Lu_moonily]

Was it yumeiro patissiere?

[@Sharty_McFly]

I work at a chocolate factory and can say that chocolate temper is extremely crucial. When the temper isn't right, it's a whole pain in the ass to fix, and is a headache for everyone involved.

[@BlackHawk21ification]

Not really, you can repeat the process from scratch sure it take time but it's not a pain in the ass nor a huge headache

[@Ahahashir]

@@BlackHawk21ification are you from the rival company

[@BlackHawk21ification]

@@Ahahashir nah Im just telling the truth

[@allheartallhate]

​@@BlackHawk21ificationalright 10 year old anime profile picture guy, I'm sure you know more than the guy who does this for a living. Go away.

[@BlackHawk21ification]

@@allheartallhate well yeah i do this for a living too.... i'm a french pastry chef/ baker and tempering dark chocolate is litteraly taught after 3 months in the 1st year of the diploma to become a pastry chef (since school start in september and we do chocolate in early december...) It really isn't hard to do (like most thing tbh) just follow the recipe, hell dark chocolate is the easiest the to do among all the different chocolate (since for other chocolate you need a more precise T°C) Also the original comment say he is working in chocolate factory so his process is a lot more industrialized hence it become harder to fix any mistake because of the heavy machinery but it's not the process of tempering in itself that is complicated, you can do it perfectly fine at home with simply a microwave and a thermometer.

[@nadinekore6308]

That's it?! That's how you temper chocolate? Wow!

[@UrFavSquid]

If I do open my cafe I want to give u a premium membership where u get 75% off Bec honestly I wouldn't be able to do it without u

[@youllbemytourniquet]

Good luck with your cafe 😊

[@thegingedingo6608]

Bro jus do it already what you waiting on apply for the loans and do it!!

[@yusraaa9418]

This explains so much

[@LaPetiteMorteRisin]

Someone FINALLY explained the reason behind tempering chocolate! I couldn’t even find this information from Googling it! Thank you!

[@lizzy4827]

I always wondered why mine came out all gross and cracked, now I finally know why. Love your channel.

[@piratekit3941]

I was STRUGGLING so much to temper chocolate. Mostly because the candy thermometer I had was not a digital and old. The thermometer makes a huge difference.

[@Glockockmaster39]

But what if I like my chocolate soft n chewy🙁

[@imanabdulkholiq]

OMG!!! It turns out that tempering chocolate is very important for the final quality❤❤Thanks!

[@felixrivera895]

Thank you! 120° and then 88° with reserved chocolate. Simple instruction, easy ti remember.

[@MT3A]

Damn, that snapped like my sanity during finals week💀

[@KS-uv3rh]

Wait.... That's not too hard...? I was so scared of tempering chocolate that I avoided it like a plague.

[@ayden2015]

I find it so interesting the way different baked goods can turn out depending on the circumstances

[@cremebrulee4759]

I didn't realize that there were so many benefits to tempering. Thanks!

[@surferofthesynthwaves4710]

That chocolate snapped louder than a wip on my back in my past life.

[@SnackAttak]

A fellow black man I see

[@travismcallister3688]

Worked at a chocolate factory. Tempered chocolate still blooms.

[@MrEggHead.]

It does not. If it does, it wasn't tempered correctly.

[@travismcallister3688]

@MrEggHead. Yes, it does. Russell Stovers has a freezer full off bloomed product. Something that helps pull bloom out. Put it in the freezer for a day. From freezer to fridge. Fridge to room temp. Dosent always work. But bloom is ascetic. It won't harm you to eat boomed chocolate.

[@MrEggHead.]

@@travismcallister3688 No it doesn't. Properly tempered and stored chocolate does not bloom over short periods of time: if it blooms, that means it either wasn't tempered properly, it wasn't stored at the proper conditions of temperature and humidity, or that the filling has excessive water/sugar levels.

[@travismcallister3688]

@MrEggHead. You're one of those people, aren't you? Look, dude, just saying, what I've seen first hand....in the industry.

[@MrEggHead.]

@@travismcallister3688 So have I, in Italy and France, where the chocolate industry and technology is light years ahead. I'm just giving you advice that, if your tempered chocolate is blooming, you need to look into your tempering process or your storage conditions. Your method of temperature gradients doesn't get rid of neither fat bloom nor sugar bloom: at best, you're temporarily masking it.

[@bluebomb2047]

Stuck my metal mixing bowl in microwave. I now have no house. Instructions unclear.

[@wildgoosedreaming1]

Great educational post with many additional helpful tips/facts in comments. 😁

[@2022_muhammadisnainfattaahsmp5]

I know right, the snap was So satisfying

[@ghostpost.]

I prefer a softer chocolate when eating I'm not a crunch person

[@ribtickle4143]

Melt it then

[@yannah159]

Omg thank you! I was wondering how to make my chocolate melt better!

[@videomardyr]

Ooh, this works so much better! I've been quenching my chocolate in order to temper it!

[@autotec-20]

I like the way this one girl described it. "it's glossy, it's beautiful" and something about a loud snap, idk i forgot the rest.

[@elizabethp5083]

This is what I do at Christmas when I make all my candies for family. So much easier than taking chocolate from high to low multiple times.

[@shadowstorm7094]

Dude, I legit had a school asignment about chocolate 2 week were I needed this

[@Gunjansatpathymusic]

THAT SNAP WAS SO SATISFYING!!!! ❤❤❤

[@BublisWorldCuisine]

This video is extremely helpful. Thanks a lot.

[@redauraforlife]

i make chocolate in my free time and i didn’t understand the blooming, but this helps so much!

[@kopioshu]

That snap is on the same tier of satisfying sounds as the m1 garand ping

[@jayvonnoelsmith8445]

That snap was so good

[@darleenfong7848]

Best vid on the subject.

[@elizabethr4107]

My new fave channel

[@VANRICKTONY]

The snap was divine 😮

[@Lickmynut69]

Instructions unclear I snapped my neck

[@lemonade160]

“R u tempered or not tempered?” “Yes”

[@ninajohnson4865]

That snap was everything!

[@tory198511]

Thank you so much. I just dealt with this the other week and I kept wondering why the dark chocolate wasn't coming out right.

[@rosestopanimaltesting]

My fyp when im not hungry: 💃🌴🍉🌎 My fyp when i am hungry: 💝🍫🍪🍩🍟

[@THISfookindude]

You just reminded me I have a bar of chocolate in my freezer. Thank you

[@spiderdude2099]

A lot of people don’t think about it, but purified fats have distinct crystal structures. Only 1 crystal arrangement of the fats in chocolate creates a hard snapable bar, and tempering is the process that allows you to encourage the formation of this very specific crystal structure

[@exlforever]

Tempering is so easy once you do it a few times! I can now temper chocolate without a thermometer!

[@freddywop1738]

It’s wild that people discover these specific rules on foods

[@espresso_depresso_cat]

Omg, thank you! I'm gonna make a cake for my husband's birthday and I really didn't wanna look thru my old textbook to fine what temperatures i do everything at lol

[@kelsey2333]

Did you forget Google exists lol

[@xFreSh999_]

That snap made my mouth water 🤤

[@wingedalpha]

I love all of the science comments on this video

[@JustZal]

oh thank you! i didnt know how people temper chocolate and it was so simple... its nice to know what would happen if you dont temper chocolate

[@Onehundredpounds]

That snap was amazing

[@Deenbean17]

You’re a real one ben

[@Roy-K]

It’s wild to me that the confectionary side is more science and precision than art like cooking. When you cook, you can Willy-nilly your way into great things, but there’s no such thing as impressionist baking - the crystal structure of the chocolate or sugar is what you’re fighting with, rather than the human tastebud

[@elizabethwilliams4705]

The seeding method is so much easier than tabling. Yay!

[@creativecanvas4044]

That snap literally made my eyes pop

[@spinecrusherr]

i love bloomed chocolate honestly. i haven’t made it myself, but when my chocolate bars melt and solidify and i can feel in the package that they bloomed, i put them in the freezer for a day and then some and it makes them taste sweeter, lighter and airier, they crumble easier and they’re more fun to eat for me :)

[@spinecrusherr]

super helpful video btw!!!

[@keilanobodysbusiness5853]

I just wanna put this out there and I know 99% of the the ppl that follow u would agree. If u made a cook book/tips book I, myself, would buy 10-15 of them one for me, one for my bf, one of his mom, one for my mom, and the rest will be donated to homeless shelters in the area I live in.

[@internalizedhappyness9774]

As a chiropractor I would have to say that snap is more satisfying than my patience’s neck’s! 👍🏼

[@haniaahmed2698]

That snap was so crisp

[@ninajohnson4865]

I miss chocolate. Have to enjoy it vicariously through others now. 😅

[@nickschaus7785]

You can temper it in a microwave as well, the important part is that add hard chocolate at the end, and mix well

[@soup8772]

I use to get chocolate bars in the summer when I was a kid, they would melt on the walk home so I’d put them in the fridge or freezer. Sometimes I’d forget about them and they’d bloom. It was my favourite, I remember it being a bit chalky in texture but that’s what I liked about it.

[@Dauom]

"gently melt your chocolate": "heeey my little bunny boo, are you done liquifiying now?"

[@lauraashes9752]

Thank you for doing what our education system failed to do

[@LifeOfMax1]

Very helpful! Thanks!

[@blakksheep736]

The snap was so good.

[@Falkriim]

Very informative, thanks

[@DuckyDoesSmth9517]

"yes tempered" is what gets me lmao 😭

[@TrimbyGaming]

This vid was a massive help Couldn't figure out why my chocolate was always soft 😂 tried different melting techniques

[@Shtinkyps]

if anyone is wondering the science behind it, its similar to the way lab grown crystals are made. A seed crystal (the already crystallized chocolate) is added and then it causes the other chocolate to form that same crystalline structure.

[@macdongr]

I remembered Anne Reardon teaching me how to do this. You can actually do it in the microwave. You need to start with 30 seconds, then stir, then 20 seconds, stir, then put it in the microwave for 10 second increments and stiring after every time until it's just melted. If you have a thermometer you can check it but otherwise do until it's just melted.

[@arrontheemo7752]

thank you for making the first ever useful short

[@qrzone8167]

I never knew you could do this with chocolate 😮

[@davidribeiro]

Ohhhh so that's how the bendy chocolate is made? I love those.

[@bred8319]

Pov: none of us had any intention on making chocolate but still watched it AND read the comments

[@debbiechan8657]

I'm always fascinated by the fact that chocolate is tempered similar to metal, two completely different things, same principle

[@RowboatX3]

That snap was mouth watering

[@samtaylor5699]

The bloom chocolate made me think that his pan had a hole in it for a second