Tips and tricks help with the most common chocolate tempering problems
Having trouble tempering chocolate? One of the most common questions about working with chocolate is “why is my chocolate not tempering properly?” Our tips and tricks will help you troubleshoot common chocolate tempering problems.
No one is more aware of how frustrating it can be to work with chocolate than we are! It’s temperamental, literally. It’s extremely sensitive to changes in temperature, humidity/moisture, agitation, etc. etc.! You believe that everything is going according to plan and that you are tempering chocolate correctly, but then you realize that everything has seriously gone wrong. There is a lot of science that goes into tempering chocolate properly, and you can save yourself a lot of frustration by understanding why your chocolate isn’t tempering properly and how to troubleshoot common tempering problems.
For a quick reminder about what tempering is, why we have to temper chocolate, and how to temper chocolate click here.
Tempering chocolate is the most important skill for a chocolatier or chocolate maker. Before you succeed, you probably will need to put it into practice a lot of times. Once you have the money to invest in your business or hobby, you will likely buy a tempering machine that will make your life infinitely easier. BUT, having said machine doesn’t mean that you don’t have to learn how to temper. Learning how to temper chocolate is not only about the outcome. It’s about making sure that you understand the process – the chemistry involved, the steps involved, what you’re looking for, and why.
Tips for troubleshooting chocolate tempering
With that said, there are some common issues that may explain why your chocolate isn’t tempering properly.
Control the air temperature and humidity in your work area. You will need to modify your tempering to account for the change in room temperature if it was warmer or colder during your practice session. For example, the amount of seed needed in the seeding method; reduction of the temperature by making the cool water bath or marble slab a little colder; keeping the warm water bath stable when you try to maintain the temper. A climate with too little humidity or too much dryness can also affect temper. Yes, air conditioning and humidity control will be vital for your commercial operation. The ideal kitchen or production space temperature for working with chocolate is 64 -70°F (18 – 21°C) and 50 – 65% humidity.
Examine your thermometer. As you are checking very minuscule temperature changes from one degree to the next, you need to make sure your equipment is used properly and functioning correctly. You will want to take the temperature after stirring the chocolate mass thoroughly (not when it has been sitting for a while, as a thick mass will develop hot and cool spots).
As you temper, keep stirring and agitating the chocolate mass. Did you continually stir the mass throughout the process? You run the risk of the portion of the mass that is up against the cool marble slab solidifying if you leave it on the slab or in the bowl without stirring. Or the chocolate up against the hot bottom of the bowl falling out of temper because it gets too hot. Again, since we are talking about differences of only one or two degrees, you have to be careful with the process.
Be careful not to create air bubbles in your chocolate mass. Stir or agitate carefully with a pull or push, not a whipping motion, so you don’t introduce air, which will cause air bubbles to form. These bubbles can be a big problem when you are molding. And be aware that air bubbles happen more readily if you are tempering a non-couverture chocolate i.e. one with a higher viscosity. Always research the viscosity of the chocolate you are using so you know if it will work better for ganache (more viscous) or better for enrobing/molding (more fluid).
Don’t over-temper or over-seed your mass of chocolate
As you stir the chocolate mass over time at the working temperature, you create more V-form crystals which makes the chocolate mass thicker until it’s hard to work with, even though it’s still in temper. To combat this you need to melt some of the excess V-form crystals by either:
the addition of warm chocolate at 115° F (47° C). Be careful not to raise the temperature of the whole mass too much as you do this because that will throw the chocolate out of temper.
or heating the edges of the chocolate mass with a heat gun or over hot water. Make sure you thoroughly mix the warmed chocolate into the mass.
Are you beginning to see what we mean when we say that chocolate is temperamental? Just wait, there’s more!
Don’t shock your chocolate (it doesn’t like to be surprised)!
Fat bloom can occur when the center you are enrobing is too cold or has moisture on it. It can also occur from putting the enrobed centers into the fridge too long where, again, cold and moisture can promote fat or sugar bloom.
Do a temper test
Place a small blob of tempered chocolate on a utensil, parchment, or acetate to harden it before using the mass of tempered chocolate for enrobing or molding. Also as you are working with the chocolate during your enrobing or molding session, don’t forget to agitate the tempered chocolate mass and do another temper test periodically.
Ok, you’ve finished an unsuccessful tempering session, now what do you do with a mass of untempered chocolate?
You can re-temper the chocolate over and over again. The only downside is increased viscosity, IF (and that is a big IF) in an earlier session you haven’t overheated the chocolate to the point of possibly burning and IF you haven’t gotten any foreign substance in it, such as water, ganache or nut bits. If you think the mass was compromised in any way, start your next tempering session with new chocolate. You can use the compromised mass for recipes such as ganache or truffle centers so it isn’t wasted.
When you’re finished working, pour out the tempered chocolate onto parchment or acetate and let it harden for storage. One of our students pours her excess tempered chocolate into a plastic storage bag with a zipper, seals the bag, and then flattens it out so that it hardens. The flat shape is very easy to store and when you need it, you simply break up in pieces in the bag then pour back into your tempering machine or bowl to melt.
Why does the mass sometimes harden with bloom when the chocolate was tempered?
A large mass of tempered chocolate can become untempered when the heat from the center of the mass can’t dissipate as you aren’t agitating it anymore. So it retains the heat in the center and cools slowly. This is due to the latent heat of crystallization. When chocolate crystallizes, it releases heat—an exothermic reaction—and can get hot enough to lash out. This issue with latent heat is also why it is important to cool pieces when they are rapidly crystallizing. Putting your mold, or your dipped piece, into a well ventilated refrigerator as soon as you see signs of it starting to crystallize around the edges for 15 minutes or so will carry off that latent heat and prevent the pieces from throwing themselves or each other out of temper.
In that slow process of cooling, some of the cocoa butter molecules release and rise to the surface or get trapped in layers. Don’t worry if this happens. To temper the mass or use it in a recipe, you’ll need to heat it again. This will mix the cocoa butter back into the mass.
When you remelt untempered chocolate to temper it again, you need to melt all the unstable crystals that were formed and solidified. Heat the mass of untempered chocolate to at least 115° F (46° C) for dark chocolate and to 110° F (44° C) for milk or white chocolate.
Keep in mind that if you mold very thick bars, suckers, or 3D shapes and don’t cool them quickly, there may be a hint of bloom. The molded side will be fine, shiny and tempered. But the exposed part of the chocolate may have very light rings or speckles – which may or may not be a problem for you. You can overcome this problem by experimenting with using layers of chocolate to fill the mold instead of just one pour.
Absolutely Important Note: Please check the chocolate manufacturer’s tempering specifications for the chocolate you are using. You can find that information on the package and/or on the manufacturer’s website.
