High Quality Chocolate

Chocolate is made from cocoa pods, Theobroma cacao grown on a small evergreen native to tropical regions of South America. It was so popular it was called? God? S Food? The secret to the best chocolate quality is its quantity of cocoa (a mixture of cocoa paste and cocoa butter).

The cocoa bean develops its flavor during the fermentation and gives the beans their familiar chocolate taste . The fruit pulp containing cocoa beans is poured into a fermentation tank or enclosed in banana leaves. Fermentation begins at 100 -120 ° F.

After harvesting the cocoa pods (which contain the cocoa beans) pods are crushed and left to ferment and dry for about six days. Then the beans are removed from the pods and left to dry further. quality chocolate requires slow drying process.

Some chocolate makers prefer to buy beans, others opt for the chocolate mass. The grains are heated to 70 ° C and pressed to extract cocoa butter (48-51 percent), which is specified, becoming yellow and clear. At this stage, lecithin is added to make the plastic mass.

After blending, the cocoa beans are roasted. It is the process of roasting cocoa beans that highlights the flavor and aroma of chocolate (I can tell you from personal experience that this process also produces one of the finest flavors never felt my nose) .

Next cocoa beans are shelled, and the pieces of seeds (called feathers) are then ground until a chocolate liquor is produced. extra cocoa butter is then added (when producing cocoa and chocolate soft soil, it is deleted). it extra cocoa butter increases the fineness of the chocolate, and is largely responsible for its flavor.

First, you will discover the differences in different colors such as chocolate beans produce finished with different colors, rich reds and copper to dark brown. This is not a sign of quality and a common myth that chocolate is somehow better chocolate is certainly not the case.

A premium quality 62% cocoa is designed from the finest cocoa beans from Ghana to produce a bittersweet chocolate medium term. The main suppliers are African countries, although the best cocoa beans (Criollo) are from Ecuador. Forastero beans are flat and mainly used for beverages, chocolate, purple Amelonado is bitter and superior taste.

A little chocolate is best to eat, and some for cooking. Some types, such as couverture chocolate, can be used for cooking, eating candy coating. This is generally regarded as high quality chocolate, and it has a high percentage of cocoa butter, which makes it smooth and easy tempered.

flavanol antioxidants naturally present in foods made from plants such as tea, grapes, blueberries, cranberries and cocoa beans. Cocoa beans are the basic ingredient of all chocolate products. Interestingly, it is one of the most concentrated sources of natural flavanols.

Semisweet or bittersweet - Here, the chocolate liquor was combined with the sweetener of cocoa butter, vanilla and often. This is often known as dark chocolate and chocolate liquor contains at least 35% (or "cocoa"). Most good quality chocolate has about 50-60%.

Coverage is a special type of chocolate. Couverture Chocolate is cocoa butter than regular chocolate more, anywhere from 34% to 39% for a really good brand. This type of high quality chocolate is used as a coating for things like chocolate truffles.

Strictly speaking, chocolate is a 100% cocoa solid and / or cocoa fat. Because it is used i.