# Hot Cocoa in Airpot?



## maxs (Oct 29, 2012)

My cafe wants to do a nice hot cocoa. Is it workable to make it in the morning and hold it in an airpot or will the solids sink to the bottom?
Thanks!


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

It would help if you told us how you make it. There is a big difference between Swiss Miss and homemade


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## maxs (Oct 29, 2012)

someday said:


> It would help if you told us how you make it. There is a big difference between Swiss Miss and homemade


High quality homemade. We have no espresso machine/milk steamer.
Thanks.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

The solids will sink, no matter if it’s Swiss Miss or high-quality homemade, if it’s held for more than, say, 10 minutes.

Do an experiment and make yourself just one serving. Or think about when you were a kid sucking sown that last chocolatey-rich sludge. 

Why do you need to pre-make a batch and hold?


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## maxs (Oct 29, 2012)

brianshaw said:


> The solids will sink, no matter if it's Swiss Miss or high-quality homemade, if it's held for more than, say, 10 minutes.
> 
> Do an experiment and make yourself just one serving. Or think about when you were a kid sucking sown that last chocolatey-rich sludge.
> 
> Why do you need to pre-make a batch and hold?


We have a tiny staff and can't give more than a minute to making a cocoa or else we'll get behind. I can't find a brand of gourmet instant cocoa that's not chock full of chemicals and I can't find a recipe for a gourmet cocoa either.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

If you can't find a powdered chocolate you like, I would think you could make your own. Gourmet hot chocolate is mostly the quality of the chocolate. There are plenty of quality powdered chocolates. Some sugar and perhaps powdered milk/dairy. A bit of experimenting with amounts should provide a good recipe. If you don't want to use powdered milk you might try keeping the milk hot in an airpot and just add it to the chocolate mix to order.


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## maxs (Oct 29, 2012)

chefwriter said:


> If you can't find a powdered chocolate you like, I would think you could make your own. Gourmet hot chocolate is mostly the quality of the chocolate. There are plenty of quality powdered chocolates. Some sugar and perhaps powdered milk/dairy. A bit of experimenting with amounts should provide a good recipe. If you don't want to use powdered milk you might try keeping the milk hot in an airpot and just add it to the chocolate mix to order.


Great idea about hot milk in airpot. Thanks!


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

maxs said:


> We have a tiny staff and can't give more than a minute to making a cocoa or else we'll get behind. I can't find a brand of gourmet instant cocoa that's not chock full of chemicals and I can't find a recipe for a gourmet cocoa either.


Which brands have you already investigated?


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## maxs (Oct 29, 2012)

brianshaw said:


> Which brands have you already investigated?


Godiva, ghiradelli, and others I can't remember


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

Check out Cadbury. That makes a really decent cup of hot chocolate and I think it might be a bit more "natural" than some others. Swiss Miss, for instance, uses skim milk powder and adds fat back in with palm oil. Personally, that doesn't bother me (or the multitude of people who clearly like that brand). The other stuff under "less than 2%" is for mouthfeel and is so tiny that considering it bad and unnatural may be a bit extreme.

I don't have the time to research the ingredients on those you mention. What's in them that concerns you?

frankly, though, a one-minute criteria might make much of this a challenge. Isn't 2 minutes possible… or 3?


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Even if you use high quality chocolate for hot milk chocolate,
you will still get solids settling at the bottom within minutes, no matter how well you make it.

Chocolate ( couverture) is a partial suspension of solids and fat, even the sugar isn’t dissolved because there is no moisture in chocolate for sugar to dissolve—it’s just very finely pulverized.

There are a lot of high quality pulverized chocolate powders out there, but they are expensive, and if not stored properly will clump up or melt into a blob.

So what I did for my hot chocolste was to get good quality chocolate, add it to hot cream ( or milk, if you prefer) and pour this mix into silicone molds, then freeze the resulting “pucks”. Each order got a puck dropped into a warm mug, hot milk added, and a fancy stir stick stuck in. The customer “gets” to stir the puck into a nice homogeneous beverage. If no silicone molds, you can pour the mix into a tray and cut cubes afterwards. You can add any flavourings or spices or even booze to the mix.

Hot milk in an airport is a good idea, but you have to really sanitize not only the pot but the dispensing pump and tube as well. Sour milk tastes like sour milk.....


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## fatcook (Apr 25, 2017)

You can make your own by blitzing cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt, and chocolate (we've used both dark and milk chocolate) into a fine grind which helps the chocolate melt faster - you do need to keep it from too warm a space. When one is ordered; measure the mix into the cup and add hot milk. You can also add whole milk powder to the mix and use hot water. 

To keep the mix from clumping, make weekly (you can also re-grind the mix). Once you have the ratio you like, it's a quick task.


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## maxs (Oct 29, 2012)

fatcook said:


> You can make your own by blitzing cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt, and chocolate (we've used both dark and milk chocolate) into a fine grind which helps the chocolate melt faster - you do need to keep it from too warm a space. When one is ordered; measure the mix into the cup and add hot milk. You can also add whole milk powder to the mix and use hot water.
> 
> To keep the mix from clumping, make weekly (you can also re-grind the mix). Once you have the ratio you like, it's a quick task.


Awesome. Thanks!


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## thomas fontaine (Oct 2, 2016)

What about an attractive "Hot Chocolate Dispencer" in addition to your secret recipe, the animation and speed of the service will increase sales tenfold


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## thomas fontaine (Oct 2, 2016)

How about a


maxs said:


> or will the solids sink to the bottom



shake the pot befor each use
use a infant cereal as thickening agent; or rice starch, carob flour, or locust bean gum


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Oh please don’t use starch in hot chocolate, that’s just nasty.


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