Professional-looking chocolate is tempered, and tempering requires a chocolate thermometer. So if you’re ready to take your chocolates to the next level, get yourself a chocolate thermometer! There are lots of expensive chocolate thermometers out there, but I’ve had good results with this very basic, and very inexpensive, model. If you’re just getting into chocolate work, I recommend buying this one and getting comfortable with the tempering process before investing in more expensive equipment. You can find my tutorial showing exactly how to temper chocolate here. And if you want to make other types of candies, like caramels or fudge, be sure to pick up a candy thermometer!