Chocolate sources
 

I'm thinking about making some chocolate candy with
something a touch more expensive than the buck fifty
per pound Nestle's semisweet chips I've been using.
I've done the google for chocolate with iffy results.
Could anybody recommend some good places to buy
chocolate for candymaking online?

Thank you, Michael

In article . com>,
"Michael" > wrote:

> I'm thinking about making some chocolate candy with
> something a touch more expensive than the buck fifty
> per pound Nestle's semisweet chips I've been using.
> I've done the google for chocolate with iffy results.
> Could anybody recommend some good places to buy
> chocolate for candymaking online?

For *camdymaking*? You know that you don't use chocolate chips in
candymaking, right?

Chocosphere has a fantastic selection of high-end chocolate--more for
eating than for cooking.

<http://www.chocosphere.com>

If that's *too* high end, just pick up some Ghirardelli. Far better than
Nestle, and any decent supermarket should carry it.

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

<http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/>

In article >,
Scott > wrote:

> In article . com>,
> "Michael" > wrote:
>
> > I'm thinking about making some chocolate candy with
> > something a touch more expensive than the buck fifty
> > per pound Nestle's semisweet chips I've been using.
> > I've done the google for chocolate with iffy results.
> > Could anybody recommend some good places to buy
> > chocolate for candymaking online?
>
> For *camdymaking*? You know that you don't use chocolate chips in
> candymaking, right?
>
> Chocosphere has a fantastic selection of high-end chocolate--more for
> eating than for cooking.
>
> <http://www.chocosphere.com>
>
> If that's *too* high end, just pick up some Ghirardelli. Far better than
> Nestle, and any decent supermarket should carry it.

Dove is better........ ;-d
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

Scott wrote:

For *camdymaking*? You know that you don't use chocolate chips in
candymaking, right?

************
Huh? I've made lots of candy with Nestle's semisweet chocolate
chips!

Thanks for the links.

Michael

Scott wrote:

For *camdymaking*? You know that you don't use chocolate chips in
candymaking, right?

************
Huh? I've made lots of candy with Nestle's semisweet chocolate
chips!

Thanks for the links.

Michael

"Michael" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I'm thinking about making some chocolate candy with
> something a touch more expensive than the buck fifty
> per pound Nestle's semisweet chips I've been using.
> I've done the google for chocolate with iffy results.
> Could anybody recommend some good places to buy
> chocolate for candymaking online?

I've been verry happy with Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips,
actually.

"Michael" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I'm thinking about making some chocolate candy with
> something a touch more expensive than the buck fifty
> per pound Nestle's semisweet chips I've been using.
> I've done the google for chocolate with iffy results.
> Could anybody recommend some good places to buy
> chocolate for candymaking online?
>
> Thank you, Michael
>

Unless you really want to buy online, I would assume your supermarket would
have some nicer brands, certainly Ghiradelli, and maybe Scharffen Berger.
These may be bars and not chips, though.

-T

at Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:12:06 GMT in
>,
(Katra) wrote :

>In article >,
> Scott > wrote:
>
>> In article . com>,
>> "Michael" > wrote:
>>
>> > I'm thinking about making some chocolate candy with
>> > something a touch more expensive than the buck fifty
>> > per pound Nestle's semisweet chips...
>>
>> Chocosphere has a fantastic selection of high-end chocolate--more for
>> eating than for cooking.

There's no need to make a distinction between "eating" and "cooking"
chocolate. If a chocolate isn't good for eating, it isn't good for cooking.

About the only thing that can sometimes make "eating" chocolate difficult
for cooking is format. Buying multiple small bars is a bit awkward,
although certainly better than the alternative of buying Baker's Chocolate.

But it doesn't matter, anyway, because Chocosphere carries good chocolate
in all formats - from small 8g sample squares up to 10 lb blocs. There's
hardly a loser among the chocolates they carry.

>> If that's *too* high end, just pick up some Ghirardelli. Far better
>> than Nestle, and any decent supermarket should carry it.
>
>Dove is better........ ;-d

Not IMHO, not by a long shot. Dove may have better *texture* than
Ghirardelli, but then again, if you want the ultimate in texture you should
go to Chocosphere anyway and get the Hachez Cocoa D'Arriba. But
Ghirardelli's flavour is a good deal better and stronger than Dove,
especially for their bittersweet bars.

OTOH, again, on Chocosphere, you can do better still in flavour, with
companies like Michel Cluizel, Domori, Guittard, and Amedei.
Notwithstanding, Ghirardelli is still excellent and very widely available.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

I have some experience with Ghiradelli. A friend gave me a big bar
that is sold on very limited occasions at Sam's Club. It was good,
but in my opinion it was no better than the Nestle's chips I use. I
also note that Sam's Club sells Ghiradelli chips that are cheaper
than the Nestle's. This leads me to think that Ghiradelli sells
"cheap"
chocolate as well as the higher quality that they are noted for.

>"Michael" <robison_m> wrote:
>> I'm thinking about making some chocolate candy with
>> something a touch more expensive than the buck fifty
>> per pound Nestle's semisweet chips I've been using.
>> I've done the google for chocolate with iffy results.
>> Could anybody recommend some good places to buy
>> chocolate for candymaking online?

www.bakerscatalogue.com


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In article >,
(Alex Rast) wrote:

> There's no need to make a distinction between "eating" and "cooking"
> chocolate. If a chocolate isn't good for eating, it isn't good for cooking.

But would it be a waste of money to use top of the line chocolate for
cooking in recipes that call for many other ingredients? That is, while
I certainly wouldn't use Baker's (brand) chocolate to make fudge,
wouldn't it be overkill to use Amedei Porcelana?

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

<http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/>

at Sun, 23 Jan 2005 03:45:16 GMT in
>,
lid (Scott) wrote :

>In article >,
> (Alex Rast) wrote:
>
>> There's no need to make a distinction between "eating" and "cooking"
>> chocolate. If a chocolate isn't good for eating, it isn't good for
>> cooking.
>
>But would it be a waste of money to use top of the line chocolate for
>cooking in recipes that call for many other ingredients? That is, while
>I certainly wouldn't use Baker's (brand) chocolate to make fudge,
>wouldn't it be overkill to use Amedei Porcelana?

It's certainly not a waste of money to use top-of-the-line chocolate for
recipes that call for other ingredients - you really *can* tell the
difference. In many cases, the difference is stunning. Part of the issue is
that some people don't realise that the difference between good chocolate
and bad chocolate really is very large - it's not a subtle distinction.

For example, I used Amedei Chuao to make brownies, and the results were,
pretty much as I expected, out-of-this-world. Some people might think
brownies too lowbrow for Amedei Chuao, but I think precisely the reverse,
that the taste of Chuao harmonises perfectly with the tastes you want in a
brownie and is hence an ideal choice.

Meanwhile, it might be a waste to use Amedei Porcelana in fudge, but not
because it would be a waste to use good chocolate, but rather because
Porcelana, which has a mild, delicate flavour, might not be the best
chocolate in this application, which demands a bolder and more assertive
chocolate. I'd probably want to use something like Domori Puertomar. BTW,
Domori's Porcelana is also considerably better than Amedei's version. I
used it to make an icing for a chocolate cake - where it was the perfect
choice.

That's not to say you can't get good results with quality chocolate that
isn't necessarily at the top of the snob-appeal scale - e.g. Ghirardelli,
Callebaut, etc., but it's virtually impossible to get good results with
chocolate that's genuinely *bad*, e.g. Baker's, Hershey's milk chocolate,
etc.


--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

I went to the chocosphere site and I'm interested in buying
some chocolate there and I'd like to know if the Guittard High
Sierra White would be good for a colored coating for truffles.
And what about the Guittard's Classic "Oban" Cocoa Liquor
(Unsweetened Chocolate) Wafers? Is that good chocolate?
I can buy both these chocolates in bulk for around $5 a pound,
which I think is a fairly reasonable price if it's good chocolate.
Thank you, Michael