Working Temperature Fluctuation

The temperature of the room in which you are working is very important when dealing with chocolate. If the room temperature is too high, the chocolate will take too long to set. When this happens, the cocoa butter stays in a liquid state for too long and travels to the surface of the chocolate, resulting in fat bloom. Fat bloom can be identified by streaks of gray or white on the surface of the chocolate, and inconsistent shine. Without its shiny surface, chocolate affected by fat bloom has a soft, crumbly texture on the interior. Chocolate with fat bloom will also feel oily and will melt on contact, because cocoa butter melts at body temperature. The ideal working temperature for a chocolate room should be approximately 20°F/11.1°C cooler than the working temperature of dark chocolate, which is around 88° to 90°F/31.1° to 32.2°C, and therefore the ideal room temperature should be somewhere between 65°F and 70°F/18.3° and 21.1°C.