<p>WuTang, you remind me of this guy:
[Wylie</a> Dufresne - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wylie_Dufresne]Wylie”>Wylie Dufresne - Wikipedia)
Have you ever considered changing your major to molecular gastronomy?</p>
<p>WuTang, you can buy coconut oil in health food stores and many supermarkets.</p>
<p>In the name of doG, please do not put crisco in your chocolates!!!</p>
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<p>Not from me I hope 
But if so I wouldn’t be surprised - so please don’t hold back, if I’ve said anything wrong, since I’m trying to learn all about this as well :)</p>
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<p>It says “bark coating chocolate” (perfect for candy making! it says) so I bought it, since it was at a good unit price. </p>
<p>What’s a good source of bulk chocolate? What places sell cocoa butter at non-premium prices? Cuz you know, I don’t intend to put it on my face so 10 dollars a pound is out of the question.</p>
<p>Well, cocoa butter is not the same thing as white chocolate. White chocolate should contain cocoa butter. All real chocolate, as opposed to summer coating, contains cocoa butter. Chocolate does not have to be kept under 100F to melt–I usually set my tempering machines to about 110F, and it can probably go 10 degrees higher. (Of course, discretion is the better part of valor and a digital thermometer is advisable!)</p>
<p>Say … what about coconut milk? Or is it too watery? I found this PERFECT brand of coconut milk … at $1.09 per 400 mL, yet being supercreamy. (The Asian market aunty also told me that all the restaurants that buy from her prefer this brand.) With old brand: one can coconut milk, 500 mL of uncooked rice, 650 mL water |–| rice cooker |–> good, delicious coconut rice. With this brand, the same formula ends up with supercreamy rice and excess coconut cream still left unabsorbed! Just discovered it two days ago so I haven’t found what formula or extra dilution proportions compensates for the extra creaminess yet.</p>
<p>Yay! Consolation is here! I was hoping that she can shed some light on the fact that not all “chocolate” is chocolate. :)</p>
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<p>That isn’t “real” chocolate. It is what is known as “summer coating.” It is formulated with cocoa and fats OTHER than cocoa butter in order to avoid the need for tempering. If you actually want to make truffles or molded candy and don’t want to temper, use it for the exterior. Don’t bother to try to make decent ganache with it. </p>
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<p>What do you mean by “bulk”? I don’t think you want to buy 44 lb cases, which is what I do. Probably your best bet is to go to a Trader Joe’s and see what kind of house brand couverture they have. (I know TJ’s has one.) Many “gourmet” stores sell Callebaut in fairly large chunks or blocks. Either of those alternatives should be under $10/lb.</p>
<p>Cocoa butter frequently costs about $18 per pound, so I’d forget that.</p>
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<p>LOL, not offered at my school, though I’m considering it as a side hobby should I ever take up a job at a chemical engineering / pharmaceutical firm or get my own lab area as a grad student. It’s so sad, there are no food science profs here (I don’t think) – except for possibly one I haven’t contacted yet. </p>
<p>I’m actually thinking of calling random food companies like Nestle or Coca-Cola to see if they have internships. I was told this Coca-Cola guy once gave a lecture at my school to a bunch of chem people on sweeteners and current research to improve them – and that I missed it! It’d still be pretty cool on a resume, even if I end up doing something like animal brain research or linguistics.</p>
<p>Is there a way to try to get a good homemade chocolate mixture going…? I was thinking of getting cocoa solids, cocoa butter and the other stuff separately and mixing it myself … cuz I figure when you buy the raw chocolate at the store you’re mostly paying for the oil, milk and sugar. Or is it too difficult? </p>
<p>(Oh hmm, the summer coating ingredients list was remarkably similar to the other ingredients lists on other chocolate packages … I guess actual proportions and not just merely order is important. =( )</p>
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<p>I’m a student without a car. And I’m also currently in C’ville hanging out with my sister and international students. So yeah, I don’t think there’s a bus that goes there =(</p>
<p>What about supermarket “chocolate chunks”? I actually thought in terms of melting, they would come out the same as chocolate chips that are melted, but I guess not. (Prolly why they were priced 30% higher.) </p>
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<p>Does that make them good for moulding…or? I mean, they won’t reform back into tiny chips once you’ve melted them into a sauce, right? Or are you saying they’re hard to melt? </p>
<p>Tempering chocolate, crystallisation, hotworking and work hardening, hmm… why didn’t they cover chocolate in my materials science textbook? ;)</p>
<p>Watch out, I’ll start talking about beta crystals. :D</p>
<p>No, you really can’t make your own chocolate.</p>
<p>What I’m saying about the chips is that they have less cocoa butter that chocolate that is formulated for enrobing and therefore aren’t as fluid once melted. They are great for cookies and as an addition to brownies.</p>
<p>If you have a supermarket at hand, I suggest that you see if they sell the chunks of Callebaut–some do, at this time of year–or buy some bars of Ghirardeli or Lindt Excellence or something like that. (Do not buy Hershey or Bakers.) Read the label. This is what you want to see: cacao liquor, sugar, cacao butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla; white and milk chocolates also contain dried whole and skim milk.</p>
<p>Consolation, I suggested the sour cream ganache because it will work fairly well with chocolate chips, better then the warm cream will. It doesn’t taste the same but it can be good. I also find that chocolate chips are all so different that it is really hard judge the amount of cream to add, so I tried to give him some basic guidelines.</p>
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<p>Should cacao liquor (== chocolate liquor, right?) come before sugar on the ingredients list?</p>
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<p>OMG, they better include a chocolate lab in my materials lab course next year or I’ll find some way to include it in my lab reports. If they’re having us work with expensive stainless steels and industrial metallic-alloy systems there’s no reason why they can’t include a chocolate eutectic system in there too. </p>
<p>Well prolly the complication is that chocolate is really heterogeneous and is like a 29-component system or something. Which makes me ask – what are beta-crystals made of anyway? Is it some sort of eutectic microstructure? (Is that even the right word, since the crystal is prolly made up of way more than two substances?)</p>
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<p>I’m thinking of experimenting with the less expensive stuff first. About to go shopping right now … (also need more carrots … and something for my amplifier) should I start out with chocolate chunks (not bark, not chips, they just say “chocolate chunks” and are store-brand) and experiment with various mixture systems?</p>
<p>Consolation, I’m guessing you do something with chocolate as a (yummy and delicious) career? What do you do?</p>
<p>Start with the Ghirardelli bars or the equivalent. Read the labels. (If you want to make some great brownies, get a can of their “Grated Chocolate and Cocoa” and make the recipe on the label, adding your chocolate chips.)</p>
<p>Chunks are just big chips, and again probably formulated to maintain their shape in cookies.</p>
<p>lololu, I love sour cream ganache on a banana cake! 
See The Cake Bible for a great recipe.</p>
<p>Wu Tang - make my D’s boyfriend’s speciality (yes, a GUY makes these) - Oreo truffles. All you do is chop up a package of Oreos (the finer the better), mix in a softened bar of cream cheese. Roll in balls and dip in melted chocolate. Idiot proof, and so yummy (AND addictive!!)</p>
<p>Consolation, I’ve being making that banana cake recipe for twenty some years now,but I originally got the recipe for sour cream ganache from the Blueberry Hill Cookbooks from the 1950’s. It is the frosting of my childhood. I love the Cake Bible, so much so that my copy is now held together with a rubber band as is my copy of Rose’s Christmas Cookies.
Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte, Banana Cake, Chocolate Bread, Lemon Poppyseed Cake, I can’t make up my mind!!</p>
<p>Huh, I just learned why it’s so hard to melt chocolate or white chocolate chips. I guess I should use a chocolate bar instead?</p>
<p>Ehh? Bars?</p>
<p>I actually bought chunks of that Ghirardelli stuff for 21 cents an ounce … I figure that’s a little easier to melt? Haven’t tried it out yet!</p>