How to Temper Chocolate

Published on Tuesday, October 2, 2007, by The CHOW Editorial Team / Edit Post

How to Temper Chocolate

Chocolatier Michael Recchiuti says that everyone, even the experts, finds chocolate intimidating. Here is something he told us while we were developing our recipes for chocolate candies, refining our process, and tempering a lot of chocolate: “Chocolate is an organic medium, which has few ingredients, but [is] extremely complex in crystal structure. Practice and patience is the only way to achieve a good temper and positive results. If you mess up the temper, you can always remelt the chocolate and try again. It is worth the frustration; all of us at Recchiuti go through learning curves every day, that’s what makes it so interesting to work with chocolate. Chocolate is like playing music: Practice will allow for better results and [a] higher level of comfort the more you work with [chocolate].”

Tempering Graphic


For white and milk chocolate: Heat to 116 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit; cool to 80 degrees Fahrenheit; reheat to 85 to 87 degrees Fahrenheit.
For dark chocolate: Heat to 118 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit; cool to 80 degrees Fahrenheit; reheat to 88 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit.

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  • I have read that chocolate buttons have additives in them, so won't temper. Does anyone have any comments. I used buttons as my first attempt at tempering and after they had set, they got the "bloom". I thought my temps were correct, so just wondering if perhaps it was the choc buttons? Thanks for any advice or comments!

  • What's the temperature range you have to keep the chocolate in while you're coating your goodies?

  • I think one of the most important parts of tempering chocolate is understanding exactly why you're doing what you're doing. Chocolate has four main forms of crystals, the most stable of which is called beta. When you temper chocolate you're trying to achieve a mixture that contains ONLY beta crystals. During the first heating process you're wiping clean your crystal slate and destroying ALL...+READ

    I think one of the most important parts of tempering chocolate is understanding exactly why you're doing what you're doing. Chocolate has four main forms of crystals, the most stable of which is called beta. When you temper chocolate you're trying to achieve a mixture that contains ONLY beta crystals. During the first heating process you're wiping clean your crystal slate and destroying ALL crystals in your untempered chocolate. Cooling the chocolate down then creates what we call "seeds" which help the crystals form. When you do your final heating process (that I personally would not take past 87 F, even for dark chocolate) you're destroying all the weaker crystal seeds and keeping that one beta crystal form, which gives you great snap and finish. If other crystals still exist they'll try to become beta and as they do that they'll push cocoa butter to the surface of the chocolate- that's what blooming is. A great test to tell if you've tempered your chocolate correctly is to take a small scrap of parchment and just place it on the surface of your chocolate (enough to create a very thin coating) then put it on your counter. If in 2-3 minutes it's set nicely you know you've tempered your chocolate. If after about 5-10 minutes your chocolate is still shiny and wet you probably have to start over. Happy tempering!-COLLAPSE

  • I think it would depend at what kind of chocolate bar you're trying to temper. If it has additives like oil in it, you can't temper it.

  • your chocolate is getting too hot Patient. Heat about 2/3 of your chocolate to no hotter than 110 degrees (get an instant read thermometer - digitals are just not accurate). Once you hit 110, remove your chocolate from the hot water bath and beat in the remainder (dont be afraid to whip that bad boy up!) until the newly added chocolate is melted. Voila! tempered chocolate.

    You definitely can...+READ

    your chocolate is getting too hot Patient. Heat about 2/3 of your chocolate to no hotter than 110 degrees (get an instant read thermometer - digitals are just not accurate). Once you hit 110, remove your chocolate from the hot water bath and beat in the remainder (dont be afraid to whip that bad boy up!) until the newly added chocolate is melted. Voila! tempered chocolate.

    You definitely can temper chocolate bars - use the instructions above.

    Good luck-COLLAPSE

  • Hey Quick question can you temper a chocolat bar

  • Help! Maybe it's my digital thermometer, I have diligently patiently been trying to temper chocolate and I am getting the light brown film building on it pretty quickly after it sets. Does this mean the chocolate is getting too hot? Thank you thank you thank you!

    Signed, patient but confused! lol

  • I would like to thank you specifically for the graph - it is a great way to show people how to temper chocolate. I thought your graph was such a good idea, in fact, I put it in my blog entry on how to temper chocolate (I gave you credit, of course, and linked back to this article).

    Click here to read my blog entry on Tempering Chocolate: http://www.thedailyv.com/?p=468


    Thanks again! This...+READ

    I would like to thank you specifically for the graph - it is a great way to show people how to temper chocolate. I thought your graph was such a good idea, in fact, I put it in my blog entry on how to temper chocolate (I gave you credit, of course, and linked back to this article).

    Click here to read my blog entry on Tempering Chocolate: http://www.thedailyv.com/?p=468


    Thanks again! This was a great article!-COLLAPSE

  • what happens when the tempered chocolate cools and you are then asked to retemper, does this mean just reheating back to the desired tempered temperature or do u have to follow other steps?

  • I'm wondering how to use the tempered chocolate to make my own bar with bits of ... stuff. Citrus zest, rose petals, bacon, etc. It it just a matter of tempering, mixing in my ingredient, then pouring into a mold? Would the acidity of ingredients affect the temper? How about the fat from the bacon? Moisture from flower petals?

  • Really not as hard as it seems. Tempering is like following any other recipe or directions only not as forgiving. Great VID!
    -Aaron K

  • I tempered my first batch of dark chocolate to cover dried apricots. They turned out amazing (assuming you love apricots). The dark chocolate snapped when you "chow" down on them.

    Although, a bit nervous that I was going to screw the tempering process up, it worked great! Additionally, I used the microwave method (heat for 25 seconds, stir, repeat). Microwaves work, but the method takes a bit...+READ

    I tempered my first batch of dark chocolate to cover dried apricots. They turned out amazing (assuming you love apricots). The dark chocolate snapped when you "chow" down on them.

    Although, a bit nervous that I was going to screw the tempering process up, it worked great! Additionally, I used the microwave method (heat for 25 seconds, stir, repeat). Microwaves work, but the method takes a bit of patience.-COLLAPSE

  • I temper differently than on the video. Once the chocolate hits the first temperature, I take it off and do nothing (except stir every once in a while) until it cools to the next temperature. Once that is done I put it back over the heat till it reaches the final temperature. I use an infrared thermometer to take both readings. I also watched a chocolatier use the same when he used a marble slab...+READ

    I temper differently than on the video. Once the chocolate hits the first temperature, I take it off and do nothing (except stir every once in a while) until it cools to the next temperature. Once that is done I put it back over the heat till it reaches the final temperature. I use an infrared thermometer to take both readings. I also watched a chocolatier use the same when he used a marble slab to cool the chocolate. He poured it onto the slab and started scraping it around taking the temperature every couple of minutes. And, as long as you don't sieze or burn it, you can always re-temper it.-COLLAPSE

  • I read that it shouldn't be warmed abouve 45 C and dark should be cooled to 31 C, milk to 30 C, and white to 27 C. I guess that also depends on how strong the chocolate is. I have a new marble slab at home and some dark chocolate, and hope to try this the old fashioned way without a thermometer.

    Apparently water is the enemy of tempering, and but for overheating and adding water it is possible...+READ

    I read that it shouldn't be warmed abouve 45 C and dark should be cooled to 31 C, milk to 30 C, and white to 27 C. I guess that also depends on how strong the chocolate is. I have a new marble slab at home and some dark chocolate, and hope to try this the old fashioned way without a thermometer.

    Apparently water is the enemy of tempering, and but for overheating and adding water it is possible to retemper it.

    And I love the idea of an infra red thermometer - tempering chocolarte requires lots of stirring, so generally you would expect the surface and body temp to be the same. where it would be amazingly handy is caramel and toffee. Once out of the pan and no longer liquid a normal thermometer won't work, but it can still be dangerously too hot to touch as I have found out to my cost..

    Great subject! Thanks-COLLAPSE

  • I have an infrared thermometer too, but I use it for computers :) I would imagine that it would only give you an accurate reading for the surface of the chocolate, which could be cooler than what is near the bottom of the bowl/pot. I think a good old candy thermometer would be best.

    There are lots free temperature converters on the net. Like Google (just type "95 fahrenheit to celsius" into the...+READ

    I have an infrared thermometer too, but I use it for computers :) I would imagine that it would only give you an accurate reading for the surface of the chocolate, which could be cooler than what is near the bottom of the bowl/pot. I think a good old candy thermometer would be best.

    There are lots free temperature converters on the net. Like Google (just type "95 fahrenheit to celsius" into the google search box).-COLLAPSE

  • Great post. But is it possible to give temperatures in Celcius too??? I'm sure I'm not the only reader from outside the US !!! :)
    I just bought an infrared thermometer to help me with tempering. Does anyone have any experience using it for tempering???

  • digky: Once chocolate has seized, you can get it smooth again by whisking in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, cocoa butter, or clarified butter to every 6 ounces of chocolate. But, once you added this extra fat, the chocolate is no longer suitable for tempering; instead use it in recipes that don't require tempering. For more info, go here- http://www.chow.com/stories/10746/2

  • Is it possible to re-temper chocolate that has seized? I like to add extracts to my chocolate but the liquid causes the chocolate to seize up. Would it be at all possible to temper it?