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So, I was given a Kitchen-Aid heated mixing bowl for Christmas, and following the instructions I have attempted to temper chocolate a few times without any success whatsoever. It takes a very long time to temper, so it's a time consuming and fruitless task but if it would work it would certainly be worth the extra time allocation. Any one have any experience using this device successfully for tempering chocolate, or really any other task?

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  • I don't suppose you've read any of the Amazon reviews? I'm not familiar with this product but they're very mixed.
    – Catija ♦
    Apr 25, 2018 at 5:35
  • Yes, there are even a few videos on youtube. But I didn't find them very helpful! Is a finicky little device.
    – soup4life
    Apr 25, 2018 at 17:23

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I haven't used the Kitchen-Aid, but I have the Kenwood Cooking Chef which is similar, and I frequently use it to temper chocolate. I have tried a couple of different ways:

  • Heat the chocolate to 32°C degrees while stirring - This takes a long (looong) time and the results are not great (too viscous)
  • Heat the chocolate to ~40°C while stirring, then lower the temperature to 32°C and add about 10% finely chopped chocolate, stirring until it's all melted. - This is faster and fairly foolproof, but the chopped chocolate takes a while to melt.
  • Heat the chocolate to ~40°C while stirring, then lower the temperature to 32°C and add about 1% mycryo (fine cocoa butter crystals) - This is faster and the best I've come up with yet. Note - You must let the temperature of the chocolate come down to about 36°C before adding the mycryo - or it will melt them completely, ruining their special crystalline structure.

Another thing I have discovered is that adding ~5-10% cocoa butter makes for a less viscous chocolate that's easier to work with, especially if it's to be poured into moulds. (It's easiest to add it at the beginning.)

I use a rubberized spatula that scrapes the bowl. I assume Kitchen-Aid has something similar.

Adding cocoa butter is controversial. Some people claim that it's cheating, but I find that it gives a better shine and snap to the finished product, without affecting flavour noticeably.

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  • Amazing! I will try out that last method of yours. It's hard to get mycryo though so I will just use cocoa butter. Great tips! Thank you!
    – soup4life
    May 23, 2018 at 21:34
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    You can't use regular cocoa butter as a mycryo replacement. It has been treated in a particular way (rapid-frozen with the right crystal structure) so that it seeds the melted chocolate. Try method #2 instead - i.e. add 10-20% small chocolate pieces. This has the advantage that it cools down the melted chocolate, but if you add too much it cools down too fast and it doesn't melt. And if you don't add enough it melts too fast and the chocolate doesn't get properly tempered. You'll have to experiment!
    – Popup
    May 24, 2018 at 12:03
  • Oh! That's good to know. I was not aware of that. Method 2 being more similar to the seed method I was taught to use, although less troublesome. I will try get a hold of some mycryo! Thank you!
    – soup4life
    May 24, 2018 at 23:40
  • Adding Mycryo is not cheating in the least. All you’re trying to do is to create the correct cell structure and this is what you do with seeding. If you can’t get Mycryo and have access to a sous vide circulator, you can make your own “cocoa butter silk”. Do a search for this. The chocolate alchemist has the method and it works flawlessly.
    – Stephen Beaumont
    May 11, 2019 at 16:43

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