The big question of the year: Is it OK to grab a bar of chocolate off the store shelf or is it better to make it at home? In this edition, we get into the unique contrasts between homemade chocolate, like that created with CocoTerra, and the chocolate available at your local market. We hope this information will help you decide if a home chocolate machine is right for you.
Homemade vs store bought chocolate
Deciding between making your own chocolate at home or picking up a bar from the store is like choosing your own chocolate adventure. It really comes down to what you like, how much time you want to spend, and whether you’re after a personalized touch. Let’s be honest – it’s much easier buying chocolate at your local convenience store. There are usually lots of options, flavors, and brands; your choices are many. However, the feeling of making your own chocolate and knowing exactly what you are eating is unbeatable. With CocoTerra you can create your chocolate without any artificial flavors, preservatives and chemicals you can’t pronounce.
Pros of homemade chocolate
Flavor & Ingredient Control:
Creating your own chocolate using the CocoTerra machine gives you the power to control and adjust various aspects of chocolate-making. Whether you’re looking for chocolate with your preferred flavors, delivers a melt-in-your-mouth texture, offers a specific intensity, aligns with dietary restrictions, or meets specific allergen requirements, the CocoTerra machine brings a level of chocolate personalization and customization that was previously unavailable to the consumer market.
Health:
When making chocolate at home with CocoTera, you have the power to select every ingredient. Unlike store-bought chocolate, where you can’t regulate the amount of sugar, fat, or flavorings, homemade chocolate allows you to avoid unpronounceable chemicals and additives. Taking control of the ingredients ensures a healthier diet and a purer chocolate experience customized to your preferences. Homemade chocolate empowers you to prioritize natural, high-quality ingredients, enhancing both the flavor and nutritional value of your chocolate treat.
Freshness:
Making your chocolate from scratch with CocoTerra, ensures immediate freshness, reaching the peak of flavor. The process preserves vibrant notes that may diminish over time in store-bought alternatives. Also, fresher is better. Most people don’t realize that the texture of fresh chocolate is like nothing you can buy in the store.
Uniqueness and Creativity:
Homemade chocolate allows for boundless creativity. Experimenting with unique flavor combinations, varying cocoa percentages, and personalizing the texture are all in your control. CocoTerra empowers you to be the chocolatier, crafting chocolate that executes on your creative vision.
Values:
Choosing to make chocolate at home with CocoTerra is an eco-friendly choice. You select the ingredients and control your sourcing, with options for fair trade, ethically harvested, traceable and sustainably grown ingredients. This conscious decision to abide by specific ethics is not always evident in the supply chain of mass-produced, store-bought chocolate.
Cost Considerations:
While investing in a tabletop chocolate machine involves an initial cost, we believe that the long-term savings and the joy of creating your chocolate outweighs the convenience of buying at the store. While CocoTerra can’t compete with cheap, drug-store chocolate, it is less expensive to make premium chocolate at home than to buy it at the store.
Fun:
Create memories that last forever. It’s an experience to share with your kids, family, and loved ones. While sharing a store-bought chocolate bar lasts only a few minutes (and let’s be honest, who wants to share?), creating your chocolate with CocoTerra provides a unique and memorable bonding experience.
Advantages of store-bought chocolate
While crafting your own chocolate provides a personal touch, store-bought chocolate has its own perks, offering convenience and accessibility.
Variety:
Depending on where you live, buying chocolate from the store can open up a world of possibilities, with a variety of options and brands from which to choose. Whether you’re a fan of classic milk chocolate, indulgent dark chocolate, or unique flavor blends, the shelves may offer choices for every taste. If your local shop doesn’t carry a large variety of quality chocolate, shopping online can be another option (note that there may be some shipping limitations during summer months).
Convenience and Accessibility:
Store-bought chocolate’s main advantage is convenience. It’s easily found in supermarkets, convenience stores, and specialty shops, providing a swift and accessible solution for your chocolate cravings. This convenience becomes especially handy when you’re in need of chocolate on short notice.
Packaging and Presentation:
Store-bought chocolates often come in attractive packaging. The presentation and various packaging options enhance the charm of these chocolates, offering a delightful experience beyond their taste. Additionally, the packaging is designed to protect the chocolate, ensuring it has a long shelf life.
Consistency in Taste:
Commercial chocolate brands aim for a consistent taste in their products, providing the same flavor profile with each purchase. This predictability is attractive if the preference is a standard chocolate experience.
Affordability:
Store-bought chocolate, especially mass-produced brands, is typically more affordable than craft chocolate or the cost of premium ingredients used for homemade chocolate. If you’re seeking a budget-friendly chocolate treat, store-bought, mass-market options are most cost-effective.
Globally Accessible Brands:
Store-bought chocolates frequently feature globally renowned brands, providing consumers the chance to enjoy the same chocolate no matter where they are around the world. This global accessibility broadens the chocolate consumption to an international consumer market.
Time-Saving:
For those with a busy lifestyle or limited time for culinary pursuits, store-bought chocolate offers a time-saving solution. There’s no need to invest time in sourcing ingredients and crafting chocolate from scratch; it’s a grab-and-go treat.
Quality comparison: Homemade vs store bought
When you think about the quality and ingredients of homemade chocolate compared to store-bought ones, there are a couple things that make a significant impact. Making chocolate at home lets you pick high-quality, organic, and ethically sourced starting ingredients. You can try different cocoa beans, sweeteners, and flavors to make the chocolate just how you like it. Homemade recipes usually don’t use chemical additives, preservatives, or stabilizers. Like some small-batch chocolate makers, homemade chocolate is purer chocolate.
We hope we’ve provided plenty of reasons to think about making your own chocolate at home. CocoTerra makes home chocolate-making simple for chocoholics, kitchen enthusiasts, foodies, professionals, experimenters, and even cacao farmers – basically, anyone that wants to make chocolate at home or in small quantities. Even if you know nothing about making chocolate, you can be successful with CocoTerra right from the start. CocoTerra will guide you through the chocolate-making experience, and as your knowledge grows, our machine also lets you control and adjust many of the chocolate-making settings, like an experienced user or professional would. It’s time to… Make chocolate!
For more great articles and recipes, check out the rest of our CocoTerra blog.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us through our social media channels. We are @cocoterra_co on Instagram and Pinterest and @cocoterraco on X (aka Twitter) and Facebook.
