Two New Video Tips {Tempering Chocolate & How To Dip Things in Chocolate Like a Pro!}
Just popping in to let you know I’ve uploaded two new videos to my YouTube channel (they also get archived right here on the Video Tips page). After the chocolate-dipped caramel post on Monday and the fact that everybody is dipping everything in chocolate this time of year, hopefully these tips will come in handy. And yes, I’m wearing the same outfit in both because I’m too lazy to change just to make it look like I videoed these on different days. Focus on the chocolate, not the clothes.
Tempering Chocolate: This video is all about how to quickly and easily temper chocolate at home. Have you ever seen chocolate that’s been melted and has cooled with white or gray streaks running through it? Or maybe it looks dull and spotty? That’s called blooming and it’s not what you want to have happen when you’ve worked hard to dip your favorite treats in chocolate. It happens when chocolate isn’t melted correctly (too hot, mostly). Expert chocolatiers will tell you that chocolate needs to be heated, cooled, and then warmed again to properly temper. But in the video tip, I’ll show you my amateur way (using the seeding method) that yields perfect results every time: glossy, smooth chocolate with a delightful snap!
Dipping Stuff in Chocolate: Just like it sounds, in this short video tip, I’m demonstrating how I dip treats in chocolate (in this case, caramels) since many of you have requested a visual. It’s so easy and will make you look like a rock star. Be careful, knowing how to do this so quickly and professionally is a dangerous-in-a-good-way thing for your reputation. You don’t have to let your admirers know how simple it really is.
Remember all of the video tips can be seen on my Video Tips page as well as on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe You Tube channel.
This is probably a dumb question, but if I wanted to dip, say, your shortbread cookies in chocolate, is the method the same except I wouldn’t completely submerge them in the bowl? (I mean I guess I could do that…) Will it work to just dip them in one at a time and then lay them on the parchment paper? Also, do you refrigerate your dipped things after, or does it harden well enough on its own?
Hey Kim, yes, that’s what I would do – just dip half the shortbread in the chocolate. The chocolate should harden without refrigerating, but chilling can speed up the process.
Thanks so much for this video tip! I’ve melted chocolate in the microwave before for dipping and molding but I never new that you could temper it by adding some shavings of unmelted chocolate. What a difference that made when I dipped strawberries for Valentine’s!
I wish I’d read through the comments and saw what you said about putting the “drizzling” chocolate into a bag. I just can’t get the fork way to work. haha I just get big blobs and tiny lines.
Thanks again!
When I dip chocolate, I put the melted chocolate in a deeper,narrower container, such as a measuring cup. I seem to get more dips before the chocolate gets too shallow.
Love you and your kitchen cute girl! Have fun in Portland!
Hey, Mel, I am hard of hearing and your video clips don’t have captions, so I am not sure what percent power you put your microwave on and for how long. I couldn’t catch it in the video. Would you mind writing it out for me here, please? Thanks a million! Merry Christmas!! 🙂
Hi Amy – sorry about that. I usually do 50% power for 1-minute intervals. I’ll keep the captions in mind for future videos. 🙂
Mel, I smile the whole time I watch your videos. You really need to do a meet and greet some day… In the Pac NW spicifically, so I can give you a big hug (and thats saying something, im not a hugger.) Here goes dipping caramels! My husbands work is going to get a yummy treat for the holidays! I’m thinking a sprinkle of sea salt on the top will be tasty too.
Hey Mickie! I’ll be out Portland way for New Years!
You’ve said in the comments that you used bittersweet for this.. but can you use milk chocolate as well? Or does it not melt as well?
I don’t melt milk chocolate hardly ever because I prefer bittersweet or milk chocolate, but it should work the same. I usually use the Ghirardelli brand of chocolate.
You Make it look so easy, but mine never look as professional as yours do when I dip things in chocolate! Also, you should totally do a tutorial on how you cut your caramels so perfectly….another thing I can never master.
Thanks for the video – love your backsplash!
When dipping, I feel like my chocolate starts to harden in my bowl in the middle of my process – how would you handle that? Melt it again in the microwave then stir in more chopped pieces like you did in the beginning?
thanks ahead of time!
Good question, Kindra. I’ve had good success putting one of those old school heating pads under the bowl but it’s messy and the heating pad sometimes doesn’t clean up well. Much of the time, when it starts to harden a bit, I just pop it in the microwave for 10 second intervals – not enough to overheat it, just enough to get it back to melty stage.
Mel- I have a few questions. 1) I don’t have a microwave, so can I just melt chocolate in a small sauce pan or do I need to melt via a double pot, the bottom one heating the water and the top pan containing the chocolate? What happens if the chocolate is overheated? Do you cool it and start over? Trying to remove some steps here.
2) I’ve dipped biscottis into chocolate before, but I’ve always added some cream to the chocolate because the color of the dipped biscotti was much darker than using only chocolate. What’s the difference, besides the color, for adding cream vs doing it only with melted chocolate?
Hi Luda, if you melt the chocolate on the stovetop, it’s best to put the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. It helps regulate the temperature of the melting chocolate better without it overheating. Unfortunately if chocolate overheats and seizes (clumps ups and gets sugary and grainy) there isn’t anything you can do to fix it. Adding cream to the chocolate is fine if that is your preference, in my experience, it makes the chocolate set up much softer and less glossy.
Thanks for the great video tips. I have a question slightly related to the chocolate melting video…could you please recommend a digital food scale that you like?
This is the scale I use:
http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1418273280&sr=1-3&keywords=food+scale
WOW! – Thank you for not only these 2, but all of your videos. I watched a number of them…all great tips and techniques and also love that they are short and to the point!
Thank you sooo much for this! I cannot wait to try this! You said above that you use the Ghirardelli bar chocolate or chips. Does it matter if they are semi sweet or what “type” is best?
NVM Just saw you wrote Bittersweet above, Thanks!
I am so glad you mentioned these videos in today’s post because I somehow missed them. 🙁 Wow, these are exceptional learning videos! I love your humbleness, Mel, but seriously you are an amazing professional. Your presentation in these videos would rival any done by the professionals on television. You are definitely not an amateur. You helped me through your post’s comments some months back with a discouraging melting chocolate disaster. Thank you so much for these well done videos I can now resource when needed.
Great videos! And your new counter tops look beautiful.
Oh geeze, such an easy chocolate dipping tip! Great videos!
Love these videos of yours!! I’m excited to temper and shake off some dipped chocolate now:) thanks!!
Mel, your recipes and video tips are awesome. You take things that others complicate (like tempering) and make it look so simple and effortless. Thank you sooooooooo much for doing this video tip. It has given me the confidence to start dipping away. 🙂
Mel, where to you buy your bulk chocolate? Do you have a good local store where it can be purchased? Thank You!
I buy it in the bulk section at Winco, which is a local grocery store in my area.
😉
Thank you! I appreciate it!
Love the video Mel, very helpful!
Thanks for the tips and videos! Now I want to go dip things in chocolate!
Love this, thanks! Curious what chocolate you’re using?
I’m using bittersweet chocolate I got here from a grocery store (Winco) that sells it in large chunks/blocks in their bulk section.
Awesome tips! Cannot wait to try them.
Great videos Mel. You look so cute! Who cares if you wear the same shirt?We’re all friends here.
Thanks for the great videos! I’m excited to try tempering my chocolate. Do you have a brand of chocolate you use for dipping?
I usually use the Ghirardelli’s brand. Both their chocolate chips and their baking bar chocolate melt really well and taste less waxy and artificial than other brands. In this video I’m using large blocks of bittersweet chocolate I bought in a bulk section at a grocery store in my area (Winco).
Hi Mel, I’ve been following your blog (with delight) for several years now. Your recipes are always big hits! I was curious where you buy the big blocks of chocolate like you used in your tempering video. I have trouble finding anything but Bakers bars or chocolate chips in my area.
Hi Carolyn – I buy these large blocks of bar chocolate at Winco, a grocery store in my area. They sell it in their bulk section.
I love all of your tips and recipes! Thanks for all of your hard work. My family benefits from it daily! I am just wondering how you make those beautiful stripes on your chocolates. Or did I miss it somewhere that you already explained it?
Just saw the explanation. Thanks!
Does the tempering work with chocolate chips to?
Yep, although as a general rule, chocolate chips may not melt as well as bar chocolate (although I melt them all the time with the exception of white chocolate chips which melt horribly) since the cocoa butter content is different to help them keep their cute little shape.
Okay, love the videos. How did you to the stripes on top of your chocolate?
Hi Lindsey – I think I just replied to you on FB (assuming it’s the same Lindsey 🙂 – but for this picture in the post, I put the melted chocolate (it had cooled a bit so it was thicker than if it was really warm) into the corner of a ziploc bag, trimmed the corner and drizzled. But sometimes I follow the tip on my videos page (www.melskitchencafe.com/video-tips) and dip a fork in the melted chocolate and whip it across the top to create more whimsical looking drizzles.
You are just so darn adorable. Thanks for the yummy tips!