Tempering is the process that can make chocolates shiny and smooth because these aren’t natural qualities of chocolates. Tempering is the last step in chocolate making, giving further refinement to chocolate particles which had been previously processed via conching.
Only by tempering properly, can you make chocolates glossy, crisp, firm and smooth keep longer. You can also prevent blooming from occurring, a circumstance whereby chocolate becomes gritty to the tongue and large unattractive crystals appear on the surface of chocolates as whitish gray spots. Such unattractive chocolates can never be sold.
Melting the chocolates above temperatures of 90F will surely remove chocolate tempers and so you should do re-tempering before molding and dipping the chocolates.
There are two methods for doing tempering by hand and knowledge of doing them is necessary to manage situations when you may be forced to do tempering by hand in spite of your having a tempering machine.
The first method, tabliering, had its birth in France and since the chocolate is cooled and worked on a marble slab, this method is also called the marble-slab method.
One pound of chocolate, the main ingredient, is cut into thin strips and you melt these strips on a double boiler at medium heat, preventing overheating the chocolate. Half of the melted chocolate is poured on the marble slab to work with a rubber spatula until it thickens and cools. You blend in the other half with the first until the whole mass achieves the same consistency and temperature. You should be strictly maintaining tempering temperatures and for doing so, you should have an accurate thermometer, preferably calibrated. Dip fruits in the melted chocolate or mold in cookie cutters for shape variations.
“Seeding”, the second method is similarly done but already-tempered chocolate is used as a seed or template for loose crystals to copy the crystal bonding structure. In seeding, three-fourths of chocolate is melted initially the non-melted one-fourth chocolate strips is slowly integrated so that the entire chunk melts at the right tempering temperature, which must be maintained precisely. You can do dipping and molding after this.
Because of difficulties in maintaining specific temperatures, all chocolate makers and chocolatiers opine that tempering by hand is a tough process. Since this process requires your complete attention, even if you’re eager to use your creativity to concentrate on the fun-part of chocolate making, you cannot do so fully. If you intend to produce large quantities for gifting and business purposes, try using a tempering machine that gives you consistently top-class chocolate candy every single time you make them.