Types of Chocolates part 1

How to differentiate among chocolate types?

Chocolate types are largely determined by two elements, which are the percentage of cocoa butter and cocoa solids in the chocolate liquor.

Basically there are eight main types of chocolates. They are: unsweetened chocolate, sweet chocolate, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, couverture chocolate and gianduja chocolate.

Dark chocolates

picture from chocolate-world.net

It is also known as plain chocolates because they don’t contain any milk solids. It contains high amount of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and other ingredients. The cocoa content of commercial dark chocolate bars can range from 30% (sweet dark) to 70- 80% for extremely dark bars. Chocolates such as bittersweet, semi-sweet chocolates etc fall into this category.

Semi-sweet chocolate: This is primarily an American term, popularized by Nestle Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips. Semi-sweet chocolate contains at least 35% cocoa solids, and is generally assumed to be darker than sweet dark chocolate, but sweeter than bittersweet.

picture from chocolate-world.net

picture from chocolat.com

Bittersweet chocolate:It is defined by the FDA, that has the same percentage of cocoa solids with semi-sweet chocolate. Most bittersweet bars contain at least 50% chocolate liquor, with some bars pushing 70-80% chocolate liquor. This chocolate often has a deeper, more bitter flavor than sweet dark or semi-sweet bars.
It is said that semi-sweet chocolate is actually refer to bittersweet chocolate. Both of them come from the same group which is the dark chocolate, but is just that in America, dark chocolate refers to Semi-sweet chocolate while in Europe dark chocolate refers to Bittersweet chocolate. In deed the two types of chocolate are able to use interchangeably.

picture from lolcandy.com

Sweet dark chocolate: It is the dark chocolate that contains high percentage of sugar and is much sweeter than other types of dark chocolate. Many brands of sweet dark chocolate have only 20-40% cocoa solids.

What can dark chocolates do?

 This type of chocolate is most commonly used for cooking purposes. It is used for baking cakes, brownies and cookies. They are very beneficial for the health as it helps in lowering the blood pressure.



References:
1. Different Types of Chocolates and Their Uses. (2010, January 8). Retrieved April 30, 2011, from top54u.com: http://health.top54u.com/post/Types-of-Chocolates.aspx

2. LaBau, E. (2011). A Guide to Chocolate Varieties. Retrieved April 30, 2011, from about.com: http://candy.about.com/od/candybasics/a/chocguide.htm

3. McSweeney, L. W. (2003, April 18). Chocolate Simplified. Retrieved April 30, 2011, from suite101.com: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/cooking_basics/99847

4. Types of Chocolate. (2010). Retrieved April 30, 2011, from facts-about-chocolate.com: http://www.facts-about-chocolate.com/types-of-chocolate.html