Tempering Chocolate with Mycryo

So what is tempering and why is it important?

Tempering is the process required to give all chocolate creations using couverture chocolate that extra snap, shine, and sheen that makes your chocolate treats irresistible.

When couverture chocolate is melted, the cocoa butter molecules melt and become unstable. By tempering, you are rebuilding the cocoa butter crystals. There are multiple ways to temper chocolate – tabling (mush) method, seed method with chocolate or mycryo (powdered cocoa butter) – melting with a double boiler, in the microwave, oven, or in a tempering machine. To read about the other types of tempering, check out this post.

During tempering, the cocoa butter in the chocolate changes into a stable crystalline form. It ensures the hardness, shrinking force, and gloss of the finished product after it has cooled. If the chocolate is melted in the normal way (between 40 and 45 degrees C) then left to cool to working temperature, the finished product will not be glossy. If you make the effort of melting and cooling your chocolate up to the correct working temperature, you are guaranteed a beautiful end result desired end result. And that is tempering!

Here’s how it works:

1. Melt the chocolate at 104-110 degrees F in the microwave. Be sure to only melt it for about 20 seconds at a time. Take the temperature and stir after each 20 second interval!

2. Allow the chocolate to cool at room temperature to 93 degrees F for dark chocolate and 91 degrees F for milk, white, or colored chocolate.

3. Add 1% of cocoa butter Mycryo, or 10g for 1kg of chocolate. Mix well.

4. When the chocolate is perfectly pre-crystallized, keep the temperature at 93 degrees F for dark and 91 degrees F for milk and white.

5. In order to use the chocolate over a longer period of time, keep it at 91-93 degrees F for dark and 84-86 degrees F for milk or white.

What is technically happening with your chocolate:

When you temper your chocolate on the marble or when you “seed” with more chocolate, you want to start a chain reaction to crystallize the Beta form of the cocoa butter contained in the chocolate. This specific crystallization form will bring the shine and the snap you want to your chocolate.

An ultimate tempering is crystallization of only the Beta form of the 7 forms of crystals contains in cocoa butter. With this new technique of tempering, you are not creating Beta forms, you are simply adding it. Indeed, 1% of Mycryo is just the right amount of Beta crystals to start the chain reaction. You then have the perfect crystallization, leaving a longer time frame to work your chocolate, since you initiate the process from the very start.

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Read our Troubleshooting guide to help you if you run into some problems with your chocolate.

Want to learn more about chocolate? Read our Chocolate 101 post.

All of this sound like too much work? We also love using COMPOUND chocolate- which doesn’t require tempering. Learn more about this fail-safe way to dip with chocolate.

Temper a bowl of chocolate with Ludy and Heather using mycryo. You can do it together!