How to make chocolate not melt. What you need to know about chocolate

Anyone who has ever thought about making beautiful chocolate decorations or homemade chocolate candies usually breaks down during the tempering step. First, a marble table was required. Where can I get a marble table? In the ritual service, they told me sarcastically. Well, thanks ... And then. It is necessary to heat the chocolate to 45C, cool to 26C and heat again to 31C. In general, a nightmare.

And if the chocolate is not tempered, then it is dull, instantly melts, not hard, granular, with stains, tasteless. You can't get it out of the molds it's been poured into.

And so I just now rummaged through the Internet, studied the tempering of chocolate. My vigilant concern for the students, who would have to somehow make life easier in terms of tempering, did not give me peace. At least without a marble table to do!

And I came across a video about tempering from the Callebaut company. Which, as everyone knows, is one of the world leaders in the production of chocolate. What I saw shocked me. It turns out that to get tempered chocolate, you do not need to temper it at all! No marble tables, no heating and fast cooling! Honestly, I watched the video twice to make sure I understood correctly. And then she ran to try, because she did not believe it. It turned out EXCELLENT!

So, about this method of obtaining tempered chocolate, I have one good and one bad news.

The good news is, yes, tempered chocolate is made in one step without chilling and reheating. Melted and everything.

The bad news is that you still need a thermometer. And it’s better not to have a needle thermometer, with which you check the readiness of steaks or measure the temperature of sugar syrup. It is better to take a pyrometer - a non-contact thermometer. It produces results much faster. With my needle, the correct result is obtained in a minute, and with a pyrometer, in two seconds. I bought a pyrometer in Leroy Merlin, it cost 1880 rubles.

The method in short. We take tempered chocolate and melt it so that its temperature does not exceed 30C for white, 32 for dark and 34 for dark chocolate. All.

So. We take professional chocolate. It is professional, chocolate bars in supermarkets are intended for eating and are not tempered. Chocolate in kalets (medals) is convenient. If you have chocolate in a large bar, then you need to chop it into small, small pieces.

We take chocolate, pour it into a bowl, and microwave at maximum power for 30 seconds. After that, most of the chocolate will still be solid. We repeat the procedure, mix. This is where the chocolate melts. You can measure its temperature, you get 26 degrees. Then we go in portions of 10 seconds. Got it - mixed it up. You need to stop at the moment when ALMOST all the chocolate is melted, and its temperature reaches the limit for this type of chocolate. For example, we melt milk chocolate. Here it is 32 degrees. But there are still a lot of unmelted pieces! Stir, rubbing the unmelted pieces against the walls. After that, you can warm up literally another 5 seconds in the microwave. You can punch with a blender.

To check if we succeeded, daub our melted chocolate on the table or on any other cool surface. If the chocolate hardened in less than 1 minute, then everything turned out !!

Now we need to keep the chocolate at this temperature while we work with it. Well-tempered chocolate sets instantly! While you are enthusiastically writing out chocolate patterns. everything has already set in the bowl 🙂 there are two ways to maintain the temperature of the chocolate. The first method is a hot hair dryer. Just blow on the surface of the chocolate and it melts. Method two. A bowl of hot water from the tap. Place the bowl of chocolate in a bowl of hot water for 10 seconds, stir the chocolate, take out the bowl of chocolate. Don't forget, we must never exceed the temperature limit! And the water must not get into the chocolate, everything will go bad!

If you overheated the chocolate. Well, it happens to everyone. Add a handful of unmelted calets and blitz with a blender until the chocolate is below the temperature limit. But this only works if it is literally a couple of degrees overheated. If it’s too much, write wasted, you’ll have to temper it in a complicated way: heat it, cool it quickly, heat it up again.

Why does this method work without tempering? The funny thing is that professional chocolate is sold already tempered. That is, it has the correct crystal structure. And if we melt it so as not to exceed the temperature at which the chocolate loses this structure, then the chocolate will remain tempered! That is, all we need is not to break the crystal structure of tempered chocolate by overheating! Moreover, with this method, at some point, most of the chocolate melted, but there were still lumps, remember? These lumps are nothing but chocolate crystals. They have the right texture and the melted chocolate starts to crystallize around them.

I anticipate your question. Can this be done in a water bath without a microwave? I'm not sure, but you can try.

I forgot to say. The temperature in the kitchen when working with chocolate should be 18-20C. it should be cool. Otherwise, nothing will freeze properly. And further. Do not put the chocolate in the refrigerator to harden, it will lose its luster.

In general, cheers! I put on decor, I'm happy as an elephant. I'll still be tomorrow. Liked.

When chocolate is heated and cooled during the use of this product in the process of making sweets, crystallization occurs, which leads to the appearance of crystals of various sizes. Such a process allows the product to be used to create all sorts of sweet masterpieces, but this can only be achieved using tempered chocolate.

What does it mean to temper chocolate and why is it necessary?

Tempering, or crystallization, is the process of heating and cooling chocolate to a certain temperature. Why temper chocolate, what is it for? During the crystallization of this sweet product, it acquires a stable form. As a result of heating and cooling the product to certain temperatures, it becomes hard, brittle and glossy.

First you need to understand what it means to temper chocolate. The essence of the procedure is that the product is first heated, then cooled and again slightly increase its temperature. First, the tile is heated to a temperature of 40-45 degrees, then cooled to 25-26 and the temperature is slightly increased again. At the end of tempering, the chocolate mass should have the following temperature, depending on the type of product used:

• black - 31-32;
• dairy - 29-30;
• white - 28.

Tempering is carried out for the following purposes:

• eliminate the formation of plaque, which has the form of unattractive white stripes or spots on the surface of finished chocolate products;
• increase the temperature at which chocolate products begin to melt on their own upon contact with fingers;
• speed up the process of cooling the chocolate mass during the preparation of sweets, because tempered chocolate hardens within 5 minutes;
• slightly reduce chocolate products after they harden, which allows confectioners to easily remove them from molds;
• give sweets an attractive glossy sheen and a clear shape.

It is not difficult to identify chocolate bars and other products that have been tempered correctly. They are stored at room temperature and do not melt, break well, and do not crumble, they are distinguished by a glossy sheen and a hard texture.

How chocolate is tempered in a tempering machine

Several methods are used to crystallize chocolate. The most accessible and simplest of them is the use of a special machine. Tempering chocolate in a tempering machine is carried out as follows: a product is placed in special equipment, where it heats up very slowly, after which it cools just as slowly. As a result of the use of such a tempering machine, both a tasty and appetizing-looking product is obtained.

Many housewives want to learn how to temper chocolate at home to avoid crystal formation. At home, crystallization can be carried out in several ways - in a water bath or in a microwave.

How to temper chocolate in a water bath

How to temper chocolate in a water bath in order to prevent the formation of crystals? For those housewives who are going to cook chocolates at home, professional confectioners recommend purchasing a special thermometer to control the crystallization process. Tempering in a water bath proceeds as follows:

• The chocolate bar is placed in a bowl and placed in a water bath.
• The chocolate will slowly melt, and as soon as it becomes liquid, you should turn off the heat.
• The bowl is removed from the saucepan that was used for the water bath, wrapped in a towel to keep warm.
• A piece of cold hard, already tempered chocolate is added to this mass, it will start the process of crystallization of the liquid chocolate mass. Everything needs to be stirred well so that the mass acquires a uniform consistency and cools to the desired temperature.

The process of tempering at home in this way will take very little time, after cooling the product is ready for use.

How to temper chocolate in the microwave

How to properly temper chocolate in a microwave oven is an urgent issue for housewives who do not want to use a water bath for this purpose. Crystallization in the microwave can be done in the following way:

• grate the chocolate bar, place the chips in a plastic or glass dish and put it in the microwave;
• melt the chocolate chips, choosing a power of 800-1000 W, while checking the condition of the product every 15 seconds or even more often to prevent overheating;
• when the mass looks almost melted, but a few chips are visible, remove the bowl from the microwave;
• gently stir the chocolate mass until smooth, just as in the previous preparation method, add cold chocolate, bring to the desired temperature, taking into account the type of chocolate.

The product processed in this way acquires an attractive sheen, has a smooth structure that melts well in the mouth. Unfortunately, at home it is not always possible to carry out tempering the first time. To make sure the product is in the right condition, spread it on parchment paper, wait 5 minutes and try to separate it: if the process was successful and the piece of chocolate looks shiny and not blotchy, then everything was done correctly. Otherwise, you will have to start the process over.

The purpose of tempering chocolate is to pre-crystallise the cocoa butter in the chocolate, which is related to the working temperature of the chocolate. During tempering, the cocoa butter in chocolate acquires a stable crystalline form. It provides rigidity, compressive strength and gloss to finished products after cooling. If the chocolate is melted in the usual way (between 40 and 45°C) and cooled to operating temperature, the finished product will not shine. If you make an effort, using a special method of bringing the chocolate to the required working temperature, you are guaranteed to get the desired result. This is what we call tempering: bringing the chocolate up to the required working temperature, which is facilitated by sufficiently stable crystals.

What's going on technically?

A real tempering process, nothing else. When you temper your chocolate on a marble, or when you add more chocolate, you are aiming to start a chain reaction to arrive at the beta form of the cocoa butter found in the chocolate. This specific crystallization form will bring out the brilliance and hardness you want to give your chocolate. The final tempering is crystallization only for the beta form of the 7 crystal forms found in cocoa butter. With this new tempering technique, you don't create beta shapes, you just... add them. In fact, 1% Mycryo is the correct amount of beta crystals to start a chain reaction. And you will get a perfect crystallization, saving much more time to work with it from the very beginning.

Tempering with Mycryo®

	Step 1 Melt the chocolate to a temperature of 40-45°C (in a microwave oven or in a water bath).
	Step 2 Let the chocolate cool at room temperature to 34°C for dark chocolate or 33°C for milk, white or colored chocolate.
	Step 3 Add 1% cocoa butter Mycryo (Mycryo), or 10 g per 1 kg of chocolate.
	Step 4 Mix well.
	Step 5 When the chocolate has sufficiently pre-crystallized, maintain the temperature at 34°C for dark chocolate and 33°C for milk or white chocolate.
	Step 6 If using chocolate for a longer period of time, store it at 31-32°C for dark chocolate or 39-30°C for milk, white or colored chocolate.

Tempering with Callets

Pre-crystallization is a very easy process if you add chocolate that has already been tempered into the melted chocolate. Callebaut Callets are suitable for this. The Callets have already been tempered. In other words, they are already in the required crystalline form and can be added to melted chocolate. The number of Callets required depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate and the Callets themselves. When the melted chocolate reaches approximately 40°C, you can add 15% to 20% Callets at ambient temperature (between 15 and 20°C).

Tempering in the microwave

How and in what you can melt chocolate at home - the most affordable ways to temper chocolate to decorate cakes.

From the article you will learn:

• How to temper chocolate at home
• The easiest way to temper chocolate at home
• The main secrets of the correct tempering of chocolate

Tempering chocolate at home

Before you melt chocolate in the microwave or in a water bath, you need to choose the right one. For tempering, milk or dark chocolate with a cocoa content of at least 50% is suitable; there is no place for nuts and various fillings in it.

Melting white chocolate is also possible, but it will be more of a hassle when making confectionery decorations. It is also worth considering that porous chocolate is not suitable for melting. When the chocolate is chosen, we select the right dishes. We need ceramics without any metallic elements and patterns.

How to melt chocolate in a water bath

To melt chocolate, you can use a double-walled saucepan. Put the chocolate for the cake in a double-walled saucepan. Between the walls there should be hot, but not boiling water, and the chocolate should be melted slowly. When melting chocolate in a water bath, be careful not to get water or droplets of steam or condensate into it.

The traditional method of melting chocolate in a water bath is to use a double boiler. The chocolate should be placed in the top bowl of the double boiler, this will allow the chocolate to melt slowly and without burning.

Do not cover the water bath in which the melting chocolate is located with a lid, as drops of the resulting condensate will fall into the melted chocolate. Then the correct tempering may not work, the chocolate will be non-plastic and acquire a whitish coating.

If you need to melt a large amount of chocolate, it's best to start with 1/3 of the total chocolate, waiting for the chocolate in the bowl to melt before adding the rest of the chocolate. When the chocolate begins to melt, gently stir it with a plastic or wooden spatula. When almost all of the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the water bath and stir until the chocolate is shiny, smooth and completely melted.

How to melt chocolate in the microwave

The easiest way is to melt the chocolate mass in the microwave. Chocolate for making decorations can be melted as follows - set the microwave regulator to low power and stir the chocolate mass as often as possible so that the heat is evenly distributed.

You can use the "defrost" mode, which gives you the minimum power, and a short time - 3 minutes (depending on how much chocolate you need to melt). Chocolate in the microwave can be melted with the following calculation: for 100 grams of chocolate - 2 minutes of time. But this way of melting chocolate in the microwave does not result in a glossy texture to the hardened chocolate.

To properly melt chocolate in a microwave oven (microwave oven), you need to choose the appropriate container.

Ideally, the bowl (such as a deep glass bowl) should remain cool or slightly warm after several minutes of near-continuous microwave operation. If the bowl is too hot for your hand after the chocolate has been microwaved, the temperature is too high for the chocolate. If you overheat the chocolate, immediately pour it into another cool bowl and add the pieces of unmelted chocolate, remember to stir constantly.

7 Secrets to Properly Tempering Chocolate

• The chocolate label should have a simple composition, with a minimum of various additives, but with a high content of cocoa butter.
• You need to choose a confectionery (or culinary) chocolate product, as well as a table one with the name.
• Best suited for melting dark chocolate, without nuts, raisins, fruit fillings and other additives.
• Melting porous chocolate does not work, it is not suitable for tempering.
• It is better not to use economy-class chocolate bars at low prices, the result will be unpredictable and most likely unsuccessful.
• If you need to make an inscription on the cake, then it is advisable to melt the dessert chocolate. It is thick and viscous, but for glaze it is not very applicable.
• Couverture is the most expensive firebox chocolate. It contains a lot of cocoa butter, so it melts perfectly, and as a glaze it looks glossy and smooth. When solidified, it creates a crispy crust.

An easy way to temper chocolate at home

• Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.
• Pour warm water into a saucepan and place the bowl on top so that its bottom does not touch the water. The chocolate should melt slowly.
• Once it's liquid, turn off the heat, remove the bowl from the pan, and wrap it in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.
• Add a piece of hard, tempered chocolate (which will serve as a seed for crystallization), such as chocolate coins, and mix until the mass reaches a temperature of 31-32°C for dark chocolate, 30-31°C for milk chocolate and 27-28°C for white chocolate. It will take some time. After that, the product is ready for use.

However, maintaining the correct temperature is not the only condition for obtaining high-quality chocolate. This can be achieved in many ways. Regardless of which tempering method you use, the three conditions must match at the same time for the desired result to be achieved, i.e. stable crystals are formed.

Beautiful chocolate roses, petals, figurines and chocolates - all this cannot be done without tempering the chocolate. If you just melt a bar of chocolate and make sweets, at the output we will get a product that we can’t even pick up in our hands - the candies will melt from contact with our fingers.

Tempering is heating/cooling chocolate to the right temperatures. When heated, the crystal lattice of cocoa butter is destroyed. The purpose of tempering is to bring the cocoa butter crystals into a stable shape so that the finished product has a pleasant sheen, hardness and inherent crunch when broken.

How does the tempering process take place?

We heat the chocolate to 40-45°C, then cool it, and then heat it again, bringing the temperature to the working temperature - 29-32°C. It was not in vain that I indicated such a range of degrees, because for each type of chocolate it has its own:

• Dark chocolate: melting point 45°C, working temperature 31-32°C
• Milk/white chocolate: melting point 42-43°C, working temperature 29°C

Professional confectioners temper chocolate either in special machines or on a granite or marble board. Today I will tell you how to temper chocolate at home using a microwave oven.

For this you will need:

• Chocolate in callets 100 g (bulk) + 20 g (20% of bulk)
• Spatula (or spoon) for mixing

A few tricks:

• The room should be cool. 20°C is the ideal temperature.
• For a large amount of chocolate, take plastic utensils, because. it gives off heat faster and you do not have to stir the chocolate for a long time.
• Do not combine cheap and high-quality chocolate, they have different cocoa and fat content. This can mess up the whole process.

Step 1. I will be tempering Barry Callebaut dark chocolate (65% cocoa). The main mass of chocolate (100 g) must be melted in a microwave oven up to 45 ° C (set the microwave power to 800-850W). The remaining 20 g I put in the refrigerator so that their temperature drops to 20 ° C.

Constantly check the chocolate with a thermometer, stirring slightly to avoid overheating. If the temperature has already reached 45 ° C, and the chocolate is not completely melted, take it out and stir briefly - it will come by itself.

Step 2 Your chocolate has completely melted, now its temperature is 45°C (remember, the temperature is lower for white and milk chocolate). Add the remaining 20 g of chocolate to the mass. It is important that the added chocolate is previously tempered and its temperature is around 20°C.

Step 3 Stir the mass vigorously so that the chocolate callets melt into the mass. When the chocolate is smooth, check the temperature, it should be 31°C, maximum 32°C. If the callets are melted and not yet at operating temperature, add more callets and continue stirring. This may happen because:

a) you initially overheated the chocolate;
b) your dishes keep warm and keep the chocolate cool, change them.

Step 4 Check if you did everything right: put a small amount of tempered chocolate on a spoon, palette or parchment and leave it at room temperature. After 3-5 minutes, it should cool completely and become matte. You can easily run your finger over it and nothing will happen to it.

If you succeeded, congratulations! The chocolate is tempered and you can start working with it. If the chocolate has not frozen, do not despair, not everyone succeeds the first time. Therefore, start all over again: increase the temperature, lower it by adding calets and raise it to the operating temperature. Good luck!

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