Tempering Chocolate

Tempered chocolate is chocolate that has been melted and then cooled in a controlled environment to achieve the desired crystal structure in the finished, solidified product. Tempering is a very important technique when working with chocolate. If done successfully, it will result in chocolate with a high gloss, resistance to warmth, pleasant aroma, smooth mouthfeel, longer shelf life, good snap, and contraction. “Snap” refers to the sound that the chocolate should make when it is broken, if it has been tempered correctly. Contraction is important for molding chocolates. During the crystallization process, cocoa butter is bound together tightly, which causes it to shrink and makes releasing the chocolate from a mold easy.