In the confectionery industry, one of the main semi-finished products is chocolate icing. Traditionally, cocoa butter has been used in the manufacture of this component. This component is not cheap, and its characteristics are very finicky. In recent years, they began to use a substitute for cocoa butter of non-alurine and lauric types. In the media, we are increasingly observing a debate about whether this product is useful or harmful. Supporters and opponents of substitutes argue. We will examine in more detail in this matter.
Confectionery glaze
Not a single confectionery factory can do without glaze production. It is used in almost all products - in various pastries, in the production of ice cream, glazed curds, sweets, cakes and many other types of sweets. So popular glaze make some characteristics:
- Flavoring. Thanks to glaze processing, the product becomes much tastier, sweeter.
- Nutritious. Sweets get extra nutritional value.
- Processing with confectionery glaze increases the shelf life of the product. Protects sweets, rolls, cookies from drying out.
Classical glaze is obtained by mixing several ingredients, this includes: cocoa butter or cocoa butter substitute, sugar, emulsifiers, dry dairy products, flavorings. Manufacturers offer bakers and confectioners a large assortment of this semi-finished product: pure glaze, with various additives, interspersed, with nuts, raisins, standard dark brown glaze or various shades and colors.
Types of fat
The use of pure cocoa butter in the production of chocolate glaze is too expensive a pleasure. Such an expensive type of raw materials is used only by large confectionery factories. Most medium and small enterprises replace cocoa butter in the confectionery with identical - more affordable and cheaper - ingredients: substitutes, improvers. This allows you to maintain competitiveness in the production of products, keep prices, make them the most affordable for consumers. Enough for the development of glaze fats in the Russian market. The entire range is divided into main groups:
- Confectionery fats.
- Tempered Cocoa Butter Substitutes.
- Non-tempered cocoa butter substitutes - lauric and non-lauric.
The quality of fat used in the production of glaze affects the nutritional value and taste indicators of the final product.
Tempered Substitutes
The modern food industry uses pralines, wafer fillings, chocolate-nut pastes, candy fillings, various plastic and cream fats in the production of masses. Cocoa butter substitutes are increasingly being used to produce glazes.
Temperamental substitutes are made using palm oil, lard oil, shea butter, as well as other exotic species that Rospotrebnadzor are allowed to use in our food industry. This raw material is used for the production of high-quality chocolate glaze, in the manufacture of baking, waffle cakes, sweets (for casting cases or for glazing). Various figures are cast from chocolate glaze, chocolate bars are made. Tempering substitutes have physicochemical parameters that are closest to the properties of cocoa butter itself. Their similarities are maximum.
Benefits
Tempered cocoa butter substitute has a number of positive qualities that can be attributed to the advantages of this product:
1. It has excellent taste indices. The complete absence of a taste of wax in the mouth.
2. A low content of polyunsaturated acids, which provides high resistance to oxidation. Thanks to this, the products have a long shelf life.
3. Glazed products have good hardness and gloss. In terms of organoleptic characteristics, such products are very similar to those that are coated with natural glaze, where natural cocoa butter is taken as the basis.
4. In hot weather conditions, glaze based on tempered substitutes has good resistance to high temperature. This gives the advantage of the product over that which is coated with icing based on cocoa butter.
Non-tempered cocoa butter equivalents
Non-lauric substitute for cocoa butter is made on the basis of rapeseed oil, sunflower, soybean and palm. The composition of such equivalents is similar to cocoa butter, they can be mixed. It is permissible to use various combinations with other vegetable oil, cocoa powder or milk powder. Non-lauric substitutes are used for glazing wafers, cakes, rolls, marmalade, cookies, marshmallows, for casting tiles, figures. The advantage of glaze - freezes quickly, does not require tempering.
Non-tempered cocoa butter substitute of lauric type has the following characteristics:
- It does not require tempering.
- Mass fraction of fat is not less than 99%.
- It is made from modified vegetable oil.
- The content of the mass fraction of lauric acids is 40% with or without various food additives and other ingredients
It is used for glazing curds, ice cream, cakes, rolls and other confectionery products, chocolate bars. The use of cocoa butter substitutes makes it possible to reduce the cost of production.
Lauric fats
Lauric substitute for cocoa butter is used to completely replace the natural product in the manufacture of the mixture with a fat content of up to 12%. The raw materials for this species are palm kernel, coconut and other oils with certain characteristics. Lauric fat cannot be combined with natural cocoa butter. Combination is only possible with powder.
Lauric substitutes for cocoa butter are used in the manufacture of pastry tiles, hollow chocolate figures, the manufacture of super strong glaze for ice cream, cakes, marmalade, marshmallows and curd cheeses.
Benefits
Lauric cocoa butter substitutes have a number of advantages; they are ideal for making hard glazes that have a luxurious sheen. Glazed products have a hard, but very fragile surface, which, once in the mouth, melts instantly and leaves a pleasant taste. Products are easily separated from the form, look very aesthetically pleasing, their surface is smooth, shiny. Glaze melts very easily and then hardens quickly. Glazed products have extended shelf life and resistance to graying (due to oxidation resistance). The tempering stage is excluded. Lauric glazes are very economical in financial terms.
disadvantages
The disadvantages of the product include the possibility of a soapy taste. This can be avoided by observing the following conditions:
- control of microbiological indicators of raw materials, as well as humidity;
- it is necessary to introduce antioxidants into the composition of semi-finished products;
- Do not glaze confectionery, candy shells with high humidity;
- maintain a certain air humidity in the confectionery shop.
When using various types of glaze (lauric and non-lauric fats), equipment must be thoroughly cleaned. Mixing the components can lead to dilution of the semi-finished product, in the future it does not solidify well.
Cocoa butter substitute: harm
After the widespread use of cocoa butter substitutes, many researchers and consumers began to leave the most controversial product reviews. The content of palm and coconut oils in almost all confectionery products causes consumer concern. Are they so safe for the body, according to manufacturers?
Those who carefully monitor the diet, their health status, have long abandoned products containing palm oil, and explain this by their harmful effects on the body. Cocoa butter in its composition has stearic, oleic, palmitic, archaic acids. High calorie foods lead to obesity. In the body, salt deposition begins, then diseases of the genitourinary system appear.
Palm oil is used to produce lauric cocoa butter substitute. Its harm is due to the presence of saturated fats in the composition. Their frequent use causes diseases of the heart and blood vessels, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and obesity. Palm oil is not completely excreted, it accumulates in the body in the form of toxins. Plastic sticky mass covers areas of the intestine, the lumen of blood vessels, is deposited on other organs. Palm oil prevents some vital trace elements, such as calcium, from being absorbed. Enormous harm is done to the health of the child. Smart parents choose a formula for feeding, where in the composition there is no palm oil. It is also an amplifier of taste, and this is highly not recommended for the body. Palm oil - and this has been proven by scientists - is the strongest carcinogen. Refractory substances retain the product for a long time, but do not have the ability to melt in our body. Take care of your health and always read the product composition on the label.