Making Chocolate Starts by Melting It

When you buy chocolate from the craft store, these are usually sold in blocks which is ready to be transformed into different shapes. To make that happen, you have to melt it.

Melting is not the same thing as tempering so never confuse the two. However, melting is part of the tempering process which can be done using a microwave or a hot water bath.

The nice thing about using a microwave to melt chocolate is that you get the results you want fast with little or no effort at all and mess. Naturally, before you put the chocolate in the microwave, you should put this in a microwave safe container that remains cool or only slightly warm after several minutes.

The ideal setting on the microwave should be at least 50% low power. This prevents scorching or burning.  How long should you put these in on the microwave depends on how much you will be using. A good basis will be 1 minute for every ounce of chocolate so put this first on a weighing scale.

If by accident you overheated the chocolate, don’t panic. Pour this into a cool bowl and add chunks of unmelted chocolate and stir continuously.

If you prefer to use a double boiler, start by filling the sauce pan with hot water from the tap and then put the chocolate over into another bowl. Since the water is just warming up in the bottom, you should only put 1/3 of the chocolate and let it melt first before putting the rest in.

You must stir the bowl frequently so all the chocolate has melted. When this is done, this is the time you pour this into the mold.

Whichever you decide to choose, remember these tips.

• First, chop the chocolates into small pieces because it melts quicker.

• Never let chocolate get into contact with water because it will make the block of chocolate unworkable.

• When melting the chocolate, do this in low heat or temperature so you prevent it from overheating.

• To prevent bubbles, stir the chocolate frequently using a rubber spatula but only when the outer edges begin to melt.

• You have to remember that chocolate retains it shape when melted so again, you have to stir it constantly so there won’t be any problems getting some using a spoon and then pouring this into the mold.

You can also melt chocolate with other liquids aside from water. You can use cream, milk, cream and wine. But most people use water because it is faster and more convenient. But if you were to try other liquids, make sure that you use at least 1 tablespoon of liquid for very 2 ounces of water. This will prevent the chocolate from binding together and becoming lumpy. But if you are using dark chocolate, you may have to add more than 1 tablespoon per ounce.

Melting the chocolate is key in making your final product when you pour this into a mold. It does not matter whether you choose to use a microwave or a double boiler because you will be doing the same thing in the end which is to freeze it and then pack it up to give it as a gift or serve it as part of your dessert.

How to Make Chocolates Extra Special?

Have you even been attacked by the really love bug? For sure, you have. What is your fondest storage of being in love? Is it the cuddles or kisses? Is it being with the individual you are most attached to every day of your lives? Or is it the procedure of making chocolate and being given one from a chance to time?

Sign of Love
Chocolates have long been associated with the feeling of affection. Blame it on the fact that many people love the treat and many would be happy at the thought of getting one especially from someone who cares for them.

This idea has actually started of a trend in small time businesses. So if you are thinking about starting your own right now, you can also follow the craze. It will be a lot of help if you know your chocolates and you know where to avail the kinds at affordable prices.

Gift of Love
This can be very well a start of your business venture that has something to do with your favorite addiction, chocolates. Have you ever been given a gift basket? What do you look forward to seeing the most in its contents?

While some of you might say wines, chips, cheese and the likes, most of you would likely to favor chocolates above everything else. This gift won't fail you because it doesn't matter how young or old the recipient of the basket would be. Everybody loves chocolates. This is a gift that will not be wasted and be left in the shelves for a long time only to be displayed.

Customize the Basket
For your business to take off, you need to be unique in some sense. You may only be thinking about this now. But you have to bear in mind that there are others before you that have been doing this and have established a group of their own followers.

So you have to mean business in dealing with your chocolate-filled gift baskets. Start with the basket itself. You must customize the tool to make it your own. You can color it with a theme of your choice. You can place ribbons and other design elements. You need not to spend a lot on this. You can maybe borrow some of the school materials of your kid who is in pre or grade school.

Fill the basket with different assortments of chocolate goodies. When you already have clients, you must adapt the purpose to the contents of your basket. Include some gifts that are suitable for the recipient of the basket. The idea here is to reach out to other people, make them feel the love that the gift giver wanted to share to them. And for you, it is to cultivate your passion for chocolates while earning in the process.

This idea is great for home based moms and even young entrepreneurs. Times get to be harder and harder. Such startup business will make it easier for you and sweeter for other people.

You don't really have to know the process of making chocolate. You just have to be equipped with the right materials. You have to know where to buy the goodies. And you've got to have enough people on your list to kick off your biz and start spreading the word out about your gift of love and sweets.

Tools in Making Chocolate

Making chocolate is not possible without your bag of tools. Some of these tools may be easily secured off your kitchens, but if you are really hell-bent on becoming a home chocolatier, you may have to invest in some other equipment that is exclusively used only for chocolate making. The good thing is that there are a wealth of resources available to help you make the best use of whatever resources you have at the moment.

In fact, while these tools are highly recommended, you can do away with some of them at the expense of making a more manual operation of making chocolate, especially in the refinement stage. Here are the different tools that you need to make that homemade chocolate yummy and delectable.

Oven or Roaster

The oven or roaster is where you roast the beans, and you also use that to help achieve certain temperatures that you need during the tempering process. To say that tempering is a difficult task would be an understatement, since it requires hours and hours of measurement.

Blow Dryer

The blow dryer is essential for refining your chocolate. You need to make sure that the chocolate is evenly distributed as you refine it; it tends to change for the fluctuation in temperature and it may actually affect the overall quality of your final product. The blow dryer is quite easy to purchase and it also has uses outside the chocolate making kitchen.

Grinder

The grinder will help you especially when you are processing large amounts of chocolate beans. But if you are dealing with a small scale of chocolate making, you can actually do away with the grinder and crack the coffee beans manually or by hand. This is of course a welcome option for you if you have a grinder handy because it saves time and energy from cracking all those beans.

Bowl

The bowl is where you do most of the mixing of your ingredients. You will need a lot of bowls if you are making large amounts of chocolate for yourself and for your guests. When you are dealing with liquefied chocolate, you may need large bowls or other containers. It will also be very helpful if you have containers that are able to resist heat so that it will not affect the quality of your chocolate making even if it is subjected to high temperatures.

Spatula

The spatula helps mix the chocolate properly. It can also come in handy if you are doing taste tests although the next item may do better for this particular purpose.

Spoon

The spoon is handy for testing the taste of the chocolates. It helps you determine what has the optimum taste for varying temperatures and stages of your chocolate beans. From the moment that it is in bean form up to the moment that it is in liquid form, your spoon can be used to test the chocolate quality and taste.

Concher or Refiner

The refiner will help you achieve that rich creamy texture that most commercial chocolates have. If you have a concher, you will have saved yourself lots of minor work and it will actually help you do other activities while you wait for your chocolate to be processed.

Thermometer

The thermometer is especially important when you are tempering your chocolates. You need to be able to find a good thermometer so that it can handle the varying temperatures that will be required when you temper your chocolate. It will also be very useful if your thermometer reacts quickly or has a high temperature constant so that you can easily note the changes in temperature and alter your approach accordingly.

Making Chocolate and Ways to Shape It Up

Anything that you eat will become more yummy or a delicious treat depending on its presentation. This is also true in making chocolate. That is why as of today, you will enjoy such type in many forms and sizes. It all depends on the moldings that were used to create such impact.

Groovy Treats
Chocolates are known to be given as gifts to loved ones, to friends, even to your bosses or peers. The shape in which you buy such treat will depend on who are you going to give this or present such as a gift.

Did you know that since in the late 1800s, molds were already used by those who make chocolates? The more popular form at the time is the moldings that were made from metal. But through time, such type was replaced by those that were made out of plastic. If you'll ask why, well, it is mainly because of the price. Those that were made from metal become too expensive especially for people who only want to make chocolates at home for personal consumption.

When you are out shopping for chocolate molds, be careful with what you buy. Choose a brand that is known for its quality and durability. You must also take time to hold the pieces that you will be purchasing as if imagining that you will be taking out your chocolates from there.

Make sure that the one that you will avail can be bended easily so as you can get your chocolate products without any hassle. Also, if you are out shopping for the perfect mold, choose the one that will last long.

You never know, your hobby can turn into one profitable venture. And your moldings should see you through it. So invest on good and quality products than choosing the cheaper materials for their price.

You must also have an eye for the right design. Choose those that will give your chocolates the perfect shape and mould them to look better and give justice to its taste. Of course, the molds cannot do anything with the taste factor. This will all be up to you. But you will be inspired to come up with better products when you see the shapes that you can come up with through the molds that you have invested real good with.

Plastic molds must be cleaned properly after each use. Do not wash them with soaps. This can contribute to the taste of your product. As a better option, you can use hot water to clean the molds. Just make sure to wipe it dry after using a clean cloth.

This will be easy to maintain. You will only need to put a little bit of grease every once in a while. This will only be applicable when you put some more ingredients into your mix like marshmallows, cookies and candy sprinkles.

Putting in fillings for your chocolates will take more effort. You must study such task in order to perfect the craft. This will be beneficial on your part if you'd like to take your hobby into another level or if you want to make a business out of this venture.

The good thing about taking in a hobby of making chocolate is that you don't waste your materials. You can re-use things over and over again as long as they are still in good condition.

How Do Large Companies Make Chocolate

How do large companies make chocolate? For one, they need capital to be able to buy the equipment they need and also the ingredients.

Given that there are not that many places in the US to harvest cocoa beans, these companies go to South America, the Ivory Coast and as far away as Ghana because deep in their jungles likes the cacao tree.

These trees grow a melon like fruit that is harvested by hand and inside, there are 20 to 40 seeds which are the cocoa beans.

Once the cocoa beans are removed, they are placed in large heaps or piles in a process known as fermentation. This usually takes a week giving the shells time to harden, the beans darken and the cocoa flavor develop. Afterwards, these are then transported to the chocolate factory.

Since companies that import cocoa beans order these in vast quantities, it is more practical to transport these back to the US by ship than by air. Once they reach the dock, it is then transferred to rail road cars on the way to the factory so they can be cleaned and stored.

Chocolates as we know taste different and this is depends on the country of origin of the beans. The first step in converting these into chocolate is to roast these in large revolving roasters at high temperatures.

Next, a special hulling machine dries it so the shell of the bean is removed and its content known as the “nib” is the one that is actually used in making chocolate.

The next step is to turn the “nibs” into its liquid form. This process is known as milling and to give you that added taste, other ingredients are added and these include chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and milk.

Chocolate liquor is a combination of milk and sugar. The end product of this coarse brown powder called a chocolate crumb. As for milk, this is taken from the farm where it is tested, pasteurized and mixed with sugar until it turns into a thick, taffy like material.

You then throw in cocoa butter to bring out the rich taste and creamy texture of the chocolate. Another machine known as steel rollers grind and refine the mixture to make it smoother.

After all that, the mixture becomes a thick liquid often referred to as chocolate paste. Since there still may be some gritty particles, it is placed inside another machine called the conche for 24 to 72 hours.

When the paste has been smoothened, this is the time that the liquid chocolate is poured into the mold. The process is very fast inside a factory as some produce about a thousand of these a minute that is something that can never be done manually. If the chocolate comes in many varies, this is also the time that almonds and peanuts are added.

In the machine, air bubbles are removed so the chocolate is able to settle evenly. They then make their way through a cooling tunnel so the liquid chocolate is turned into a solid candy bar.

The last step is obviously to wrap this up, put these in boxes and then deliver it to stores. Customers then buy these off the shelf and then enjoy its yummy taste without ever thinking for one moment how do large companies make chocolate.

A Brief Look at the Past of Making Chocolate

Photo Courtesy - free-extras.com

Everything has its origin. Did you know that even the process of making chocolate has a history? This may be your favorite thing to do now on your pastime. Or you may be even addicted to the taste of such treat. But this piece will not add up to that craving as it tries to give you a better view as to how it all started.

The Theobroma Cacao or the food from the Gods is what you all know as the cocoa tree. Its origin can be traced on America's rainforests, specifically in Central America. But historians are still debating about certain facts about this tree.

Xocolat, Anyone?
There are arguments that the Mayans first grew such tree in 300 AD. And the Aztecs had their turn in cultivating such in 1100 AD. The chocolate that you all know now used to be called Xocolat. This was a special beverage that was made out of chilies, anise seed, vanilla, cornmeal and some more spices. Only royalties get to be treated with such delight at the time. It was served using golden cups that were to be used only once.

Save the Chocolates
The cocoa tree is sensitive to its surroundings. It will most likely grow in the shades of the canopy of the rainforest. For this reason, chocolate lovers must unite in the goal of saving the environment, especially in saving the rainforests where the cacaos will most likely survive.

This tree is unique in the sense that its fruits grow on its branches and trunk. The reason for this is because of midges. These are the tiny insects that cause the pollination process during nighttime.

Did you know that the cacao tree can have approximately 10,000 blossoms but only about 10 to 50 of those will mature into fruits or the pod? This is because like an intelligent human being, the tree of cacao can regulate its blossoms to the amount that it can handle and grow.

The cacao tree self regulates in this process to be able to sustain its good health. It knows what it can contain and handle. It knows just how many is enough and too much. The tree does this to preserve its internal systems and to prevent its branches from breaking or falling apart.

The cocoa beans come from the fruit or the pod from the intelligent tree. Harvesters wait for the pod to ripen. They will handpick the trees and crack up the pods until they see white pulpy elements that surround the seeds. The pulps are then trashed while the seeds are kept because those are your cocoa beans, the source of your chocolate treats.

These seeds are actually bitter during such time. For this reason, these will go through the fermentation process for about three to seven days. This method will cause the seeds to go through some chemical as well as physical changes. The result of this will then be used for the royalties' treat, the Xocolat.

The beans need to go through several procedures after which before it can be used for the traditional making chocolate purposes. Now that you know where it came from, you'll never look at your favorite chocolate the same way ever again. Or probably not. Whatever it has been through, chocolates will remain a favorite among children and child at heart.