I adore chocolate-covered strawberries. But they are so expensive! I have seen them priced around $4 dollars for just one strawberry even. So I figured, why not learn how to make them myself? I have attempted chocolate dipped treats in the past using a method where you melt chocolate chips with a little shortening and it is sort of okay, but definitely nowhere close to the quality of chocolate you would get from a real chocolatier at a fine candy store. And I'm kind of a snob when it comes to chocolate.
I also put myself in charge of teaching how to make chocolate-dipped strawberries as part of our Relief Society Valentine's Day themed activity, so, you know, I kind of sort of had to learn.
Properly tempered chocolate sets with a nice, slightly glossy and smooth finish and has a nice snap to the chocolate. And it doesn't need to be refrigerated for it to set up. Improperly tempered, lower quality chocolate used for dipping (like using chocolate chips for melting) will result in a softer, chewy set with no snap.
So, here's what you do to properly temper chocolate. Start with good quality chocolate, either in block form or wafers. Trader Joe's sells 1 lb. blocks of dark or milk chocolate that are excellent at a very good price of $5/block. Be cautious about buying "melting wafers" from the craft store - often they aren't very quality chocolate to begin with and the white candy melts are just that - candy melts and not chocolate at all. You can also order your chocolate at numerous places online to get good quality chocolate. Amazon has many good options if there isn't a Trader Joe's nearby.
All my research stated that it is best to melt at least 1 pound of a chocolate at a temper as it is easier to temper and maintain temper in a pound of chocolate than in smaller amounts. You start by chopping 3/4 of your total chocolate into small bits, reserving 1/4 of the chocolate block in bar form for later.
Next, put your chopped chocolate into a clean, dry (it MUST be dry - any water will cause the chocolate to seize and clump) bowl and set it over a pan of hot water. I brought my pan of water up to a simmer and then turned off the heat so it would be hot but no longer simmering and definitely not boiling for this step. Then I carefully set my bowl right down into the water, making sure that the water didn't come close to the rim of my bowl, and then just let it sit for a while, allowing the chocolate to melt about halfway before any stirring. I also saw methods where you microwaved the chocolate at short intervals, stirring in between, or putting the chocolate in a double boiler, but I like the glass bowl set directly in the hot water method best.
When the chocolate is about halfway melted, using a dry rubber spatula to stir the chocolate, helping it to continue melting. I took the bowl out of the water first and set it on a dry towel on the counter to make sure I didn't slosh any water into it. Then place the bowl back into the hot water and allow the chocolate to continue melting until it is completely melted, stirring periodically as necessary.
Once the chocolate is completely melted, use a digital thermometer to check the temperature of the chocolate, watching closely until it reaches 115 degrees F (for dark chocolate) or 110 degrees F (for milk or white chocolate). The chocolate should not go over this temperature or you risk burning it, which is why a thermometer is so crucial.
At this point, remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the hot water and add the reserved 1/4 chunk of chocolate to your bowl or melted chocolate, stirring gently and almost constantly to melt the big chunk. You can sort of scrape it and agitate it with your spatula to incorporate it into the melted chocolate. The warm chocolate will melt the block of chocolate and the block of chocolate will help gently bring down the temperature of the warm chocolate. Adding a block of properly tempered chocolate and continuous stirring encourages the formation of the proper crystalline structure necessary for properly tempered chocolate. I know, sounds weird and hokey, but I saw this explanation over and over and it is one of those science of baking things that are kind of cool to know.
Continue to stir and cool the chocolate, taking its temperature periodically, until the chocolate reaches 90 degrees F (for dark chocolate) or 87 degrees F (for milk or white chocolate). At this point, you can test the chocolate's temper by smearing a small amount of your melted, tempered chocolate on a piece of parchment or waxed paper and watching to see if it sets properly. If you tempered everything correctly, your smear of chocolate should begin to set within juts a few minutes. It will start to lose its shine and take on a slightly more matte look, then begin to set around the edges. In a cool room, properly tempered chocolate will set within about 4-6 minutes. Don't be tempted to stick your chocolate in the fridge to speed things up because that won't actually tell you whether your chocolate has been tempered properly. If it doesn't seem to be properly tempered, continue to stir and cool the chocolate another 1-2 degrees, then test it again. If it looks to be properly tempered, remove any remaining chunks of chocolate from your reserved 1/4 block if it hasn't melted completely and just set it to the side (you can reuse it and melt it again later). Or just pop it in your mouth while you proceed to dip your strawberries.
Now your chocolate is tempered and ready for dipping and coating! You can dip clean, dry (make sure they are totally dry!) strawberries, truffle centers, almonds - whatever you want! While dipping, you need to keep your tempered chocolate warm, by stirring it with your spatula periodically and watching its temperature. If it falls down in the 85 degree range, set your bowl of melted, tempered chocolate back in the hot water for 1-3 seconds (seriously, it doesn't take very long) to let the chocolate at the bottom of the bowl warm up a bit, then stir it again to mix the warm chocolate from the bottom with the cooler chocolate on top. But don't let the chocolate go up over 90 degrees or you will need to start the tempering process over again!
I dipped my strawberries into the tempered chocolate, then gently scraped the bottom back into the bowl to remove some of the excess chocolate so it wouldn't puddle at the base of each strawberry on the parchment-lined baking sheet. When you finish dipping all the strawberries (or truffle centers or whatever you are dipping), you can pour the remaining tempered chocolate onto parchment paper and allow it to set back into a block form and store it in a cool, dry place to be used the next time you want to temper chocolate. Or you can pour it over some raw almonds or other nuts to make yourself a delicious chocolate bar, because why waste your perfectly tempered chocolate?
I looked at a number of tutorials, sites, and recipe books when figuring out this process, but the two that were most helpful and that I followed most closely are here and here. The first site even has a video explanation of the process I set out above.
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