Confessions of a Chocaholic

World Chocolate Production

Fermantation 4 to 7 days fermentation of the pectinaceous Yeasts, lactic-acid, and acetic-acid bacteria grow during which high temperatures of up to 50 degrees C and microbial products, such as ethanol, lactic acid, and acetic acid are produced This combination of temperature and acid kill the beans and cause production of flavor precursors.

Three +1 Families of Cocoa Beans Criollo Forastero Trinitario Arriba/Nacional

Criollo Considered the finest cocoa from which the best chocolate is manufactured 1% of the world production From Central America and Mexico Fragile and delicate Acidic, aromatic, lightly bitter

Forastero Widely grown 80% of world production Mostly grown in Africa Very resistent Strong flavor and aroma, very bitter

Trinitario Hybrid of Forastero and Criollo 15% of world production Grown in Trinidad Hearty, withstand infestations well Excellent flavor, mildly bitter

Arriba/Nacional Another excellent variety of cocoa 4% of world production Full smooth cocoa flavor with additional floral, nutty notes

To Make Chocolate Drying Cleaning Roasting Shelling Manufacturing of cocoa mass

Cocoa Mass/Chocolate Liquor Cocoa Bean 50-55% Cocoa Butter 45-50% Cocoa Solids Grind and refine = Cocoa mass

Cocoa Powder can have as much as 25% cocoa butter

Tempering Chocolate  Lipid structure  Crystallization  Polymorphism

Phase Transitions The transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another at the molecular level Phase transition of cheese Phase transition of water Phase transition of chocolate

Cocoa butter Cocoa butter is largely triglycerides There are several stable crystal polymorphs Good chocolate can only be made from the stable crystals

Fatty Acids in cocoa butter Stearic Acid 34% Oleic Acid 35% Palmitic Acid 26% Plus about 5 others

Triglycerides take on a tuning fork configuration

Polymorphism. Molecular packing can vary by angle, and by stacking

As the oil cools the fat molecules slow down Eventually try to “stop” in contact with another molecule (crystal lattice) It takes time to get into optimal position (most dense) Pre-existing nuclei can help form a template

Chocolate in the liquid state

Chocolate cooling and the formation different nuclei (crystal formation)

Continued homogenous nucleation. Random crystal growth

Rapid cooling leads to less well ordered structure This is an example of homogeneous nucleation

By raising the temperature, unwanted crystals are melted out

Heterogeneous nucleation

It takes more time for the beta 5 crystals to nucleate than the lower form crystals

Chocolate in Temper

Key Facts Desirable forms have a high melting point The higher melting point, the more stable More stable fats are more dense More stable forms are slow to form Like crystals will grow from like Cocoa butter can convert from a less to more stable form

Couverture Determined by composition Couvertures is at least 32% cocoa butter This means the cocoa mass has at least 32% cocoa butter A couverture labeled 60% means 60% cocoa mass and 40% sugar. There is no specificity for cocoa butter Additionally, vanilla and, maybe lecithin

Types of Couverture White Chocolate: No Cocoa Solids with a miniumum 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids,3.5%milk fat, and 55% sugar  Not really chocolate Milk Chocolate:30% to 50% cocoa mass, 20%milk solids, 40%sugar, sometime additional cocoa butter

Types of Couverture Semisweet Chocolate, AKA Chocolate: cocoa mass of more than 50%, and the balance in sugar Bittersweet, Extra Dark, etc.: these chocolates will specify the cocoa mass %. The manufactures will not disclose the exact percentage of cocoa butter

Solid Fat Content at temperature 20°C30°C35°C40°C Butter 43%5%0% Pork Fat 28%9%5% Cocoa Butter 75%33%0% Hydrogenated palm Oil85%62%48%30%

Compound Chocolate Sometimes called summer coating, confectionary coating, coating chocolate. Chocolate that has its cocoa butter replaced with other vegetable fats Some chocolate producers go to great lengths to use a modified vegetable fat that mimics cocoa butters mouth feel. Also some will leave some cocoa butter in the chocolate as well

Compound Chocolate  And my personal favorite name for this kind of coating:  Mockolate

Cocoa Butter, crystallization, tempering and bloom PPT Globalhasin.blogspot.com etawau.com herbmuseum.ca corbisimages.com milbanio.com Berry-callebaut.com Tootoo.com Department of Biology, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, Brazil. Wikipedia