Here's how to temper chocolate! This post covers it all: best chocolate to use, correct temperatures, the microwave and seeding methods, and more! Everything you need for perfectly tempered chocolate is here. Use for chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate truffles, you name it!
Yield:
16 ounces
Prep Time:20minutes
Cook:5minutes
One of the first things we learned in my baking class in culinary school was how to temper chocolate. I was SO excited to learn how to do this because for some reason it always really intimidated me and I never tried to learn it on my own. I have no idea why I was so intimidated, because as I learned in school it’s actually SUPER easy. Really all it takes is a little precision and patience and if you watch the video I made for you and follow the instructions, you will be on your way to tempering beautiful, shiny, hard chocolate in no time!
Tempered chocolate is wonderful to use when making homemade candy, such as truffles or peanut butter cups or peppermint bark, because it maintains a nice smooth, shiny, and hard texture even at room temperature. It gives your candy a professional quality and makes it much easier to serve and transport, not to mention it just tastes better because you get that wonderful snappy texture. Stay tuned for some recipes utilizing tempered chocolate.
How to Temper Chocolate
TWO RULES for melting chocolate:
These apply to both melting and tempering chocolate.
1. Never heat above 120°F for bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. If tempering milk or white chocolate, avoid heating above 110°F.
This will sacrifice chocolate flavor.
2. Never expose melted chocolate to water
Any water will cause the chocolate to seize. Even a droplet from steam! You know your chocolate has seized when it becomes lumpy instead of smooth.
If your recipe calls for liquid, such as butter, water, coffee, or liqueur, always melt it alongside the chocolate simultaneously.
What does it mean to temper chocolate?
The process of tempering creates chocolate coatings that are ultra smooth, glossy, and have a crisp satisfying snap when eaten. Tempering allows us to manipulate the fat molecules in the cocoa butter of the chocolate to arrange its crystalline structure in a way that creates that snappy chocolate texture.
This same process, along with proper storage, also helps to prevent the chocolate from blooming, which is when a white coating forms on the surface of the chocolate.
When using tempered chocolate to coat, say, Oreo cookies, the coated cookies won’t require refrigeration to stay hard and snappy.
When do I need to use tempered chocolate?
Tempering chocolate is perfect for making chocolate candies, truffles, dipped confections, or chocolate cake decorations.
If you just use melted chocolate to dip, you won’t get a coating that stays snappy. It’ll be dull and soft and will need to be refrigerated just to avoid melting.
Tempered chocolate products stay hard at cool room temperature. Avoid storing at warm temperatures and at high humidity to protect the tempered chocolate’s structure.
When is tempered chocolate not needed?
You don’t need to temper if you’re simply adding melted chocolate into a batter, mousse, or ganache.
How does tempering chocolate work?
The process involves controlling the melting, cooling, and reheating of chocolate within specified temperature ranges depending on the kind of chocolate. The goal of tempering chocolate is to ensure the development and longevity of Form V crystals, one of the six types of cocoa butter crystals. This type of fat crystal is stable and contributes to the coveted textural properties of a delicious chocolate treat!
Maintaining and controlling the development of Form V crystals is also crucial to avoid the unpleasant white, chalky appearance that can form on chocolate when recrystallization occurs.
Why temper chocolate?
Simply put, it’s the best way to get that beautiful professional chocolate coating (without any additional ingredients or refrigeration) while maintaining a delightful chocolate flavor.
Tempering can be an extra step that feels tedious. There are ‘chocolate’ candy melt products available at many stores that produce a similar crunchy coating when dipped. Unfortunately, many of these chocolate compound products aren’t actual chocolate because the cocoa butter has been replaced by hydrogenated industrial oils. They taste artificial and don’t provide the same satisfaction.
What is the best chocolate for tempering? Can you temper chocolate chips?
Only use high quality bars of chocolate for baking (such as Ghirardelli baking bars or even Trader Joe’s Pound Plus chocolate) or couverture chocolate wafers (such as Guittard or Valrhona). If using bars, finely chop the chocolate with a serrated knife. Finely chopped chocolate will melt more evenly.
DO NOT use chocolate chips. These have added ingredients that help them to maintain their chip shape when exposed to heat and will not melt down smoothly for tempering.
Can you temper chocolate without a thermometer?
In my opinion, a thermometer truly is essential to tempering chocolate because it takes the guesswork out and ensures your temper will set up beautifully. Chocolate is expensive so I like to make sure I have the proper tools for success!
A double boiler is simply a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled with about an inch of simmering water. You just want to make sure the bowl on top doesn’t touch the water. This allows the chocolate to be melted gently by the heat.
You can use metal or glass bowls for the top part of the double boiler. Glass will take longer to cool down as required to temper in Step 2.
How to save seized chocolate:
The way to fix seized chocolate is completely counterintuitive. It’s done by actually adding a little bit of melted butter, oil, or water back into the mixture and stirring vigorously. Unfortunately, at this point the fixed melted chocolate should only be used for chocolate sauce or hot chocolate and not in a recipe.
Here's how to temper chocolate! This post covers it all: best chocolate to use, correct temperatures, the microwave and seeding methods, and more! Everything you need for perfectly tempered chocolate is here. Use for chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate truffles, you name it!
In a double boiler, melt 2/3 of the chocolate, stirring often, until the thermometer registers around 115°F, but absolutely no higher than 120°F. If tempering milk or white chocolate, heat to 110°F. Remove from the double boiler. Make sure all equipment that comes in contact with the chocolate remains completely dry. Any water will cause the chocolate to seize.
Gradually seed in the remaining chocolate to bring the temperature down, stirring vigorously and constantly. Stir until the temperature drops to 84°F. This can take some time, usually about 15 minutes so just be patient, it will come down to temperature! A glass bowl will take longer to cool. Speed this process up by carefully placing the bowl of chocolate into an ice bath, making sure not to get ANY water in the chocolate.
Reheat the chocolate briefly by placing the bowl back over the double boiler for 5 to 10 seconds at a time, stirring, until it reaches 89°F. This is the “working temperature.” Do not leave the chocolate over the water or let it exceed 91°F.
You’re done! Test your temper by dipping a small piece of parchment into your chocolate. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. The chocolate should be smooth and firm. If it’s streaky or runny, try stirring in more chocolate to the mixture to bring the temperature down further.
Tempered chocolate can be tempered over and over again. You want to keep the working temperature of about 89°F when working with it. If it goes far below that temperature, set it back over the double boiler until it is 89°F again. If it goes much above that temperature, add more seed chocolate to drop the temperature.
Tempering Chocolate by Microwave:
Put 2/3 of the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Melt at 50% power in 1-minute intervals, stirring between each interval, until melted and smooth. The chocolate should only be between 100 – 110°F.
Add remaining chocolate in small amounts while stirring. Be sure that the pieces are completely melted before adding more.
The chocolate will thicken and become cool, shiny, and smooth as you continue stirring and “seeding” it by adding additional small amounts. When it has reached the range 84-91°F, the chocolate will be tempered and ready to work with.
Recipe Notes
You can temper any amount of chocolate you need, but note that tempering less than 16 ounces becomes a little more difficult.
Course :
Dessert
Cuisine :
American
Keyword :
Chocolate, how to temper chocolate
This post was originally published in 2013 and updated with more tips and new photos in 2020 and 2022. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Article Credits:
Written by Tessa Arias, Edited by Jessie Bruce
Master’s of Public Health Nutrition and Dietetics Candidate at UC Berkeley
Sources: Industrial Chocolate Manufacture And Use (2009). In Beckett S. T. (Ed.), (Fourth ed.). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Amendola, J. (2002). Understanding Baking: The Art and Science of Baking (3rd Edition). Wiley
Brenner, M., Sorensen, P., & Weitz, D. (2020). Science and Cooking: Physics Meets Food, From Homemade To Haute Cuisine (First ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Lonchampt, P., & Hartel, R. W. (2006). Surface bloom on improperly tempered chocolate. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, 108(2), 159-168.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejlt.200500260
Reaver, A. (2021, Nov. 10). Lipids II – classification, function [Course Lecture]. Introduction and Application of Food Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States.
I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)
About Tessa...
I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)
Hi Tessa, you stated never to use chocolate chips because they have added ingredients, but I checked the ingredients on the bag of Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and its the same as their baking bars. So why can’t I use the chocolate chips if the ingredients are the same?
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
— November 10, 2022 at 11:40 am
Hi Walter! While ingredient lists may look the same and contain the same actual ingredients, there may be different amounts of each ingredient in different products. Chocolate chips may work, good quality baking bars are always going to give you the best, most consistent results when melting and tempering. I hope that helps! 🙂
Hi again Kiersten, I used the Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and it was almost unusable for dipping the peppermint patties I was making. It was just to thick to work with. Now, with that said I used Ghirardelli 60% Bitter Sweet Chocolate Chips to dip the turtle candies I made and it work beautifully, nice and fluid and stayed workable for a long time. Go figure, thank you. I’m off to the store to buy some Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Baking Bars.
If I have tempered the chocolate and made bars from it, could those bars be later melted and the chocolate used for dipping truffles, or making chocolate candies or bark? I’ll be traveling at Christmas, and would like to make the candies after I get to our son’s house, but don’t want to have to try the tempering there, as well, If I don’t have to do so.
That’s OK. I could get the chocolate shipped to our son’s house and just do everything there! We’ll be there several days before Christmas, so we’ll have time. The couverture chocolate doesn’t need tempering for ganache, so I won’t need to temper all of it anyway.
Does chocolate sweetened with stevia have any different requirements when tempering?
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
— November 1, 2022 at 9:40 am
Hi Susan! So glad it sounds like it will all work out well! Unfortunately, no one on our team has experience working with chocolate sweetened with Stevia, so we can’t help you there, sorry! Best of luck 🙂
Thanks so much for this post. Very informative! maybe I completely missed it, but I do have one question… I made homemade dark chocolate – cacao butter, cacao and unrefined coconut sugar and vanilla. (I tried to copy ”Hu”’s ingredients because I love their chocolate and I wanted it to be healthier) after I’ve made the chocolate, do I need to let it harden and THEN do I have to temper it? Or is homemade chocolate already tempered?
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
— August 31, 2022 at 10:15 am
Hi John! I’m sorry, but our team hasn’t had much experience with homemade chocolate! You can certainly experiment, but I don’t believe most (if any) should be used for tempering, as it’s not going to be as stable as chocolate produced in a commercial setting. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes 🙂
Do you need to add oil to this? Most sites say add oil, but I’d prefer not to if I can.
I’m assuming properly tempered chocolate does not need added oil…?
I’m making chocolate molds/candies for my daughters cake.
Thank you in advance
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
— August 29, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Hi Rebecca! No, Tessa’s methods do not require the addition of oil. You’re correct; it’s not needed if tempered properly! If you follow Tessa’s directions carefully, use a candy thermometer for accuracy, and use good-quality chocolate (not melted chocolate chips or candy melts), you should have great results! Good luck!! 🙂
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
— June 14, 2022 at 6:48 am
Hi Edgar! If you follow Tessa’s instructions for tempering chocolate (in the article above), you will create a chocolate coating that has a good snap to it, as well as a great shine, without being super hard. If you’re looking for softer chocolate, you could try Tessa’s ganache recipes here! 🙂
Hi there! I had a question relating to tempered chocolate. Thinking through an idea my roommate and I were talking through. He wants to make a cheesecake then add a raspberry jam layer on top. Would it be possible to do a tempered chocolate coating over that? Would he just need to make sure the raspberry layer was well set?
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
— May 23, 2022 at 11:35 am
Hi Luke! We’ve never tried pouring tempered chocolate over the top of a jam layer, so I’m not certain if it would set up well! The added moisture/water content of the jam may prevent the chocolate from setting correctly. I would also think that when you went to slice the cheesecake, the chocolate layer would shatter, rather than slicing nicely. Of course, you can experiment; but I would suggest making a decadent ganache, and pouring/drizzling that over the top of the cheesecake! It’s more like a delicious truffle topping your cheesecake, and it will slice nicely, too! If you want to try the ganache topping, try this recipe here. You can make the whole chocolate cheesecake, or swap out for a different cheesecake, and just top it with the ganache in that recipe, if you prefer! I hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks! I was recommending more of a ganache as well but was still curious as to if it would work. Might be worth the experiment anyway. If we do try it for fun, I’ll let you know.
Amazing instructions!!
I am going to link back to your post because this helped me to perfect my how-to post (at hip-hap-healthy.com) of colouring chocolate. I only realist later, that you need to temper chocolate 😀 UPS!! But it still turned out great.
May I ask, I didn’t have a thermometer, because I read up about the steps on how to check the temperature after cloured in chocolate, but some of the chocolate pieces didn’t get grey spots, but white lines.
Could that be from adding oil when I was melting it, or is this the chocolate bloom (because I didn’t tamper the chocolate correctly?)
I might have tempered it by accident 😀 because I did it with a microwave, and only used small intervals like 10-15 seconds and in the end like 5 seconds even and stirred a lot in the end, and added some new chocolate pieces.
Not sure what the term is in german, but the English term (tempering) was new to me, haha!
Hi Jula! I highly encourage you to use a thermometer while tempering; otherwise, you won’t know for sure if your chocolate has reached the proper temperature. It’s important for the chocolate to not only melt, but for it to reach the high temperature as instructed in the recipe. That high temperature + dropping the temp to 84°F, then reheating to 89°F is what helps to make the chocolate homogenous again, resulting in the shiny, snappy quality of tempered chocolate. Does the recipe you’re following call for oil to be added to the chocolate? Also, did your chocolate have spots on them before melting, or afterwards? If afterwards, that means that your chocolate wasn’t tempered properly. If before, it does sound like your chocolate may have bloomed. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks for sharing your initial fears about being intimidated. I have procrastinated tempering the truffles that I made earlier this week and now that it’s Valentine’s Day, I have no choice but to finish the job. Thanks for holding my hand through this. It wasn’t a terrible first effort: I got them done! Next time, I will surely use 16+ounces. I started my initial attempt with somewhat less.
Very helpful website!
I’ve been tempering chocolate in the microwave but i find i struggle to get the temperature back down to the 28 degrees mark…. it gets to the point where its too cold to melt the chocolate but it still isn’t at 28 degrees if that makes sense!
Any ideas?
I’m not sure I understand, what do you mean that it gets to the point that its too cold to melt the chocolate but still isn’t at 28°C? Do you mean that after microwaving your chocolate, it cools too much and you’re trying to figure out how to slow down that process? How often are you checking your chocolate’s temperature?
In your how-to temper, you do not mention adding cocoa butter/mycryo cocoa butter to your chcolate. Was that intentional or did I miss something. I’m new to this and am wanting to learn as smuch as possible.
Hi Josefina! This article is how to temper pre-made chocolate, not how to make chocolate from scratch. When Tessa talks about the structure of cocoa butter, she’s explaining what only melting but not tempering pre-made chocolate does to its molecular structure. I hope that helps! Please let me know if I misunderstood your question. Thanks!
What if i want to make my bars from scratch . Wanna make bars of chocolate from cocoa butter cocoa powder , sugar etc . How can i do my own bars please ??how can i temper if im starting from scratch to create my own bars
When making a chocolate mold to use on a guiroette for curling the chocolate, do you have a recipe for how to make the mold. I read you add paramount crystals to tempered chocolate to allow it to curl on this device but no recipe exists that I can find for exact measurements.
OMG!!! I did it! Lol! Thank you so much for explaining this so simply! I was so intimidated to try tempering chocolate, but with your help I did it! Pecan Pie Truffles! So excited to give as a gift & try more! Thank you again!
One question. I know you specifically state not to use chocolate chips. However, the ingredients on the chips I have are: cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla extract. And the ingredients in the dark chocolate bars (for baking) I have are: chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla beans. So, does this mean I CAN use the chips I have, or, that I should NOT use EITHER?? Thank you so much for the help!
Hi Amanda! We still recommend skipping chocolate chips when tempering chocolate. Their specific ingredient content percentage formulates them to retain their shape when heated, and the flavor and texture won’t be quite the same. Baking bars or couverture discs have a higher fat content, making them perfect for melting. So while the ingredients may be the same, the content percentages are different. Tessa’s favorite baking bars are from Baker’s, Ghirardelli, or E. Guittard, and favorite chocolate baking wafers (not chocolate coating) is E. Guittard. I hope that helps!
Hi Samantha! We haven’t tried either of those, but I don’t see why not, as long as they reach the correct temperature! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Thank you for the lesson on tempering chocolate. What do you mean when you say, “If your recipe calls for liquid, such as butter, water, coffee, or liqueur, always melt it alongside the chocolate simultaneously.”? do you put it IN the bowl of chocolate while melting, or do you melt it separately, and if so, at what point do you add it to the melted chocolate?
Hi Michelle! You’ll want to melt the liquid separately but at the same time as the chocolate. Is there a specific recipe you’re following? If so, it should state in the instructions when to add the chocolate to the liquid. I hope that helps!
Hi Tessa!
Thanks for all your notes on tempering.
Can I use the tempered chocolate on hot, nuts made toffees? Will the high temp of the toffees affect the tempered chocolates?
Hi Angela! We haven’t tried this chocolate on toffee’d nuts (if I’m understanding you correctly), though we have tried toffee bark! Sometimes some of the butter can separate from the toffee and concentrates on the top, which can cause your chocolate to not adhere to the toffee. Be sure to blot any butter you can see with paper towel before spreading the chocolate on top. You want the surface to be matte, not shiny. You could also have your toffee come to room temperature before adding the melted chocolate on top to ensure success. I hope that answered your question! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Thank you so much but to make it quick and to use as a Belgian chocolate sauce is it possible just to melt Callebeaut callets and drizzle on ice cream or you prefer to mix heavy cream as well and make it ganache and then use it as a drizzle. I am just looking for a right way of it.
I honestly think that’s a personal preference. It really depends on how soft or hard you prefer the chocolate on top of your ice cream. Adding heavy cream will result in a softer, more fudge-like consistency, whereas using just the chocolate callets will result in a hardened chocolate. Hope that helps!
Just a question! After you tempered the chocolate and put it in a mold to set, should you put them in the fridge to harden or should you just gently let them sit and cool down at room temperature and avoid the fridge at all cost?
Hi Madeleine! Nope, anything made with tempered chocolate doesn’t require refrigeration 🙂 Tempered chocolate products will stay hard at cool room temperature. Hope that helps!
Great video and explanation. I use the microwave method and find that it doesn’t always set up and will bloom or be dull. I am using van leer chips and add the seed chocolate until 94 degrees. I know you say not to use chips but was hoping these were better quality. Should i continue to add seed all the way to 89 degrees? I seem to have more problems on warmer days. Also the chocolate will pop off my toffee bark when i break it apart. Any tips? Thanks so much!
When using the microwave to temper chocolate, you want to your chocolate (after adding the seed chocolate) to reach a range of 84°-91°F, so I’d continue to add seed chocolate until you’re in that range.
For toffee bark, sometimes some of the butter can separate from the toffee and concentrates on the top, which can cause your chocolate to not adhere to the toffee. Be sure to blot any butter you can see with paper towel before spreading the chocolate on top. You want the surface to be matte, not shiny. You could also have your toffee come to room temperature before adding the melted chocolate on top to ensure success. Hope that helps!
Is it possible to temper carob? If I buy carob pods, form it into a “chocolate”state then add cocoa butter to it, could that be tempered? Or what do you suggest I do? I don’t eat chocolate but I can have carob.
Can I use Belcolade extra dark chocolate 72% wafers? Also bittersweet or milk?
Or
Belgian Chocolate wafers? Also white, milk and semi sweet?
I am in Ontario, Canada
Thank you
Riss
Belcolade should be fine! I’d double check on the Belgian chocolate wafers-most wafers don’t need to be tempered; however, couverture wafers do need to be tempered. Even though most couverture chocolate is already pre-tempered, melting it actually destroys the tempered state of the chocolate, so re-tempering will be necessary. Hope that helps!
I actually don’t prefer almond bark in recipes. Almond bark is an artificial chocolate made with vegetable fats, whereas regular dipping chocolates are made with cocoa butter. From what I understand, almond bark does not need to be tempered as it’s actually produced for melting-it can simply be melted in the microwave or on the stove and used immediately.
I watched a lot of video, read a lot of explanation but failed to understand it, you’re explanation is so detailed I finally get it, thank you very much ❤️
I have a question about tempering chocolate in a microwave. So, there is no need to bring the temperature up just like you did when using a double-boiler?
I’m so glad you said to bring it up to 115-120 degrees in a double boiler and 100-110 degrees in the microwave. Other places have said to bring it up no further than 95 degrees with milk chocolate and 91 degrees for white chocolate. If the temperature goes above the temp you suggested for each chocolate and you have to add more to cool it down, is that chocolate then still tempered or do you have to bring it lower than 84 and then raise it to 84-91 degrees for it to be in temper again?
Tempered chocolate can be tempered over and over again. As long as you get the temp back down to 89˚ when you add the seed chocolate, it will be fine 🙂
Tempered chocolate is less susceptible to heat and humidity and doesn’t melt…it also has a shiny flawless appearance. Not technically necessary for writing in chocolate, but I’d recommend it ☺️
Attempted—did not come out the way I had hoped, but no fault of the video (issues with my thermometer and first attempt). Video and directions clear—will definitely try again.
Hi Tessa thank you so much, this is really informative.
I have a question, say you’re coating a lot of truffles and it will take about 30mins to an hour, how often should you check the temperature to make sure it’s 89°. And what’s the lowest temperature chocolate can be whilst still being able to temper.
I hope that makes sense and thank you so much!
I’d recommend keeping a thermometer in the chocolate to watch it 🙂 You want to keep the working temperature of about 89°F when working with it — If it cools to about 84°F to 86°F and is still fairly liquid, it can be reheated to a liquid consistency. It would still be considered tempered chocolate; however, if it has cooled and solidified, it would need to be re-tempered. If you keep your chocolate at its working temperature, it will stay in temper for many hours. Good luck!
Very helpful and informative! Her explanation helped me understand the science. It takes a little time to master getting the right temperature, but it happens.
I am working on an old family recipe for a chocolate cake. It has three thin cookie layers separated by a chocolate cream. Then, on top a chocolate glaze. The way I remember it from childhood, the glaze was a hard dark shiny layer. I tried to make it last night. Clearly the “glaze” did not come out as such. My daughter told me about tempering chocolate, which brought me here.
The recipe I have from my mother is really just an ingredients list. For the glaze 75g chocolate, 85g sugar, and 100g water. Does that make any sense to you? Seems that just chocolate and sugar would make more sense and that the water may have been a misunderstanding from somewhere along the passing down of the recipe.
Just to let you know I finally go around to getting a thermometer and doing this, after about my 1st attempt I started to get a reasonable routine going and it all went well, the 3rd batch being the best of the lot.
I have a question— I want to create chocolate shards, which I saw on the British Baking Show on Netflix. The bakers would pour the chocolate on waxed paper and let it cool and harden. Is this tempering? Or do I have it confused with something else? Also, after I am through cooking, can I add sugar and alcohol to it before I pour on the waxed paper? I apologize if this question is off-topic. Thank you. Shoshana Powell
Hi Shoshana, yes that sounds like the bakers were tempering chocolate! If you want a full tutorial on how to make chocolate curls, I’ve got a step by step video for this saved to my Instagram highlights: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17862094313208357/
Hi Tessa, I have made a couple of attempts to make a good fruit and nut chocolate bar. Learning how to temper the chocolate was easy with your directions… and the bars came out just great…such a difference when tempered! Yes is has that look and crisp snap to it. I did it in my double boiler and just added in the fruit and nut mixture to the melted chocolate, then poured it all out on a tray…so easy so good.. I am 72 years old and love trying new things like this. I am already thinking of more possibilities using the tempered chocolate and you have mentioned a few…so more experimenting! Thank you William
Terrific information! thank you. Very clear clear instructions.
One quick question; if you temper minimally a pound of chocolate at a time but you don’t use it all, then how do you reheat that tempered chocolate at a later date to use it up??
Thank you, Sylvia
If I need my chocolate to be runny can I still use the microwave to temper it? Also, I’m not sure if I can control the way my microwave heats (I don’t have an option for 50% power) so how many seconds should I heat it?
Hi Tessa! Can I use 70-80 percent cocoa chocolate bars…. Like Lindt or other good quality chocolate. Or, dark cooking chocolate…. I can’t get baking chocolate where I am. Also, can you do a video for chocolate almond brittle please
Whatever chocolate you start with should already be tempered (otherwise it would be super unstable and wouldn’t have much of a shelf life), so as long as you’re using chocolate wafers/bars made for baking and not just for consumption, you should be good to go. Great suggestion for a possible future recipe, you never know what Tessa will come up with 🙂
Oh, ok – so if you’re starting out with untempered chocolate, you’d need tempered chocolate to seed? Or are all wafers/chips/bars tempered from the get-go?
Whatever chocolate you start with should already be tempered (otherwise it would be super unstable and wouldn’t have much of a shelf life) so as long as you’re using chocolate wafers/bars made for baking and not just for consumption (like Hershey’s bars or something), you should be good to go. I included a link in the post of my favorite chocolate to use for tempering. In this video I just used Baker’s brand semisweet baking chocolate. Hope that helps!!
Thanks Stephanie! The seed chocolate is the same you used for melting, which should have been tempered when it was manufactured for sale. Make sure to use high quality chocolate that is dark and shiny (no chocolate chips or anything with added waxes, etc).
Thank you for the requests! I’ll definitely consider doing a brownie video and a makeup video would be fun too because I’m slightly makeup obsessed. Check out this Sunday’s post, it’ll be all about my recent beauty faves!
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Hi Tessa, you stated never to use chocolate chips because they have added ingredients, but I checked the ingredients on the bag of Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and its the same as their baking bars. So why can’t I use the chocolate chips if the ingredients are the same?
Thank you
Hi Walter! While ingredient lists may look the same and contain the same actual ingredients, there may be different amounts of each ingredient in different products. Chocolate chips may work, good quality baking bars are always going to give you the best, most consistent results when melting and tempering. I hope that helps! 🙂
Hi again Kiersten, I used the Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and it was almost unusable for dipping the peppermint patties I was making. It was just to thick to work with. Now, with that said I used Ghirardelli 60% Bitter Sweet Chocolate Chips to dip the turtle candies I made and it work beautifully, nice and fluid and stayed workable for a long time. Go figure, thank you. I’m off to the store to buy some Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Baking Bars.
Thank you
Hi Walter! How interesting! I’m sorry those melted chips just weren’t working out for you. I hope you had better luck with the baking bars!
If I have tempered the chocolate and made bars from it, could those bars be later melted and the chocolate used for dipping truffles, or making chocolate candies or bark? I’ll be traveling at Christmas, and would like to make the candies after I get to our son’s house, but don’t want to have to try the tempering there, as well, If I don’t have to do so.
Hi Susan! Unfortunately, it will need to be tempered again – maybe you could turn it into a family event and make truffles together? 🙂
That’s OK. I could get the chocolate shipped to our son’s house and just do everything there! We’ll be there several days before Christmas, so we’ll have time. The couverture chocolate doesn’t need tempering for ganache, so I won’t need to temper all of it anyway.
Does chocolate sweetened with stevia have any different requirements when tempering?
Hi Susan! So glad it sounds like it will all work out well! Unfortunately, no one on our team has experience working with chocolate sweetened with Stevia, so we can’t help you there, sorry! Best of luck 🙂
Thanks so much for this post. Very informative! maybe I completely missed it, but I do have one question… I made homemade dark chocolate – cacao butter, cacao and unrefined coconut sugar and vanilla. (I tried to copy ”Hu”’s ingredients because I love their chocolate and I wanted it to be healthier) after I’ve made the chocolate, do I need to let it harden and THEN do I have to temper it? Or is homemade chocolate already tempered?
Hi John! I’m sorry, but our team hasn’t had much experience with homemade chocolate! You can certainly experiment, but I don’t believe most (if any) should be used for tempering, as it’s not going to be as stable as chocolate produced in a commercial setting. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes 🙂
Do you need to add oil to this? Most sites say add oil, but I’d prefer not to if I can.
I’m assuming properly tempered chocolate does not need added oil…?
I’m making chocolate molds/candies for my daughters cake.
Thank you in advance
Hi Rebecca! No, Tessa’s methods do not require the addition of oil. You’re correct; it’s not needed if tempered properly! If you follow Tessa’s directions carefully, use a candy thermometer for accuracy, and use good-quality chocolate (not melted chocolate chips or candy melts), you should have great results! Good luck!! 🙂
How to make very hard chocolate set softer to coat almons. What kind of additives, if any,,,,,
Hi Edgar! If you follow Tessa’s instructions for tempering chocolate (in the article above), you will create a chocolate coating that has a good snap to it, as well as a great shine, without being super hard. If you’re looking for softer chocolate, you could try Tessa’s ganache recipes here! 🙂
Hi there! I had a question relating to tempered chocolate. Thinking through an idea my roommate and I were talking through. He wants to make a cheesecake then add a raspberry jam layer on top. Would it be possible to do a tempered chocolate coating over that? Would he just need to make sure the raspberry layer was well set?
Hi Luke! We’ve never tried pouring tempered chocolate over the top of a jam layer, so I’m not certain if it would set up well! The added moisture/water content of the jam may prevent the chocolate from setting correctly. I would also think that when you went to slice the cheesecake, the chocolate layer would shatter, rather than slicing nicely. Of course, you can experiment; but I would suggest making a decadent ganache, and pouring/drizzling that over the top of the cheesecake! It’s more like a delicious truffle topping your cheesecake, and it will slice nicely, too! If you want to try the ganache topping, try this recipe here. You can make the whole chocolate cheesecake, or swap out for a different cheesecake, and just top it with the ganache in that recipe, if you prefer! I hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks! I was recommending more of a ganache as well but was still curious as to if it would work. Might be worth the experiment anyway. If we do try it for fun, I’ll let you know.
Absolutely – experiments are how we learn! Please let us know how it turns out 🙂 I’m sure it will be delicious, if nothing else!
Amazing instructions!!
I am going to link back to your post because this helped me to perfect my how-to post (at hip-hap-healthy.com) of colouring chocolate. I only realist later, that you need to temper chocolate 😀 UPS!! But it still turned out great.
May I ask, I didn’t have a thermometer, because I read up about the steps on how to check the temperature after cloured in chocolate, but some of the chocolate pieces didn’t get grey spots, but white lines.
Could that be from adding oil when I was melting it, or is this the chocolate bloom (because I didn’t tamper the chocolate correctly?)
I might have tempered it by accident 😀 because I did it with a microwave, and only used small intervals like 10-15 seconds and in the end like 5 seconds even and stirred a lot in the end, and added some new chocolate pieces.
Not sure what the term is in german, but the English term (tempering) was new to me, haha!
Thanks so much!!! 🙂 Best,
Jula
Hi Jula! I highly encourage you to use a thermometer while tempering; otherwise, you won’t know for sure if your chocolate has reached the proper temperature. It’s important for the chocolate to not only melt, but for it to reach the high temperature as instructed in the recipe. That high temperature + dropping the temp to 84°F, then reheating to 89°F is what helps to make the chocolate homogenous again, resulting in the shiny, snappy quality of tempered chocolate. Does the recipe you’re following call for oil to be added to the chocolate? Also, did your chocolate have spots on them before melting, or afterwards? If afterwards, that means that your chocolate wasn’t tempered properly. If before, it does sound like your chocolate may have bloomed. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks for sharing your initial fears about being intimidated. I have procrastinated tempering the truffles that I made earlier this week and now that it’s Valentine’s Day, I have no choice but to finish the job. Thanks for holding my hand through this. It wasn’t a terrible first effort: I got them done! Next time, I will surely use 16+ounces. I started my initial attempt with somewhat less.
So happy to hear your first attempt was a success, yay!!
Very helpful website!
I’ve been tempering chocolate in the microwave but i find i struggle to get the temperature back down to the 28 degrees mark…. it gets to the point where its too cold to melt the chocolate but it still isn’t at 28 degrees if that makes sense!
Any ideas?
I’m not sure I understand, what do you mean that it gets to the point that its too cold to melt the chocolate but still isn’t at 28°C? Do you mean that after microwaving your chocolate, it cools too much and you’re trying to figure out how to slow down that process? How often are you checking your chocolate’s temperature?
In your how-to temper, you do not mention adding cocoa butter/mycryo cocoa butter to your chcolate. Was that intentional or did I miss something. I’m new to this and am wanting to learn as smuch as possible.
Thanks in Advance
Hi Josefina! This article is how to temper pre-made chocolate, not how to make chocolate from scratch. When Tessa talks about the structure of cocoa butter, she’s explaining what only melting but not tempering pre-made chocolate does to its molecular structure. I hope that helps! Please let me know if I misunderstood your question. Thanks!
Upon making the basic chocolate and while the ingredients are still liquid, can you immediately start to temper?
If not, why not?
Hi Robert, I’m not sure I quite understand what you’re asking. Can you please elaborate? What do you mean by basic chocolate?
What if i want to make my bars from scratch . Wanna make bars of chocolate from cocoa butter cocoa powder , sugar etc . How can i do my own bars please ??how can i temper if im starting from scratch to create my own bars
Hi Tina! We haven’t tried making chocolate bars from scratch, so I can’t help. Good luck!
When making a chocolate mold to use on a guiroette for curling the chocolate, do you have a recipe for how to make the mold. I read you add paramount crystals to tempered chocolate to allow it to curl on this device but no recipe exists that I can find for exact measurements.
Hi Lori! We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure!
Hi any ideas on carob powder to make into chocolate for my vegan friend? Possibly with coconut oil though?
We actually haven’t tried tempering carob before, so I can’t say for sure!
OMG!!! I did it! Lol! Thank you so much for explaining this so simply! I was so intimidated to try tempering chocolate, but with your help I did it! Pecan Pie Truffles! So excited to give as a gift & try more! Thank you again!
Ooo Pecan Pie Truffles sound AMAZING! So happy your tempering chocolate experience went perfectly!
One question. I know you specifically state not to use chocolate chips. However, the ingredients on the chips I have are: cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla extract. And the ingredients in the dark chocolate bars (for baking) I have are: chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla beans. So, does this mean I CAN use the chips I have, or, that I should NOT use EITHER?? Thank you so much for the help!
Hi Amanda! We still recommend skipping chocolate chips when tempering chocolate. Their specific ingredient content percentage formulates them to retain their shape when heated, and the flavor and texture won’t be quite the same. Baking bars or couverture discs have a higher fat content, making them perfect for melting. So while the ingredients may be the same, the content percentages are different. Tessa’s favorite baking bars are from Baker’s, Ghirardelli, or E. Guittard, and favorite chocolate baking wafers (not chocolate coating) is E. Guittard. I hope that helps!
Hi I had a question. Would I be able to use a mug warmer or an electric candle warmer to temper chocolate instead of the double boiler ?
Hi Samantha! We haven’t tried either of those, but I don’t see why not, as long as they reach the correct temperature! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Hi.
Thank you for the lesson on tempering chocolate. What do you mean when you say, “If your recipe calls for liquid, such as butter, water, coffee, or liqueur, always melt it alongside the chocolate simultaneously.”? do you put it IN the bowl of chocolate while melting, or do you melt it separately, and if so, at what point do you add it to the melted chocolate?
Thank you so much!
Michelle
Hi Michelle! You’ll want to melt the liquid separately but at the same time as the chocolate. Is there a specific recipe you’re following? If so, it should state in the instructions when to add the chocolate to the liquid. I hope that helps!
Hi Tessa!
Thanks for all your notes on tempering.
Can I use the tempered chocolate on hot, nuts made toffees? Will the high temp of the toffees affect the tempered chocolates?
Thank you!
Hi Angela! We haven’t tried this chocolate on toffee’d nuts (if I’m understanding you correctly), though we have tried toffee bark! Sometimes some of the butter can separate from the toffee and concentrates on the top, which can cause your chocolate to not adhere to the toffee. Be sure to blot any butter you can see with paper towel before spreading the chocolate on top. You want the surface to be matte, not shiny. You could also have your toffee come to room temperature before adding the melted chocolate on top to ensure success. I hope that answered your question! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Do you have a recipe to make Belgian chocolate sauce?
We don’t! Here’s a link to our Homemade Chocolate Sauce recipe if you’re interested though! https://handletheheat.com/homemade-chocolate-sauce/
Thank you so much but to make it quick and to use as a Belgian chocolate sauce is it possible just to melt Callebeaut callets and drizzle on ice cream or you prefer to mix heavy cream as well and make it ganache and then use it as a drizzle. I am just looking for a right way of it.
I honestly think that’s a personal preference. It really depends on how soft or hard you prefer the chocolate on top of your ice cream. Adding heavy cream will result in a softer, more fudge-like consistency, whereas using just the chocolate callets will result in a hardened chocolate. Hope that helps!
Just a question! After you tempered the chocolate and put it in a mold to set, should you put them in the fridge to harden or should you just gently let them sit and cool down at room temperature and avoid the fridge at all cost?
Hi Madeleine! Nope, anything made with tempered chocolate doesn’t require refrigeration 🙂 Tempered chocolate products will stay hard at cool room temperature. Hope that helps!
Great video and explanation. I use the microwave method and find that it doesn’t always set up and will bloom or be dull. I am using van leer chips and add the seed chocolate until 94 degrees. I know you say not to use chips but was hoping these were better quality. Should i continue to add seed all the way to 89 degrees? I seem to have more problems on warmer days. Also the chocolate will pop off my toffee bark when i break it apart. Any tips? Thanks so much!
When using the microwave to temper chocolate, you want to your chocolate (after adding the seed chocolate) to reach a range of 84°-91°F, so I’d continue to add seed chocolate until you’re in that range.
For toffee bark, sometimes some of the butter can separate from the toffee and concentrates on the top, which can cause your chocolate to not adhere to the toffee. Be sure to blot any butter you can see with paper towel before spreading the chocolate on top. You want the surface to be matte, not shiny. You could also have your toffee come to room temperature before adding the melted chocolate on top to ensure success. Hope that helps!
Thank you!
Is it possible to temper carob? If I buy carob pods, form it into a “chocolate”state then add cocoa butter to it, could that be tempered? Or what do you suggest I do? I don’t eat chocolate but I can have carob.
I actually haven’t tried tempering carob before, so I can’t say for sure!
Can I use Belcolade extra dark chocolate 72% wafers? Also bittersweet or milk?
Or
Belgian Chocolate wafers? Also white, milk and semi sweet?
I am in Ontario, Canada
Thank you
Riss
Belcolade should be fine! I’d double check on the Belgian chocolate wafers-most wafers don’t need to be tempered; however, couverture wafers do need to be tempered. Even though most couverture chocolate is already pre-tempered, melting it actually destroys the tempered state of the chocolate, so re-tempering will be necessary. Hope that helps!
Is tempering almond bark done the same way?
I actually don’t prefer almond bark in recipes. Almond bark is an artificial chocolate made with vegetable fats, whereas regular dipping chocolates are made with cocoa butter. From what I understand, almond bark does not need to be tempered as it’s actually produced for melting-it can simply be melted in the microwave or on the stove and used immediately.
I watched a lot of video, read a lot of explanation but failed to understand it, you’re explanation is so detailed I finally get it, thank you very much ❤️
Wonderful! So glad you found this helpful 🙂
I have a question about tempering chocolate in a microwave. So, there is no need to bring the temperature up just like you did when using a double-boiler?
Correct, just make sure the temperature stays between 84-91˚; otherwise you will have to reheat 🙂
I’m so glad you said to bring it up to 115-120 degrees in a double boiler and 100-110 degrees in the microwave. Other places have said to bring it up no further than 95 degrees with milk chocolate and 91 degrees for white chocolate. If the temperature goes above the temp you suggested for each chocolate and you have to add more to cool it down, is that chocolate then still tempered or do you have to bring it lower than 84 and then raise it to 84-91 degrees for it to be in temper again?
Tempered chocolate can be tempered over and over again. As long as you get the temp back down to 89˚ when you add the seed chocolate, it will be fine 🙂
Is this same method for using chocolate to decoration?
Tempered chocolate is less susceptible to heat and humidity and doesn’t melt…it also has a shiny flawless appearance. Not technically necessary for writing in chocolate, but I’d recommend it ☺️
Attempted—did not come out the way I had hoped, but no fault of the video (issues with my thermometer and first attempt). Video and directions clear—will definitely try again.
I’m so glad everything was detailed enough for you, hopefully next time your chocolate will turn out perfect! 🙂
Thank you!
Hi Tessa thank you so much, this is really informative.
I have a question, say you’re coating a lot of truffles and it will take about 30mins to an hour, how often should you check the temperature to make sure it’s 89°. And what’s the lowest temperature chocolate can be whilst still being able to temper.
I hope that makes sense and thank you so much!
I’d recommend keeping a thermometer in the chocolate to watch it 🙂 You want to keep the working temperature of about 89°F when working with it — If it cools to about 84°F to 86°F and is still fairly liquid, it can be reheated to a liquid consistency. It would still be considered tempered chocolate; however, if it has cooled and solidified, it would need to be re-tempered. If you keep your chocolate at its working temperature, it will stay in temper for many hours. Good luck!
Very helpful and informative! Her explanation helped me understand the science. It takes a little time to master getting the right temperature, but it happens.
So happy to hear this helped you, Norene!
Are the directions the same in the microwave as the stove top when the temperature has dropped down and you want to temper the chocolate again? Thanks
I am working on an old family recipe for a chocolate cake. It has three thin cookie layers separated by a chocolate cream. Then, on top a chocolate glaze. The way I remember it from childhood, the glaze was a hard dark shiny layer. I tried to make it last night. Clearly the “glaze” did not come out as such. My daughter told me about tempering chocolate, which brought me here.
The recipe I have from my mother is really just an ingredients list. For the glaze 75g chocolate, 85g sugar, and 100g water. Does that make any sense to you? Seems that just chocolate and sugar would make more sense and that the water may have been a misunderstanding from somewhere along the passing down of the recipe.
Hello,
Just to let you know I finally go around to getting a thermometer and doing this, after about my 1st attempt I started to get a reasonable routine going and it all went well, the 3rd batch being the best of the lot.
Many thanks, Maria
So glad to hear that!
I have a question— I want to create chocolate shards, which I saw on the British Baking Show on Netflix. The bakers would pour the chocolate on waxed paper and let it cool and harden. Is this tempering? Or do I have it confused with something else? Also, after I am through cooking, can I add sugar and alcohol to it before I pour on the waxed paper? I apologize if this question is off-topic. Thank you. Shoshana Powell
Hi Shoshana, yes that sounds like the bakers were tempering chocolate! If you want a full tutorial on how to make chocolate curls, I’ve got a step by step video for this saved to my Instagram highlights: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17862094313208357/
Hi Tessa,
Is it necessary to temper chocolate in order to make hot chocolate bombs?
Thank you!
Hi Tessa, I have made a couple of attempts to make a good fruit and nut chocolate bar. Learning how to temper the chocolate was easy with your directions… and the bars came out just great…such a difference when tempered! Yes is has that look and crisp snap to it. I did it in my double boiler and just added in the fruit and nut mixture to the melted chocolate, then poured it all out on a tray…so easy so good.. I am 72 years old and love trying new things like this. I am already thinking of more possibilities using the tempered chocolate and you have mentioned a few…so more experimenting! Thank you William
This is amazing! I’m so glad you found this article helpful.
Thank you
Terrific information! thank you. Very clear clear instructions.
One quick question; if you temper minimally a pound of chocolate at a time but you don’t use it all, then how do you reheat that tempered chocolate at a later date to use it up??
Thank you, Sylvia
If I need my chocolate to be runny can I still use the microwave to temper it? Also, I’m not sure if I can control the way my microwave heats (I don’t have an option for 50% power) so how many seconds should I heat it?
Hi Tessa! Can I use 70-80 percent cocoa chocolate bars…. Like Lindt or other good quality chocolate. Or, dark cooking chocolate…. I can’t get baking chocolate where I am. Also, can you do a video for chocolate almond brittle please
Whatever chocolate you start with should already be tempered (otherwise it would be super unstable and wouldn’t have much of a shelf life), so as long as you’re using chocolate wafers/bars made for baking and not just for consumption, you should be good to go. Great suggestion for a possible future recipe, you never know what Tessa will come up with 🙂
You make it easy for we beginners
Hi Tessa
Thanks for a great video. Just wanted to check whether the temperatures are the same for milk and dark chocolate?
Thanks 🙂
How do we do this without a thermometer?
Short and Sweet Demonstration!
Thanks, Nancy
Yeah, thanks. Nou I also know what peanutbuttercups are! I’ll experiment with peanutbutter, butter and powdered sugar!
Yours Katja
Funny I was thinking about learning how to properly temper chocolate the other day! Great timing 😉
Oh, ok – so if you’re starting out with untempered chocolate, you’d need tempered chocolate to seed? Or are all wafers/chips/bars tempered from the get-go?
Whatever chocolate you start with should already be tempered (otherwise it would be super unstable and wouldn’t have much of a shelf life) so as long as you’re using chocolate wafers/bars made for baking and not just for consumption (like Hershey’s bars or something), you should be good to go. I included a link in the post of my favorite chocolate to use for tempering. In this video I just used Baker’s brand semisweet baking chocolate. Hope that helps!!
Hey Tessa, Love this! Question – does the seed chocolate need to be tempered, or is it the same chocolate you use for melting?
Thanks Stephanie! The seed chocolate is the same you used for melting, which should have been tempered when it was manufactured for sale. Make sure to use high quality chocolate that is dark and shiny (no chocolate chips or anything with added waxes, etc).
They look yummy! Can you do a brownie video soon? Also, your makeup is gorgeous here! Any chance you can do a makeup tutorial sometime? 🙂
Thank you for the requests! I’ll definitely consider doing a brownie video and a makeup video would be fun too because I’m slightly makeup obsessed. Check out this Sunday’s post, it’ll be all about my recent beauty faves!
I will try it. I am eating my truffles naked, ok, straight from the bowl with a spoon. So dipped would be a step up.. Thanks so much for this