Observe the following necessary precautions: Always do chocolate coating on clear, bright days. Cloudy, dull, damp weather prevents the chocolate hardening quickly and the coating becomes gray, which detracts from the appearance of the candy. The temperature of the room in which the dipping is done should not be less than seventy-five degrees. Do not attempt to coat in a cold room. The centers to be dipped must not be cold. Have them in a warm room for a while before dipping. Neither should they be dipped when too fresh. If they are much too warm it is as bad as if too cold. Never put the coating chocolate on the marble slab on which other candies have been made. The chocolate will absorb enough butter from the slab to spoil it for coating purposes.
Unless one has a small slab to use for coating chocolate only, it is better to use a platter, which is just as good for this purpose. The slab or platter must be slightly warmed before turning the melted chocolate on. When coating with chocolate in warm weather it is necessary to chill the dipped candies in the refrigerator for a few minutes. Dip a dozen pieces and then place them in the refrigerator for about ten minutes. Use three or four pans, and keep putting them in and taking them out in order. Cover while in the refrigerator to prevent sweating. When dipping chocolates in the winter time, when most of this work is done, dip about a dozen pieces and then set them in a cool place. If these precautions are not heeded, the chocolates will be gray, dull, and streaked.