Choosing the Best Chocolate Chip: Part 1 – Chocolate Alone
The principal ingredient in a chocolate chip cookie is the chocolate chip. For this reason, only the best chocolate chip should be used. In her online article on chocolate chip cookies, Stephanie Jaworski says, “The best way to choose what brand of chocolate chips to use in a recipe is by taste as the flavor of the chocolate does not change after baking” (2004). The various chips must be compared to determine which one is best.
Problem Statement
The purpose of this report is to determine which chocolate chip is best for both eating by itself and for chocolate chip cookies. This first part analyzes the chocolate by itself and will be followed by a comparison of the chips in cookies. Six brands of chip available at two local supermarkets were compared: Ghirardelli, Haggen (Top Foods Store Brand), Nestlé Toll House, Safeway Select, Mrs. Fields, and Baker’s Chocolate Chunks. All six brands are standard sized semi-sweet chocolate morsels. The criteria used to analyze these chips are appearance, texture, and flavor.
Methodology
The primary research consisted of a survey given to 14 convenient participants. These people were given samples of the six brands in containers marked A through F. They were asked to try the chips and rate each on a scale of increasing satisfaction from one to six as regarded appearance, flavor, and texture. They were also asked to rate the importance of each of the three criteria regarding importance as either (1) “very important”, (2) “somewhat important”, or (3) “not important”. This survey was intended to determine how each chip rated in each of the criteria and which criterion was most important. This survey is enclosed as Appendix A: Chocolate Chip Taste Test Survey and the results of the survey are included as Appendix B: Results of Taste Test.
Secondary research was used to determine how appearance, texture, and flavor are affected by differences in chip ingredients and what ingredients were used in each chip. This information came from various web sites.
Findings
The survey revealed significant differences between the six brands of chocolate chips tested. As you will see in the following results, each brand rated differently in the criteria. The average scores received by each brand in the three criteria are listed in Figure 1: Taste Test Results.
Figure 1
Taste Test Results
Appearance
When asked to rate the importance of appearance, seven people rated it “not important”. Of the rest, six rated it “somewhat important” and one rated it “very important”. The people surveyed were allowed to rate appearance in any way they wanted.
Baker’s Chocolate Chunks. The Baker’s Chocolate Chunks were the only chip that was formed in square chunks. The chips were covered in light brown scratches when taken from the package. These chips were the largest chocolate pieces. The appearance of this chip was rated 2.79 by the participants
Ghirardelli. The Ghirardelli chip was the smallest chocolate chip but was of a very uniform size. These chips had only a few scratches. The appearance of this chip was rated 4.21 by the participants.
Haggen. The Haggen chips were the least uniform in size of the chips tested. Their size was average and they were moderately scratched. The appearance of this chip was rated 3.29 by the participants.
Mrs. Fields. These chips were of average size, had good uniformity, and were moderately scratched. The appearance of this chip was rated 3.93 by the participants.
Nestlé Toll House. These chips were of average size and had very good uniformity. The chips were of solid color and there were no scratches on any of the chips. The appearance of this chip was rated 5.71 by the participants.
Safeway Select. These chips were of larger than average size and had very good uniformity. The chips were moderately scratched. The appearance of this chip was rated 4.00 by the participants.
Texture
When asked to rate the importance of texture, twelve of the fourteen people rated it “somewhat important”, one rated it “very important”, and one “not important”. Stephanie Jaworski (2004) said that the chocolate “should be smooth and velvety, not grainy or overly greasy on the palate.” Each brand tested listed soy lecithin in their ingredient list. This ingredient is added to smooth out the texture (Nariman, 2000). The survey participants were allowed to rate texture in any way they wanted.
Baker’s Chocolate Chunks. These chips had a different shape from the others. This may have affected their texture. One participant described it as “crunchy.” The texture of this chip was rated 3.86 by the participants.
Ghirardelli. The texture of this chip was rated 4.14 by the participants.
Haggen. The texture of this chip was rated 4.00 by the participants.
Mrs. Fields. The texture of this chip was rated 3.50 by the participants.
Nestlé Toll House. These chips had a very smooth surface with no markings. The texture of this chip was rated 4.93 by the participants. One survey participant described it as “smooth and creamy.”
Safeway Select. The texture of this chip was rated 3.79 by the participants.
Flavor
When asked to rate the importance of flavor, ten of the respondents rated it “very important” and the other four rated it “somewhat important”. No one said that it was not important. Chocolate used in chocolate chips is made from cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar (“Chocolate Glossary”, 2000).
Besides the soy lecithin mentioned above, all of the brands listed some vanilla flavoring in the ingredient lists. Baker’s, Haggen, Mrs. Field’s and Ghirardelli use real vanilla. Nestlé and Safeway Select use both vanilla and vanillin, an artificial vanilla flavoring. These are added to most semi-sweet chocolates for flavor (Nariman, 2000). Baker’s and Safeway Select also add salt. This is added to reduce the natural bitterness of the chocolate (Nariman, 2000).
The survey participants were allowed to rate flavor in any way they wanted.
Baker’s Chocolate Chunks. The flavor of this chip was rated 4.64 by the participants. One taster described its taste as “nice dark chocolaty.”
Ghirardelli. The flavor of this chip was rated 3.64 by the participants. One taster disliked the after taste of this chip. Another said that it was “too sugary.”
Haggen. The flavor of this chip was rated 3.57 by the participants. Two tasters remarked on a chemical taste to this chip upon initial tasting.
Mrs. Fields. The flavor of this chip was rated 3.36 by the participants. Several tasters remarked on a coconut flavor to this chip. Another reviewer described it as “bland.”
Nestlé Toll House. The flavor of this chip was rated 3.93 by the participants. One taster said this chip had a burnt flavor.
Safeway Select. The flavor of this chip was rated 4.50 by the participants. One taster said this chip had a “hot chocolate flavor, yumi.”
Conclusions
The survey respondents were asked to rate the different brands on a scale of increasing satisfaction from one to six. Then the survey respondents were asked to rate the importance of each criterion. There was no brand that got either the best score or the worst score on all three criteria. The conclusions are listed below by criteria.
Appearance
The appearance of the chips was given the lowest importance by the fourteen survey respondents. The Nestlé Toll House chip got the highest rating it this criterion by a significant margin. All but two of the people surveyed gave it a six, the highest rating possible. The Baker’s Chocolate Chunks received the lowest ratings.
Texture
Texture was rated second in importance by those surveyed. The range of scores on texture was much less broad. The Nestlé Toll House chip again got the highest rating. The lowest rating was received by the Mrs. Field’s chocolate chip
Flavor
Flavor was rated most important by the people surveyed. In this, the Nestlé Toll House no longer got the highest rating. The use of artificial vanilla flavoring did not appear to have any effect on the scores. The more important ingredient appears to have been salt. Of those two chips, the Baker’s Chocolate Chunk got the highest rating followed by the Safeway Select chip.
Recommendation
The far greater importance placed on flavor by the people surveyed makes the Baker’s Chocolate Chunk the best chocolate chip for eating by itself.
References
Chocolate glossary. (2000). < (May 22, 2004).
Jaworski, S. Chocolate chips. 2004. < (May 22, 2004).
Nariman, J. “Finding the flavor of chocolate.” Penn State Online Research, 21:3. (September 2000). <http://www.rps.psu.edu/0009/chocolate.html> (May 24, 2004).