by Mark TarsesMilk vs. Dark Chocolate. Under U.S. law, milk chocolate is any chocolate that contains milk or milk solids, and dark chocolate is any chocolate that does not contain milk. However, many brands of dark chocolate contain some ingredients derived from milk.
Semisweet Chocolate vs. Bittersweet Chocolate. What's the difference? Under U.S. law, bittersweet chocolate contains at least 35% chocolate liquor. Semisweet chocolate can have up to 35%, so sometimes, they can be virtually identical. The quality of the chocolate you use is far more important than whether its labeled semisweet or bittersweet.
70% Chocolate. 70% chocolate had become very popular in the U.S. over the past few years, but this is a term that is widely misunderstood. The 70% refers to the total amount of cocoa-derived ingredients, by weight, in the finished product. In other words, a 70% chocolate bar weighing 10 ounces must contain 7 ounces of ingredients that came out of cocoa beans. These cocoa-derived ingredients include cocoa liquor, cocoa solids (also known as cocoa mass), and cocoa butter. However, most major chocolate manufacturers do not label the cocoa-derived ingredients by percentage, which is important. For example, if you are buying chocolate bars for eating, you would want chocolate with more cocoa solids than cocoa butter, but if you wanted to use the chocolate for couverture, you would want chocolate with more cocoa butter and less solids. The Guittard Chocolate Co. of Burlingame, California, is providing some much-needed leadership in better labeling of chocolate for use by professionals. Guittard labels its bulk chocolate by listing percentages of cocoa solids, naturally occurring cocoa butter, and the percentage of cocoa butter added during conching. This is important information for candy makers and serious bakers. (I use Guittard chocolate exclusively.)
is 70% Chocolate Better Than 60%? Not necessarily. The flavor and texture of chocolate is determined by many factors, such as : the quality of the cocoa beans, the blending, and roasting. Each of these factors is more important than the cocoa percentage. The way cocoa beans are processed up to roasting stage is very similar to the way coffee beans are processed. Poor quality coffee beans that are overroasted and ground the wrong way will produce a lousy cup of coffee, no matter how much or little cream and sugar you add. Its the same with chocolate.
White Chocolate. White chocolate is a misnomer. In the United States, in order to legally call something "chocolate", the product must contain cocoa solids. White chocolate does not contain cocoa solids, which are brown. Nobody has yet figured out a way to take the brown color out of cocoa solids. The best quality white chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla. There are many products on the market that call themselves white chocolate, but are made with vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter. White chocolate made with cocoa butter usually has to be tempered, but white chocolate made with vegetable oil usually does not.
Couverture Chocolate. "Couverture" is French for "covering". Couverture chocolate is any kind of chocolate that is designed to be used as a coating for things, like truffles. Couverture has more cocoa butter than most other chocolates, anywhere from 33% to 38% for a good quality one. Couverture can be either milk or dark.