Difference between Chocolate: Real or Compound

Knowing the difference between your chocolate is critical before starting to work with chocolate. There are two distinct types of chocolate, couverture or real chocolate and the compound chocolate. Knowing what type to use can make all the difference with your chocolate dipping, candy making, and chocolatiering. Also, it would be nice to know what your favorite bittersweet chocolate is made of.

Real Chocolate

Real chocolate has cocoa butter extracted from pure cacao or cocoa beans. An expensive ingredient, cocoa butter has some quirks or unnatural characteristics. Real chocolate requires more preparation and special attention when melted down. Unlike compound chocolate, it has to be tempered. This is mostly due to the nature of the cocoa butter. The process of tempering re-establishes the cocoa butter crystals. The chocolate goes through a unique temperature range. The result is the chocolate having a luxurious gloss, crispness, and taste. Another importance tempering gives that it prevents bloom – a process where the cocoa butter is separated from the cocoa solids and comes to the surface. This could result in the chocolate having an unpleasant whitish or grayish in color. Tempering for real chocolate is also a mandatory process if you are making dipping items or candies that won’t be consumed within the same day.

Real or couverture chocolate is perfect for enrobing truffles and creating sumptuous and appealing decorations for dark chocolate and candy bars.

There are three classifications of real chocolate based on the quality of the cocoa butter and the cocoa butter content:

Regular chocolate – normally comes in dark chocolate chip form, regular chocolate uses sugar as a sweetener. It is also commonly made from moderate quality cocoa beans with low butter content and high level of thickness in its melted state. Mostly used for baking (such as vegan chocolate chip cookies), this type of chocolate holds its shape and not recommended for dipping, coating, or molding. Sugar-free chocolate blocks or bars are other forms of regular chocolate. These baking chocolate or plain chocolate has relatively low cocoa butter content, and tempering is not required in normal baking processes.

Couverture Chocolate – couverture translates to the word “covering” and consists of chocolate liquor and cocoa butter as its two main ingredients. Almost all chocolate bars that we see consist of the same basic ingredients – cocoa butter, cocoa solids, sugar. Some may even have additives like soy lecithin, milk powder, or vanilla. But couverture is pure and organic chocolate. It is the finest high-quality chocolate produced with the highest degree of cocoa butter using only premium cocoa beans. Couverture chocolate melt quickly and recommended for molding and specialty candy making. When tempered and cooled properly, it creates a luxurious sheen finish.

Ultra-Couverture Chocolate – using the same quality of cocoa beans but with more levels of cocoa butter content. Because of its very low viscosity (level of thickness when melted) and higher cocoa butter content, ultra-couverture chocolate is ideal for dipping and coating truffles. However, only a few manufacturers are able to successfully create this type of chocolate. The difficulty of balancing the higher cocoa butter content while preserving its elegant taste and texture has been quite a challenge for most chocolate manufacturers. The end result when tempered and cooled properly is a thin and exquisite polished shell.

Compound Chocolate

Another form of chocolate is the compound chocolate. Compound chocolate has vegetable oil or vegetable fat in place of cocoa butter and does not require tempering. The vegetable fat could be palm kernel oil, soybean oil, or cottonseed oil. Most professionals and hobbyists use compound chocolate because it is convenient to use and its relatively lower price. Compound chocolate may be made from vegetable oils, emulsifiers, powdered milk (in place of fresh milk) and chocolate liquors.

If melted well, compound chocolate is good for sugar-free chocolate dipping and it molds easily. Since it does not have a higher melting point, it does not need tempering like real chocolate for it to have that glossy finish. Products coated or molded with compound chocolate can withstand better in warm weather than those with real chocolate.

Is Real Chocolate better than Compound Chocolate?

Most people could not tell the difference in taste between real and compound chocolate. But when tasted next to each other, the difference can be quite apparent. Compound chocolate lacks a full chocolate taste while real chocolate tastes a lot richer. That is due to the fact that it is made with chocolate liquor and cocoa butter rather than cocoa powder.

Santa Barbara Chocolate is a great option to consider when you are looking for couverture chocolate. We provide wholesale bulk organic chocolate in different variations. Visit our website at https://www.santabarbarachocolate.com/ for more information about couverture chocolate we have in store for you.

Not all chocolates are made equal. You just have to choose which ones suit your needs and satisfy your palate.