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This gives couverture chocolate a richness that compound chocolate lacks, but it also makes it much harder to work with. Actually, in some places, compound chocolate cannot be labeled as real chocolate, especially if it lacks both cocoa liquids and solids.Ĭouverture chocolate’s primary ingredients are the chocolate liquor and the cocoa butter mentioned higher up in this article. For this reason, couverture chocolate is also known as ‘real’ chocolate. Depending on where you stand and what you want from chocolate, these effects might be seen either as positives or negatives, but they definitely lend compound chocolate to molding chocolate candy and making it suitable for candy molds.Īs for couverture chocolate, this is what one might call a significantly higher grade of chocolate that makes no such substitutions. This substitution has a grand number of effects on compound chocolate, but these will be investigated further along in this article.
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Frequently, compound chocolate contains a blend of vegetable oils in place of cocoa butter. In place of cocoa butter, which can be temperamental (despite delicious) it contains some oil or blend of oils. That is, chocolates are defined, among other things, by their content of cocoa butter and cocoa liquids, also called chocolate liquor.Ĭompound chocolate often contains cocoa powder in place of chocolate liquor this gives this type of chocolate its chocolatey flavor. In fact, there’s also a good chance you’ve only had compound chocolate before!Ĭhocolate is defined largely by its composition in terms of the chocolate liquids and chocolate solids it contains. There is almost a certain chance that you have had compound chocolate before, even if you didn’t know what it was. When most people think of chocolate, there is a very good chance that they are thinking of compound chocolate, as many chocolate products in the United States are made from various grades of compound chocolate and not of couverture chocolate.īecause of its prevalence and also for the fact that it can be so easily used in so many different situations, especially by beginners, we’ll start with a close look at compound chocolate. This is not just a cosmetic difference in fact, the difference itself lies in the composition of the chocolate in question. They are very different not only visually but also in terms of consistency. They are good for much more than these, but they are also two of the most popular options for such and so we will focus on them. Two of the most popular grades of chocolate for molds and other popular practices like dipping and enrobing are compound chocolate and couverture chocolate. Milk chocolate may be in the middle, but there’s also a lot more in between!ĭifferences between Compound and Couverture Chocolate This is, admittedly, a high-level view that we will take some time in this article to parse.Īs it turns out, the wide world of chocolate is a whole lot wider than the span between dark chocolate and white chocolate. You can use more than one type of chocolate for molds , but you will need to know what you’re doing in order to ensure the consistency of the finished candies or chocolate goods.īy contrast, the same types of qualities cannot be attained by some compound chocolates, although many of these are much more forgiving and, as a result, much easier to work with. It might offer an amazing texture and consistency as well as a visibly beautiful appearance, but that comes at a price. In short, if you’re looking for chocolate for molds, you can’t just use anything.įor example, many people love the amazing mouthfeel and the beautiful sheen of couverture chocolate, but the simple truth is that a great deal of skill is required to temper this chocolate so that it reforms properly once it has been melted. The makeup of any given grade of chocolate will also affect how it responds to processes like melting, forming, and molding. These affect not only their appearance, but how they can be used, and where, and when.
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You might have thought that the only differences that existed between the different grades of chocolate were only due to appearance and flavor, but in fact, there are many different grades of chocolate. The delectable snap of a crisp, glossy piece of pleasantly bitter and delicately sweet couverture chocolate the creamy, luscious mouthfeel of velvety smooth compound chocolate these can hardly be topped, but their ingredients vary, and so they are not suitable for the same purposes.
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