what cacao butter should/should NOT look like ...

can those experts who KNOW their cacao butter explain what this cacao butter looks like ... why it looks like this > how it may have been proccessed properly or not? i have posted the pics of thebutter whole / chopped and bag it comes in ( along with what the bag looks like after taking the butter out) for hopes of understanding why it looks this way.

i have received butter from other sources that look solid white/smooth with shine and this is definitely not looking that way ... does it mean something is not right or???

mahalo in advance for the guidance!

updated by @deedee-devi: 04/15/15 11:54:34PM

As far as I can tell, the first and third photos look like normal alkalized cocoa butter. Not all cocoa butter will arrive "in temper". In fact none of the cocoa butter I use arrives "in temper". This means that it will often exhibit ALL of the characteristics of improperly tempered chocolate. After all, improperly tempered chocolate is exactly that - cocoa butter which hasn't crystalized properly - just like what you received in the bags.The cocoa butter in the second photo (#80), I'm not sure about, but looks to me as if it's natural pressed, non alkalized and non deodorized cocoa butter - which is why it still has a darker tinge to the color. Again, it's probably not tempered.Without tasting or smelling it, all I can really tell you is that it looks pretty normal.Hope that helps.Brad

mahalo brad ... love love love

cacao butter is extracted by pressing the cacao mass/liquor/paste. Either in an expeller press or hydraulic press to 'squeeze' the vegetable oil (cacao butter) from the cacao bean.Once it comes out it can either be deodorized or non-deoderized.deodorized butters are made by passing the oil through filters to remove all remnant particles of cacao solids and are used for cosmetics,pharmeceuticals and other industrial uses where white and flavor less cacao butter is needed.non-deoderized is just that, expressed butter which still has trace cacao solids, leaving slight smell and flavor of the bean varietal.we receive our non-deodorized in 44kg blocks. they are poured in a chilled room to set and hardened. In the summer the blocks and melt down in the heat of the container and harden up again. cacao butter is the one of the most stable vegetable fats and the metling and remelting does not affect the flavor as long as the the burn point is not reached.The big issue you mention is the smoothless/shineless issue with you butter.your butter looks like it was remelted and poured into a mold and as brad mentioned is most likely not tempered. hence the blooming on the outsides and the brittle nature of the shards you broke off. this does not affect taste as long as melting was done properly and once you remelt and temper should be fine.My tip is when buying cacao butter make sure you know what you are getting so as not to be surprised.non-deoderized may have light brown streaks, smokey or chocolatey smell.deodorized should be white and flavor less