Working with chocolate can be incredibly frustrating, and no one knows that better than us! It’s temperamental, literally. It’s extremely sensitive to changes in temperature, humidity/moisture, agitation, etc. etc.! You think everything is going your way, and you're tempering chocolate correctly, and then you realize things have gone terribly wrong.

Tempering chocolate is the most important skill for a chocolatier or chocolate maker.  It’s likely something that you will have to practice many times before you are successful. Once you have the money to invest in your business or hobby, you will likely buy a tempering machine that will make your life infinitely easier. BUT, having said machine doesn’t mean that you don’t have to learn how to temper. Learning how to temper chocolate is not only about the outcome. It’s about making sure that you understand the process – the chemistry involved, the steps involved, what you’re looking for, and why.

Before using the mass of tempered chocolate for enrobing or molding, place a small blob of tempered chocolate on a utensil, parchment or acetate - it should harden within minutes. Also as you are working with the chocolate during your enrobing or molding session, don't forget to agitate the tempered chocolate mass and do another temper test periodically.

You can re-temper the chocolate over and over again. The only downside is increased viscosity, IF (and that is a big IF) in an earlier session you haven't overheated the chocolate to the point of possibly burning and IF you haven't gotten any foreign

In that slow process of cooling, some of the cocoa butter molecules release and rise to the surface or get trapped in layers. Don't worry if this happens. You are going to have to heat the mass again to either temper it or use it in a recipe. This will mix the cocoa butter back into the mass.

Note that a slight hint of bloom can also happen if you are molding very thick bars, suckers or 3D shapes and don't cool them quickly. The molded side will be fine, shiny and tempered. But the exposed part of the chocolate may have very light rings or speckles – which may or may not be a problem for you. You can overcome this problem by experimenting with using layers of chocolate to fill the mold instead of just one pour.substance in it, such as water, ganache or nut bits. If you think the mass was compromised in any way, start your next tempering session with new chocolate. You can use the compromised mass for recipes such as ganache or truffle centers so it isn't wasted.

When you're finished working, pour out the tempered chocolate onto parchment or acetate and let it harden for storage. One of our students pours her excess tempered chocolate into a plastic zipped storage bag, seals the top then flattens it out to harden. The flat shape is very easy to store and when you need it, you simply break up in pieces in the bag then pour back into your tempering machine or bowl to melt.

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