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Cooking With Chocolate
Bartons General Tips:
Bartons always recommends storing baking bars in a cool place, wrapped to stay airtight.
The best way to guarantee even melting is to break or cut chocolate into small (1/2-inch) pieces. Always stir chocolate gently and frequently while melting.
Chocolate can burn very easily. When you melt chocolate, don't apply too much heat.
It is always safer to melt chocolate slowly. We have some tips for melting chocolate below.
Make sure that you absolutely dry your work surface, pots, pans, and tools before starting to
melt chocolate.
Bartons Tips On Tempering Chocolate:
Tempering is the process of heating and cooling chocolate, this process is used for coating or dipping.
If you want your chocolate to have a smooth, glossy look, proper tempering is important.
Properly tempered chocolate will be more crisp and won't melt as easily as improperly
tempered chocolate.
Tempered chocolate, if done properly, is perfect for use in candy molds. Tempering helps the candy
release from the molds easily and helps them maintain their glossy finish.
Tempering Methods:
Tempering can be done in a variety of ways, a few of the methods are outlined below:
Method 1
Grate or chop your desired amount of chocolate. Take two-thirds of the chocolate and place it in the top
pan of your double boiler. Heat your chocolate over hot, not boiling, water, keep stirring constantly,
until your chocolate reaches 110°-115°F.
Place the top pan of the double boiler on a thick cloth or towel. Cool to 95°-100°F.
Add your remaining one-third of chocolate to the top pan, stirring until melted. Your chocolate is now
ready for use in molds for candies; or for coating, or dipping.
Method 2
Start with a pound chocolate and break or chop it, melt two-thirds of the chocolate over indirect heat,
such as in the top pan of a double boiler. Melt the chocolate until it is in a liquid state and has a smooth
texture (at 110°-115°F). When your chocolate is smooth, add the remaining one-third of broken chocolate
and heat again until the entire pound of chocolate becomes smooth.
Pour your chocolate onto a marble or laminated surface (such as a countertop). Using your spatula,
scrape and stir the chocolate across the marble or laminated surface to smooth and cool it evenly.
When your chocolate cools to 80°-82°F, place it back int the top pan of the double boiler.
Place the top pan over hot, not boiling, water.
Heat and stir the chocolate constantly, until it reaches 87°-91°F. Remove the top pan of the double boiler.
The chocolate is now ready to be used for molding candies or for coating, or dipping.
Important Tips for Tempering
Do not heat your chocolate above 130°F since chocolate is very sensitive to heat and will
scorch easily, this is especially true for milk chocolate.
Do not allow liquid to get into your chocolate. This will cause clumping or seizing.
Methods for Melting Chocolate:
Bartons recommends three basic techniques for melting chocolate at home.
When melting chocolate, do so carefully. If you overheat it or add moisture you will increase the
possibility of the chocolate thickening.
Melting Chocolate Using A Double Boiler
Break or chop your chocolate into small pieces, and place pieces in the top pan of double boiler
over hot, but not boiling, water.
Allow your chocolate to melt in the pan, remember to stir the chocolate occasionally.
Melting Chocolate Using A Direct Heat Method
This is a good technique to use if you are adding chocolate to a batter. This method is not recomended
for dipping or molding chocolate.
Break or chop your chocolate into small pieces. Please use very low, even heat when melting using direct
heat. You must stir chocolate constantly to avoid scorching your chocolate. Remove the chocolate from
heat when small lumps remain, and continue to stir until melting is completed.
Melting Chocolate Using A Microwave Oven
Break or chop your chocolate into small pieces. Start by placing small chocolate pieces in a
microwave-safe container, and then place your chocolate in microwave oven at medium power
(50 percent) for 1-1 1/2 minutes. Check power carefully as microwave power can vary by brand of
microwave oven, to prevent burning chocolate. Remove and stir.
If chocolate is not melted, repeat the heating process in the microwave, remember to stir every 30
seconds to avoid scorched chocolate. When only small lumps remain, remove and continue to
stir to complete the melting process.
Methods for Storing Chocolate:
Wrap your chocolate tightly and kept it in a cool, dry place with a temperature ranging from 60-75°F.
If while your are storing chocolate, the storage temperature exceeds 75°F, some of the cocoa butter
may appear on the surface. This causes the chocolate to develop a foggy coating, known as "bloom."
The chocolate will still be fine to eat.
Bartons recommends, that in warm or hot climates or during the summer, chocolate be stored in the
refrigerator, this is not the perfect solution, since chocolate may absorb odors from other foods, but
it does prevent blooming. When storing Dark chocolate the taste of Dark Chocolate actually will
improve with age, similar to fine wines, but it must be stored in an airtight container at 60-65°F.
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