Making Sugar Free Chocolate (from unsweetened chocolate)

[chocofoodie]

It felt tempered, as in it snapped nicely and it was shiny but I didn't do anything, I was wondering if I should.. 

I'll try it with modified cocoa butter ratio, it seemed way to much to me as well. I don't have access to unsweetened chocolate right now to try that. 

Yes, it was super thin and liquidy. 

 

[chocofoodie]

Update:

 

I've changed the ratio as per @PastryGirl recommendation.  The result was a liquid that was a lot more like regular melted dark chocolate. It was much thicker and sat in the molds better. The good news is, after taking it out of the fridge it was very promising. It seemed tempered and it didn't melt as quickly when I touched it. The only trouble is that after it sat on the counter it completely wilted. I actually had both bars on the counter at the same time, the original with the double fat and the modified. The original remained solid at room temperature. So I guess the large amount of fat somehow helped it to be in temper. Now that I need to modify the recipe to halve the fat, should I table it to temper it before pouring into molds? If so, what temperatures should I use? Would it be the same as for dark chocolate couverture (heating to 45 and cooling to 33)?    

Edited November 14, 2019 by chocofoodie (log)

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, chocofoodie said:

should I table it to temper it before pouring into molds? If so, what temperatures should I use? Would it be the same as for dark chocolate couverture (heating to 45 and cooling to 33)?    

 

how are you tempering it now?  It does need to be tempered somehow. 

[chocofoodie]

I've never tempered it at all. I just heat it and mix it in a baine marie and pour into molds and pop in the fridge. I'm not entirely sure why, but when you use a 2:1 ratio of cocoa butter to solids it sets up like it's tempered. It's shiny, has a nice snap, is stable at room temperature.. the only issue is how quickly it melts when you touch it. But when you inverse the ratio, the lack of temper shows through as a real problem. Will try to table it and see what happens. Sorry, I've been out of the chocolate making game for over two years now so I'm very rusty, trying to incorporate again with sugar free chocolate 🙂

[Kerry Beal]

So that’s the problem - needs tempering - cool to 27 then back up to 30-31

 

[teonzo]

On 11/9/2019 at 9:41 PM, adrianvm said:

I processed this in my vitamix (small bowl) at power 6 for about 30 s and then at power 10 for about 45 s.  It was smoother than my previous result I did in the 8 oz blender cup, but it still has a slightly grainy mouth feel.  I suspect that the melanger is needed to break down the particle size of the powdered erythritol and inulin.  The blender just isn't good enough. 

 

Try dissolving the liquid lecithin in a bit of cocoa butter before adding it to the rest of the ingredients, it should be much more effective.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[teonzo]

On average cocoa has around 55% fat and 45% solids. Couverture is made with added cocoa butter, so the % is a bit higher.

If you want to get something similar to dark couverture then you should aim for around 60% cocoa butter 40% cocoa solids.

The % of cocoa butter in cocoa powder can vary quite a bit, usually from 6% to 24%. To know this you need to read the label of the cocoa powder you are using, just look at the nutritional infos for the % of fats.

 

If you call:

%CBP = % of cocoa butter in cocoa powder (from 6% to 24%)

%CBF = % of cocoa butter in the final product (if compared to the total of cocoa fat and cocoa solids, this is the 55% to 60%)

 

Then the formulas are (percentages are used in decimal, you need to write 0.6 instead of 60%):

cocoa powder to use = (1 - CBF) / (1 - CBP)

cocoa butter to use = 1 - ( (1 - CBF) / (1 - CBP) )

 

Example: if you are using cocoa powder with 20% fat and are aiming for a couverture-like result of 60% cocoa fat, then the formulas are:

cocoa powder to use = (1 - 0.6) / (1 - 0.2) = 0.5

cocoa butter to use = 1 - ( (1 - 0.6) / (1 - 0.2) ) 0.5

In this case you should start with equal amounts of cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

 

The range should be within 59% cocoa powder 41% cocoa butter and 42% cocoa powder 58% cocoa butter.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[adrianvm]

2 hours ago, teonzo said:

 

Try dissolving the liquid lecithin in a bit of cocoa butter before adding it to the rest of the ingredients, it should be much more effective.

 

 

Why would this make any difference?  I think the problem is that I am unable to reduce the size of the erythritol and inulin grains.  They remain at their initial size and this creates a non-smooth mouth feel.  Incorporating the lecithin some other way isn't going to change this. 

[teonzo]

18 minutes ago, adrianvm said:

Why would this make any difference?

 

Chocolate is a suspension of solids in a continuous fat phase. If you add lecithin to chocolate, you risk that a good amount of it does not end up being dissolved in the cocoa fat phase, thus becoming ineffective. If you dissolve it in cocoa butter then add this to the chocolate, then you don't run this risk.

 

 

 

20 minutes ago, adrianvm said:

I think the problem is that I am unable to reduce the size of the erythritol and inulin grains.  They remain at their initial size and this creates a non-smooth mouth feel.  Incorporating the lecithin some other way isn't going to change this. 

 

In your first messages you wrote that if you taste erythritol and inulin alone you don't feel any grains in your mouth, they are fine enough. You feel grains when you taste the final chocolate you are making. So this should mean that those grains are formed during your chocolate making process, otherwise you would detect those grains also when you taste erythritol and inulin alone.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[adrianvm]

25 minutes ago, teonzo said:

 

Chocolate is a suspension of solids in a continuous fat phase. If you add lecithin to chocolate, you risk that a good amount of it does not end up being dissolved in the cocoa fat phase, thus becoming ineffective. If you dissolve it in cocoa butter then add this to the chocolate, then you don't run this risk.

 

 

 

 

In your first messages you wrote that if you taste erythritol and inulin alone you don't feel any grains in your mouth, they are fine enough. You feel grains when you taste the final chocolate you are making. So this should mean that those grains are formed during your chocolate making process, otherwise you would detect those grains also when you taste erythritol and inulin alone.

 

 

My mouth has water in it.  If I put a blob of powered erythritol in my mouth it instantly dissolves.  I'm not saying my chocolate comes out crunchy.  It has a powdered sugar texture.   It doesn't melt smoothly in the mouth but melts into a powdery feel. 

[chocofoodie]

17 hours ago, teonzo said:

On average cocoa has around 55% fat and 45% solids. Couverture is made with added cocoa butter, so the % is a bit higher.

If you want to get something similar to dark couverture then you should aim for around 60% cocoa butter 40% cocoa solids.

The % of cocoa butter in cocoa powder can vary quite a bit, usually from 6% to 24%. To know this you need to read the label of the cocoa powder you are using, just look at the nutritional infos for the % of fats.

 

If you call:

%CBP = % of cocoa butter in cocoa powder (from 6% to 24%)

%CBF = % of cocoa butter in the final product (if compared to the total of cocoa fat and cocoa solids, this is the 55% to 60%)

 

Then the formulas are (percentages are used in decimal, you need to write 0.6 instead of 60%):

cocoa powder to use = (1 - CBF) / (1 - CBP)

cocoa butter to use = 1 - ( (1 - CBF) / (1 - CBP) )

 

Example: if you are using cocoa powder with 20% fat and are aiming for a couverture-like result of 60% cocoa fat, then the formulas are:

cocoa powder to use = (1 - 0.6) / (1 - 0.2) = 0.5

cocoa butter to use = 1 - ( (1 - 0.6) / (1 - 0.2) ) 0.5

In this case you should start with equal amounts of cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

 

The range should be within 59% cocoa powder 41% cocoa butter and 42% cocoa powder 58% cocoa butter.

 

 

 

Teo

 

 

 

Thank you so much Teo, this is extremely helpful. I'm using Cocoa Barry Extra Brute Cocoa Powder. It says  22/24%  M.G./ Fat on the cover so I understand from that that the cocoa butter is 24%. 

 

Using your equation, with my very slightly higher cocoa butter percentage of 0.24, it means I should go for 0.53 Cocoa Powder and 0.47 Cocoa Butter, correct? 

 

If I was aiming to make a regular chocolate bar for eating, not a couverture, what percentages should I aim for?