Re: Unmeltable Chocolate: Fact or Fiction?

	Unmeltable chocolate is a fact!
  	There are ways to make a heat resistant (tropicalized or non-waxy 
no-melt chocolate) chocolate.  Some of the ways I can think of are by 
increasing the melting point of the fat used (the cocoa butter), using a 
cocoa butter substitute (a different, higher melting fat or a specially 
designed "structured lipid"), or by using some other high melting point 
additive.  
	There are chocolate coatings available that melt at different 
temperature ranges.  These are not real chocolate, but do taste 
chocolatey.  They range from low melting coatings in products like Magic 
Shell (that oily stuff that is liquid at room temperature, but freezes to 
a hard shell on your ice cream) to high melting coatings used on small 
chocolate candies, keeping them from melting on your fingers.  
	The chocolate bar you probably heard about in the media was the 
Desert Bar, made by Hershey's for the soldiers in Operation Desert Shield 
in December 1990.  It was a chocolate bar designed to withstand heat up to 
140°F (although I have found other references that state as high as 150°
F).   I've heard that the bar was made with some type of egg white powder 
additive, but I am not sure about this.  (The formulation is most likely 
proprietary information within Hershey's.)  The soldiers were a test 
market for the bar.  An Army spokesperson said the chocolate candy was 
good, but I beg to differ.  The Hershey's Desert bar was discontinued in 
1991.  This is probably because your body is around 98.6 degrees and the 
bar wouldn't melt in your mouth.  Mmmm... there's nothing like chewing on 
a bar of crunchy chocolate flavored stuff that doesn't melt.  Yuck!  
	People like natural chocolate because of its mouthfeel - the way 
it feels on the tongue and within the mouth.  Real chocolate melts in a 
range that is right around the temperature of the mouth, giving it the 
desirable smooth texture and slow release of flavor.  While a heat 
resistant chocolate has its benefits, I'll stick to licking that 
delicious, chocolatey goo off of my fingers in the summer.  

I hope that answers your question.  

Laura Lebak
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Wisconsin Food Science
1605 Linden Dr. 
Madison, WI 53706
email: lllebak@students.wisc.edu 
Laura's Page