chocolate education
How to Temper Chocolate (Step 1 – Melt It)
September 14, 2009
The first step in tempering chocolate is melting the chocolate... Properly!
You might be thinking, what's the big deal about melting chocolate?
Chocolate is a low melting point food. It melts just below human body temperature. While this low melting point means it’s easy to melt in the mouth, it also means it’s easy to burn when direct heat is used. Overheating chocolate will cause it to burn. Burnt chocolate is irreversibly damaged and cannot be used.
In addition to burning, another potential problem when melting chocolate is "seizing". This can happen if you use an indirect heating method like a hot water and a double boiler. Small amounts of water will cause the chocolate to “seize” or become hard and crumbly. Seized chocolate is irreversibly damaged and cannot be used.
The Importance of Tempering Chocolate
August 31, 2009
I admit my mind works differently than that of other chocolate lovers. I am a scientist first, I guess, then a chocolate lover.
One day I was attending a local street festival and happened upon a vendor selling “Fresh Pineapple – Chocolate Covered!” Most people’s first reaction might be, “Yum!” but mine was more like, “Well, this is interesting. It is either a chocolate disaster in the making (there’s too much moisture in most fresh fruit to support a tempered chocolate) or a major discovery!”
Calories vs. Flavor
May 31, 2009
Cruising around the internet looking for interesting news I ran into a headline of an article written by etiquette expert Jodi R.R. Smith. It read, "Diet no excuse for spitting out chewed chocolate."
Yikes! Who would spit out chocolate? I read on to discover that upon taking a piece of chocolate into her mouth, the woman in question chewed once and then spit out the chocolate into her napkin, apparently deciding in that moment that the chocolate, if fully consumed, would not be worth the calories.
Jodi, the Mannersmith, went on to explain, "For treats and sweets, you should taste them first and decide if they are worthy..." Then if they pass your taste test, go ahead and eat it, but if they do not, you can kindly refuse and not gross anyone out!
Read more
Basic Chocolate Tasting
May 28, 2009
Today we're going to quickly explore a method for tasting chocolate. I'd like you to have two chocolate bars ready. These should both be milk chocolate bars or both dark chocolate bars. You can pick different brands or pick the same brand with different percentages of chocolate content. We want to make sure you'll taste sufficient differences.
Now that you have your chocolate ready, you'll need to pick an appropriate time and place to do the tasting. Well, I'm not really sure there's a bad time or place to eat chocolate, but some times and places are better than others to experience the best results.
Read more