8 ways to check the quality of chocolate at home

A sausage without meat and a chocolate bar without a gram of cocoa is far from a myth, but a reality. You can check the quality of chocolate in several ways. This does not require laboratories, expensive instruments and complex tests.

Quality chocolate and substitute

Real chocolate is a symbol of pleasure and luxury. In the original, it is prepared from chocolate tree seeds (cocoa beans), cocoa butter and sugar. The product turns out incredibly tasty and healthy. It is rich in vitamins, antioxidants, magnesium, phosphorus and iron. Natural chocolate reduces the risk of stroke and is good for blood vessels, heart and vision. It gives vigor and quickly lifts your mood. It also slows down the aging process.

Another thing is a substitute. Due to the high cost of raw materials, chocolate bars are increasingly made from vegetable oil (mainly palm oil), various flavors, cocoa shells, and flavor enhancers. Sometimes there is not a single gram of cocoa in the composition. This product contains a large amount of trans fats, leads to rapid weight gain and generally has a negative impact on health.

Expensive does not mean high quality

Natural chocolate cannot be cheap. As already mentioned, it is made from cocoa beans. Moreover, for high-quality chocolate they use not powder, but grated cocoa and bean butter. The raw materials are very expensive. And if you add the costs of production, advertising, etc....

We can definitely say: everything that is sold at a price below 55 rubles per 100 g is a fake.

But! A high price is not a guarantee of quality. Many manufacturers unreasonably overestimate it. Therefore, focusing on the price tag alone would be a huge mistake.

Attention to packaging

Unfortunately, it is impossible to test a chocolate bar in a store. One way or another, you will have to buy it first.

Pay attention to the information:

• Compound. Natural, high-quality chocolate contains a minimum of ingredients: grated cocoa beans, cocoa butter, sugar. In milk chocolate, you can additionally find powdered milk. There should be no vegetable fats or palm oil in the composition.
  
• Shelf life. The natural product is stored for 6–8 months, a maximum of a year. The substitute often has a shelf life of 14–24 months.
  

Ingredients such as cocoa powder and lecithin can often be found in chocolate bars. They degrade the quality of the product.

For reference: cocoa powder is obtained not from the cocoa beans themselves, but from the cake that remains after pressing the oil. Soy lecithin is an emulsifier. It helps bind the ingredients. In other words, it makes the chocolate mass homogeneous.

Lecithin and cocoa powder themselves are considered harmless. But you need to understand that the higher their content, the less natural and high-quality chocolate. And if vegetable oil is also added... It’s better to leave such a bar on the store shelf.

Testing chocolate

It is impossible to determine the exact composition of purchased chocolate at home. But we don't need this. An outright fake has completely different properties than the original.

8 ways to check tiles for naturalness:

1. Open the package and inspect the surface. The chocolate should be glossy and cast glare.
   
2. Break off a piece. What sound do you hear? If it is loud and ringing, then the product is natural. If it's deaf and quiet, it's a fake.
3. Note the scrapping. The inside is real matte chocolate.
   
4. Squeeze it in your palms. The melting point of cocoa butter is lower than body temperature. If the chocolate has not started to melt within 6 seconds, there is reason to be wary.
   
5. Try bending it. Natural chocolate will break and melt. The vegetable fat substitute behaves like plasticine. You can even roll it into a ball or make a figure.
6. Drown in milk. With a high solids content, the product floats. This indicates low quality. Natural chocolate drowns in milk.
   
7. Freeze it. Place the bar in the freezer for 2 hours. If the chocolate is of high quality, white spots will appear on its surface - cocoa butter will appear.
8. Let's try. Natural chocolate melts in the mouth, does not stick to the teeth, and does not have a “rubbery” taste. When you try it, you get pure pleasure and feel a surge of energy. It also cleans your tongue quickly.

The chocolate smell alone makes you forget about your worries and takes your thoughts somewhere far away. Chocolate is included in the special rations of pilots, astronauts, climbers, and military personnel. But not all chocolate is healthy, only natural chocolate made from cocoa beans. To choose a quality product, pay attention to the cost and composition, and when you get home, check the chocolate bar for naturalness using simple tests.