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Tempering chocolate can be a messy process at times. So I had an idea to cover the plastic bowl that I use for tempering with plastic wrap so that once I'm finished, I can remove the plastic wrap, the bowl will end up clean and I can easily collect the leftover chocolate.

Would the plastic wrap be safe to use? Would it contaminate the chocolate or affect the tempering process in any way?

The tempering method I usually use just involves a heating up the plastic bowl in the microwave and seeding with tempered callets to reach the desired temperatures. The chocolate will only reach a maximum of 45 degrees.

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    Two points. 1) "Safe" here means standard food safety, roughly. "will you have to go to the hospital tomorrow because of what you cooked". People who are wary of cooking with plastic usually have concerns which we cannot address here, so if that was the information you were after, we can't provide it. 2) I have never tried what you propose, but it sounds more messy, not less. Maybe your cleaning process is just not efficient enough?
    – rumtscho ♦
    Jan 8, 2017 at 14:15
  • I assume you mean degrees C? A pyrex or ceramic bowl might be easier to wash up than your plastic one, and starting from warm before washing up helps a lot.
    – Chris H
    Jan 8, 2017 at 14:51
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    I cannot imagine that the plastic wrap will make a nice, smooth film on the inside of the bowl - I envision a wrinkly mess that wastes a lot of chocolate.
    – Ecnerwal
    Jan 8, 2017 at 23:04

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Most microwave suitable plastic wrap (cling film) still says you should avoid contact with the food and just use it as a cover. But of course in that case the food is intended to get properly hot, and of course you don't want much heat. If you do get local hot spots the film may well soften. At that point it might impart flavours to the food. It's probably only slightly more likely than getting a flavour of the plastic bowl you otherwise use.

I write this from the point of view that you're more likely to spoil the flavour than harm yourself by slightly misusing a product that's generally accepted as food safe.

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  • OK, conjecture: the reason why food contact should normally be avoided likely has to do with oil drops on the surface of the food getting properly hot (had these melt scars into solid plastic containers). While chocolate is indeed an oil/fat based food, heating it enough for that to happen is likely to thoroughly ruin any temper of chocolate and cook.
    – rackandboneman
    Jan 9, 2017 at 9:41
  • @rackandboneman I suspect that's a major reason. It may be the only reason and given that product instructions/warnings are aimed at the dumbest potential user I can see that they might not say "for foods containing oils or fats, avoid contact...". Certainly the chocolate would be well and truly burnt by that point.
    – Chris H
    Jan 9, 2017 at 11:26

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