Food Science – Is Carob Bean Cooked When Used as a Thickener?

Iron is simply an element, so it cannot be destroyed by cooking (or generally temperature changes), as vitamins and other organic structures potentially can.

Cooked spinach inevitably has a much lower water content, thus the relative density of all other components must increase. So gram for gram, it makes sense that cooked spinach should have a higher concentration of iron (and possibly some other things) than raw. However, the actual process of cooking does nothing to change the amount of iron.

Melting carob is a bit different from chocolate. The sugar crystal formation is not the same for tempering chocolate. One suggestion is to add paramount crystals (which is a combination of palm kernel oil and soy lecithin) to help start/control the process. I would also recommend not keeping the double boiler actually on the double boiler for the entire time.

Heat it up until some of the carob melts. Remove from heat and stir. Add it back to the heat and continue removing to stir as each bit melts a little more. It takes longer but it allows you to control the heating and crystallization process.

End the end, you should have a smoother and more even end result.