Alex Rast wrote <snipped>:

First thing I recommend is that you abandon the semisweet chocolate
chips
and use some quality couverture chocolate. The term "couverture" sounds

fancy but really only means that it's got about 40% cocoa butter, and
this
is typical of what you find in good eating chocolate bars, so in
essence
it's another way of saying use good eating chocolate.

********************
Thank you for the suggestions. If I ever get to the point where I feel
my skill level is worthy of a better grade of chocolate, then I might
try some fancier stuff. I note that even the white "chocolate" I use,
which I would assume to be mostly cocoa butter, has sugar listed
as the number one ingredient. Thank you for listing out several
recommended chocolates. $15 a pound for chocolate is not totally
out of the question if I can develop skills deserving of it.

As for tempering, I don't care for a really hard exterior, so I
generally
mix a bit of shortening in with the chocolate I use for dipping. This
generates a soft sheen in the finished product which I find pleasing,
both in looks and texture, and without the trouble of tempering. The
results can be seen in the dark chocolate candies in the picture.
Thanks again, Michael