higher % cocoa solids in chocolate

[angrychef]

I always use a chocolate with a minimum of 56-60% cocoa solids. A ganache made with equal proportions of this chocolate plus manufacturing cream comes out with the perfect glazing consistency. I recently tried a chocolate with 70%(i think) cocoa solids. I did my usual ganache recipe and it is way too viscous, I had to increase my proportion of cream and it turned out great. Also in its melted state it is too thick for dipping. My question is: when using a chocolate with a higher cocoa solids %, does one need to add a bit more cocoa butter to thin it out? Can you use oil? And is it more viscous because it has less sugar or less fat?

[Kimmie]

I'm no pro but I've used butter many times, maybe a bit more cream too. Seems to do the trick!

[shroomgirl]

My chocolate of preference is Valharona 70%....love it as flourless chocolate cake with ganauche.

[W.DeBord]

I know what you mean. I prefer not to work with 70% myself. It just slowed me down adjusting. Truthfully I never found any real advantage to using it? The only places I can think of where it would be an advantage is in cookies with big choc. chunks or truffles and other candies....?

Just a guess, but it makes more sense to me that it's less fat, not less sugar. Its sweetness is the same as similar chocolates... it would have to be less cocoa butter which wouldn't affect the taste only the thickness in my opinion. Shortening or oil both work to thin. I've used oil in mousses and bavarians and gotten nice results. I never had cocoa butter available due to it's cost and availablity.

[angrychef]

The distributor told me it was the sugar content that affected its viscosity, but I totally agree with you Wendy -- it is the fat content that gives it its fluidity. The more bitter the chocolate is, the lower its sugar content.I've always used Callebaut #811(i think it has 56% solids), so I've been interested in trying out their darker stuff. For what?--I still don't know. I'd be interested to see how others use such a chocolate, I mean in which specific applications.
shroomgirl --- I've tried Valrohna but it's a bit too expensive for the stuff we make. In your experience, when would you use a 70% chocolate as opposed to a 60% chocolate?

[monpetitchoux]

Doesn't it depend on what you are making? One of the things I remember most about cooking school was the chocolate tasting (11 dark chocolates). We had to assess each for sweetness, fruitiness, etc. Some chocolates taste more fruity, some have more acidity, some have more roasted bean flavor, it varies with the maker. I'm pretty lucky to be able to use valrhona in my work. Most of the time we use Manjari (64%) for our desserts because it has great fruitiness and edgy acidity. But for our cinnamon chocolate mousse, we use Caraibe (66%) because it's fruitness is subdued, meaning we can taste the chocolate more and it allows the cinnamon to compliment rather than compete with the chocolate. We had some Callebaut left over from the previous pastry chef, so we used it in our chocolate ice cream. When I was given a piece to taste, I have to say that the Callebaut seemed to be boasting it's roasted character. It had controlled acidity and I couldn't taste much fruitiness. It made pretty good ice cream.

I also agree that it's the cocoa butter that affects goopiness when melted. But I also think that it has much to do with the conching process. Callebaut, scarffenberger are both superconched. You can tell when you put a piece of it under your tongue and it takes forever to melt and mingle with your saliva. But Callebaut is much more goopy when melted than Valrhona. At another restaurant I worked at, we used michel Cluizel for something (I can't remember), but that melted super thin. To thin, we usually use either cocoa butter or butter depending again on what we use it for. Cocoa butter for chocolate candy fillings and butter for pastries.

Shroomgirl, you are a serious chocolate connosieur! I can barely eat Valrhona 70% (I think it's Guanaya) straight or mousses made with it. And it was tough to work with. We had to add butter to liquify that one a bit.