Web based Ganache and Recipe calculator (including aw value and shelf life estimation)

[ChristianD]

Hello,

At the end of May 2024, I first mentioned my online ganache calculator here in the forum. At the time, it was suggested that I start a separate thread for this, which I am happy to do now.

Anyone who is familiar with ganache fillings knows that they are the result of carefully matched ingredients and their harmonious interaction. My ganache calculator should help you to perfectly balance the ratio of your ingredients and thus achieve the best possible result in terms of consistency and shelf life.

Originally based on an Excel file, I quickly realised the limitations of Excel and decided to develop a calculator based on a modern web interface. Admittedly, there are already software products on the market with a similar approach. However, I missed certain functions in these products.
 

The current test version of the calculator in English can be found at

http://www.ganache.guru/Test_En.php

The calculator is designed to help chocolatiers, pastry chefs, and food enthusiasts create the perfect chocolate ganache every time. Via easy-to-use interface, you can simply input your recipe ingredients and quantities and it will directly and on-the-fly calculate all relevant key figures. It also provides information on the optimum content of certain key components. These are based on empirical findings and are orientated towards the recommendations of renowned chocolatiers and patisseries.

A special feature is that the aw value can be estimated with high accuracy even without expensive measurement technology. The aw value is an important indicator for the shelf life. Together with parameters (e.g. pH value and alcohol content), it is used to determine the minimum shelf life. Each time the ingredients are changed, a recalculation is performed automatically.

This makes it possible to customise your creations, allowing you to adjust the sweetness, richness, and texture of recipes to your exact specifications and adapt recipes specifically in the direction of a long shelf life. Whether you're creating a ganache for sliced chocolates or a filling for hollow moulds.

It takes into account all decisive physical properties of each ingredient, ensuring accurate and consistent results every time. So you can easily balance your creations and scale up or down your recipes, according to your individual requirements. This saves time, reduce waste, and improve the consistency of your chocolate ganache recipes. Try it for free and experience the difference for yourself!

I have tried to make the operation as self-explanatory as possible. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them and provide a quick guide if required.

I would be very pleased to receive your feedback. Constructive criticism and requests for optimisation are also very welcome. If you are missing a certain functionality or a certain ingredient, please let me know. Other languages can also be made available if there is sufficient interest.

Note: The calculator is still in the development phase, so I cannot guarantee that it is completely error-free... 😉

[Rajala]

This is great, in general there's quite a lot of room for improvement in UX/UI. It took me a minute to figure out how to add an ingredient just now. Could be me, who knows. (and I'm sure you're aware of the missing translations, so won't list them)

[Kerry Beal]

Finally figured out how to add ingredients - now not sure how to generate an aW result.

 

 

[ChristianD]

Thanks for the honest feedback. It shows me that there is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of UX/UI. At a certain level of complexity, no software product is likely to be completely intuitive, but I was hoping that the operation would be more self-explanatory. Therefore, in the first step, I added or extended some help texts and changed the shape of the cursor in certain places. Sooner or later, however, I will probably have to create a tutorial to make it easier for newcomers to get started and to describe all the features.
I have also already corrected the missing translations that I noticed.
Regarding the missing aw calculation, I assume that the quantity information for the selected ingredients in the ‘Quantity gr’ column was not finalised. This must always be confirmed with the Enter or Tab key. Only then is the entered value accepted and included in the calculation. I have attached a screenshot of how it should look in the end.

[Kerry Beal]

Ok - got that - was able to come up with a number which is reasonably close to the number that Prochoc gives me. 

 

How do I change the temperature for the shelf life estimate?  The estimate for shelf life in days in the example above - is that supposed to represent a shelf life of 10-36 days?

 

Is there an easier way to search for ingredients - ie put becoldade in a search field and have it bring up all the belcolade products as a clickable list?

 

Where is glucose?

 

Missing translation - Hersteller?

 

 

[ChristianD]

Thank you for the questions. They help me to understand where there may still be uncertainties.

How do I change the temperature for the shelf life estimate? Should the shelf life estimate in days in the example above represent a shelf life of 10-36 days?

The 2 values of the shelf life estimate should represent typical storage conditions. The first value (20°C) represents storage at room temperature and the second value (8°C) should represent storage in the refrigerator. The temperature for the first value cannot be modified. The temperature for the second value can be adjusted individually (between -25°C and 32°C). The value ‘8’ can be overwritten here. A recalculation should then take place (I hope the functionality works in all browsers).

Is there an easier way to search for ingredients, e.g. entering Becoldade in a search box and displaying all Belcolade products as a clickable list?

Yes, it is possible to search for ingredients (e.g. Becoldade). When you enter a search term in the search field, all entries in the database that match the search criteria (i.e. are contained in one of the fields) are displayed. The more precise the search term, the more exact the search result (case insensitive). If more than 7 hits are found, only the first 7 hits are displayed on the first page.  To see the other entries, you can click through the other search results using the number fields on the right below the ingredient table. For example, a total of 29 entries are found for the search term ‘Belcolade’. You can of course narrow down the search further by expanding the search term (e.g. Belcolade white). Then only the white couvertures will be found (4 entries in total).
Another way to display only the products of a manufacturer, a product group or a product subgroup is to use the drop-down fields in the corresponding columns below the table. If you select a specific entry here (e.g. Belcolade in the Manufacturer column), only products from Belcolade are displayed.

Where is glucose?

Simply enter the term ‘Glucose’ in the search field. There are currently 12 products in the database (glucose, glucose syrup powder and glucose syrups with different DE values)

Missing translation - manufacturer?

What exactly do you mean here? Is a table heading incorrect? I have deliberately not translated the manufacturer names in the table, as these do not usually vary depending on the language.

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

This is the screen that I didn't know what Hersteller meant.

[Kerry Beal]

When I click on 'enter new ingredient' - I don't see the same thing you see on your screen - I see what's on the screen shot above - nothing with a spot that lets me enter belcolade to get a list of products. 

[ChristianD]

Ah, now I understand the confusion. I must have contributed to it myself 😌. The ‘Enter new ingredient’ button is only intended if you want to add an ingredient that is not yet in the ingredient database. There are already around 1,900 ingredients with all the relevant parameters stored there, which cover most standard recipes. You can search for ingredients in the database using the search field (see screenshot). As soon as a search term (or parts of it) is entered here, all ingredients already stored in the database that match the search are displayed.

[ChristianD]

To avoid further confusion, I have now deactivated the ‘Enter new ingredient’ button for the time being.

[Kerry Beal]

You can put it back - that's fine now that I know - but you need to make a bigger colour difference between search:  and the search box beside it - I didn't even realize there was a box there because they are two shades of beige.

[keychris]

I like this very much

I don't have an aW meter so can't judge as to the accuracy but it certainly looks great

there's a slight delay between entering the quantity of one item and the next which is a little disconcerting but that could just be something on my end

A few quirks to get used to but I certainly didn't have any major issues with entering a recipe and getting a result.

[Rajala]

5 hours ago, keychris said:

I don't have an aW meter so can't judge as to the accuracy but it certainly looks great

 

It's not too accurate based on my tests. While it doesn't matter if you measure something that's low (I tried an almond duja the other day), it could potentially be bad if it's something that's close to 0,85 and it's not accurate. But I mean, Christian hasn't said that you can trust it with 100% either. Just have to remember that.

 

As ML evolve, I'm sure we'll eventually will be able to get an AW reading that is almost spot on. But, we also have to remember: AW isn't something that's digital. You can measure a sample 10 times and you won't hit the exact same value each time.

[ChristianD]

I take a more nuanced view of the matter. For classic ganache recipes, which have a typical water and sugar content, I believe that in many cases the calculator is already almost as accurate as the measuring devices in the lower price range. This is due to the fact that the aw value of a ganache is largely determined by the type and concentration of soluble compounds in the water phase (e.g. NaCl, sugar, pH value). This means that the aw value of a classic ganache can be predicted relatively well by using linear regression equations. However, there are still significant deviations for products that deviate significantly from a classic ganache in terms of their composition (especially those with a water content of significantly less than 20% and a very low sugar content). This is due to the fact that an equilibrium moisture content with the ambient air is reached when the water content falls below a certain level (around 15-20%, depending on the material). As a result, the aw value drops significantly faster with decreasing water content. According to the calculator, wheat flour currently still has an aw value of 0.9 and therefore a shelf life of a few days. The realistic value, on the other hand, is 0.65 to 0.70. The same applies to nuts and nut pastes. I definitely need to improve the calculation here. 

The sentence ‘AW isn't something that's digital. You can measure a sample 10 times and you won't hit the exact same value each time.’ is for me the best example of why a digital value makes sense. Many environmental factors (temperature, humidity, air pressure, etc.) play a role when measuring with a measuring device. Although high-quality devices try to compensate for these factors as far as possible, this will probably never work completely. This leads to deviating results with the same samples. In addition, different food products show different aw change when the general conditions are changed. For example, a study showed that wheat flour strongly increased its aw as temperature increased, while fat-rich peanut butter decreased its aw under the same temperature change.

If there are specific examples of ganache recipes where the current results are not too accurate, I would be happy to receive them 😊. This would enable me to investigate the causes and correct them if necessary.

[Kerry Beal]

How about various temperature caramel as a ganache ingredient?

[Jim D.]

I tried the calculator with a recipe today and was very pleased.  Admittedly I chose a fairly simple recipe.  The ganache has cream and raspberry purée mixed with Valrhona's Framboise and Valrhona's Opalys chocolates.  The calculations of percentages of fat, liquid, etc., were close to my own.  The most interesting finding to me was the use of sorbic acid.  With acidic fillngs I often add a few grams of this acid to retard spoilage.  Without sorbic, the app predicted a shelf life of 8 day/30 days; with the acid included, the shelf life increased to 12/44.  For the inventor of the calculator: Is this change based simply on adding 5g of a solid to the recipe, or does the app take the action of sorbic acid into consideration?

 

Congratulations on completing the mammoth amount of work involved in tis project.

[ChristianD]

Thank you very much for the test and the positive feedback. 
I have just uploaded a version, which represents a first step towards improvement in UX/UI. The whole page is no longer displayed immediately (which may be too much for some users). Now is built up step by step depending on the input. Also some small design changes, which hopefully contribute to a better overview, have already been implemented. 
I will gladly take up the question regarding various temperature caramel as a ganache ingredient. I have already obtained some scientific papers on the subject. As a first step, I will probably implement a calculation method that calculates the water content, the Brix value and the aw value depending on the cooking temperature of the caramel. Other things could certainly be of interest here (e.g. the degree of sugar cooking, the caramelisation temperature depending on the composition of the sugar and possible milk components, etc.). Any ideas are welcome. 
With regard to the question of acidity. Yes, the acid/base content of a particular ingredient is actually taken into account. Or rather, the pH value is taken into account (as far as is known). This is stored in the database for many ingredients. For acids that are authorised under food law, the so-called pKa value is also stored. For sorbic acid this amounts to 4.76. When adding acid, this value is first used to determine the extent to which the acid influences the pH value of the aqueous solution (depending on the water content) using mathematical equations. Further mathematical models are then used to determine the effect of the different pH values of the individual ingredients and the resulting total pH value. This is finally shown under the item ‘PH value’. The pH value is currently only included in the shelf life calculation. But only when it falls below a certain value. Here I take into account the tolerance of certain microorganisms to low pH values. In the case of sorbic acid, however, only the pH value is taken into account and not the other antimicrobial properties, which are due to the inactivation of a number of enzymes.

[Saltychoc]

So here's an quandary. I input a blackberry ganache recipe into the calculator and it gives me a significantly different water percentage than my own calculations/spreadsheet. Additionally - as there is not an option for reduced fruit purees I used the boiron blackberry puree option even though I reduce it by half. 

 

Spreadsheet: 20.28% water, 31.66% fat, 32.92% sugar.

Web page: 17.73% water, 30.52% fat, 35.19% sugar.

The fat is not surprising as I use 83% fat butter and 40% fat cream and there is not an option for fat %. My spreadsheet does account for the sugar content of the blackberry puree which is higher in the reduced puree. I'm mainly perplexed by the lower water % in the calculator when my spreadsheet is accounting for 20% of the water being removed from the puree.

 

Recipe is basically (and yes - it splits easily):

 

240g various sugars

200g butter

1340g various chocolates

540g blackberry reduced from 1kg

 

When I put those numbers in (using callebaut 811 as the chocolate and glucose 45 as the sugar) then I get an aw of 0 and close to the predicted water % at 21.13%.

 

Another note - the white miso option has an aw of .71 with 12.1% salt while the miso I use is .88 with 5.3% salt.

 

The calculator does work for many of my more basic recipes but an option to change certain product aspects to match with local products and reduced purees would be helpful.

 

[ChristianD]

Thank you for taking the time to test the calculator and for your detailed comments.
First of all, it would be interesting and helpful for me to know whether you use a self-developed spreadsheet and which sources you use for the nutritional information.
There is already an option in the current calculator to enter a water reduction factor. Admittedly, this is somewhat hidden. It can be accessed by clicking on the symbol to the left of the amount of water shown. I have now revised the functionality a little so that, in addition to a percentage water loss, you can also enter the result of a weight difference between the initial quantity and the reduced quantity. On this basis, I then calculated the composition of 540g (cooked) blackberries, reduced from 1kg initial quantity. The result is attached as a screenshot.
I would need the exact recipe ingredients, including the quantities, to find out the reasons for the discrepancy between the spreadsheet and the website.
It is correct that there is no option for the fat content. In my opinion, this is not necessary as there are various butter and cream products in the database. Even creams with a fat content of 40%. I will add butter with a fat content of 83% in the next days. In Europe, the fat content of butter is usually 80-82%.
The fact that Callebaut 811 as chocolate and glucose 45 as sugar have an aw of 0 is of course not correct. I will make a correction here. I will also add a miso with a salt content of 5.3% to the database in the next days.
In principle, it would already be technically possible for users to add new ingredients or edit existing ingredients. Theoretically, this would also provide an option for changing certain product aspects, for customising/adding local products. However, I have not yet activated this functionality, as only correct and complete information will lead to correct calculations. For example, the user would have to enter the pH value for each product, which could prove difficult in practice. I would also have to ensure the necessary translations. However, I would be happy to add additional products to the database on request. A short e-mail is sufficient. I will be happy to send you my e-mail address on request.

 

[Vojta]

For everyone: What is all the information on shelf life based on? Everyone is talking about Aw, but how do you know how long can Aw = 0.82 or Aw = 0.88 last? Do you actually measure with Aw meter or just estimate based on calculation?

Little explanation. I did some test with Aw meter, actual microbiology tests and others. The Aw vs shelf life tables (general internet, Melissa Coppel, Callebaut) were absolutely off. To me it seems no one really understands. And the term "Aw" became popular in online courses market.

 

@ChristianD congrats. This is amazing and had to take you hundreds of hours. If I can be curious where do you source the information? I have a prototype of the same thing in excel, quite motivating to finish this project