Cocoa Butter’s Moisture

Cocoa Butter’s Moisture

Cocoa butter is not just a medication that can cure your skin scars or allergies, it is also an edible food. In fact, a yummy, tasty and delicious edible food. Cocoa oil is vegetable fat extracted from cocoa beans and is often used in food items like chocolate and in personal care products.  Apart from these, cocoa butter is used in suppositories and oral medications in capsule form. This article will deal with the use of edible cocoa butter.

What is cocoa butter? As you know, cocoa butter is extracted from cacao beans. It contains natural antioxidants that gives it the stability it has. Cocoa butter has a melting point that is just below that of body temperature and on account of this, chocolate (made of cocoa butter) melts immediately in the mouth. It gives smooth texture to many food products, especially confectioneries. It is used widely in baking due its many culinary properties.

Uses of edible cocoa butter: How do you feel when you take a bite of your favorite white chocolate or dark chocolate? Yummy, right? You almost feel that it melts in your mouth right? Yes, that is precisely because of cocoa butter. Cocoa butter which melts at a temperature just below that of body temperature, is one of the basic ingredients of chocolates.

Cocoa butter in chocolate: Cocoa butter contains stable fats which contain natural antioxidants  that can prevent it from getting rancid even for 2 to 5 years. The basic ingredient for white chocolate, cocoa butter is added along with milk solids, sugar, vanilla and lecithin to make white chocolate. It  also is used for coating chocolate and candies which are made of marzipan. Since cocoa butter melts soon, it should be stored in dark and cold places. Cocoa butter in chocolate melts in the mouth quickly. This happens because cocoa butter has a melting point of 31 degrees C (87.8 °F) which is just slightly below body temperature. It is said the best way to know a good piece of chocolate is to take it in our mouth and feel how fast it melts. This way, the quality of chocolate depends on the quality of cocoa butter used in it as only the latter determines a chocolate’s texture and taste.

Cocoa butter gives chocolate its different crystalline forms. Subjected to different temperatures, cocoa butter can make chocolate crumby or soft. Since edible cocoa butter is safe, it is used in large quantities in chocolate making.

Cocoa butter in confectioneries: Cocoa butter is used in confectioneries for its coloring and antioxidant properties. Cocoa butter helps in baking and general cooking. Nowadays, it is used in making cakes, smoothies, desserts and ice creams. Cocoa butter has also replaced dairy butter at many places. It is used instead of butter and oil in culinary processes like cooking, seasoning, mixing insoluble substances, kneading of dough, and even in food preservation. Cocoa butter can maintain the cohesion of several foods like fish, fatty products like foie gras etc. Foods will get a tender feel when cooked with cocoa butter.

Posted in Making Cocoa Butter on Sep 24th, 2013, 4:18 pm by cocoa   

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