Where to start
Most chocolate trouble at home comes from three things: picking a bar that does not suit the recipe, heating it too fast, and storing it somewhere too warm or damp. The guides below take those in order.
Read the percentage
What "70% cacao" counts, what the rest of the bar is, and why two bars with the same number taste different.
Know the types
Unsweetened, bittersweet, semisweet, milk and white chocolate, plus cocoa powder, chips and coating wafers.
Temper at home
The seed method with a thermometer, how to test your temper, and what to do when it fails.
Store it well
The right spot in the house, when the fridge makes sense, and what that white film on old chocolate is.
Bake with it
Chips or chopped bars, natural or Dutch-process cocoa, and swapping one chocolate for another.
Make something
Peanut butter cups, bark, a two-ingredient ganache, hot cocoa and dipped apple slices.
What is in the bar
Each bar below has 20 squares. A dark square is cacao, a pale gold square is cocoa butter on its own, a tan square is milk solids, and a speckled square is sugar. Reading the bars left to right shows how the sweetness and the cocoa flavor trade places as the percentage drops.
The cacao percentage guide explains the numbers in more detail and has a slider that builds a bar for any percentage.
Tempering at a glance
Tempered chocolate snaps cleanly, shines and does not melt the moment you touch it. To get there with the seed method, melt the chocolate fully, then cool it to its working temperature by stirring in chopped chocolate that was already tempered. These rounded figures are a common starting point. If the maker prints its own temperatures on the package, follow those.
| Chocolate | Melt to (°F) | Melt to (°C) | Work at (°F) | Work at (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark | 115 to 120 | 46 to 49 | 88 to 90 | 31 to 32 |
| Milk | 110 to 115 | 43 to 46 | 86 to 88 | 30 to 31 |
| White | 105 to 110 | 40 to 43 | 82 to 84 | 28 to 29 |
The full method, with tests and fixes, is on the tempering page. If you only need melted chocolate for a batter or a drizzle that will be chilled, the melting guide is enough.
A word on allergens
Many chocolates contain milk, and many contain soy lecithin. Peanuts and tree nuts are often handled in the same factories, so read the "contains" and "may contain" lines on every package. Several recipes here use peanuts or peanut butter. The allergen page lists what to look for and suggests swaps.
Common questions
Is a higher cacao percentage always better?
No. A higher number means less sugar and a stronger, more bitter cocoa flavor. That suits some recipes and some people. A brownie recipe written for semisweet chocolate can turn dry and bitter with a 90% bar.
Do I need to temper chocolate for baking?
No. Chocolate that goes into a batter, a ganache or a sauce does not need tempering. Tempering matters when the chocolate is the outside of something, such as a dipped strawberry or a molded bar, and you want it to set firm and glossy at room temperature.
Why is the site called Chocolate PB?
Chocolate and peanut butter is one of the most popular pairings in American kitchens, so it runs through the recipes. The guides themselves cover chocolate in general. See the about page for what we cover and what we leave out.