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Chocolatier Michael Recchiuti says that everyone, even the experts, finds chocolate intimidating. Here is something he told us while we were developing our recipes, 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]. 
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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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?
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
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???
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).
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
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.
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.
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'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?
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?