Hot cocoa settling
My cocoa powder settles in the bottom of the mug when I make hot cocoa using half-and-half (the dairy product). Is there any technique to prevent this?
Best Answer
Stir! It's normal :-). If you want a really smooth suspension, you won't be making it with real cocoa powder, or real dairy.
However I always make a paste with the cocoa and a bit of cold milk while the rest of it is heating up. That gives the best texture to the final product. If you don't do that, try it.
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How do you keep hot chocolate from settling?
Cook the hot chocolate on the high setting for 3-4 hours or on low for 6 hours. Low for 6 hours is what I prefer. Make sure to stir the hot chocolate every hour to keep the chocolate from settling to the bottom. Keep on the warm setting if you're serving it hot chocolate bar style with toppings on the side.Why did my hot chocolate curdle?
Once you boil the milk, it denatures the protein. Curdling the milk causes clumps. That's why the recipe calls for heating the hot chocolate for a minute, stirring, and continuing to heat. It's also a pain to clean your microwave when the milk overflows out of your mug.Why is my hot chocolate making noise?
It's because of the bubbles. When you mix cocoa into water or milk, it creates a fine foam made of tiny bubbles on the surface. Vigorous stirring spreads the bubbles throughout the liquid. The bubbles are filled with air, of course, and sound travels much slower through air than through the liquid.Why is my cocoa powder not dissolving?
it takes way too much milk to dissolve the powder on the bottom. try milk first then the powder mixture you made. one point, the blender makes a nice frothy top for the drink. I used whole milk, homemade nestle quick mix from hershey cocoa.More answers regarding hot cocoa settling
Answer 2
The most effective way would be to not use cocoa powder. If you use an instant cocoa drink, you will get a completely dissolved drink. The downside is that the taste is very different and you can't regulate the sweetness. If you use a bar of chocolate (the process is like making a very thin ganache), you will get much less settling, although you will likely have other cosmetic problems such as some cocoa fat droplets swimming on top. A third option would be to cook a spanish style cocoa drink with starch, which is thicker, but better dispersed.
If you insist on staying with just cocoa in milk, you will never completely prevent settling. Still, you can reduce it. First, make sure that you start it properly, as George M said, by making a paste first. Second, cook it up until you see boil bubbles and then let it cool down, instead of just mixing the powder in the warm milk. Third, use a powerful stirring device, such as a mixer or a blender, that will disperse the powder better and it will need longer to settle. Fourth, do not make it in the cup from which it will be drunk, but pour it slowly into the cup, such that the thick part stays in the vessel in which it was made. The last one combines very well with the cooking up and the mixer suggestions, since you don't want to put your cup on the stove, and a normal cup is usually too full for inserting a mixer's beater inside without splatter.
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