Most chocolatiers prefer tempering machines because they are completely automated and tempering the chocolate with them is not at all difficult. Tempering by hand is a tough task and requires a lot of persistence and an eye for accuracy whereas the microprocessor on these tempering machines keeps the chocolate tempered for a longer duration, even overnight.

However, there are customers who still prefer only handmade chocolates and artisanal chocolatiers are very happy to supply to this segment of a billion-dollar industry. These artisanal chocolatiers temper the chocolates by a process called tabliering, a process that has its origins in France and where you cool chocolate on a heat-absorbing surface, like a marble slab.

Take some precautions before starting tabliering. Apart from maintaining accurate temperatures, you should ensure that anything that touches the chocolate is completely dry. Even one or two drops of moisture could “seize” the chocolate, turn it into a hard lump and become of no use. This “seizing” may result if you over-heat the chocolate, and too rapidly. Even freezing may “seize” the chocolates.

Prepare the basic ingredient of 1 pound of chocolate with a bread knife, a chopping board, a spatula, a mixing bowl, a double boiler, a thermometer that can measure as low a temperature as 82F and a cookie sheet. Before starting, all the equipment must be dried so there’s no moisture. Then you cut the chocolate into thin strips, using the bread knife.

To commence the process, boil the water and put the chocolate on the upper pan of the double boiler. Keep stirring the chocolate till it slowly reaches 108-115F. Next, the melted chocolate is poured into a mixing bowl and while doing so, there should not be any moisture on the pan bottom. This molten chocolate, otherwise called mush, should not be lumpy and must flow smoothly.

2/3 of this mush is spread on the marble slab and worked by scraping, spreading and folding it till it cools to a temperature of 80- 82F. Simultaneously you should keep watch on the remaining 1/3rd to ensure that its temperature stays at 100F.

Once you cool the 2/3rd of chocolate to the right temperature, you should slowly add the remaining chocolate to this and keep working it till the whole gets cooled to the same temperature. You should reheat the whole mush again to the right temperatures: for dark chocolates, it is 88-90F, semi-sweet variety, 86-88F and white chocolates, 82-84F. You tempering is achieved by dipping your knife into it. If after five minutes you see the chocolate harden and become a glossy shell, you have tempered the chocolate properly. You can get on to dipping and molding then.

Throughout the process, you should keep watch to ensure that the temperatures do not go up or down. Even a slight deviation in temperatures will force you to re-temper your chocolate. The tempered chocolate can be set in a bain-marie for a while, of course, ensuring that no moisture can leak into it.