Cocoa Nibs

[little ms foodie]

Theo chocolate is the only organic free trade maker of chocolate in the states and their cocoa nibs are great, very bitter and toasty.

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I have been cooking with Sweet Earth chocolate (http://www.sweetearthchocolates.com/) They are based in the U.S., free trade and add no lecithin so you can make chocolate for your vegan friends. Just wanted to let you know there are others out there fighting the good fight for free trade chocolate.

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good to know sanantone!! I actually meant that Theo is the only one in the US that is taking the beans from roasting to finished product while being organic and free trade.

We are proud to be the first roaster of Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa beans and the only roaster of organic cocoa beans in the United States.

Theo Chocolate

[GlorifiedRice]

Bitterness comes from non- or poorly fermented beans.  If you want them REALLY bitter beans, get them raw and unfermented.  How much do you need?  And, what will you do with them?  Perhaps I can help.

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I saw Paula Deens sons eating raw unfermented cacao beans and they said they tasted sweet and fruity, no bitterness.

Id say the bitterness comes from the roasting process just like coffee.

[Sebastian]

Actually, bitterness is caused by a very complex set of chemicals that are significnatly (or can be) affected by things such as exposure to oxygen, enzymes, heat, water, etc. Most of the bitterness in your beans comes from two sources - a class of chemicals called xanthines (think caffeine and theobromine), and the flavanols (antioxidants). Antioxidants in raw beans can be very, very high, so one would expect raw beans to be very very bitter (although there's no 'hard and fasts' when it comes to rules and beans - different origins are all unique) - raw beans can be as high as 70% flavanols (on a dry basis), which are very, very bitter. Now, once fermentation starts, cell walls start breaking down and these antioxidants are exposed to oxygen, which breaks them down, and a number of enzymes (mostly polyphenol oxidases) which further degrades them. if they're then alkalized or put through a water treatment, it reduces the content even further. net/net is that the more beans are processed, the less bitter they will always be.

[sanrensho]

Sorry to derail this thread, but who has good prices for cocoa nibs, in quantities up to a kilogram?

I need to order some this weekend. Shipping to Canada is not an issue, as I will be picking them up in the States.

[GlorifiedRice]

http://www.icaviar.com/

Call them and make a deal... They have Valrhona nibs

[GlorifiedRice]

BTW where can you get a few whole cacao PODS?

[gfron1]

So I thought...the CCC recipe that I took from the CCC Bake-Off is super, but wouldn't it be better with nibs for extra texture and chocolateyness?! So I bought 25 pounds of freshly roasted cacao, gently crushed them and included them in last night's batch.

Then this morning I was a bit disappointed to find that they had become soggy in the cookie! So much for texture improvement. The taste is great, but I'm not sure if I'll keep doing that. I'm just sharing since I didn't expect them to become moist and un-crunchy.

[Kerry Beal]

So I thought...the CCC recipe that I took from the CCC Bake-Off is super, but wouldn't it be better with nibs for extra texture and chocolateyness?!  So I bought 25 pounds of freshly roasted cacao, gently crushed them and included them in last night's batch. 

Then this morning I was a bit disappointed to find that they had become soggy in the cookie!  So much for texture improvement.  The taste is great, but I'm not sure if I'll keep doing that.  I'm just sharing since I didn't expect them to become moist and un-crunchy.

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Try caramelizing them first. Suspect in the right cookie they should stay crunchy much longer that way.

[Katie Meadow]

Knowing how fond I am of bittersweet chocolate, my daughter included a package of Scharffenberger cocoa nibs in a gift for me. She didn't know what they were, but I guess they sounded promising. I had no idea what to do with them, so when we made a batch of brownies we threw in a handful of nibs along with chopped walnuts. They were excellent in the brownies, adding depth to the taste and a nice texture, different from anything else. They retained their bite, being neither too hard nor too soft. Why they would act differently in a cookie is interesting.

[gfron1]

The AHa moment just happened. This was the browned butter recipe, so I added liquid butter to the mix, not solid. Of course that might cause the nibs to soften. I should add them later after the chilling has started but not hardened.

[Kayakado]

someone gave me a box of nibs. the box was the size of a cigarette pack and I think they were from Colombia or Venezuela. I ate them all before I could cook with them. I guess I'' have to hunt down some more - they were wonderful!

[gfron1]

That box sounds like the Domori box. They are the best I've found for simple nibbling.

BTW, I've done a test run of nibs in my CCCs and no one is really noticing by taste or texture, so I'll probably pull them from the recipe and save a few bucks. I do want to try one more thing however - pressing them into the top of the cookie right before baking and leaving them whole. Then I'll see if anyone notices.

[mcain]

FYI... I've bought nibs a couple times in 1kg packaging from Qzina from their Richmond, BC, Canada location. Prices were in the $20-25 range.

Most of mine have ended up in batches of Alice Medrich's cocoa nib ice cream. They're also great sprinkled on oatmeal!