
Items You Need To Temper Chocolate:
1 Double Boiler
1 Silicon Spatula or dedicated wooden spoon
1 Candy Thermometer
1 lb Premium or Couverture Chocolate – chopped into small pieces and divided:
¼ in one bowl, and
¾ in another bowl
(Put all of the tiniest pieces in the ¼ bowl - this is your seed chocolate*.)
Pour 1-2 inches of water in the bottom pan of the double boiler and place double boiler pan on top of it. Use medium heat to slightly warm the double boiler and add the ¾ bowl of chocolate. Turn heat low enough to keep the water in the bottom pan simmering but do not let it boil - boiling water will put you at risk of getting water in your chocolate. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted, smooth, and has reached the correct temperature (118° for dark; 112° for milk).
Remove the top of the double boiler from the lower pan and wipe the moisture from the bottom of the double boiler. Add the remaining ¼ bowl of chocolate into the melted chocolate and continue stirring constantly until the chocolate has cooled to 89° for dark or 86° for milk chocolate. Now your chocolate is tempered and ready for dipping!
*Adding the seed chocolate during the cooling down process helps to bring the fat molecules back into alignment to avoid bloom. If you are using the Premium pellets, grate or crush the 1/4 chocolate.