Tempering with Pistoles

How to temper your Pistoles™

Pre-crystallization is very simple when you add chocolate that has already been tempered to the melted chocolate. Cacao Barry Pistoles™ are ideal for this purpose. Pistoles™ have in fact already been tempered, in other words, they already have the crystalline form required, and they can be added to the melted chocolate. The quantity of Pistoles™ to add depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate and the Pistoles™. When the melted chocolate reaches a temperature of approximately 40°C, you add 15% to 20% of Pistoles at ambient temperature (between 15 and 20°C).

1. Melt the chocolate in a melting tray (thermostat at 45°C).
2. Lower the thermostat (± 32°C for dark chocolate / ± 30°C for white chocolate and milk chocolate) and immediately add 15% to 20% of Pistoles™ at ambient temperature.
3. If you stir the mass well, the Pistoles™ ensure that the stable crystals are dispersed. What does it mean if the pistoles melt too quickly? It means that the chocolate is still too hot. Don't hesitate to add more Pistoles™ and continue stirring.
4. In this way you obtain chocolate that is slightly thick and ready for processing.

Why do you need to temper chocolate?

Tempering chocolate means pre-crystallizing the cocoa butter in the chocolate. This has everything to do with the temperature at which the chocolate is processed. When tempered, the cocoa butter is transformed into a stable crystalline form. This is what guarantees the hardness, shrinkage force and brilliance of the final cooled product. If you melt chocolate normally (at ±40°C) and let it cool again until it reaches its processing temperature, you will not obtain a brilliant result. The three factors that play a role during tempering are duration, temperature and movement. If you use a special technique to bring the chocolate up to its temperature you will achieve the expected result. This is what is meant by tempering: bringing the chocolate up to the temperature at which you wish to work so that it contains sufficient stable crystals.