tempered chocolate has a glossy shine when set you only need to temper chocolate if it's not been tempered already previously tempered dark chocolate will stay in temper as long as it's not heated above 32 degrees centigrade milk chocolate will stay tempered as long as it's not heated above 30 degrees centigrade and white chocolate will stay tempered as long as it's not heated above 29 degrees centigrade large chocolate bars bought from the supermarket are almost always tempered look for chocolate that is shiny and snaps cleanly when broken if chocolate looks dull or has white blotches it's not tempered rather than tempering the chocolate from scratch it's much easier to melt already tempered chocolate very gently so it stays in temper put the finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and immediately turn off the heat make sure that the bowl doesn't touch the water otherwise the chocolate may overheat and won't be shiny when it cools allow the chocolate to slowly melt taking the chocolate off the heat every so often and stirring until it's just melted once the chocolate has melted remove from the heat and use immediately this technique works with milk and white chocolate to temper chocolate is perfect for making chocolate molds Easter eggs or coating truffles once set the chocolate will be smooth and shiny