Who invented chocolate tempering?

Hello everyone,

I have been trying to find out who discovered how to temper chocolate, the process by which the desirable breed of cocoa butter crystals are produced to the exclusion of the other undesirable types. Google seems uncharacteristically ignorant on the matter and even Coe and Coe’s otherwise comprehensive book The True History of Chocolate doesn’t seem to provide an answer. I have three theories to explain the birth of the process:

  1. it was accidental
  2. someone thought, well you can temper metal, why not chocolate?
  3. it was based on one apparently anonymous individual’s profound insight

I’d be really grateful to hear anyone’s thoughts on the matter :slight_smile:

I would assume that the influence of temperature was tested in the optimisation of the conching process (see also http://chocoinfo.ch/conching-of-chocolate/) invented by Lindt in 1879 in Switzerland. Originally a trade secrete, it reached the literature in 1901 and was quickly adopted by other manufacturers.

Quite a number of patents for chocolate tempering apparatuses were applied for around 1920-1950
e.g CLAYTON AND G
W CLAYTON - US Patent 1,375,210, 1921 - Google Patents

From the Clayton patent application:

"It has long been recognized that when chocolate is used for coating or molding, its temperature must be very accurately controlled, a variation of even one degree or less often causing undesired results. "

So even by then it was well known.

Thanks!