What happens inside Chocolate during Tempering: The Magic of Tempering Deconstructed

Tempering is challenging for Chocolate Makers because it often seems like magic. We'd argue tempering with silk basically is science based magic but tempering is just an organic process which once you "get it" you get it forever and it can and will make your bars better.

This dive inside chocolate is an expansion of the concepts we laid out in "Is My Bloomed Chocolate Ruined" and you might want to give it a watch to get the basics.

Quite obviously this isn't pure science. It's illustrative. We're trying to show you patterns of behavior not perfect examples. The patterns are what you need, not the perfection. Understanding the ebb and flow of temperature, the signs your physical chocolate are showing and what it means about whats happening inside are critical to that perfect temper we all dream of.

The reason seed, or slab or silk, or any tempering are all the same is because they are all variations of a process that creates a pattern and leads, when done correctly to a nice temper. the pattern is the important part not the process. Learn the pattern and you can apply it at will to the process you use.

bonus points if you can avoid the pour up marks 🥳

For a much more in depth read check this out:

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[WhiTiger]

I saw this video posted on Instagram the other day and thought of this.
"It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works." Tiffany Aching -The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

[williamm]

Your videos on cocoa butter silk inspired me to buy a sous vide and make my own silk. It took me 2 tries before I got it right (I love the process and I have the patience of a Saint), but I observed something interesting. My first try was with liquid cocoa butter with the sous vide set at 33.8°C - it stayed liquid for the entire 24 hours and I had a second digital probe in the water next to the cocoa butter to verify the temp=33.8°C - I checked it frequently. Then I kept lowering the temp until I saw crystallization (around 32°C). Then, I increased the temperature back up to 33.8°C and it remained crystallized (with the same exact cocoa butter). I then held it for 24 hours at 33.8°C and it was the nice consistency you demonstrated. So, you can't start with melted cocoa butter, it has to be crystallized first. Since you are a chemist, I was wondering what thermodynamic property was going on? I read somewhere that it may be possible to use sound waves to temper chocolate as well? Mechanical energy could be equivalent to heat energy at some resonant frequency of cocoa butter? Thank you for your pragmatic and informative videos - I have learned a lot from you. The graphics were entertaining.

[saba]

Thankyou so much for your lessons. The best explanation on the Internet. It’s odd because not even professional chefs are able to TEACH what’s happening during the tempering process on a molecular level this they’re not educators I guess, more executors. I’m riveted !

[caseyjohannesen]

Wow, what a great explanation. I’ve been making bean to bar chocolate for a few months now using the slab technique and can’t seem to fully master the temper. Will try my next batch keeping this video in mind. Thank you!

[MedicineofSound]

Dude!!! You are the best!!! This is just what I was looking for 🤩🙏✨

[anikdelageleduc]

Wow I'm excited to find this, the mad scientist-alchemist-witch in me is delighted :D Thank you!!!

[susanna]

Wow, thank you so much for this video, it is mind blowing 🍫🍫🍫

[pinkmilkbmx]

Wow. Mind blown 🤯 subbed and imma gonna make me some chocolate yeee 🍫

[SonneCreations]

I love how chocolate is very similar to working with metal.

[marawachocolate]

Dear Sir,
do you know how to refermenting the 'unfermented cocoa bean' ?
i hear big chocolate manufacture using unfermented cocoa then refermenting them using microba, that true ?
i want to refermenting the undefeated cocoa because they more cheapest the fermented cocoa
thanks

[AbdulMajeed-pwfe]

Hello sir... what is CBS Fat cocoa butter substitute how it's made.
Or how to make molding chocolate with cocoa butter substitute

[psychicdevelopmentexercise]

I was wondering if you temper white chocolate in the same way? Would the bowl tempering method that you taught for milk chocolate work for white chocolate as well?

[crazygoob]

Hello, I was wondering what the minimum was cocoa butter usage in chocolate? This is factoring in I use sunflower lecithin. I want to do chocolate with fewer calories and replace sugar with allulose.

[ibrahimalsarakbi]

thank u sir for this great video
i have a question witch is not related to this video
i need to know if the cocoa mass also has a relative fat in it like the cocoa beans or not
u mentioned in a different video that cocoa nibs has 50% fat in average
is it the same for cocoa mass?

[leonardohernandezcabrera]

If I have not finished filling my molds and the chocolate begins to harden, do I have to repeat the bowl tempering or can I just melt it at a certain temperature to continue filling the molds?

[gfxb]

Love your video, man. Care to teach us how to make chocolate with whiskey in it?

[chandragamage]

I have a question( Im not a expert ). Where are these crystals coming from?