Tempering chocolated fail!
I've tried several times to temper chocolate and every attempt has been unsuccessful. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I purchased quality couverture chocolate thinking that was the problem and I still can't do it. I followed directions and temperatures exactly. Heat, cooling, heating again, stirring like crazy. I tried the seeding method and without seeding, thinking maybe the chocolate I was using had bloomed. The chocolate won't set unless I put it in the fridge and as soon as it's touched it starts to melt. I have to learn to do it and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.
Best Answer
It seems that everything went well and your chocolate is tempered after all.
High quality chocolate has no other fat but cocoa butter, and couverture has much more cocoa butter than a chocolate bar. This is what it gives it the "snappy" feeling when bitten, and what makes it melt in the mouth (and in your fingers) instantly. The cocoa butter in tempered chocolate has a melting point of about 32 Celsius, 5 degrees lower than the human body, and you can't hold it in your fingers for long.
If you don't want this to happen, you will have to use something else. Cheap baking chocolate should be a good substitute - it also has a very high fat content, but it uses vegetable fat, not cocoa butter, and it is harder and less melty. Bar chocolate can work as well, but depending on which one you choose it will either have too much non-fat solids, or added fat of the wrong (soft) type. Depending on where you live, it can also be waxy - that is common for example in the USA.
Distempered chocolate is grainy, sandy, and has bloom (a dirty white powdery covering). As long as you don't have them, your chocolate is fine, no matter which kind you took.
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Quick Answer about "Tempering chocolated fail!"
Make sure your tempering bowl or pot is completely dry, don't let stirring utensils get wet, and you can even put a clean dish towel between boiling water and chocolate bowl to ensure not water is not introduced by the steam. The last problem is usually not an issue however.What can go wrong when tempering chocolate?
The two biggest mistakes you can make while tempering chocolate are to allow water to get into the chocolate, causing it to seize, or to overheat the chocolate (via The Spruce Eats).Why is my tempered chocolate not snapping?
There's not enough thermal mass in that small an amount to stay at one temperature for seconds, much less the minutes you'll want for working with it. Place the chocolate in a bowl and put it over simmering water, or microwave it at half power in short (30-second) bursts, stirring in between.How to SIMPLY Temper Chocolate | And How to Correct Any Tempering Issues
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