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Cocoa butter and cocoa solids

Hans has a very thought provoking article in Cocoa Content called "Why cocoa content matters". In it he shows a very insightful way to determine the amount of cocoa butter. Here's the essence of it:

Cocoa content only tells you how much of the bar’s weight is comprised of cocoa solids. Now, it’s important to understand that “cocoa solids” refers to the chocolate’s combined weight of cocoa butter and dry cocoa particles (i.e. cocoa powder). You can find the amount of cocoa butter from the amount of fat, though. Once you have that you can determine the percentage of the rest of the solids.
Follow these steps from the nutrition label:
1. Note the serving size, since it varies.
2. Note the Total Fat The Fat is from cocoa butter
3. Divide the Total Fat by the Serving size (Fat/Size), then multiply by 100 to get the percentage of fat
4. Subtract the percentage of fat from the cacao percentage and the difference will tell you what percentage of the bar consists of dry cocoa solids. Cocoa butter percentage + cocoa solids percentage = Total cacao percentage.
For example, consider a bar of Lindt Excellence 70%. The Nutrition Facts show the serving size as 42g, with 17g of fat. Divide 17 by 42 and multiply the result by 100, and you’ll get 40. This means there’s 40% cocoa butter. Subtract that number from 70, which in this case is 30% dry cocoa solids . (40 + 30 = 70)
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What do you think of this?

Tags: butter, fat

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Olorin on June 28, 2008 at 8:03am: Here are a few questions that came to my mind about this:
•Does any other part of cocoa contribute fat?
•Is cocoa butter 100% fat? If it’s not, then there is even more cocoa butter than the fat content shows.
•What are the typical weights (or percentages) of soy lecithin and vanilla? These must use some part of the cocoa total, but maybe it’s negligible.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Olorin on June 28, 2008 at 11:28am: My ultimate objective with this is to take another step forward in my quest for finding great chocolate. I'm wondering if any correlation can be drawn between the amount of cocoa butter and the quality of the chocolate.

My initial impression is that there isn't any direct correlation, especially since added cocoa butter is sometimes used to mask inferior beans.

What do you think?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Hans on June 28, 2008 at 2:40pm: Yeah, you really can't say that extra cocoa butter is cutting corners because cocoa butter is pretty pricey. I've noticed that it can be used to muffle the flavor of bad beans and to improve texture of bars. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if makers add cocoa butter solely to appeal to a certain clientele, namely those who favor texture over flavor and to ease the transition into higher percentages for those folks who are just too reticent of going that route. Cocoa butter is a better way of doing that than a stronger 60%-class bar because you don't get excess sugar in the way. At least with cocoa butter, you taste more of the cacao even if it is subdued.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Edward on June 28, 2008 at 10:14pm: Lindt, sadly only uses vanillin. The amount of vanilla is less than 1% for almost every chocolate mnfctr.

Soy lecithin is not absolutely neccesary. Although lecithin is used as an emulsifier, in very small quantities it makes the product thinner. In other words it mimics the use of more cocoa butter. However only 1/2 of 1% is usually added; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by cybele on June 29, 2008 at 12:01am: I'm one of those "certain clientele" who likes creamy chocolate. I have no idea what I means, but I'm pretty sure it's code for uneducated consumer. I'm extremely well educated, but I still like my cacao fat in my chocolate bar.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Hans on June 29, 2008 at 3:23am: I like a creamy texture just as much as the next person, but I know some folks who downright dislike a chocolate just because the texture is slightly off. Think about it this way. The average person on the street, when asked to describe a bar of chocolate, tends to mention texture first and then flavor, which could be attributable to a number of things:

1) cocoa butter's low melting point causes the texture to be noticed first
2) chocolate's flavor takes some time to fully develop, so to render a final opinion before the flavor develops is not really useful
3) natural preference towards fatty foods

So, if a company wishes to target a particular audience, that's fine--by no means does it infer that the product is only intended for that audience because everyone has different tastes for different reasons. I still eat M&M's whenever I can :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brady on June 29, 2008 at 11:31pm: Alot of companies don't have the nutritional information on the package either. It's my understanding that different bean types have different cacao solid/cacao butter ratio but 54% percent cocoa butter per bean is considered the average. In this way you could calculate the amount of cacao solids in a bar without fat content indicated on the package. A rough estimate of 50% is even easier to calculate. I forget which beans have more fat but I think it is forastero from Ghana. At least I remember that the butter content in those beans is supposed to be harder, which makes them more suitable for milk bars.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brady on July 1, 2008 at 9:46pm: Olorin- The discussion has went in another direction, but I found some things tonight that might interest you. (Taken from Cocoa by Wood and Lass): Fat(cocoa butter) content of a bean is normally between 45- 65% of a dry bean. Most forasteros fall between 55-59% and criollo beans have a lower content of about 53%. Fat content of the bean also varies according to the growing season or environment. Beans developing during a dry season have a lower fat content.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gwen Borders on July 2, 2008 at 8:27am: Thank you for bringing me back around Brady. :) In case it wasn't apparent, I want some of my chocolate bar making friends to start paying attention to the quality of the cocoa butter and sugar in the bars, so they can make some new ones that are spectacular, so I can experience them :D

Seriously.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by El Castillo del Cacao on June 30, 2008 at 12:24am: My whole problem with the cacao butter and cocoa powder discussion is this:

If you want to make chocolate, why take out the butter at all?

One might destroy all kinds of properties of the original oils. And if you dont need cacao butter for something else..there is no problem.

We leave everything as is. Just mill the cacao with sugar.

Its fine; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gwen Borders on June 30, 2008 at 6:26am: I agree with you El Castillo ...

There is the old knowledge that "fat carries flavor". This is why I don't understand the suggestion that fat masks flavor. If I understand the palate and digestive system correctly, the fat molecules are the form of attachment and dispersal for all of the other molecules. (Sorry if this is being put in rudimentary terms, but sometimes this is the best way to convey meaning.) The best tasting chocolate I have ever had has zero soya lecithin and a high fat content. This goes 100% for all of the dark bars, not necessarily just the milk, which I rarely consume, only because it doesn't taste interesting to me.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gwen Borders on June 30, 2008 at 6:34am: Oopsy, did I just refer to cocoa butter as fat? :D Perhaps our aversion to things such as cocoa butter and solids is psychological and based on dietary "political correctness".

"Fat" and "sugar" are labeled as the big EVIL calories in an American society that is obsessed with thinness and youth. We are destroying our ability to enjoy food without micro-managing our caloric and dietary intake. Do people experience guilt after consuming a chocolate bar laden with cocoa butter?; ▶ Reply to This