Adding Cocoa Butter to Compound Chocolate

[prashamk]

Hi,

 

I currently use compound where cocoa butter is replaced by other fats. Due to this the chocolate feels slightly dry after a week or two. Recently my supplier said I should try some other brand that has cocoa butter in it and it wouldn't get dry but the rate difference is big. Hence it lead me to a thought that what if I myself add some cocoa butter to my current chocolate? I have some queries regarding this thought... 

 

1) Is it okay to simply add cocoa butter when the chocolate is melted? 

2) How much cocoa butter should be added per kg of chocolate?

3) Any extra care like tempering or something else needed after I add cocoa butter?

 

 

[keychris]

It sounds like a lot of hassle to just get a lower quality version of couverture. I imagine the tempering will work the same way but I have no idea what the final product will be like. Your "chocolate" is going to be very fluid. You could be talking adding anywhere from 30% cocoa butter, which isn't a cheap ingredient, or rather, I can't get it any cheaper than couverture.

 

Couverture is expensive, but you get what you pay for. I personally would rather use the correct ingredient than try what you're suggesting.

[Kerry Beal]

I agree with @keychris - adding cocoa butter to compound is just putting lipstick on a pig.

 

But I don't think that even compound should feel 'dry' after a week or two - so could you tell us a little more about this issue? .Are these filled chocolates, enrobed chocolates? Can you give us some details about how you are making them?

[pastrygirl]

In theory, you could add a lot of cocoa butter and end up with something that could be tempered. The problem is you can’t take those other fats out of the compound “chocolate”, so they will have a softening effect on the cocoa butter that may prevent a nice crisp shell, and you’ll also dilute the chocolate flavor and end up with something really fatty and not very chocolatey. 

 

 

[tikidoc]

Where are you located? There are some very acceptable reasonably-priced real couvertures on the market. I honestly don't see the point of using compound chocolate. I'm sure we could suggest some good couvertures that won't break the bank, depending on your location.

 

I am a hobbyist, so don't have access to large volume discounts, and I have been very happy with the couvertures and the customer service at Albert Uster. I recently switched to the Felchlin (a step up, both in quality and cost, but still fairly reasonable), but the Orchid products were quite acceptable and very economical. The Orchid line is not going to give you the same nuanced and different flavors that you might get with a fancy single origin chocolate, but it is a good straightforward chocolate flavor that would be a big step up from a compound chocolate, and is easy to work with.

 

I only order once or twice a year, but the rep for my region would either drop off at my office or meet me somewhere near his more frequent customers, so I never had to pay for shipping, although it would sometimes take a couple weeks to arrange a time and place. I just learned to order well before running out.

[prashamk]

On 10/26/2018 at 5:42 PM, Kerry Beal said:

I agree with @keychris - adding cocoa butter to compound is just putting lipstick on a pig.

 

But I don't think that even compound should feel 'dry' after a week or two - so could you tell us a little more about this issue? .Are these filled chocolates, enrobed chocolates? Can you give us some details about how you are making them?

 

Not sure if the chocolates are really dry. Since the temperature difference is high chances are that due to sweating the sugar inside chocolate gets dissolved with "sweat" and destroys the luster on the surface. This creates powdery sugar on the surface of the chocolate which would make a novice like me think that the chocolate has gone dry.

 

Got to know all these after going through a few threads here but was on holiday and hence couldn't update. 

[Kerry Beal]

37 minutes ago, prashamk said:

 

Not sure if the chocolates are really dry. Since the temperature difference is high chances are that due to sweating the sugar inside chocolate gets dissolved with "sweat" and destroys the luster on the surface. This creates powdery sugar on the surface of the chocolate which would make a novice like me think that the chocolate has gone dry.

 

Got to know all these after going through a few threads here but was on holiday and hence couldn't update. 

Sugar bloom perhaps - try licking your finger and rubbing the surface - if it dissolves it's sugar bloom - if it just smears it's fat bloom.