chocolate

[cbo111]

I'm sorry if this offends any of you, but I just gotta say that a carob absolutely is not a substitute for chocolate! Period....end of discussion!
chuck

 

[HFWR]

Right up there with decaf and near-beer...

 

[braumeister]

Along the lines of a favorite saying among craft beer drinkers:

Bud Light is to beer as Velveeta is to cheese.

 

[aja8888]

I've never had any, unless I didn't know....but:

1 ounce of carob powder has about 100 calories, which is about 1/4 cup in measure. This amount has about 10 grams of fiber and .18 grams (virtually none) of fat. It also contains B vitamins, magnesium, iron, manganese, chromium, and copper. It takes 2 medium/large dry carob pods to make 1 ounce in weight.

It's actually health food!

 

[Marita40]

I tried it in my hippy dippy days; terrible stuff. Right up there with powdered milk and tofu in my book.

Chocolate is my downfall. I have been trying to move to dark chocolate for its health benefits (truly, it has some) but can't give up milk chocolate.

 

[LauAnn]

I LOVE chocolate! Cookies, cake, candy bars, pudding, sponge candy, oreos, donuts, frosting, ice cream, milk shakes -- all are best with chocolate.

 

[cbo111]

I tried it in my hippy dippy days; terrible stuff. Right up there with powdered milk and tofu in my book.

Chocolate is my downfall. I have been trying to move to dark chocolate for its health benefits (truly, it has some) but can't give up milk chocolate.

Marita, I recommend buying a Trader Joe's three-pack of both dark and milk chocolate bars (made in Belgium). Take a bite of dark and milk choc at the same time. Very nice. And cheap for good quality choco, something like $1.89 for a three-pack. They devilishly place them conveniently at the check-out counter display!
Chuck

 

[travelover]

Marita, I recommend buying a Trader Joe's three-pack of both dark and milk chocolate bars (made in Belgium). Take a bite of dark and milk choc at the same time. Very nice. And cheap for good quality choco, something like $1.89 for a three-pack. They devilishly place them conveniently at the check-out counter display!
Chuck

+1 I buy all my chocolate at TJ. Good quality and at a good price.

 

[W2R]

I love chocolate. Carob just doesn't do it for me, either.

Heaven forbid, but if I ever learn that I am dying, I'll run right out and buy 10 pounds of the very best dark chocolate I can find. Then I'll eat every bit of it and go buy more. I especially love Belgian chocolate.


Barring such dire circumstances, I have to avoid it whenever possible in order to avoid weight gain.

 

[tmm99]

Marita, I recommend buying a Trader Joe's three-pack of both dark and milk chocolate bars (made in Belgium). Take a bite of dark and milk choc at the same time. Very nice. And cheap for good quality choco, something like $1.89 for a three-pack. They devilishly place them conveniently at the check-out counter display!
Chuck

Why get that when you can get the TJ's pounder for $5? Portability?

 

[Gumby]

This is the very best chocolate in the world.

https://www.tazachocolate.com/

 

[Another Reader]

Why get that when you can get the TJ's pounder for $5? Portability?

You buy the smaller bars to convince yourself you are only going to eat a little bit of it. When the checker recognizes you on your third trip to TJ's in a week, you give in and buy the large $5.00 bar.

 

[tmm99]

You buy the smaller bars to convince yourself you are only going to eat a little bit of it. When the checker recognizes you on your third trip to TJ's in a week, you give in and buy the large $5.00 bar.

LOL! Too funny!

 

[Amethyst]

Carob has its own interesting flavor, and I wouldn't throw away a carob cookie that somebody gave me. But I'd never confuse it with a chocolate cookie.

Pretending that carob can stand in for chocolate is like calling vegan cheese [made from nuts; tastes OK on crackers] "cheese." Why not just call it what it is, and eat it for its own flavor.

I'm sorry if this offends any of you, but I just gotta say that a carob absolutely is not a substitute for chocolate! Period....end of discussion!
chuck

 

[DrRoy]

+1 Milk chocolate barely makes it for me. Dark all the way baby! For the best dark truffle I have ever found, try Holl's from Vienna WV, Holls.com

 

[txtig]

Dark all the way baby!

+1. Nibbling on some intensely dark chocolate while sipping my Maker's Mark. Yum.

 

[REWahoo]

I'm on a daily dose of "chocolate" for the next four years - unless I'm getting the placebo...

COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS)

COSMOS is a new clinical trial that will include 18,000 men and women across the country, and will investigate the long-term effects of a cocoa extract and a multivitamin on cardiovascular disease and cancer.

 

[scrinch]

I've been making chocolate for the past few years. I buy the beans on my trips to various islands, and then roast, hull, and grind them at home. I broke down and bought a mechanized stone grinder about a year ago, as it's a lot of work to grind chocolate and sugar by hand (literally rubbing stones together). So I've experimented with a lot of different recipes, and gotten a lot of feedback from family, friends, co-workers, and my tennis group. The bottom line is that everyone has their own tastes in chocolate. Everyone seems to appreciate chocolate that's made with just the "real" ingredients (cacao, sugar, milk solids), but there are those that like the bitter, tongue-smacking 80% extra-dark, and there are those that like the smoother, sweeter 50% milk chocolate. And everything in between. I've just had to get used to comments like "This is good, but why don't you make more like the one last month." Every time I take a batch to work, somebody says that to me. Regardless of the recipe, someone always likes some other type of chocolate better!

Me, I like something like a 55-60% milk chocolate best...still pretty deep, slightly bitter taste, but with the flavor smoothed out a little by the milk solids.

 

[tmm99]

I've been making chocolate for the past few years. I buy the beans on my trips to various islands, and then roast, hull, and grind them at home. I broke down and bought a mechanized stone grinder about a year ago, as it's a lot of work to grind chocolate and sugar by hand (literally rubbing stones together). So I've experimented with a lot of different recipes, and gotten a lot of feedback from family, friends, co-workers, and my tennis group. The bottom line is that everyone has their own tastes in chocolate. Everyone seems to appreciate chocolate that's made with just the "real" ingredients (cacao, sugar, milk solids), but there are those that like the bitter, tongue-smacking 80% extra-dark, and there are those that like the smoother, sweeter 50% milk chocolate. And everything in between. I've just had to get used to comments like "This is good, but why don't you make more like the one last month." Every time I take a batch to work, somebody says that to me. Regardless of the recipe, someone always likes some other type of chocolate better!

Me, I like something like a 55-60% milk chocolate best...still pretty deep, slightly bitter taste, but with the flavor smoothed out a little by the milk solids.

Wow, that is cool!!

 

[tmm99]

I agree that everyone has their favorite chocolate.

I love chocolate - I always have, and I eat a little bit almost every day. I used to be a TJ bitter chocolate (72%) person (cheap and good), but now that I live in Canada (no TJ's here), I eat 72% tiny little chocolate bars in a huge bag (1300g) by Swiss Delice that's sold at Costco, and this definitely tastes better than TJ's. Some bitter chocolate has a strong burned taste to it, but this has just the right amount (more bitter than burned - the way it should be) and it is so smooth.

Really cheap chocolate (which can be sold for a high price sometimes) to me tastes like crayons. I don't know how I know the *taste* of crayons - Maybe from my younger days? It tastes so bad to me that I refuse to swallow it (I have to spit it out.)

The best chocolate, bar none, to me, is Teuscher. I used to get it in downtown SF. I have to qualify myself - I've never had their chocolate bars - I just like one thing there - dark champagne truffles. If you ever go there or find the store elsewhere or order oneline, I recommend you try their dark champagne truffle. (It cost something like $3.50 for one tiny truffle though), but it's the best ever. OK, like scrinch says, everyone has their favorite, so YMMV.

 

[scrinch]

Really cheap chocolate (which can be sold for a high price sometimes) to me tastes like crayons. I don't know how I know the *taste* of crayons - Maybe from my younger days? It tastes so bad to me that I refuse to swallow it.

That is low cacao, high fat chocolate. Often a fat is used other than cocoa butter. The flavor is all in the beans, and so is the cost. High fat, waxy textured chocolate is low in flavor because it has a low proportion of beans.

Some like that slightly burnt flavor, some don't. That flavor is mostly determined in how the beans are roasted.

 

[tmm99]

That is low cacao, high fat chocolate. Often a fat is used other than cocoa butter. The flavor is all in the beans, and so is the cost. High fat, waxy textured chocolate is low in flavor because it has a low proportion of beans.

Some like that slightly burnt flavor, some don't. That flavor is mostly determined in how the beans are roasted.

Really! I don't know why that makes it taste like crayons though...? You know those cheap truffles they sell in bulk in a box at Costco and other places that contain a lot of palm oil or coconut oil? They actually taste very good to me, but stuff like Russel Stovers and those Hawaiian macademia nut chocolate clusters? They are just so disgusting (crayon flavor) - they are a bit waxy as you mention. Maybe they use the same fat crayons are made of...

 

[tmm99]

Really! I don't know why that makes it taste like crayons though...? You know those cheap truffles they sell in bulk in a box at Costco and other places that contain a lot of palm oil or coconut oil? They actually taste very good to me, but stuff like Russel Stovers and those Hawaiian macademia nut chocolate clusters? They are just so disgusting (crayon flavor) - they are a bit waxy as you mention. Maybe they use the same fat crayons are made of...

I just looked it up - crayons contain paraffin wax! I just looked up copycat Russel Stover's recipes and they listed paraffin wax!!! How about that. (At least I wasn't crazy )

 

[cbo111]

I go through periods of chronic addiction to Sees Candy. Those of you in the western states know about Sees. Made in two factories (LA and SF I believe), their truffles are amazing. You might be able to order their choco from other states now via the internet. I've been a fan for 50+ years and their quality has not changed.

 

[MRG]

I just looked it up - crayons contain paraffin wax! I just looked up copycat Russel Stover's recipes and they listed paraffin wax!!! How about that. (At least I wasn't crazy )

Only crazy folk enjoy Russel Stover's.