• The favorite dessert of children, the gift of lovers, the queen of raw materials and confectionary preparations... there can be no doubt that chocolate is one of the most adored sweets. From one end of the Earth to the other, most people who are in front of a chocolate product smile with pleasure.
Chocolate, through careful processing, can take the most diverse forms: tablets, candies, cake creams, decorations or figurines. And when a skilled chocolatier or confectioner enters the equation, true works of culinary art can be obtained with this.
Chocolate Market
At the end of the century In the XNUMXth century, the first artisans of chocolate products appeared. Over time, most of the companies created by them have developed and are now famous all over the world.
At the beginning of the century XX, the phenomenon of industrial chocolate processing exploded. In parallel with this, the products made by artisan chocolatiers or confectioners continued to enjoy success on the market.
Craft production has been constantly developing, on the one hand, from the desire of small producers to diversify their range of products and, on the other hand, to attract their consumers with their non-standard products, which only the imagination and hands of an artisan can can create. It is well known that Chocolate it is one of the raw materials that offers the most creative possibilities.
Although in many countries there is a rich tradition in chocolate processing, we must admit that in our country this field is still in its infancy. And it is understandable if we think that the lack of quality raw materials and the standardization of products during the communist dictatorship interrupted, for a long time, not only the development of artisanal production, but also the preservation and modernization of work techniques.
Moreover, much of the information so necessary to the chocolate sector has been lost. This explains the fact that, at present, the process by which chocolate is obtained and, in particular, that of the correct processing of chocolate are not well known. Thus, when it comes to chocolate and working with it, there is, quite often, confusion among confectionary operators.
Before talking about working with chocolate, we need to know and know how to recognize real chocolate, which is very often confused with various types of substitutes on the market.
What is Chocolate
We won't go into details about the process of getting from the cocoa bean to chocolate. But first, we need to understand what real chocolate is!
Real chocolate contains the following ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter and, depending on the variety, milk powder or hazelnuts. It may also contain vanilla, to enhance the flavor, as well as an addition of soy lecithin (0,3%), for emulsification and stabilization.
It is important to know that the value of a chocolate is given by the content of natural ingredients existing in the cocoa fruit, especially the content of cocoa butter, a very expensive product, which clearly differentiates a quality chocolate from a cheap one, the latter being addressed to unauthorized consumers.
Regardless of its type (black, white, milk...), Chocolate contains Cocoa Butter!
Cocoa butter is a 100% natural product, obtained by cold pressing cocoa beans. It has special properties, having a high content of antioxidants. For this reason, when its properties are analyzed, it is very often compared to olive oil.
Beyond its multiple health benefits for the human body, the presence of cocoa butter in chocolate obliges all those who work with this raw material to know and correctly perform the tempering method.
Without knowing and understanding the action of cocoa butter upon cooling (crystallization), and the methods of working with it, the use of chocolate will not give optimal results, and may even lead to failure.
To make pralines, tablets, bars, decorations, figurines... the chocolate must be properly tempered before use!
What is Chocolate Surrogate
The Chocolate Surrogate was created as a copy of chocolate, from the desire of manufacturers to offer a similar product or even a substitute for chocolate on the market, at a much lower price.
The chocolate substitute does not contain Cocoa Butter!
The Chocolate substitute contains Vegetable Fats, for this reason it does not require tempering!
The surrogate is melted and used as such!
Surrogate versus Chocolate
A common confusion in confectionery laboratories in our country is that of considering the surrogate as chocolate.
Thus, many manufacturers call and consider to be Chocolate, a surrogate, which, most often, they purchase at a much lower price and use it with the aim of covering products or even making various decorations or other types with it of specific chocolate products.
I have come across many cases where confectionary manufacturers even used tempering machines, thinking that they would improve the quality of the purchased chocolate product, in reality nothing more than a surrogate. Often, many of them do not understand, for example, why they cannot extract from the molds the products formed with such a raw material that they consider to be chocolate. In other words, they have much higher expectations from a raw material that has its limits and must be treated totally differently from real chocolate. Moreover, it is clear that the taste of the substitute will not be identical to that of chocolate either.
Chocolate, the noble ingredient
For producers inclined to top products, chocolate remains the only valid option, the use of this ingredient being easy to notice in the taste of the finished products.
Chocolate it is the ingredient that allows pastry chefs to create true works of sweet art, being associated with quality products. It is well known that most famous cakes either contain or are covered with a layer of chocolate or are artistically decorated with chocolate decorations.
However, to be able to work with chocolate and to highlight its extraordinary qualities, knowledge and skill are needed, and today, more than ever, the right equipment. They help operators in working with chocolate, a raw material as valuable as it is demanding.
The use of real chocolate also requires informing the end customers. They frequently consume products made of or with chocolate without knowing the value of this 100% natural raw material. Few people know that chocolate does not contain hydrogenated vegetable fats!
Chocolate it is, therefore, a noble ingredient, which is chosen by producers and consumers who wish to offer, respectively, purchase quality products.
The range of professional machines for melting chocolate, indispensable in working with it.
The range includes analog and digital machines for melting and preserving chocolate at the desired temperature.
These do not temper the chocolate!
With these machines you work easily, cleanly and with maximum safety in terms of chocolate temperature control, in various work phases!
You can find the chocolate melting machines in the online store
www.cofetarulistet.ro
Article written by Gabriela Poteraș, Nova Pan Deputy Director
find HERE chocolate tempering equipment, different capacities
Read the second part of this article 👉 click "Chocolate Processing (2)".
