Homemade Chocolate

[rbda]

Hello, I'm making homemade chocolate using a sugar substitute, cocoa butter, and the double boiler method. I'm having a hard time getting the sweetener to dissolve and mix in the cocoa butter. I'm wondering if adding an emulsifier such as Soy lecithin would help the oil and crystals mix together better?

[keychris]

Unless you're using some sort of grinder you will never remove that granular texture. Domestic grade food blenders can't get the particle size small enough - I don't think having the emulsifier would change that. I'm not an expert on that part of chocolate making though

[gap]

keychris is correct - lecithin wont help. You need to "refine" the particle size of the sugar/sweetener (break it into very small pieces that are too small to notice) rather than "dissolve" it.

[rbda]

OK, thanks! - if that's my best bet I'll just have to grind it up a bit more. 

[Patrick S]

I had the same frustration trying to make exquisitely smooth praline paste and Nutella at home. I just could never get the smoothness and small particle size at home that an industrial concher can produce, no matter how much I grinder, seived and smashed! 

[Lisa Shock]

You can try putting the sweetener in a blender and letting it run for a while. I make my own powdered sugar (sans cornstarch) and popcorn salt this way. Don't fill more than ¼ full, and don't inhale the dust. -Make sure the blender has a glass pitcher, not plastic. Plastic ones can actually get scratched and wear away, at least with salt, I have no idea where your sweetener falls on the Mohs scale.

[keychris]

45 minutes ago, Patrick S said:

I had the same frustration trying to make exquisitely smooth praline paste and Nutella at home. I just could never get the smoothness and small particle size at home that an industrial concher can produce, no matter how much I grinder, seived and smashed! 

 

a spice grinder might work, I think Kerry has mentioned one in the past for this purpose. I know when we used a stone grinder in class it still wasn't as smooth as commercial paste, but it was smoother than a blender, we only ran it for ~6hrs though.

[gap]

An Indian wet grinder (something like this: http://www.buyindiankitchen.com/premier-wonder-grinder.html) will get pralines or chocolate very smooth with enough time. A robot coupe or thermomix or equivalent will not be able to produce the same smoothness.

Edited April 21, 2016 by gap (log)

[Kerry Beal]

As keychris mentioned I've had good luck getting a pretty smooth chocolate liquor using a Sumeet spice grinder (or a preethi).

 

 

[Patrick S]

Thanks for sharing this! I'd never even seen this type of grinder.