Tempuring butters

[May]

Hi again,
I have read about tempering shea and cocoa butter to avoid graininess in the finished product. My question is: Can I temper a couple pounds of butter, let it cool and store it in a container until I'm ready to use it for lip balm, lotion, etc. Basically, can I do this longer step in advance, so that the butter can just be melted and mixed when it's time to make a product?

Also, could I test to ensure that my product won't be grainy by tempering it, letting it cool, then setting it somewhere hot to let it melt and harden again? I hope that makes sense.
Thanks!

 

[Cindy2428]

I like to do this especially with my cocoa butter. I only buy 10lbs at a time, melt on low in my crockpot in 2 batches and weigh/pour pucks in small plastic containers which I can re-use. My favorite Chinese restaurant sells me 50 small/50 large for a great price. If I'm ambitious, I can then easily break up the pucks and run them through the salad shooter to help them re-melt faster. I've not tried to re-melt them again just to test, but I just use the butter in soap.

 

[Susie]

I temper all of my shea and cocoa butter when I get it in(I don't use a lot, so this is not a large amount.) I pour it back into my original containers. Then when I need it, I scoop it out and melt it down for lip balm or body butter. I tend to adjust my lip balm recipes often, so it gets remelted any number of times and cooled. I never have a problem with it going grainy again.

 

[May]

Thanks so much for your responses. I'm going to temper a pound or two of cocoa butter now!!