sali
Neophyte
Posts: 2
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Post by sali on Nov 15, 2023 13:45:57 GMT -5
I have been dabbling in making chocolate and it tastes delicious but so far have struggled with making my chocolate melt in your mouth after your first bite. For example I made some pb cups and I really have to crunch to get a bite. Here is the ratio I have been using. Let me know your suggestions on what can make it better!
Cacao nibs- 45% Cacao butter-25% date sugar - 30%
I put the nibs with the butter in the melanger for 5 hours alone. Then I add the sugar for an additional 8 hours.
I temper my chocolate by heating it 115 F, cooling it to 84F, then reheating it to 89F.
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Post by Chip on Nov 16, 2023 8:45:58 GMT -5
saliI have found that my dark chocolate is always a bit more "snappy," or hard, than store bought. My milk chocolate is very melt-in-your-mouth. I believe it has to do with fat percentages, but I also feel it is the lack of artifical ingredients that causes this. We are dealing with just the raw products: cocao, butter and sugar. If you look at some of the store bought chocolates there are usually some additional ingredients. Caveat: I have never used date sugar, so I don't know the impact of that. Also, Ben will have a much more informed and educated take on this.
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Post by Ben on Nov 16, 2023 9:44:04 GMT -5
Yep, Chip's right. Dark chocolate is going to be harder/snappier than milk chocolate or a compound chocolate with a different fat added in. Also, your cocoa butter content seems pretty high--assuming the nibs are around 50% cocoa butter, your cocoa butter content is just under 50% of the whole chocolate. I'd increase the ratio of nibs to butter--maybe try 60% nibs & 10% cocoa butter.
You could also make a compound chocolate by adding a different fat. I make a compound chocolate for chocolate chips in a gelato by mixing a little refined coconut oil into my 70% dark chocolate. Refined coconut oil has been steamed which removes the coconut flavor. You could also use regular coconut oil if you're ok with a little coconut flavor. For this sort of thing, I'd probably start with 3% coconut oil or so and adjust from there.
I've also never used date sugar, so don't know how that would affect things. If it has a high moisture content, it could be causing problems.
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