Tempering triglycerides by mechanical working

Abstract

Abstract The tempering of fat products to convert their components to stable polymorphs is an important and a sometimes troublesome problem in the manufacture of these products, particularly chocolate and chocolate‐type confections. It has been found that a solid‐to‐solid transformation to the stable polymorphs can be effected by mechanical working consisting of extrusion under pressure. With a fat of relatively few components, such as cocoa butter, evidence of the transformation can be obtained from X‐ray diffraction patterns. For more complex fats, hardness and melting characteristics must be considered. There is evidence that mechanical working is also effective in the transformation of a cocoa butter‐like fat made from hydrogenated cottonseed oil and olive oil, and in the transformation of highly hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Mechanical working to effect polymorphic transformation is also effective with products containing the fats mentioned.