Baking chocolate ranges in quality from the sublime to the barely edible. While almost no one can tell the difference between competing brands of flour and sugar in a dessert, most of us know immediately whether the baking chocolate meets our standards. Many countries, including the United States, produce a high quality baking chocolate. Let the guidelines below help you buy the brand that's right for you.
Instructions
1. Buy the most expensive brand of baking chocolate available at your store. The higher priced brands actually do produce superior quality baked goods. Their manufacturers purchase better cacao beans and use special roasting and blending techniques (see Resources).
2. Check the labels on the baking chocolates available at your store for hotline phone numbers available to consumers. Call the numbers and ask where the company buys its cacao beans. Venezuela produces excellent cacao beans while West Africa produces mediocre quality cacao beans.
3. Purchase several brands of baking chocolate and open each package. Smell the chocolate inside one package for several minutes. Do the same with the remaining packages. High quality baking chocolate smells nutty and rich while lower quality baking chocolate smells stale and flat.
4. Read the labels on the baking chocolate. Buy the brand that does not contain cocoa, which adds a chemical aftertaste.
5. Open the package of baking chocolate and examine its surface. Good baking chocolate is intensely dark with a smooth, creamy surface. Inferior quality baking chocolate is lighter in color and its surface is rough.
6. Experiment with several different brands of baking chocolate by using it in a recipe requiring you to melt the chocolate before adding it to the other ingredients. Notice how quickly the chocolate melts when stirred over moderate heat. Also notice its texture when melted. Good baking chocolate melts rather quickly into a thick, creamy sauce.
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