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Post by rosenbauert on Jun 18, 2014 13:50:44 GMT -5
I have done a couple experiments with different sugars that might interest some people. First was a batch using dextrose instead of sucrose. According to our friend Eve, who wrote the wildly popular new book A Year Without Sugar, sucrose is half fructose and half glucose (dextrose). Your system immediately uses the glucose but fructose goes to your liver and encourages it to make fat cells. So she brought over a jar of glucose and I made a batch from 2 lbs. of Ghana beans and 10oz of dextrose. At first it looked kinda gummy when I put in the dextrose but at 24 hours it melanged fine and they loved it. Not quite the same taste as with sucrose--if anything the chocolate shone through a little more but it tempered with a really nice snap and her family loved it. I am not sure I want to trade dextrose heavily processed from corn for some nice organic sugar but it was a fun experiment and it worked.
Next I tried maple sugar, which is wildly popular in my house. You all know you can't use maple syrup because of the moisture, but a local sugar maker (a farmer who lives over the hill from me) makes a special maple sugar which is bone dry and can be ground in a spice grinder or just used "as is" in a melanger. He makes it to order from syrup. It's organic and direct trade and local (for me at least) and it is superb in chocolate. My Maple Ghana disappears like a flash between my wife, son, and friends. If anyone is interested in trying some let me know here and I will see what he would charge for shipping a pound--be aware that like all maple products it is hand made and very expensive. I think it's about 20 bucks a pound but you can get away with less of it than ordinary sugar as it is sweeter.
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Post by Sebastian on Jun 19, 2014 6:09:39 GMT -5
So, factually speaking, that's not really how the liver treats fructose....remember just because someone puts something in a book doesn't mean it's true.
Dextrose will be much less sweeter than the sugars one is accustomed to eating in chocolate, but there's absolutely no reason it can't be used in chocolate. It will make your chocolate harder also. Your maple sugar is sweeter because it has fructose in it (fructose is much sweeter than sucrose) - note that the fructose will also make it physically harder to work with due to viscosity increases.
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Post by rosenbauert on Jun 19, 2014 8:57:22 GMT -5
Funny I have not seen any viscosity differences with the dry maple--if anything it seems to work better than regular organic cane sugar. Tempers really nice as well. From everything I have read, the fructose % in maple is about the same as cane sugar.
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Post by Sebastian on Jun 20, 2014 20:01:07 GMT -5
Maple syrup has approximately 4% fructose in it - and that's basis it's hydrated (water containing) form. Since you're working with the dried and plated version, it'll be much higher as the moisture is no longer present to dilute it (well, it's still present, but at a much lower 4-5%). Purified sucrose, on the other hand, as it's processed through a variety of crystallizers and centrifuges to purify it - is very pure. Typically it's broken out by what's called it's ICUMSA color value - with the lower the ICUMSA value - the purer the sugar. The average white sugar that you and i purchase (assuming you're in the US), will have an ICUMSA value of approximately 50. That equates to a purity value of 99.97% (as measured by the New York Sugar Trade Laboratory), with no measurable reducing sugar content (fructose is a reducing sugar).
Glad to hear it's working for you rheologically! if you're satisfied with the results, by all means continue on!
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Post by karthikeyan on Jul 22, 2015 8:09:31 GMT -5
I know that this is an old thread... But wanted to hear of any experiments on the below sugars -
- demerara vs white cane sugar - low GI cane sugar. You seem to see more of it in the market now and am wondering how it would react to chocolate making? Would be fun to offer a healthier alternative for diabetics. - coconut palm sugar. With a GI index of only 35, this could also be a fun alternative. Has anyone tried this? - inulin & maltitol combinations to make sugar free chocolates? How do these react vs cane sugar?
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Post by dublinguy on Jul 22, 2015 9:15:35 GMT -5
Since we're reviving this thread, allow me to add to your list ;-)
Anybody has experimented or has opinion on: - Maltose (for instance what is used in beer brewing) - Dextrose Monohydrate - Maltodextrin
Thanks!
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Jul 22, 2015 16:57:57 GMT -5
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Post by karthikeyan on Jul 22, 2015 20:28:24 GMT -5
Thanks Gap... I did manage to find the thread posted by you last night and it made for some interesting bed time reading!
Now need to hunt around for erithritol & sucralose instead of maltitol...
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Post by Sebastian on Jul 23, 2015 18:51:27 GMT -5
Erythritol pros: much higher digestive tolerance due to it's lower molecular weight.
Erythritol cons: much higher cooling effect and slightly higher cost. Lower relative sweetness compared to sucrose.
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Post by glindanorth on Dec 7, 2015 21:09:35 GMT -5
I know that this is an old thread... But wanted to hear of any experiments on the below sugars - - demerara vs white cane sugar - low GI cane sugar. You seem to see more of it in the market now and am wondering how it would react to chocolate making? Would be fun to offer a healthier alternative for diabetics. - coconut palm sugar. With a GI index of only 35, this could also be a fun alternative. Has anyone tried this? - inulin & maltitol combinations to make sugar free chocolates? How do these react vs cane sugar? To karthikeyan and whoever else is interested - For about a year, I have been playing with recipes yielding high quality, complex flavored chocolate, well conched, with lowered amounts of flavorful, natural sugars. I had already learned in baking that any chocolate recipe, especially dark chocolate recipes, taste much better with brown sugars. So I extended this to making chocolate from cacao.
Here is what I have learned on the sugar element: - " Zulka Morena" brand lightly refined sugar from Walmart: fairly cheap but flavorful, this is my standard light sugar alternative to regular refined cane sugar. Tastes subtly different from white sugar. - Demerra - depending on brand this comes anywhere from a light to dark color and flavor. I usually pre grind it in a blender before adding it, but you don't have to. - Suganat - usually on the darker end of demerra, usually adds slightly more brown flavor than demerra. The pure natural form in bricks that comes from India is too wet; I use commercial ones from wally world. - Coconut palm sugar - adds a very dark but pleasant taste. Be aware of the depth added to the flavor. Almost caramel taste. I've made a VERY interesting caramel tasting "white chocolate" using coconut palm sugar. If you add or coat with pecans, toasted fresh coconut, and/or coat with crushed almond brittle, or use as a base for a nut gianduja, it's super good. Also makes an incredible bar, layered with dark chocolate and coated with one of those nuts. - DME (dried malt extract, sourced from brewery suppliers) - have substituted up to 20% of the sugar to reduce sweetness and add malty taste, but see note below. - Stevia - I tried this early in my experimenting, both alone and with some sugar, and haven't come up with an acceptable chocolate recipe, even used in low quantities. When you use it, assume that the package tells you to use 4-10 times as much as you need. Don't believe their equivalents. Since it's such a fine powder, you can start really small then add to it if it's not sweet enough. I haven't tried Truvia, stevia's commercial blended cousin. Stevia seems to be the least dangerous sugar alternative with few to no digestive or carcinogenic side effects, but does retain that saccharine sweetness and sometimes bitterness. It doesn't seem to counteract chocolate's bitterness as well as sugar. The flavor flaws are serious in my mind, being a foodie. So instead, I'm focusing on low sugar, high cacao, high flavor recipes. I'd be happy to test someone else's recipes though if they find a good sugar substitute, and report back. I've been very interested in trying maple sugar and will do so after reading this thread. I have ready access to it locally here in northern New York. DME note - 24% DME (as a percent of total sugars, counting 80% DME as sugar based on fermentable sugar statistic reported by brewers...i.e. all the sugar % plus 80% of DME weight = total sugar %) in a white chocolate seemed to be pushing it into the potentially gummy range, almost seized up the melanger. I got scared and stopped there as it can attract moisture, ruining the chocolate. Careful to add it very slowly to the melanger. But if you like malt flavor in chocolate, it is divine. Best used only on a very dry day, else you risk attracting water in the chocolate. When I store DME, to keep moisture out, I keep a pack of silica gel in the DME - press out all the air from the bag after measuring, roll or zip the edge tight, then double bag it with another silica gel packet.
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Post by jas665 on Jan 13, 2018 6:44:23 GMT -5
Has anyone found a variation in flavor depending on WHEN in the refining process they add sugar? I've been letting nibs grind for a good couple of hours before adding but curious what other people think..
(feel free to point to another thread if I've missed it)
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