Lookee what I found:
http://www.ecolechocolat.com/chocolatier-school.php
Also reviews of quite a few tempering machines. I’ve been wanting one for awhile, and it looks like I could probably build my own if I needed to – the principle is quite simple, a couple of 100-watt light bulbs for heating, a fan for cooling, and a temperature limit controller, which I can probably find at a surplus store. I may ask a friend of mine who does such things to cobble one up for me. Even if I don’t use it for tempering, it would still be helpful for keeping my chocolate at temperature – at the moment I need to work fast when working with chocolate molds, etc. since I don’t have any way to keep the chocolate warm. I guess a heating pad with a temperature limit controller would work just as well. Perhaps some electronics experiments are around the corner…
Anyway, the professional online course sounds really interesting – perhaps I might pick that up as a winter project. Or maybe in late summer, when it isn’t (cycling) training season anymore.
All sorts of possibilities…