time for my nerdy ass rant on chocolate

Because this shit is so interesting to me! So... a lot of people in the pastry world bitch and moan about tempering chocolate and how hard it is, rightfully so because it IS a bitch to do. However, I didnt realize how tempering affects the chocolate on a molecular level. We have three different kinds of fat structures in chocolate. Alpha, Beta-Prime, and Beta. These fat structures are rated on their stability, density, and melting point. Beta fat crystals are generally considered the best. So essentially what you're trying to do when tempering chocolate is rearranging those crystals and reshaping them into beta crystals so that your chocolate is more firm, stable, and generally is going to taste better as tempering kills off some of the acidity in chocolate. Tempering also prevents something called Fat bloom! If you've ever had chocolate that has some white-grayish, almost powdery look on the top, that's called fat bloom. It makes the chocolate taste.. different to say the least. It's not gone bad, and you can re-use fat-bloomed chocolate for other things, but it generally is considered unappealing. Alright thats the rant have a good day yall