Ann Reardon

How to temper chocolate in the microwave

tempered chocolate how to temper milk chocolate

Why Temper Chocolate

Have you ever melted chocolate to make decorations only to find once it sets it is soft, dull and bends over when it is not in the fridge?  That is because it is not tempered.

why temper chocolate

LEFT-not tempered, RIGHT – tempered After five minutes out of the fridge

Chocolate manufacturers use equipment to precisely control the temperature of the chocolate during processing to cause the fat molecules in the cocoa butter to align neatly and tightly together.  This is called tempered chocolate.  It is firm at room temperature and has a crisp snap when you break it.  When at home and you heat the chocolate to melt it, you undo that process and so it is no longer in temper.

How to temper chocolate in the microwave

If you want tempered chocolate then the easiest thing to do at home is to simply keep the chocolate in temper, see the video below for details on how to do that.

You only need to temper chocolate if it is real chocolate. Candy melts and some other melts are not real chocolate and so do not require tempering. Watch the video below for an explanation of how to tell if it is real chocolate.

You may also be interested in You may also be interested in:

* How to make chocolate bowls
* How to make a box out of chocolate
* chocolate decorations for desserts

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

262 Comments View Comments

  1. Hi, I’ve been making your truffle recipes this week (my family love them) I just need a little help please. When tempering white chocolate do I use half fake and half real chocolate? Or do I need to use 2 thirds fake chocolate and 1 third real? Also, I have a bag of white chocolate chips but the ingredients say cocoa butter AND vegetable fats. Is this real or fake? I can’t wait to do the white chocolate truffles, your videos are so easy to follow! 🙂

  2. Hi Ann,
    I really adore your works and I’m planning to make a cake made of chocolate inspired by you. But how long will the tempered chocolate stay as crispy and snappy? I wonder if it will stay good and at place after 4 hours coz I need to travel that long for my nephews birthday party where I’m planning to bring the cake made out of chocolate. Please help.

    • Hi Fate, Tempered chcolate will hold its shape but ALL chocolate will be impacted by heat. You will need to take into account the impact of temperature and movement for that 4 hours which can be a little difficult to control.

  3. I notice that in all of your videos you use cream, is that the same as heavy whipping cream in the US?

    • Hi Gloria, Check this page out: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/cream-use/ . In Australia we dont have Heavy whipping cream, usually it will work for Ann’s recipes, just check that the cream you are using has 35%fat content or higher.

  4. Hi Ann,
    I wanted to try to make your chocolate truffles as Christmas presents for family but I found a type of chocolate that contains neither cocoa butter or vegetable fat. What should I do for something like that?

    Love all of your videos by the way, I’m subscribed to your YouTube.

    • Hi Courtnie, it is definitely not real chocolate so you will need to experiment. Try using it like compound chocolate but remember the taste and results will not be the same.

  5. Does it matter how many times you reheat the chocolate?

    • Hi Barb, Chocolate is fairlytolerant to gentle reheating as long as it is not overdone or burnt.

  6. Thank you so much for the wonderful tutorials, I tried a simple minty cream cheese truffle, turned out pretty decent.

    • Looks yummy Ash!

  7. Hy Ann,

    I have a problem with working with chocolate and since I watch your canal for a long time, I thought maybe you can help me.
    Since I am tempering my chocolate, it works quite well. But for a short time now, the chocolate gets grey spots again, although I am tempering it. Now I bought a thermometre, so that the tempering process is really exact, but still the are grey spots.
    I have googled it and read in books, but I don’t find the solution. Maybe you can help me?

    Thanks a lot!
    Lena

    • Hi Lena, That is most likely the fat or cocoa butter in your chocolate blooming (coming to the surface). This means your chocolate isn’t properly tempered.

  8. Hi Ann, can I know which method you use most often to tempered the Chocolate? I’ve tried a few times using the seeding method with a thermometer but the Chocolate still not tempered every time…

  9. Hi, i am attempting to use fake instead of real chocolate for the first time (Caramac). Will fake chocolate (with vegetable fat) still harden once melted and cooled? You just don’t need to temper it?

  10. If i hav already gone over temper and frozen it, can i retemper it in any way?

  11. Hi Ann,

    i love your video so much and you’ve sloved my big question here! So the conclusion is chocolate ingredient that contain “cocoa butter” will not melt in room temperature. chocolate that contain”vegetable fat” will melt in room temperature. right ? waiting for your reply! 🙂

    • Hi Lai Kuen, real chocolate (containing cocoa butter ) that has been tempered will hold its shape at room temperature. Real chocolate that has not been tempered will lose it’s shape at room temperature. All chocolate will melt if exposed to heat. Fake chocolate will generally hold its shape at room temperature but will not be crisp, glossy or taste any where near as good.

  12. Hi Amn
    Loved your videos specially chocolate and chocolate decorations. I have a question that is not solved thourgh any video. It is ‘How melting is different from tempering?’ as I could see both have same process. Put in microwave 10sec, stir, 10 sec stie and so on.
    So what is the difference in melting and tempering?

    • Hi Tarika, Tempering is a process that helps bonds to be created in the molecular structure of the chocolate that makes it firm and glossy when set. It can only be achieved by careful monitoring of the chocolate temperature to ensure that the bonds can form.
      If you start with tempered chocolate then you can melt it gently to keep it in temper, that means not letting it get too hot to break the ‘temper’ bonds. Ann explains this on the video and blog. So heating it gently as she describes is actually keeping the chocolate in temper and preventing it from going out of temper.

  13. Can you use chocolate chips the nestle tall house ones for decorations like chocolate molds or what others are good to use

    • Hi Susie, we can’t comment on a particular brand as that product is not necessarily the same in different countries. Normally something sold as chips for baking can actually be fake chocolate. You will need to check the packaging and ensure it contains cocoa butter. If it contains additional forms of fats then you won’t be able to temper it. Look for real chocolate.

  14. Hey Anne!

    I’ve been browsing through tons of comments and some videos looking for this answer but I cannot find it so I am hoping you can help. I am going to attempt to make the chocolate strawberry rose and I really really want to use real chocolate. How would I make the petals though? Do I stick the tempered chocolate in the fridge for a little bit so it hardens (but not completely) then shape them according to the video? Or do I need to shape them and then freeze them? Please help! 🙂

    • Hi Samantha, You will find it very difficult to use the tempered chocolate for the petals, though it isn’t impossible. Ann suggests that this might be achievable on the outer petals, but to mold the petals to suit your flower, you need flexibility.

      • The paragon of untdesranding these issues is right here!

      • Great common sense here. Wish I’d thhuogt of that.

  15. Hi! What kind of chocolate should I use? Are regular nestle chocolate chips ok?

    • Hi Sara, refer to your packet and just check if it is real chocolate. Companies sometimes use the same name for products that are actually different in one country from the next, so we can’t tell you just by the name if it is real chocolate or not.

  16. to make the chocolate covered strawberry do u have to temper the modeling chocolate. and with modeling chocolate can I mold and shape the chocolate.

    • Hi Mary, The first coat of the chocolate needs to be done with tempered chocloate of compound chocolate. To make the petals of the rose, you will need modelling chocolate which you can mold and shape..

  17. Hey Ann,

    Plz help me!!! My chocolate contains cocoa butter and vegetable fats… Do I treat it as real chocolate and temper it, or should I treat it as fake chocolate. P.S. It is galaxy smooth milk chocolate

    • Do it as real. It needs to be tempered

    • Hi Kyla, treat it the same as fake chocolate.

      • Glad I’ve finally found soimhteng I agree with!

  18. Hi Ann, Can I use Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate for making Truffles?
    Cause it does contain Coco Butter but it also contains Vegetable Fat
    So is it ok?

    • Hi Liane, any chocolate that is also has vegetable fat should be treated like fake chocolate when you use it. Ann prefers real chocolate.

      • Always reehfsring to hear a rational answer.

  19. Hi Ann,
    I do have r al chocolate but I have chocolate pellets. So I can’t really grate them to keep the chocolate in temper for the microwave method. Can I use a double boiler method for melting 2/3 of the chocolate and then adding the remaining 1/3 to keep the chocolate in temper? If not, what is another easy way to keep the chocolate in temper? Also if I can use the double boiler method what are the temperatures I need to know for dark, milk and white chocolates?

  20. What if we do not have a microwave?

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