Tempering

Tempering is a precise confectionery technique of the controlled heating, cooling, and slight reheating of melted chocolate to clearly defined temperatures. The aim is to correctly crystallise the cocoa butter, which gives the finished chocolate impeccable properties: a fine sheen, hardness, a crisp “snap” when broken, and resistance to melting in the hand.

The secret lies in the physics of cocoa butter, which can set in several different crystal forms, and only one of them (the so-called beta form) gives a stable, shiny, and crisp result. The classic process of tempering has three phases: the chocolate is fully melted (about 45–50 °C), then cooled, stirring actively, until the required crystals form (about 27 °C), and then slightly reheated again to working temperature (about 31–32 °C for dark chocolate). But if chocolate is simply melted and cooled without tempering, it comes out matte, soft, with a pale bloom, and melts in the hand. Tempered chocolate is used to make sweets, bars, glaze, decorations, and figures. Although there is a related broader idea of “tempering” (such as the gradual equalising of the temperature of eggs before adding them to a hot mass), in confectionery this term means above all the work with chocolate. It is a technique that demands precision and turns chocolate into a work of art.