Hold Your Temper Chocolate

Now that you have actually tempered the chocolate, you will need to know how to hold it in temper long enough to complete your recipe. Unfortunately, ther is not a formula to predict how long it will take for a bowl of chocolate to fall out of temper. Once again, many variables come into play: the brand of chocolate, the size of the bowl and the amount tempered, and the temperature in the room, to name a few. The larger the volume of chocolate tempered, the longer the temper will hold. For this reason, it is generally easier to temper more chocolate than you will actually need to complete the recipe. The unused chocolate can be cooled when finished and stored for future use. Try to temper the chocolate as close as possible to the time you will need to use it. Once the chocolate is tempered, keep a close eye on the side of the bowl as that is the first place you will begin to see the chocolate set. If you do see this begin to happen, use a hair-dryer set on medium heat to "flash" the chocolate for 5 to 8 seconds at a time, while stirring continuously. This small amount of heat will bring the chocolate back to the proper temperature if it has cooled down only slightly.

Once the chocolate is tempered, make sure you do not over heat it when attempting to rewarm it. If the chocolate heats to over 90'F (32'C), the temper will break and cause separation of the crystallized fats and sugars. And then you will have to start all over again!