White Chocolate Problems

Shelf life for white chocolate is usually under 9 mths. White choc. also needs much more gentler heat than dark.

I never knew chocolate to separate because of being old. The only problem with old chocolate for cooking that i've found is that it can get little bugs (who drill tiny holes in the chocolate and leave little sand-sized droppings around the openings).
When you melt it, get the water hot in the double boiler but then TURN OFF THE HEAT or it will burn parts of it and it will separate in the sense that some will be hard and the rest soft, the hard parts being burnt.
Or are you talking about another kind of separating?

White chocolate or summer chocolate as it used to be called is not chocolate at all. It is a concoction of oils, flavor. color and margarine. It does break and gets rancid with age because of high oil content. Real chocolate will very rarely break unless overcooked or it gets wet or extremely high humidity prior to melting. I have slabs of real choco with a hi butterfat content in my storeroom for years and it is still good

To Ed Buchanan,

 

I am a southern lady in South Carolina who likes to cook and entertain. I am in a couple of ladies clubs where we have to take turns hosting and providing the cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, entree, and dessert. I would love to have your email address as someone to help if I have a question.

 

I have thought for years that chocolate is originally dark, so how could they make it turn out white. Well, I have asked everyone I know to ask and got no satisfactory answer until just now, reading your response to another question about white chocolate. My common sense did not steer me wrong. So, thank you very much.

 

 

Beasley,

 

White chocolate is NOT the same as "summer chocolate".

 

White chocolate is:  Cocoa butter (derived from cocoa beans) milk powder,sugar, vanilla, (.5%) and lecethin (.5%).  In many European countries it can not be legally labeled as chocolate.

It does however contain up to 25% cocoa butter, and no other fats or oils.

 

"Summer chocolate" is made from: Cocoa powder, various fats and oils, sugar, vanilla, and soy lecethin. It contains no cocoa butter and does not need to be tempered, and stays solid at warmer temperatures that would normally melt with real chocolate. 

 

"Summer Chocolate" is basically chocolate with the cocoa butter replaced with another vegetable fat. It can be dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate.  In the E.U. (Europe) these prodcuts can not  be labled "Chocolate, or have the word "chocolate" in any way or form included on the packagaing or description.  In N.America, anything goes.....  In Europe, any chocolate containing even 1% milk powder can not be labled as "Chocolate", but instead "Milk chocolate" .In N.america, anything goes......

 

The cocoa bean naturally contains over 50% cocoa butter.

 

Be a label reader!!!! If the label includes strange or wierd fats, it is not chocolate. "Dutched" cocoa is procesed with alkalai, and must be legaly stated on the label in both the E.U and N.America.

 

Forget all those American desciptions of bittersweet,semi-sweet,  etc, it is B.S.  According to the F.D.A. in the U.S. "bittersweet chocolate", must contain a minimum of 35% cocoa, semi- sweet the same, sweet chocolate the same.  The European system of declaring the percentage is far more accuarate, and the percentage refers  to the actual cocoa content.  Thus, a 65% chocoalte will have 65% cocoa content, 34% sugar,and half of one percent each of vanilla and soy lecethin.

 

Hope this helps 

Posted by beasley000 

 

Ed and your common sense have something in common.  They're both wrong. 

 

BDL

Well, OK, so you said that Ed and my common sense are both wrong, then, please explain what you mean and, please, try not to sound rude about it. I'm not a chef and wanted to know, that's why I asked on this website. Thanks, in advance, for your explanation.  

Thanks, Foodpump. And I'm still waiting to see what "Former chef, BDL", has to say.

Hey Foodpump,

Does cocoa butter have caffiene in it? I have to watch my intake because of heart palpatations.Thanks.

Not much, and not a true caffiene, rather it's called theobromine.  Similiar, but not a true caffiene.  Best check with the boss, a.k.a. your doctor. 

 

In any case a "real" white chocolate will have a maximum of 28% cocoa butter. 

Thanks for the info.