Couverture block
Couverture sold as a solid mass rather than as callets. Cheaper per kilogram, harder to melt evenly.
A product format — this describes how it is soldintermediate
What it is
Blocks are the traditional professional format: a solid mass of couverture, usually one to five kilograms. They are cheaper per kilogram than callets and considerably more awkward, because a block must be chopped before it can be melted and uneven chopping causes uneven melting and scorching.
For a working kitchen with a tempering machine the format is irrelevant. For hand tempering, callets are worth the premium.
- Category kind
- A product format — this describes how it is sold
- Legal status
- Industry convention, not a legal definition
- Also called
- chocolate block, 1kg block, chocolate slab
What the percentage means here
Whatever it means for the couverture inside.
Working with it
Chop evenly with a serrated knife before melting. Large uneven pieces are the main cause of scorching when working from a block.
Related
Commonly confused with
- Callets and pistolesThe same chocolate in two formats. Blocks are cheaper per kilo and must be chopped; callets melt evenly and can be weighed for seeding.
Can substitute for
- Chocolate wafersThe same chocolate in a different format. A block substitutes fine if it is chopped small and evenly — uneven pieces melting at different rates are the usual cause of an overheated batch.
Covered in
- Good chocolate on a budgetThe cheaper format for anyone working in volume.
Techniques that work with this
- Making chocolate curlsA temperature window a few degrees wide. Too cold and it shatters, too warm and it smears, and the bar in your hand is usually about right.
- Coating with chocolateThe economical format for volume coating work, where the extra step of chopping is trivial against the price difference.
Sources
- ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)