# what's the deal with chocolate chips? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285 "2003-09-28T11:41:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sleep1937](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@sleep1937](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleep1937)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/1 "2003-09-28T11:41:24Z")
I was making a cake with chocolate chips and I was wondering - how come they don’t really melt in the oven? are they made of a different, tougher kind of chocolate then the regular kind? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/2 "2003-09-28T12:38:30Z")
It’s a 1/3 asbestos mix.😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/3 "2003-09-28T12:53:42Z")
Try getting regular chocolate and smashing it up, and using that instead of chocolate chips. If the regular chocolate melts, you have your answer. My thought: maybe the cake insulates them somewhat (cf. baked alaska). ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/4 "2003-09-28T14:41:19Z")
Try melting a solid chocolate bar in the microwave. You’ll find that it is viscous enough that it holds its shape. (This only works to a point, though. Don’t continue to heat it to the point of scorching or boiling the chocolate.) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/5 "2003-09-28T14:48:29Z")
Have you ever noticed that when you melt chocolate in a double boiler, it holds its shape long after it has completely melted and only loses it after you squish it. I believe that such a liquid is called “thixotropic”. Whatever it is called, I think your chocolate chips are melting but holding their shape and then resolidifying when the cake cools. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/6 "2003-09-28T22:03:26Z")
From what I’ve heard, **Hari Seldon** is right. The cookie dough holds the shape of the molten chocolate durign cooking. That’s why the chocolate chips on the top of the cookie are flattened. Microwave a cookie and break it in half - notice the runny chocolate? **Nitpick** : Thixotropic liquids become more viscous (thicker) as you apply shearing (eg, mixing, beating). Classic example of a non-newtonian fluid - a newtonian fluid would have a constant viscosity with respect to applied shearing forces. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/7 "2003-09-28T22:09:34Z")
:smack: :smack: Damn it, my fluids lecturer would kill me if he read that. Addendum for fluid geeks: Thixotropic liquids reduce their viscosity over time as a shearing force is applied. (eg, paints, blood) A dilatant fluid increases its viscosity by a constant amount as a shearing force is applied. (eg, quicksand, PEG solutions with high molc. weight) ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/8 "2003-09-28T22:50:16Z")
American chocolate chips are specifically laced with large amounts of stabilizers (read: paraffin wax) to prolong their shelf life and reduce their temperature sensitivity. This tends to enhance their thixotropic characteristics. Paraffin also contributes to sheen as well. ---
**Author:** ![sleep1937](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@sleep1937](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleep1937)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/9 "2003-09-28T23:00:17Z")
I certainly didn’t expect so much feedback. thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/10 "2003-09-28T23:16:45Z")
PS: Welcome aboard(s), **sleep1937**! ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-chocolate-chips/204285/11 "2003-09-29T00:24:04Z")
Years ago I remember a Nestle commercial which (supposedly) re-enacted how chocolate chip cookies were invented by accident. A woman cooking at a small B&B (The ‘Tollhouse Inn’) chopped up chocolate into small bits and put them into cookie dough expecting them to melt making chocolate cookies. They didn’t and the rest is history…