The most important consideration while tempering chocolate is to have control of the temperature of the melting chocolate. This is best accomplished with the use of a double boiler, a simple double boiler can be made by placing a bowl onto a pan, using about ½ inch or water in the bottom of the pan allows you to melt the chocolate. http://americaunderattackin2001.com/ Bring the water to a boil, if you are melting a small amount of chocolate you can remove the pan from the heat at this time and the heat from the water will melt the chocolate in the bowl.
If you are melting a large quantity of chocolate, reduce the heat to simmer. Place the bowl of chocolate on top of the pan and stir with a silicone spatula until it melts. http://americaunderattackin2001.com/ Removing the bowl from the pan allows you to slow the heating process and replacing it will introduce more heat as needed. A crystal structure forms when the cocoa butter in chocolate is melted and then cooled, returning to a solid form.
The structure it takes on depends on the temperature it was at when the crystals were formed. Allowing chocolate to cool on its own may cause the crystals to be loose, causing the chocolate to be dull, soft, malleable and greasy to the touch. It is better to maintain a temperature of 88 degrees F allowing the cocoa butter to form a dense structure. Holding this temperature while stirring allows these crystals to form providing seed crystals to form in the chocolate. With enough of these seeds when the chocolate is finally allowed to cool it will harden properly having a slight sheen and snap when it is broken, when stored properly at a cool room temperature it will keep for months.
The seed method of tempering chocolate is the easiest, and doesnt require a marble slab! Because most of the chocolate now available is tempered we can use a piece of this to provide seed crystals to temper our chocolate. http://americaunderattackin2001.com/ When the chocolate has reached a temperature of 105 degrees F remove it from the heat, add a piece of un-melted chocolate to provide the necessary seed crystals.
Stir until the chocolate comes within the tempering range, 88-90 degrees F; maintain this temperature until the chocolate is ready for use. Thank you, http://americaunderattackin2001.com/.
C. SanDago used to be an office and motel cleaner earning minimum wage on a contract by contract basis, working very hard to make ends meet. Being forced to stay at home after her baby, she says it was like a "visit from an angel"... She had to find a way to earn a living from home... with no pedigree, a high school dropout it was like a live changing event! Today she makes in excess of $80,000 a month and enjoys an extraordinary life! She considers herself extremely fortunate to have found the right business to give her such break in life!