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Post by brewbetter on Aug 8, 2017 17:44:12 GMT -5
Hi everyone. First time poster here, and thinking about making chocolate for fun and pleasure. I've been homebrewing for 15 years, roast my own coffee and play golf, fish, and train my dog every day. Yes, retired. I generally use about 10 lbs of chocolate couverture around the holidays every year. I make English Almond Toffee to give to friends during the holidays, and cover them with good chocolate. I use Callebaut chocolate couverture. I've been on this web site for a few days reading a lot. From what I have read on other sites (Chef Eddy Van Damme for one) is that in order to temper chocolate, you need to start out with chocolate couverture, which is 32% cocoa butter. Now, from this site in various places, the cocoa bean, contains around 55% cocoa butter, and the rest cocoa mass. You roast the bean, crack the bean and separate the husks, then either grind the nibs to a liquor or just add directly to the chocolate refiner, adding sugar, and maybe some cocoa butter and other flavors. In a dark chocolate recipe, what would the cocoa butter percent be? Is it considered chocolate couverture? Why is almost all of the chocolate in the grocery stores NOT chocolate couverture. Do the chocolate makers remove some of the cocoa butter before they package it? According to one source, you can make quality store bought chocolate into chocolate couverture by adding 10% by weight of Cocoa butter to the melted chocolate, then you can temper it. This is just some stuff going around in circles in my mind. Thanks in advance for some help here.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Aug 12, 2017 15:45:44 GMT -5
By way of a quick response but I think this should cover it: - Chocolate doesn't HAVE to be couverture to temper it - it needs a minimum amount of cocoa butter to temper which will generally be available if using a couverture chocolate - As you said, cocoa beans are approximately 50% cocoa butter (think fat) and 50% cocoa powder (like what you buy in a store) - So a 70% cocoa content chocolate made with cocoa beans and sugar only is approximately 70% cocoa beans and 30% sugar, or 35% cocoa butter, 35% cocoa powder and 30% sugar - Different countries define couverture differently (it is a legal definition) but 32+% cocoa butter (ccb) is commonly used, so by that definition the chocolate above is a couverture because it has 35% ccb - So if I made a 60% chocolate and using the same calculation method, it would be 60% beans and 40% sugar or 30% ccb, 30% cocoa powder and 40% sugar - Technically the 60% wouldn't be a couverture - BUT, the ccb % can be increased by adding pure ccb and the cocoa content % of a chocolate = cocoa beans % + added ccb % - So, I could make a 60% chocolate with 50% beans, 10% ccb and 40% sugar which = 35% ccb (25% from beans + 10% added ccb), 25% cocoa powder and 40% sugar - Now my 60% chocolate is a couverture
In terms of store bought chocolate, I don't know what their recipes are so I can't comment on what they have done. But generally speaking, ccb is the most expensive component of a chocolate bar, so there is an economic incentive to reduce its content in a bar. There is a minimum amount required for a bar to still be legally called chocolate (again, differs by country). Often cocoa powder can be added to a bar to boost its cocoa content without adding ccb. Some supermarket chocolate may be couverture if it is higher percentage chocolate.
In terms of adding ccb to store bought chocolate - you could technically do it, but you will alter the flavour profile of the chocolate you bought (and you may not like the result). Why not just buy couverture? Callebaut is a readily available brand that is commonly used and fairly economical.
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Post by brewbetter on Aug 12, 2017 17:07:39 GMT -5
Thanks Gap. I have been reading A LOT in the last few days, and have figured out everything you just said. (A lot of it from your posts here) I decided to start making my own chocolate, and bought a Spectra 11 from this site and 4 lbs of beans. I already have a behmor roaster and a champion juicer, so I'm good to go. I'll have to get some moulds to make bars, and they would be a great addition to the English Almond Toffee that I already make for the holidays. I think I got the math down to make good chocolate and make it couverture. I really like the 53% cocoa chocolate I'm buying now, but will try a lot of different percents and see which I like better. I'm done buying it, I'm going to start making it. BTW, I only tried adding ccb to store bought chocolate once, and it was just ok. I made some silk the other day and will try to temper with the silk method next time I temper. Thanks again for your thoughts, it really helps.
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Post by chrisg on Aug 28, 2017 17:55:34 GMT -5
For tempering I have always used a chocolate thermometer. Stirring gently and thoroughly so that it cools and warms uniformly follow the following steps:
The chocolate will be at (or close to) the right starting temperature, 115F, straight from the machine.
Cool to 80F. On a cool evening you can do this sitting on a chair outside, on a hot day I use a shallow bowl of cold water (be careful, water ruins chocolate if it gets in). If the cooling is too slow the chocolate will start to set before it gets to 80F and may even warm up a little on its own. If this happens melt and start again.
Warm to 88F (84F for white). I use a pan of warm water. be careful not to overheat, stop a couple F low, it will try to overshoot a little, take to as close to 88 as you can.
Make into bars.
Getting the heating and cooling right takes a bit of practice but the above usually works for me. If it sets soft just melt it all to 115F and do it again.
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