I’m sure you’ve already read my recent posts about chocolate, including roasting and winnowing beans, and grinding nibs into chocolate.  In this installment of my chocolate adventure, we’ll go to what is perhaps one of the most important processes chocolate goes through, and one that you can do at home.  Yes, most of us won’t ever buy raw cacao or grind up nibs into chocolate (though they do make a good snack on their own), but if you ever want to mold chocolate into shapes or coat something with it, you’ll have to melt it.  Once you melt chocolate, you need to make sure to keep its temper (or know how to get it back).

Tempering is the process of heating and cooling chocolate in a specific way to form the right kinds of crystals in the cocoa butter.  Wikipedia tells me there are six types of crystals that can be formed, all based on temperature.  The problem is that all crystals take time to form.  If we just melt our chocolate and let it sit, most of the crystals formed will make our chocolate soft, dull, melt easily,and won’t have that pleasing snap when broken.  If we melt all the crystals and then hold the temperature at a certain point where we’re forming the crystals we want, then voila!  We’ll end up with firm chocolate with a glossy finish and a resounding snap when broken.  Dan “the Chocolate Man” Schreiber has written about his tempering experiences on his blog, where you can see what ill- and well-tempered chocolate can look like.

There are a couple traditional ways to temper chocolate.  One is the “tabling” method, where you spread most of your chocolate on a smooth surface, like marble and spread it to cool to a given temperature.  You can watch a video of Dan doing this here, or click through some photos at the bottom of the post.

You can also use the “seed” method, where you melt a bunch of chocolate, then drop in a chunk of well-tempered chocolate.  You can read a full explanation of this method, including some photos at Cooking for Engineers.The idea here is that by dropping in the right crystals, it will encourage the melted chocolate to form the same “good” crystals.

Chicagoan Michael Gebert writes the blog Sky Full of Bacon.  Actually, he does far more than just write–he has one of the best local-focus video podcasts around.  You should take it upon yourself to go back and watch them all.  There are only a dozen or so at this time, but each is like a great documentary showcasing some local gem.  Sometimes, instead of a professional-quality video podast, or a collection of links, he’ll share personal stories about food, like his grandmothers’ piccalilli recipe.  In interviews with local chefs and merchants, some mentions have been made of some of my favorite central Illinois producers.  See if you can figure out my favorite source for lamb.  I’ll give you a hint… it’s in SFoB4: A Head’s Tale.

Today, though, I’d urge you to watch a short video on Mike’s “Rules for Better Dining”.  One that I agree with quite strongly is the last one:

Mike G’s Healthy Eating Advice.

“If you’re going to eat something bad for you, make sure it’s really good”

Mike G’s Rules for Better Dining from Michael Gebert on Vimeo.

Oh yeah, and in the wake of my lunch yesterday with Dan “the Chocolate Man” Schreiber, I’ll be finishing out my chocolate series that I’ve been neglecting for far too long.  I’ll have posts on tempering & molding, churros con chocolate, and another artisan chocolate maker I was lucky enough to sample.

I’m not one to plug something unless I really like it.  You’ll find a number of products mentioned on this site with links to places to buy them or find more information on them.  One of the places I link to a lot is Amazon.  Sure, if you buy something through my link, I’ll get a little kickback, but I also shop there a lot.

I’m not going to make a big link-fest out of this post, but you can get just about anything on Amazon, from foie gras to bundt pans, food chemicals like transglutaminase (meat glue) to olive oil.  Even if you don’t want to buy something now, put it on your wish list and share it with your family, maybe they’ll pick something up for you.

I’ve got a wish list there, it’s got mostly cookbooks and DVDs that I want to get.  It helps a lot around Christmas time when family members are asking for ideas on what to get me.  This year marks the 10th anniversary of Amazon Wish Lists, and they’re having a sweepstakes.  This week (Oct. 12-18), create, add to, or share a wish list and you’ll be entered to win a dream kitchen.  They have plenty of other prize packages, but if you’re reading this blog you probably care about your kitchen.  Read more about the wishlist sweepstakes or take a peek at mine.

After seeing me taking photos and trying all sorts of things in the kitchen, my wife wondered aloud why I never wrote any posts about the bento lunches she makes for our daughter.  In our house, we tend to cook separately.  She doesn’t want me in there.  She loves it and excels at it, and I just don’t have the experience to write about it.  The next time she asked me about the bento post, I said “would you like to write one?”  She finally agreed, so here is her first guest post.  She’d love any questions or comments you have, so please share them.  Oh, and the pictures in this post are really useful, so I encourage you to click to get the bigger version to see all the little details that go into them.

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