Mixtures of palm kernel oil with cocoa butter and milk fat in compound coatings

Thermal behavior of binary mixtures of palm kernel oil (PKO), cocoa butter (CB), and anhydrous milk fat was used to study mixed‐lipid crystallization. This study was related to the physical properties of compound coatings made with these fats. Phase behavior was studied by evaluating changes in melting behavior with composition and time, by creating isosolid diagrams, and by monitoring polymorphic behavior. For binary mixtures, multiple melting peaks and eutectic formation were observed for 30–50% addition levels of CB to PKO, but not for addition of milk fat to PKO. For compound coatings and binary mixtures, made with the same fat composition, hardness of compound coatings increased as solid fat content (SFC) at 25°C of binary mixtures increased. Also, as SFC at 25°C of the binary mixtures increased, induction time for bloom formation and time to fully bloom for compound coatings decreased. Observation of eutectic behavior for binary mixtures indicated softness in a compound coating with the same fat composition, but the converse was not necessarily true.