Keeping Chocolate's Temper

Tempered chocolate is shiny and firm, and snaps when you break it.  It melts at body temperature, and has a silky-smooth texture in your mouth.  Untempered chocolate may seem dry or crumbly.  Poorly-tempered chocolate may not have such a good snap, may seem dull or greasy, may seem to contain grit, melt at a lower temperature, or have a "bloom" (gray surface).  When you work with chocolate, you can avoid problems by starting with a well-tempered chocolate and following some simple principals.

 

The texture of chocolate is determined by the fats and the way the solidify.  Cocoa butter fats are known to solidify in six different forms, or crystals. Crystal types I through IV have melting points at or below 82F (28C).  All of these forms are crumbly, too soft, don't have that snap, and/or melt too easily.  Properly tempered chocolate has a lot of type V crystals.  These melt at 94F (34C).[1]   If you want to preserve the qualities of well-tempered chocolate, you need to preserve enough type V crystals as "seeds" to encourage the chocolate to solidify with as many type V crystals as possible.  And keep moisture away from the chocolate during the process -- even a few drops of cool water can cause the molten chocolate to seize up into a dry, crumbly mass.

 

You can melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave.  The important thing to remember is that it is hot enough to melt even before it starts to look melted.  You can get a feel for what is going on by stirring often, and by checking the temperature with a thermometer.

 

That's it!  If all has gone well, the reserved chocolate has provided enough type V seed crystals to make up for the ones you may have destroyed while melting the bulk of it.  Check the quality of your finished product.  If the result is shiny and snaps, you have preserved the temper.  If it is crumbly, gritty, gray, or greasy, it has lost its temper, and you may need to temper the chocolate from scratch.