• Ideal Temperatures
• Cleaning
• Changing Chocolate Colours

Working with chocolate is easy if you follow the procedures and remember the three golden rules. These are; Temperature, temperature and temperature!!

...about ideal temperatures...

The ideal temperature in °C for:

The room is 18 - 22 
Melting is 45 - 47 
Tempering is 29 - 31 
Cooling is 8 - 12 
Storage is 10 -16

Your chocolate supplier will give you the Ideal Melting Temperature (MT) and the Ideal Tempering Temperature (TT) of the chocolate you are buying. This will depend on the colour (dark, milk or white) and the usage (moulding or enrobing). The guide below is based on standard product and a box is provided for you to fill in the ideal working temperatures recommended by your supplier.

Tip: If using block chocolate - break it up with a standard hammer. Hold the block over a tray, balanced on the palm of one hand and take the hammer down sharply as if to hit the centre of that palm The chocolate slap will shatter into the tray.

...about cleaning...

As a general rule chocolate and water do not mix. Chocolate is an oil-based, stable product that will retain its freshness, if properly used and stored, for a considerable time. Work surfaces, utensils & containers, machines & moulds - once cleaned - must be thoroughly dried before being in contact with chocolate.

Tip: Cleaning requires very hot water and a small amount of cleaning fluid

For standard products it is unnecessary to wash machines and moulds down too frequently. Chocolate itself, left in a covered machine, will keep it clean. It is also best to use moulds several times as well tempered chocolate will leave the moulds clean. Frequent use of soap & water is not advisable.

Note: special products (eg enrobing dairy items such as Ice-cream) that require special cleaning regimes also require special machines that are tailor made.

Tip: Plastic bowls and buckets with lids are ideal for carrying chocolate from one machine to another. Once they are emptied, let the residual chocolate set and it will crack readily away from the edges to be re-melted later with fresh chocolate.

...about changing chocolate colours...

When changing a machine over from dark to milk or milk to dark chocolate, it is necessary to empty the machine completely and scrape the chocolate with a plastic scraper, leaving the minimum residue. Then the chocolate left will be readily absorbed in the new chocolate. This also applies if dark or milk are replacing white chocolate. However, if you are changing to white chocolate the machine / vessel must be completely clean or the white will be discoloured.

Tip: white chocolate is much thicker to work with than dark or milk. It is best used for decorating, unless long production runs are required and a machine can be easily kept for just white. If white chocolate products are required, then machinery is usually added that is dedicated for just white chocolate production.

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• Go To Vantage House Guide To Tempering
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