Forum Activity for @Sebastian

Unsweetened (or stevia sweetened) milk chocolate?

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

I'm assuming you're diabetic, if you're managing your blood sugar levels, so you probably already know taht milk sugar will have lactose in it. If you remove sucrose from the formulation, you're going to have left a physical void that needs to be filled with something - most industrial producers fill sugar void with a sugar alcohol (maltitol, for example), and replace the milk with a milk protein (sodium caseinate, for example). You'll need to give some thought as to what you will replace your milk and sugars with, depending on your specific situation.There is not anyone making this on a large scale commercial scale as far as i know, but i've not looked recently. The folks over at chocolate alchemy can help you try your hand at making a batch at home, but it will require about a 500 dollar investment to get you rolling.Stevia is essentially a protein from an African plant. it's actually 2 proteins - there's a A fraction and a B fraction. Commercially, it's become available in the last year via a fermentation process that enzymatically produces one of these fractions. it results in a powder that's approximately 600x sweeter than sucrose. from your store, you can buy it already preblended with a carrier, or a bulking agent - such as maltodextrin, that roughly makes a teaspoon of it about as sweet as a teaspoon of sugar. you can try to use that as a guide to dial in a sweetness level you are interested in, but maltodextrins will impart a certain textural impact.

refining

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Well, this was not a typical priest 8-)

Dubai's just too hot for me. Dune bashing's a lot of fun though 8-)

refining

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Buehler makes a mighty fine series of 5 roll refiners. You may want to get a smaller pre-refiner (3 roll) to use in conjunction with the 5 roll.

I'd love for money not to be an issue 8-)

Lebanon eh - i used to go hiking in the mountains there with a massive bear of a priest named Vartok. Beautiful place.

refining

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

What's the best color car, red or blue? Depends on what you value. There are lots of ways to particle size reduce. For me, the best one is a million dollar buehler refiner or an air classified mill. That's not going to be the best for most of you because of the infrastructure, volume, and cost requirements.

if you're a little guy making 10 lbs a day, a stone roller mill is probably your best bet, or a small lehman or day pilot refiner.

Coloring white chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

lots of places carry them. I like the folks at www.chefrubber.com personally.

Coloring white chocolate

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Oil based lakes will work best. Add it any time the chocolate is melted, mix thoroughly 8-) before tempering is easiest.

Can you store finished chocolates in a "cooling cabinet"?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

They both will discharge hot air, yes..

Can you store finished chocolates in a "cooling cabinet"?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

It's hard to say w/o knowing more specifics, but generally speaking, the more moisture and fresh ingredients you have in your pieces, the lower the shelf life (ie, creme based truffles will have less staying power than a solid chocolate). The cooler you make your storage environment, the longer both will last. If you're ambient temperature is in the high 60's, that's sufficient for most products, but again, it's hard to be specific w/o specifics.The best RH is less than 50%. A dehumidifier can work, but i'd suggest using air conditioners to get there. Yes, a vent for your hot air is preferred, otherwise it simply puts the hot air back into your ambient conditions, which isn't what you want.Any refridgerator can be converted to a storage unit. Colder temps mean longer lasting shelf life, but also a higher propensity for condensation (ie, require your ambient environment to be lower in RH).

Can you store finished chocolates in a "cooling cabinet"?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Yes. Three possible concerns:1) when you remove your chocolates from the cold environment, you may get some condensation on them, depending on the relative humidity of the warmer room. Keep your RH as low as possible.2) Your cabinet will generate heat as it's running - make sure you've got an appropriate outlet for that heat, lest it warm your room too much.3) Because it's a small, enclosed environment, if you are storing multiple types of pieces that are strongly flavored, the flavors may all blend together. Package them individually and seal them tightly if this is the case.I assume you want to do this for shelf life extension, not for concerns that your shop it too warm to store them outside the cabinet?

Van Leer Chocolate

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Your best bet, given your location and the quantities i'm guessing you'd be looking at, would be to contact the folks at Qzina. There's a Florida office. Qzina.com will give you all the contact info you need.

Getting the temper right with my Selmi?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Thermocouples fail all the time - with chocolate, success (technical) is alla bout time / temperatures. I'd absolutely be checking the temperature. However, since you're getting good moulded results, i don't think that's your problem. It's shiny on the mould surface because of the mould surface. You're environmental temps are ok, but not great, for cooling - cooler would be better. My suspicion is that your enrobed pieces are sort of matte-looking, but not bloomed? If you cool a bit more quickly that might help with the appearance, but a matte-ish look for an enrobed piece isn't entirely all that unusual. You can try to put a piece of acetate on top of the enrobed pieces as the exit the enrober, which will give them a huge amount of gloss. Of course, I may have it all wrong as well - it's tough to trouble shoot remotely 8-) pictures always help too.The other piece that affects appearance is your centers - their composition and temperature as they process through the enrober are important.

Getting the temper right with my Selmi?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Share more about your temperature of the chocolate at time of use (ie through the enrober), your cooling conditions, your enrobing center conditions, and your ambient conditions please

Fresh cacao pods hooray, but what to do?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

They will have started to degrade the moment they were cut from the tree. W/in 24 hours there will be noticeable flavor changes, if not refrigerated or frozen. The longer you wait, the less representative they will be.On a bigger note, exporting of raw agricultural products can be a very touchy subject. Up until now, the diseases in cocoa have been largely geographical and mitigated by physical barriers - ie big oceans in between them. There's a HUGE risk to geographical protection of cocoa if people start moving raw pods around the world. Witches broom in Brazil was likely caused by intentional sabotage in this fashion. CPB in Indonesia, if exported, will wreak havoc in other geographies. Black pod, if exported from Africa, will do the same. I hope your friend is taking the appropriate cautions when transporting and disposing these.

"Trouble in Candyland" - Cocao bean price fixing underway?

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

I can't view the video through our corporate firewall, but if the story is in relation to the EU hedge fund buying up stocks of physical inventory, it could be a big deal. He's done it a few times before, with mixed success (on his part). The issue is that EU buys to a different grade than does the US, and hoarding beans in an environment where quality is already on the decline is going to result in bean buyers likely being willing to pay more for alternate origins in an attempt to secure the appropriate quality, and they'll address flavor via a number of techniques that i'm not going to go into. He's using a sophisticated (for a hedge manager) combination of crop forecasting, demand projections, regional socio-economic modelling, and political/legislative monitoring to come to the conclusion that the timing is to his advantage to do this.It's a gamble on his part, no doubt, but based on some decent assumptions. He doesn't have the depth of insight that, well, others embedded in the industry might have, but that doesn't mean his data is flawed. The down side of him having an up side, is that for bean users, it'll likely result in a significant increase in bean, butter, and powder prices across the boards for many origins.

About to give up!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

There are many ways to temper chocolate. All of them depend on getting the right type of cocoa butter crystal to form. Heres just a very brief overview of two you're likely using:1) Seeding - it's the addition of properly tempered chocolate or cocoa butter (containing the right type of cocoa butter crystal already) to your untempered mass (wrong types of crystals, or none at all). Two things are critical for this to work - 1) the starting seed chocolate/ccb MUST be in temper 2) the temperature of your liquid chocolate AFTER the seed has been added and melted MUST be between 87-92F (varies by type of chocolate).2) Tempering - this is the process of FORMING the right type of crystal, not adding it. You need to melt your chocolate to 115 F (or so) to 'erase' any 'memory' (melt all the crystals out, the good and the bad). Then you drop your temperature to about 80F (mas o menos - it varies by type of chocolate), while agitating it (the bowl is rotating). This forms 4 different types of crystals - some the ones you want, some ones you don't want. To get rid of the ones you don't want, after you've reached your ~80F temperature, you raise your temperature to ~87-92F. This melts out the 'bad' ones while retaining the 'good' crystals. If you go over 92F, you need to start over as you've likely melted all your good ones.As someone noted, if your room temperature is too hot, it doesn't matter if you achieve temper in your unit, an the room temp will simply destroy it again. Tempering's actually very simple once you get it down, but there are a ton of little factors that can impact it.

About to give up!

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

call guittard, ask for thalia, give her your lot number and describe what you're doing, and she'll walk you through it in more detail 8-)

jet black cocoa seed extract

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

The seed is the same as the bean. I've catalogued a little over 600 different varieties of theobroma cacao genetically - others may have different #'s depending on what they've done. There are companies making cocoa powder out of the 'whole pod' (including the husk), but i'd steer clear of them, as that's where the abundance of pesticides and mycotoxins are going to be present. Plus they don't taste very good 8-)

jet black cocoa seed extract

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

jet black is a name of an industrial manufacturer's black cocoa powder... is that what you're referring to?

long shelf life fillings

Posted in: Recipes

It will always be hard, and over time it will harden further. If it's a meltaway type center you're after, cocoa butter alone isn't going to do it for you (unless you fractionate, then MAYBE, but you'd only get about a 2% soft fraction that *might* work, so it'd be hugely expensive)

long shelf life fillings

Posted in: Recipes

Assuming you're looking for a soft center type material, you're only real option is to use oils of some sort instead of cream (milk fat or a liquid at room temperature type oil). The less saturated the oil is, however, the faster it will oxidize. Start by adding 20% or so of the soft fat/oil to your chocolate base to see if that gives you the texture/depositability you're after, and adjust accordingly...

Mold decorating with colored cocoa butter

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Could be lots of things, from improper temper to dirty moulds to improper cooling.Some use a precoat of clear cocoa butter to boost the shine - it can work very very well. I'll often do it myself before layering color. Others simply start with the color, which can work well too. Some believe that if you start with solid cocoa butter and very gently melt it such that it's a finished temp of about 90F, the act of rubbing it into the mould with your finger may precipitate some xtallization - i'm not sure - perhaps it does. They key is to start with a room temp mould (oh, 70F or so) and not overheat your cocoa butter, and then properly cool it. Keep your RH at no more than 60% as well, as that can cause some sticking. Buffing your moulds with a cotton ball before you mould often helps as well.

Cocoa Helpers

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

They're probably doing the same thing you are - enjoying the tree 8-)

Cocoa Helpers

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Well, they're an integral part of the ecosystem at large, so in that sense, certainly. Most of what you mention, however, doesn't directly fertilize the pads, if that's what you're asking...

What relationship do high quality, non-artisanal chocolate makers have with the cacao farmers/plantations?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Samantha - I've been reading here for quite a while, but only recently participating. Hats off to all of you who are doing something, i certainly wasn't implying that you weren't, and apologize if that's how it came across.

What relationship do high quality, non-artisanal chocolate makers have with the cacao farmers/plantations?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Clay - I'd agree with you that of all the certification protocols out there, FairTrade is the least attractive to the farmer. It work on the premise that they'll guarantee a minimum pricing floor ($1600/ton) plus a premium of $150/ton over whatever the base rate is. That figure is not seasonally/annually adjusted at this time. They'll only work to certify co-ops, so no work is done with individual farmers, and if you think of focal areas that certification agencies operate around, you can categorize them in 3 basic groups - productivity, environmental, and social. Of any certification protocol, FT focuses the least on productivity, and has a very, very high emphasis on democtratic decision making - the co-op as a whole determines what to do with the premiums they recieve, and payment is made directly to the co-op. The issues I have around that are no focus on productivity/quality improvement, inability to work with individual farmers, and no support given around how to invest the monies should that be desired.UTZ as you mention is another program that is largely industry organized - not just Cargill, but many companies helped found this. On the above spectrum, it focuses heavily on productivity and quality improvements, with the notion that if you produce more of a higher quality, the economics will follow. One required component of this program is that higher yielding/disease resistant stock must be made available to the farmers to graft. If you sum the total of unsellable cocoa produced annually from all regions due to pest and disease damage, it's approaching a staggering 3 million tonnes (!). If you add into that amount the losses due to poor soil nutrition, it's almost another 2 million tonnes. That's 3x the total annual output of west africa as a whole, and west african produces approximately 70% of the total cocoa crop. Staggering losses at the farm level. Of course there are requirements around social labor practices, education, health care etc as well, but i'd put the primary focus at productivity. Child labor, as you mention, is a much more complicated topic that is not well understood by most, and an emotionally charged topic for all. Most journalism charging child labor are not really accurate, and highlight other issues. Cocoa farms are, by and large, family businesses. Much like the farm i grew up on, i had duties that i was assigned growing up. The difference is that i did them before/after school. In many origin countries, schools may not exist - or if they do, teachers may not exist. They are also payment based systems in many countries, so if by chance the school and the teacher do exist, if you don't have the money to pay for it, it doesn't much matter - you still can't send your child. Making eductional opportunities available and affordable is the primary driver to rectifying this. These situations represent almost the entirety of child labor reports. That's not to discount the fact that improper child labor does indeed exist - it's coming almost exclusively out of sub-sarahan africa - mainly burkina faso and mali - these are the poorest of the poor in our world, and it's not uncommon for families to sell their children as a support mechanism. Those children go into forced labor in a number of industries. Ghana has been particularly quick to rectify these types of situations when they're identified, but again, they're quite uncommon.Rainforest alliance is another certification protocol whos focus is between that of UTZ and Fairtrade. They don't have a guaranteed minimum like FT does, and operate more on the premise that if you have higher quality stock, and can exhibit improvements in environmental and social issues, there's a premium you can charge - as of today, that premium is approximately $200/ton - although it does fluctuate. They focus very little on soil fertilitity or improved cultivars, but do embrace improved agricultural practices to increase production.As you can see, there's no 'right' way. Issues are far more complex than I can address in a post on a forum, and i hesitate to even bring up the issue of labor above because of the potential for me to be misunderstood, knowing the difficulties in clearly articulating the reality and ensuring that readers in 1st world countries with vastly different cultures appreciate the scale and scope of the differences between 'here' and 'there'. Credibility in certification will be key in maintaining it's momentum, which will be key in providing incentives for farmers to continue to farm. Absent those incentives, they'll simply stop farming cocoa. On a recent cocoa trip, 100% of the farmers I spoke with said that they don't want this life for thier children. Clearly the status quo isn't working, and while certification isn't a short term solution, nor an easy one, I've very real examples of where it's making differences. If you as a farmer can increase your yield by 3 fold while simultaneously getting paid more, that's a life changing event for you. Undoubtedly there will be instances of noncompliance amongst certified locations - especially early on - and thats why each group has independant auditors evaluate certified operations annually or 2x/year. Finding nonconformances, however, should not stop the process as a whole from progressing, as doing so would simply force a reversion to the current situation, which is untenable. As nonconformances are identified, focus on rectifying them and improving the situation such that it doesn't occur again. Unfortunately, finding nonconformances has become somewhat of an obsession with some media. It allows them to tell an emotionally charged story, albiet one without all the details. A rising tide lifts all boats, and if we can restructure yield, education, labor, etc it will benefit all growers. Many people complain about current practices, very few people offer insight or effort as to how to fix it.Jim - thanks. I'm trying to understand your yield. If you're saying you get 45 tonnes of wet beans per year, and in a previous post you'd indicated your planted area to be 23 hectares, if i'm doing this right you're getting an annual yield of almost 2tonnes/ha. I'm trying to get a better fix on the economics of your situation. If you're getting 2 tons/ha, that's actually very, very good yield - one of the best i've come across...

What relationship do high quality, non-artisanal chocolate makers have with the cacao farmers/plantations?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Jim - what kind of yield are you getting of wet beans/ha? if that's 'business confidential', i'd understand.The typical supply chain of cocoa is very, very complicated. Far more so than most realize, and far more so than is necessary. Recently in CDI, one farmer told me he had no idea he was making so little, once i explained to him the system of middlemen (pisteurs and tretants) that he cocoa goes through. He doesn't even know that exists, and at each of these steps, there's money changing hands that the farmer doesn't see. Governmental taxes, land ownership requirements, extension programs - etc - are all very... fluid....in many cocoa producing countries. If you're in the tax man in a government that changing every year, you're probobly not focusing your efforts on long term sustainability and re-investment of collected taxes - you're probably going to pocket as much as you can as quickly as you can because you're 90% confident your government won't exist next year.Some countries are also very, very suspicious For example, i can easily triple the output of most farms by using pretty simple practices. The response of the government in some countries has been - 'why? you just want me to produce more so it floods the market and depresses the price we get'. And that's just one example.Clay, i'd like to better understand why you don't believe most certification programs are providing economic benefit to the farmer, and which programs you're referencing specifically. I'd quite vigorously challenge you on that front with regards to 3 certification programs that you're probably already familiar with, but would like to get your perspective as to why you say that. Are they the bulletproof solution to everyone's problems? Certainly not. But certainly better than the status quo for most producers, and directionally appropriate. Tell me more.

What relationship do high quality, non-artisanal chocolate makers have with the cacao farmers/plantations?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Companies will most certainly 'stake their claim' with various cacao growers and create long term contracts with them (Cluizel and Valrhona, for example, work closely with a certain operation in the Dominican Republic). I'm not going to disclose anything that's not publicly available. Some chocolate companies have gone the extra step of owning some of their own plantations as well to ensure supply chain security.Fair trade is more than just about fair prices. Sustainability efforts in general (Fairtrade, UTZ, Rainforest alliance, etc) are about many things - the specifics of each program differ slightly - Fairtrade for example, focuses very heavily on addressing environmental and social issues, while programs such as UTZ focuses more so on productivity. All have the end goal of improving the quality of life and ensuring there's a reason and ability to continue supply of cocoa in the future. The outlook for cocoa sustainability over the next 15 years is quite scary, in fact. From the quality of life perspective, income is low, political instability is often high, soil depletion is rampant - the children of farmer are increasingly not wanting to get into the 'family business'. Education, nutrition, and access to medical facilities are less than ideal. Labor issues persist. From a quality perspective, there are quite significant declines in quality that will continue over the next 10 years - disease and pests are growing. Lack of understanding in origin regarding proper supply chain logistics are a huge problem, resulting in some 3 million tons of raw cocoa each year being destroyed. that's huge. soil depletion, poor agronomy practices, low quality cultivars, etc all result is production yields that result in non-sustainable economic yields for the farmer. The UN Human Development Index ranks most cocoa growing countries in the bottom quartile - the UN UDI is a essentially a compilation many of the above factors. I've not calculated it exactly, but if i were to SWAG it, some 80% of cocoa is grown in countries where the UNHDI is in the bottom 5-10% of the world.So broadly, to your point, programs like fairtrade are about improving not only the economics to the grower, but much more. It's about giving them a reason to want to continue cocoa production, and for their families to want to do so. And about giving them the ability to do so. Medically. Agriculturally. Economically. Educationally. The issues are many, widespread, and significant. It needs to be addressed, and is not easy to do so.

Chocolate without Soy Products

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

From a purely technical perspective, commercial grade soy lecithin is so processed that it's devoid of soy protein, which is the component your friend would be allergic to. Sort of akin to eating french fries cooked in soy oil - there's no real risk of soy protein in RBO (refined, bleached oil). Lecithin is a highly purified extract, essentially, that is most commonly derived from soybeans. The extraction and purification process it goes through eliminates the allergen concern.However, I do understand the concern and can relate to wanting to stay as far away from anything with the word soy in it, if you've got that allergy 8-)

Chocolate Panning, process and equipment

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Centerchem is a great resource. Dave Jordan's your go-to guy with them.

Cacao Pods

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

Your friend told you wrong. You happened to get through, is all. My guess is half of you have travel have gotten by with getting cuban cigars into the US as well - same thing, except cuban cigars don't pose a potential threat to the agricultural foundation of the country. If customs catches you, you're going to be in for a very, very bad day.

The ONLY legal way to bring viable foreign plant material in is via the USDA permitting system previously described.

Edit:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/permits/plantproducts.shtml

any individual can get a permit. it doesn't cost anything. You'll need a level 2-USDA account, which you can also get. Karen Brady at USDA is very helpful to walk you through the process, but she's very difficult to get in person. Her contact info is on the USDA website, and most permit applications themselves.

From CBP (Customs and Boarder Patrol - enforcement):

Bringing Agricultural Products Into the United States
(02/29/2012)

General Guidelines | General List of Approved Products | Information Resources for Travelers

If youve had food, plants or souvenirs taken away by an inspector at an international airport, border crossing, or seaport, we want to be sure you understand why.

Certain items brought into the United States from foreign countries are restricted according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations. Prohibited agricultural items can harbor foreign animal and plant pests and diseases that could seriously damage Americas crops, livestock, pets, and the environment and a large sector of our countrys economy.

All travelers entering the United States are required to DECLARE any meats, fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds, animals, and plant and animal products (including soup or soup products) they may be carrying. The declaration must cover all items carried in checked baggage, carry-on luggage, or in a vehicle.

Upon examination of plants, animal products, and associated items, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at the ports of entry will determine if these items meet the entry requirements of the United States.

Even though an item may be listed as permitted from a particular country, it is always best to DECLARE the item by checking Yes on Question 11 of the CBP Declaration Form 6059B. Also declare if you have been on a farm or in close proximity of livestock, as an agriculture specialist may need to check your shoes or luggage for traces of soil that could harbor foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth.

Avoid Fines and Delays Prohibited items that are not declared by passengers are confiscated and disposed of by CBP agriculture specialists. But thats not all. Civil penalties may be assessed for violations and may range up to $1,000 for a first-time offense. Depending on whether the confiscated, undeclared items are intentionally concealed, or determined to be for commercial use, civil penalties may be assessed as high as $50,000 for individuals. The same fines apply to prohibited agricultural products sent through the international mail.

Fruits, Vegetables, and Plants Depending on the country of origin, some fruits, vegetables, and plants may be brought into the United States without advance permission, provided they are declared, inspected, and found free of pests. However, certain plants and ANY plant parts intended for growing (propagative) require a foreign phytosanitary certificate in advance. For information on certificates, contact the USDA/APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine Permit Unit at (301) 851-2046 or (877) 770-5990 . Also, check the Information Resources section at the end of this notice for details.

Cacao Pods

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

It's illegal to bring any foreign, live plant material into the US. Unless you have an APHIS permit (permission from the USDA). No tickee, no washee. No permit, it's illegal. With permit, it's completely legal.

Traveling to Dominican Republic and to source organic cacao. Can you help me?

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

I would urge you to NOT let one organization know you're going to talk with the other organizations there.

Who did you speak with at Rizek - Masimillano (Max)? Ask him about his DVD to get the 'non business' relationship growing 8-)

Traveling to Dominican Republic and to source organic cacao. Can you help me?

Posted in: Travels & Adventures

You could contact the Rizeks, the Roigs, or the Concanado co-op to start with. All have websites.

Fermenting Cacao Seeds: To Drain or Not to Drain?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Remember that oxygen is the fuel for your aerobic fermentations, so the more you turn your fermentations, the more fuel you put on that fire. LAB are aerobic buggers (or facultative aerobes in some cases), so the more O2 you feed them, the hotter, faster, and more acid they're going to generate. Had you done a fermentation for the exact same duration, but not turned it, or only turned it 1x, you'd find a very, very different flavor and chemical profile (for example, after your 4th turn, the heart healthy bits of your cocoa beans are going to be all but wiped out).

Fermenting Cacao Seeds: To Drain or Not to Drain?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

What's better, fermenting a zinfandel on the skins, or fermenting it off of them? Neither, it all depends on what type of wine you're making.

Same with cocoa. Depending on what type of chocolate you want, you tailor your fermentation. Think about what happens in fermentation. You're going to start by inverting the sugars and forming alcohol (ethanol to be precise). that ethanol is then further metabolized into organic acid (mostly acetic). if you don't allow those materials an out, your beans will soak in them and take on their characteristics, and allow them to affect other cellular chemistry.

If you do allow them an out, you can end up with a vastly different flavor profile.

Of course, there are a thousand additional variables you can manipulate to change the outcome as well. Net/Net - there's no one right way.

Deconstructing Cocoa Content

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Generally speaking, the more you do to it, the less you have. The higher and longer you roast, the longer you process, if you alkalize, all of these things will degrade flavanols.

Deconstructing Cocoa Content

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

In practice, because there's no legal definition of how to calculate % cocoa, different companies do it different ways. Some do it the way Clay mentions above (anything coming from a cocoa bean); other very large companies use only the liquor % as the figure they use for the % cocoa calculation.

The government does not get involved with this, doesn't define it, and hasn't shown an interest in it. The net/net take away is - you can determine almost nothing from a % cocoa number alone; you'll have to speak to the manufacturer to gain insight as to how they calculated it.

The other thing to consider - most folks assume a higher number is 'better' for you as the belief is it contains more flavanols. While this *may* be true in some instances, i can identify more instances where it's not. HOW you produce your liquor is far more important than how MUCH of it you have when it comes to flavanols.

Weird Flavors and Inclusions in Chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Al Nassma also makes chocolates with higher (up to 30 % if i recall) camels milk powder - i'd recommend trying it if you get the opportunity.

Weird Flavors and Inclusions in Chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Camel's milk chocolate can be very delicious. As with all milk chocolates, the final flavor depends as much on the other ingredients and the process as it does the source of milk - but if done right, it makes a beautiful product.

The strangest chocolate things i've ever had? Bacon grease enrobed in milk chocolate (a Georgian - the country, not the state) favorite), and chocolate covered squid.

Weird Flavors and Inclusions in Chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

1. Chocolate covered squid in asia

2. Bacon fat, solidified and enrobed in chocolate, in Georgia (the republic of, not the state)