Hello,

I'm slowly accumulating equipment for the purpose of making dark chocolate.  Some equipment will be affordable; others, like a good tempering machine, probably won't be.  I've read good reviews of the Rev 2 temperer, but it is a little too expensive at this point, and the Rev 1 seems to have mixed reviews.  Any hints or clues about different low-tech tools for tempering chocolate would be greatly appreciated!

 

thanks,

Jason

Jason -

For such small quantities learn to do it by hand if you can't afford the machines. The experience you gain learning to hand temper will pay huge dividends going forward. In the end, machines can only do what you tell them to do. If they don't produce correct results and you don't know what tempering looks and feels like then you are not in a position to know why the machine "failed" to temper properly. 

It's not the machine's fault, actually. They are not artificially intelligent and cannot read your mind or evalaute the chocolate they are being asked to temper. They don't know the external temperature, or humidity, or anything like that. So they can't react to changes in ambient environment, for example, that will affect temper.

Finally - and I really don't want to dissuade you from pursuing your chocolate dreams, at this stage if the difference in price between a Rev 1 and a Rev 2 is straining your budget then wait and save until it's not an issue for you.

:: Clay

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

I temper chocolate, bean to bar that I make, in one stainless steel bowl. I use a double boiler to heat it, place it in a sink with a couple inches of cool water to cool it, and back on the double boiler to heat again. All while stirring with a spatula. I can do up to 6 pounds at a time. I would say this is about as low tech as one can get. I did buy a melter to pour the tempered chocolate into to maintain a working temperature. I started making bean to bar chocolate at home about a year ago and have made about 40 batches of different types. Although no white (yuck). 

Thomas,

Is it always necessary to use seed chocolate when tempering?

 

Jason

Clay--

I totally agree with you about learning to temper chocolate by hand first.  Good advice.  Thank you for your input and I look forward to learning from you and others who have such deep knowledge about the amazing world of chocolate.

Hi Jason,

You do not have to use seed chocolate when tempering. This is just one method usually used by people that melt tempered chocolate for making truffles and such. There are many YouTube videos on tempering chocolate. I would suggest watching some these and then giving it a try. You can always buy a bag of chocolate chips and practice. 

- Thomas

Thomas,
What kind of melter do you use? Is it a Mini Rev?
updated by @jason-ferguson: 11/16/15 10:51:55

I use the Mol D'art 6Kg melter http://www.moldart.be/en/producten/chocolate-machinery/chocolate-melters/. It is not a tempering maching like the Mini Rev. I only use it to keep chocolate that I manually tempered at a constant temperature while I mold. Take a look at the www.chocolatealchemy.com for more information about making chocolate. There is also a forum on that site that has lots of info.

 

updated by @thomas-snuggs: 11/16/15 12:11:35