Has anyone cooked with Paraffin Wax?

[golfgal]

I always thought the wax was there to harden the chocolate.

 

[Imzadi]

Wax is indigestible. It just passes through the body. So, on the one hand, it probably doesn't matter how old the wax is.

On the other hand, EWWWW! I would not put wax, unnecessarily into food. I try to scrape of off the waxy coating on apples before I eat them.

Also, that arguement that it is necessary to harden chocolate is incorrect. According to the Food Network, if you temper chocolate to the right temperature with a cooking thermometer, it should reharden again, and without a white powdery bloom to it.

If you use chocolate chips, which are made to be very hard in it's natural state and again after melting, I don't see why you'd need wax. Most "barks" which are essentially big hard bricks of chocolate do the same thing.

 

[mum4jenn]

Wax is indigestible. It just passes through the body. So, on the one hand, it probably doesn't matter how old the wax is.

On the other hand, EWWWW! I would not put wax, unnecessarily into food. I try to scrape of off the waxy coating on apples before I eat them.

Also, that arguement that it is necessary to harden chocolate is incorrect. According to the Food Network, if you temper chocolate to the right temperature with a cooking thermometer, it should reharden again, and without a white powdery bloom to it.

If you use chocolate chips, which are made to be very hard in it's natural state and again after melting, I don't see why you'd need wax. Most "barks" which are essentially big hard bricks of chocolate do the same thing.

The wax is not to make it harden. The wax is to give it a sheen on the surface.

If anyone ever watches the "Unwrapped" series in Food Network they will show whe they make jelly beans, Mike and Ike, etc that they all put this wax in there and that is the reason...to make them shiny. Malted Milk Balls also have this shine. Some candy companies use it also. I can think of Raisinettes are shiny too. Seems like M& Ms and other like candy use it also...although they might use a different name.

 

[Imzadi]

Some candy companies use it also. I can think of Raisinettes are shiny too. Seems like M& Ms and other like candy use it also...although they might use a different name.

I'm the one that said, EWWW. After all this talk of chocolate, I went and scarfed down a Milky Way bar. I didn't bother reading the ingredients. Frankly, I don't want to know what's in the nougat.