• Rinse strawberries and air dry completely at room temperature. Even a small drop of water in melted chocolate can cause it to seize up.
• Chop chocolate (one type at a time) into small pieces. Place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl - glass works well.
• Bring about an inch of water to a low simmer in a small saucepan. You don't want an active boil as this can splash water or steam into your bowl of chocolate.
• Place the bowl of chocolate over the hot water and stir until the chocolate begins to melt.
• Remove from heat and continue stirring until the chocolate is melted through. Return to heat for a few seconds at a time if needed to melt the chocolate completely. Do not heat chocolate above 120°F.
• Hold a strawberry firmly by its stem and dip into the melted chocolate, rotating the berry to coat all sides. Lift from the chocolate and allow any excess to drip off the berry.
• If using, roll the wet strawberry in a shallow bowl/plate of chopped nuts, coconut flakes, mini chocolate chips, etc.
• Place dipped strawberry on a sheet of parchment paper and leave until chocolate has set.

Tempering Instructions:

• If you wish to temper the chocolate to achieve professional results and nice crisp snap to the chocolate, it takes just a few more steps. Instead of adding all of the chopped chocolate pieces to the bowl initially, add ⅔ of the pieces and reserve the other ⅓. Proceed with the same heating instructions, bringing the chocolate to about 115°F.
• Off the heat, stir the chocolate vigorously, adding bits of the reserved ⅓ chocolate pieces and stirring until they're melted. Continue until all of the reserved "seed" chocolate has been added and the chocolate has cooled to 82°F.
• Place the bowl of cooled chocolate back over the double boiler for 10 seconds at a time, stirring and heating until the chocolate reaches about 89°F and is smooth. (DO NOT HEAT ABOVE 92°F.)
• Continue with the dipping instructions as outlined above.
• *White and milk chocolate should not be heated above 113°F initially, should be cooled to about 80/82°F, and reheated to about 86°F (milk) and 84°F (white).