White Chocolate: Favorites, Sourcing, Using

[Rajala]

I recently bought a bag of Opalys and unfortunately it's the best white chocolate I've tried. I've bought some white chocolate at the taxfree shops while travelling that tastes like it, but no idea if those are "couvertures". 

 

However, I think Michel Cluizel's Ivoire is good enough.

[Jim D.]

53 minutes ago, Rajala said:

I recently bought a bag of Opalys and unfortunately it's the best white chocolate I've tried.

Told you so.  😋

[Pastrypastmidnight]

55 minutes ago, Rajala said:

I recently bought a bag of Opalys and unfortunately it's the best white chocolate I've tried. I've bought some white chocolate at the taxfree shops while travelling that tastes like it, but no idea if those are "couvertures". 

 

However, I think Michel Cluizel's Ivoire is good enough.

“Unfortunately”!!! Bwahahaha!! Exactly  .

[Rajala]

Is there anything out there that's close to Opalys in taste? I don't care about if it's more yellow in tone etc.

[pastrygirl]

44 minutes ago, Rajala said:

Is there anything out there that's close to Opalys in taste? I don't care about if it's more yellow in tone etc.

 

I like Cacao Barry Zephyr.  Not quite as thick as Opalys, medium viscosity & opacity, and under $7/lb wholesale vs $10+ for Valrhona.  it might be a little sweeter than Opalys but not crazy sweet.

 

 

[Rajala]

4 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I like Cacao Barry Zephyr.  Not quite as thick as Opalys, medium viscosity & opacity, and under $7/lb wholesale vs $10+ for Valrhona.  it might be a little sweeter than Opalys but not crazy sweet.

  

 

 

I have a bag of that, I've also tried Cacao Barry's Blanc Satin, not a super big fan of that either. I like the more milky taste of Opalys.

 

 

[Pastrypastmidnight]

35 minutes ago, Rajala said:

 

I have a bag of that, I've also tried Cacao Barry's Blanc Satin, not a super big fan of that either. I like the more milky taste of Opalys.

 

 

Zéphyr is my second choice, but you’re right, it tastes nothing like Opalys. If you find anything that compares, let me know!

[Rajala]

39 minutes ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

Zéphyr is my second choice, but you’re right, it tastes nothing like Opalys. If you find anything that compares, let me know!

 

It will be my life's mission to find an acceptable replacement.  

[pastrygirl]

True, zephyr is only about halfway there. Use it as a base and grind in more milk powder in your melanger?

[DeanTheBaker]

Between Valrhona Ivoire and Opalys, what do you guys prefer? and why?

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, DeanTheBaker said:

Between Valrhona Ivoire and Opalys, what do you guys prefer? and why?

 

Opalys. It is less sweet than Ivoire, and better for molding shells due to increased viscosity and opacity. 

 

Thst said, the only white chocolate that I’m willing to pay Valrhona prices for is their blond Dulcey. The Cacao Barry Zephyr is in between ivoire and Opalys in terms of sweetness and thickness, but $3/lb less expensive. I very rarely shell in white, instead use it in fillings. 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by pastrygirl (log)

[Rajala]

9 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Thst said, the only white chocolate that I’m willing to pay Valrhona prices for is their blond Dulcey. The Cacao Barry Zephyr is in between ivoire and Opalys in terms of sweetness and thickness, but $3/lb less expensive. I very rarely shell in white, instead use it in fillings. 

 

 

You seem to have way better pricing on Valrhona than what I can get. But maybe your quotes for Zephyr is high as well?  

 

Zephyr is around $17 per kg, where Opalys is around $28 per kg. 

[pastrygirl]

5 hours ago, Rajala said:

 

You seem to have way better pricing on Valrhona than what I can get. But maybe your quotes for Zephyr is high as well?  

 

Zephyr is around $17 per kg, where Opalys is around $28 per kg. 

 

My wholesaler started doing better on Valrhona pricing after they lost Felchlin to Albert Uster - AUI is now the sole US importer of Felchlin, so the other company is hoping all their Felchlin-using customers will switch to Valrhona. 

 

I haven't bought Opalys in quite a while, but I bought a bag of Bahibe last week for $57.99, $19.33/kg and a case of Dulcey was $23.49/kg.  The Zephyr is $6.84/lb, so $15.05/kg.  Probably not enough of a discount to cover shipping to Sweden

[Rajala]

Haha, no.

 

I fond Opalys for 54 EUR per bag, and thought "this is a really nice price", only to discover that they wanted 50 EUR in freight if I placed three bags in my basket.

 

[Rajala]

Okay I just got a new type of chocolate delivered - see below.

 

This was really good, a little bit in the same veins as Opalys but also different. I think I like it more than Opalys, but it might just be that it's new.  

 

[Casey H.]

For those of you who do shell moulding in white, what are you using? I have had similar problems as Jim with Opalys with regard to thickening. We have used CB Satin Blanc also. I haven't seen Zephyr on my distributor's list, but I plan to inquire.

 

Wondering about Zephyr and how it performs with shelling - viscosity and opacity. I plan to order some samples to test and compare side-by-side. Would welcome y'all's input, especially those who do sprayed cocoa butter decor prior to shelling. Opalys vs Zephyr vs Satin Blanc... 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

33 minutes ago, Anglinia said:

My favorite white chocolate is Valrhona.

 

Which one?

 

[julie99nl]

Isn't Amedei another brand all together?

[EllaCh]

I like Callebaut's Velvet. Not as sweet as some other white chocolates.

[Kerry Beal]

17 hours ago, Jackwilliamnl said:

My favorite one is Amedei white chocolate....

But you don't like white chocolate you said.

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

But you don't like white chocolate you said.

That was before he knew all the cool kids are doing it. 

[Vojta]

Hi there

Since this thread is talking about white chocolate and the cocoa butter percentage is mentioned a lot I think this is a good place to place my question – basically I puzzled myself:

How can white chocolate contain cocoa?

Callebaut Velvet white chocolate (link) contains:

33.1% cocoa

34.6% cocoa butter

21.9% milk

thus (100 - 33.1 - 34.6 - 21.9 😃 10.4% is made with lecithin and others...

 

Everything says that white chocolate is "chocolate" type that contains zero cocoa, only cocoa butter. So how is it? 😯 This Velvet contains 33% cocoa - does the term cocoa means something else here? Or is everybody wrong with definition of white chocolate? If so how they can make something with 30% of deep brown ingredient white??

[Kerry Beal]

30 minutes ago, Vojta said:

Hi there

Since this thread is talking about white chocolate and the cocoa butter percentage is mentioned a lot I think this is a good place to place my question – basically I puzzled myself:

How can white chocolate contain cocoa?

Callebaut Velvet white chocolate (link) contains:

33.1% cocoa

34.6% cocoa butter

21.9% milk

thus (100 - 33.1 - 34.6 - 21.9 😃 10.4% is made with lecithin and others...

 

Everything says that white chocolate is "chocolate" type that contains zero cocoa, only cocoa butter. So how is it? 😯 This Velvet contains 33% cocoa - does the term cocoa means something else here? Or is everybody wrong with definition of white chocolate? If so how they can make something with 30% of deep brown ingredient white??

Without getting into the argument that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate - real white chocolate is actually yellow and only turns white when it oxidizes. Cocoa butter is yellow not deep brown. Only cocoa mass is deep brown.

 

But both cocoa butter and cocoa mass are considered the cocoa components - hence a 100% bar could be yellow or brown depending on how much of that 100% is mass and how much is cocoa butter.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Vojta]

21 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Without getting into the argument that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate - real white chocolate is actually yellow and only turns white when it oxidizes. Cocoa butter is yellow not deep brown. Only cocoa mass is deep brown. 

 

Exactly! And this chocolate has 33 % of cocoa and 34 % of cocoa butter thats ~equal portions of both but

1 part brown + 1 part yellow ≠ ivory white colour

 

[Kerry Beal]

It says 33.1% min cocoa solids - referring to cocoa butter. Their funny little graph things seem designed to confuse.