chocolate bars ?

[grumpyoldman]

i have been think about making my own chocolate bars lately, has anyone here ever tried it ? if so how did things turn out ?

 

[karadekoolaid]

You could certainly give it a go.
I've got a Dutch friend over here who runs a chocolate company. Every time I visit, I think "Wow! That's complicated!!" but since I've never tried myself, it's probably possible with a little dedication and patience!

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

A friend of mine made some chocolate pralines with various fillings. I can't provide you with a recipe, but when making chocolate it's all about the temperature. Get a good thermometer, follow the steps as good as possible and you're fine
Edit: and invest in good quality cocoa

 

[grumpyoldman]

i just thought it would be a fun thing to try sometime

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

Yeah why not, chocolate is a wonderful ingredient. It's easy to obtain decent quality and you can read everywhere on the internet how to treat these small little fat crystals inside of the chocolate to gain a marvelous product

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

It’s the tempering it to stop it blooming that puts me off.
That and eating all the raw ingredients before they made it into a mould

 

[grumpyoldman]

a while back i made some using margerine and coco powder , it tasted pretty dang good but it never hardend ,and thats about all i know about making chocolate haha

 

[karadekoolaid]

Give it a go! As you say, a fun thing to try!

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

Here is a Recipe for chocolate
It's explained pretty good, read the recipe until you understand every step and follow each step strict. You should find the ingredients in good sorted organic retailers or in chocolate shops, just use Google

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I had great fun about 10 years ago now playing with making my own chocolates. I won a chocolate making course and then transferred what I was taught to making dairy free stuff that I could eat. It was well worth the effort. But my course was for UK chocolates, and I now live in Australia and the recipes here are different because of the hotter climate. It's one reason that certain companies don't bring their chocolates here and why it also tastes different.

But if you want to try it, and don't mind wasting money in the process, you'll have great fun.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I had great fun about 10 years ago now playing with making my own chocolates. I won a chocolate making course and then transferred what I was taught to making dairy free stuff that I could eat. It was well worth the effort. But my course was for UK chocolates, and I now live in Australia and the recipes here are different because of the hotter climate. It's one reason that certain companies don't bring their chocolates here and why it also tastes different.

But if you want to try it, and don't mind wasting money in the process, you'll have great fun.

I found Australian chocolate unpalatable, the cocoa content seemed very low and there was an almost lardy waxy taste to it. But that was in my late teens, 30 years ago (crikey am I really that old?! ), what is it like now?

 

[karadekoolaid]

South American cacao is the way to go . Venezuelan, Ecuatorian, Brazilian,Peruvian, the cacao seems to have everything going for it. African cacao, while generally cheaper, tastes overly bitter to me and doesn't have that unctuous smoothness that S. American cacao has.
But then I'm biased - we've got the best cacao in the world!

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

Good African cocoa is more expensive than good brazil cocoa and for homemade chocolate the belgian "Callebaut" or the Swiss chocolate should already be enough. In Berlin we have a bunch of special chocolate shops that carry everything from the beans, to ground beans, cocoa nibs and various butters.

 

[grumpyoldman]

from what i have been reading making chocolate is both simple and complicated at the same time
most anyone can make fudge but when you really get into making chocolate itself it gets complicated real quick

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

There're a lot of numbers but you're doing it at home and you can take your time. It's just chocolate