I buy the big blocks (5 kg) of Callebaut dark chocolate for baking. Until buying this great little tool, I used a 10" chef's knife to divide the block and chop the chocolate as necessary. For the unskilled or inexperienced, this can be dangerous and a little scary, and while it gets the job done, it feels clumsy and is none too great for the knife, either. Combined with a rubber mallet or a plastic-faced hammer, this is the right tool for this particular job. Great price for it, too.NOTE: When using on the thick blocks, the mallet is not optional; the chipper doesn't work without it.
I am a home cook, not a professional and I rarely have chunks of chocolate that weigh more than a couple of pounds. This tool permits chipping of the chocolate for melting in a manageable manner. I consider this method far safer than using the chef's knife. The chocolate flies around less, and to help capture the bits that leave the cutting board, I put a large piece of wax paper, or parchment paper under the cutting board.
The tool does not produce perfectly consistently sized pieces, like those bags of pre-made chocolate chunks for cookies, but for breaking down bulk chocolate to prepare for melting, this tool does its job.
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This is a well made product that makes life much easier for bakers. It is perfect for chopping bulk chocolate and minimizes the time it would take if you were chopping chocolate with a knife. It is very sturdy and well-built.Read Best Reviews of Mrs. Anderson's Baking Chocolate Chipper Here
Let me start with a brief explanation of my situation with this chipper: I am a home chef/confectioner that makes candy and chocolates on a fairly regular basis, and I needed something better than either store-bought chocolate chips (no cocoa butter to speak of) or $15/6 oz locally bought quality bars (only one place near me carries anything like Valrhona, Callebaut, etc and they are pricey). So I purchased a bulk bar online.This thing is the only feasible way I've thought up for dealing with the mass of bulk chocolate I purchased. It does take significantly more work to make fine chunks, but it is doable. Moreover, I don't think there is any way I could have dealt with the 12lb bar I had.
Here's my current 'chunking' flow.
-Place bar in a large rubbermaid container on a solid surface. You generate a lot of 'dust' when you do this, and it's a shame to waste good chocolate. Also it's a real pain to clean up otherwise.
-Take a hammer, place chipper near the edge, start knocking off big chunks. I usually end up with fragments that span the whole length of the chunk (~4-6 inches) by 1-2", by .5-1".
-Break these up into roughly 1"x.5"x.5" chunks. That's about as small as I can get with this thing (which for a few minutes of labor and a starting piece 2"x6"x12" isn't bad!)
-Pour the resulting chunks and dust into a HEAVY duty ziplock. double bag it.
-Place something thick and soft (piece of leather, silicon potholder, etc) over the bag, and smash it a bit.
Now, I wouldn't really recommend this to make chunks for cookies, etc. The resultant bits are so variable that it'd be hard to get anything like consistency. If you want that buy grocery store bars and hammer them because that isn't what this thing is for. This is for taking large, heavy bars of bulk chocolate and breaking it down into manageable pieces you can melt easily. And not only does it do that very well, but I can't imagine doing it without this (or something nearly identical).
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Though the metalwork will never appear in a museum of modern art, this chipper is a solid, sturdy tool that works perfectly. I've been looking for a chipper for some time, and for the price, this tool is a GREAT deal. Recommended.Save 25% Off
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