A Pinch of Saturated Fat Could Make Tempering Chocolate a Breeze

 

Kai Bodell                                                                                                                                11/1/21

Ippolito 9H                                                                                                                 Current Event 6

 

Ogasa, Nikk. “A Pinch of Saturated Fat Could Make Tempering Chocolate a Breeze.” Science News, 2 Sept. 2021, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/chocolate-tempering-saturated-fat-phospholipid-chemistry

 

            In the article, “A Pinch of Saturated Fat Could Make Tempering Chocolate a Breeze.” written by Nikk Ogasa, the food chemist Alejandro Marangoni made a useful disorvery; the simplification of the tempering process. Marangoni explains that adding “a small pinch of fatty molecule” a.k.a phospholipids can shorten the tempering process drastically. Marangoni was focus on seeing this change on a molecular level, so he focused on the ingredient that gives this chocolate its texture- cocoa butter. Step by step Marangoni goes through the process of his finding. First he added just a pinch of phospholipids to the cocoa butter. “Schieving a weight concentration of 0.1 percent of the chocolate’s total — the mixture rapidly crystallized into the elusive, melt-in-the-mouth texture. The process required a single cooling to 20˚ Celsius rather than multiple heating and cooling cycles as tempering typically demands” (Ogasa). Next the scientists “increased the phospholipid weight concentration in melted dark chocolate by an extra 0.1 percent…”(Ogasa); this effortlessly created high-quality textured chocolate. This new discovery can change the way chocolatier’s view their businesses. It not only saves time, but also resources; limiting the “complications and expenses associated with tempering machines.” 

            This discovery cuts the time it would normally take to temper chocolate in half; going from 20 minutes to less then 10. Small business would benefit from this because it would cut out the “complications and expenses associated with tempering machines.” Companies would save so much time as well as resources, and overall they will profit from this new finding. It also benefits home cookesr who don’t have the time to do fancy chocolate experiments. Instead they would be able to efficiently produce tempered chocolate with ease.

            This article was written very well; captivating and consise are the best ways to describe it. I was hooked from the minutes I started to read the page, and from then on I was not disappointed in what I read. The articles starts off by giving backghound knowledge, which is very helpful for the reader given I knew nothing about the topic. Next the author formats the information into a step-by-step process. This allows the reader to create a visual image of what this process would look like. And it’s finished off by providing its affects on our current society. I have to say there are not many weaknesses that can be found in this piece of writing, though there is always room for improvement. Because the article was short in length, there could have been more quotes from Marangoni directly. This would have given the reader a better first hand understanding of the step-by-stpe process at which the tempering is done. Secondly, the author could have went more in depth with how this discovery is used to benefit current industrys. Some ways to make these improvements are by providing more quotes and giving more examples of industries that benefited from this finding. But as I already mentioned, this articles was very concise and well-written, and I hope to see more writing like it soon.