Tempering chocolate is important because it determines the final gloss, hardness, and contraction of the chocolate. So what is there to learn about tempering that could possibly take almost 2 hours to show? When melted chocolate returns to solid form, the cocoa butter in the chocolate forms a crystal structure. The neat thing about cocoa butter is that the crystal structure it takes on depends on the temperature at which the crystals are formed. This program will take the mystery (and terror!) out of tempering chocolate.

Chocolate Man Bill Fredericks starts off with an introduction to the cocoa pod, where it comes from, how it’s harvested, processed, the resulting nibs in their purest form and what happens when the cocoa butter is extracted from the nibs. Next learn about several indirect methods for melting chocolate (double boiler, warming plate, microwave), whether the chocolate starts in blocks, discs, morsels, buttons, batons, chips, callets, rondos, pistoles, ribbons, chunks etc... it all needs to be melted before it can be gradually cooled to optimum working temperature.Above all, learn how to be in “good temper”. No, this doesn’t mean your mental state of mind, but getting the chocolate in the correct crystaline structure to accomplish what you want to do with it! Learn how to perform four different tempering methods... Slab, Seed, Stick Blender & Mycryo to create all sorts of detectible treats such as Tulip Cups, Fruit & Nut Bark, Dipped Apricots & Strawberries and Molded Chocolates.

Known as the Chocolate Man, Bill Fredericks has owned and operated ChocolateMan.com, a chocolate supply business, for the last 20 years. He is an internationally trained chocolate chef, instructor and past corporate chef for Choc Elan, LLC. Bill has been instructing, consulting and working as a private chef for over 20 years. He is a member of AACT American Association of Candy Technologists, IACP International Association of Culinary Professionals, FCIA Fine Chocolate Industry Association and President of the NW Chocolatiers Guild.

Fredericks' career in chocolate started with his wife a little more than 20 years ago. She was anxious to make some fancy desserts and had her mind set on truffles. He made some for her using chocolate chips. Discovering that chocolate chips don't make the best truffles, he began experimenting using different types of chocolate. With degrees in both chemistry and geology he says, “My background in science really helps me to understand what chocolate does and how to get it to do what I want it to do.” Bill explains the science behind chocolate and how temperature and other factors contribute to chocolate's texture and appearance during melting and cooling. He also shows how to keep the working area sanitary so all the left over chocolate can be reused again. 111 minutes.

Demo video coming soon!