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Post by colin on Jun 23, 2007 2:44:46 GMT -5
Hi, I am an organic carob grower and am interested in making carob chocolate. I have been searching the net for info but have found nothing. Can anyone give me some tips or point me in the right dirrection?
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Post by sugaralchemy on Jul 2, 2007 4:08:56 GMT -5
Carob has basically no relationship to cacao / chocolate. The plants, the composition, etc. Let me explain.
"Carob powder" is basically a very low fat powder that is a little bit like cocoa powder in how it looks and (vaguely) how it smells. Carob powder is technically considered a flour. Carob powder sold for flavoring purposes is roasted. It is largely fiber and sugar, with a bit of protein, and only very trace amounts of fat.
Conversely, cocoa powder is actually defatted, roasted cocoa beans. It is made by grinding the roasted cacao into a paste - liquor - which is then pressed to extract the fat - cocoa butter - leaving behind cocoa powder.
In terms of taste, I would say that carob at best has a very vague resemblance to cocoa powder. It's not something anybody who knows anything about chocolate would ever confuse with cocoa powder. If you disguise it with milk, vanilla, etc. and don't try for a very 'dark' chocolate taste, you might fool a few average people.
The so-called "carob chocolate" - more correctly known as "carob coating" - most basically, it is made from carob powder, sugar, and added fat. The other types of ingredients used in chocolate are also commonly used in carob coatings - vanilla, lecithin, dry milk, etc. The entire mixture is then refined much like cocoa powder.
The key to making carob coating is the added fat. This critically must account for 30-40% of the mass of any carob coating. The added fat must be a type of fat that is hard at room temperature, but melts rapidly around body temperature. This is why cocoa butter - the fat of the cacao bean - is so critical to chocolate. It has nearly perfect melting behavior to make up the fat portion of carob coating.
The greatest downsides are the high cost of cocoa butter and the fact that it must be tempered. You can read about tempering elsewhere - it is a somewhat elaborate process, without it, your coating won't have the right 'snap' texture, will lack the proper glossiness, and will likely 'bloom' over time.
Most commonly, lauric fats are used to produce carob coating, due to lower cost and greater supply. These are typically palm or palm kernel oil, special grades designed for coating applications. The best grades of coating fats have an excellent 'snap' and are not waxy and have a texture that is extremely good, yet cost half as much as cocoa butter, or even less, depending on the grade/quantity.
Lauric fats do not require tempering. They perform best when rapidly cooled, like freezing. Lauric fats cannot be mixed with cocoa butter, as they will bloom and create all sorts of visual / textural problems. Low cost, lack of need for tempering, and even performing better when rapidly chilled make lauric fats vastly preferable for coating manufacturing.
Occasionally, partially hydrogenated oils are also used as the fat portion of a coating. However, they contain high levels of trans-fats, which are hazardous to health, so they are being used less often these days.
If you produce your own carob powder, you could play with different roasting techniques, to alter the flavor. Do make sure that the end result is very, very dry. Any water or even excessive moisture will cause endless problems.
From the perspective of 'art and science of homemade chocolate' I see very little reason why you'd want to make carob coating. It is regarded as inferior to chocolate. The primary reason carob coating was developed in the first place was as a cheap substitute to chocolate. Carob costs less than cacao, and inexpensive lauric or partially hydrogenated fats can be used in place of cocoa butter, making the product cost perhaps half that of real chocolate.
If you are allergic or sensitive to the components of chocolate (particularly caffeine/theobromine), you might appreciate carob coating. However, as I previously mentioned, it's not really something you could pass off as chocolate. Brown, chocolate-like in appearance and texture, yes, but that's about it.
From a nutritional perspective, there's really no benefit to carob coating over chocolate. The cacao in chocolate is a rich source of anti-oxidants, while I am skeptical carob has anywhere near that level of anti-oxidants. The sugar, fat and caloric content of carob coating and chocolate are virtually identical.
All that said, I'm sure making a carob coating could be an interesting exercise, particularly if you controlled the roasting. However, it simply isn't comparable to chocolate, and it has historically - and not without good cause - been considered inferior to chocolate.
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Post by colin on Jul 3, 2007 4:32:36 GMT -5
Thankyou for your detailed reply. I totally agree that carob is no substitute for chocolate. The reason I have taken an interest in carob is partly because I recently had a bumper crop of it and would like to make use of it in some way, and also the potential for exploring carob/chocolate combinations. The information you gave about the different oils is exactly what I needed, thankyou. Yesterday I made my first batch of homemade chocolate, using the instructions on this website as a guide. I was suprised that it was so sucessful, I was expecting a total failure since I have none of the recomended equipment for chocolate making. I removed the husks of the cocoa beans by hand ( a very slow process, but enjoyable with a homebrew beer in hand) and grinded the nibs with a bar mix. The chocolate I produced is really good, my only problem was that the sugar was very gritty so next time I will refine it more before adding it to chocolate. I encourage anyone interested in making chocolate at home just to give it a go, even if you don't have all of the fancy tools because it is good fun and highly addictive. I cant stop thinking about different things to try in my next batch! I am thinking about using the natural sugar in carob (extracted by boiling carob pods) as the sugar I add to the chocolate. This sugar or 'carob syrup' has an intense carob flavour and I think it may make a really nice carob/chocolate combination. Hopefully after some initial experiments I may come up with a good recipe to add to this website. Colin.
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Post by sugaralchemy on Jul 5, 2007 14:41:48 GMT -5
Colin:
Do not add anything wet or fluid from water to your chocolate. It will cause no end of problems. Chocolate and coatings rely on being a mixture of fat and dry particles. Any water will screw things up immensely. Shelf life, texture, etc. all go down the tubes.
Furthermore, if you use lauric fats, you may develop a soapy taste in addition to a screwed up texture.
It is nearly impossible to create an acceptably fine texture without proper refining equipment.
Personally, I'd be horrified to see a chocolate/carob mixture... but to each his own!
Good luck!
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Post by colin on Jul 8, 2007 4:10:37 GMT -5
You may be surprised about the carob-chocolate combo. Near to where I live (in Melbourne, Australia) there is a great place that makes gourmet hot chocolate drinks with all sorts of unusual ingredients such as spices (chilli,cinnamon and cardomom for example), and carob. These combinations totally blow my mind. I am determined that that it is possible to create a similar experience with solid chocolate.
I am beginning to realise that there would be great benefits to having some decent equipment for my chocolate making however this is something to think about in the future, as I right now I am totally broke! However, I have had good feedback from all who have tried my low budget homemade chocolate so I am keen to continue experimenting without the hi-tech equipment. In the meantime I am having plenty of fun anyway, so thats the main thing.
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