THE PRODUCTION OF CHOCOLATE CONFECTIONERY
Before chocolate can be used for confectionery, it must be "tempered". It is first put into a machine which melts it down and keeps it at a constant temperature of 46°C. At that stage it is ready for "tempering". Chocolate buttons are added to act as a "Seed Button" which enables tempering to take place. The temperature is then reduced to 38°C. This is now "tempered" chocolate and is ready for use. The special plastic moulds are filled (see Brian at work ) and then emptied out to leave a coating of chocolate in the mould.
	The coated mould is put in the fridge to set at a temperature of 5°C. When set, the filling is added (see Sarah at work ) and the mould is returned to the fridge. It is then filled again with chocolate. When it has been mechanically shaken to remove air bubbles, the excess chocolate is scraped off and the mould again returned to the fridge to set. The chocolates are removed by the simple process of banging the mould on a hard surface. When the process is carried out to perfection, the finished chocolates will have a surface which shines.
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