Simple how is chocolate made

Click here for a video clip of Cocoa processing " minutes" Requires RealPlayer. Machines could damage the tree or the clusters of flowers and pods that grow from the trunk, so workers must be harvest the pods by hand, using short, hooked blades mounted on long poles to reach the highest fruit.

After the cocoa pods are collected into baskets ,the pods are taken to a processing house. Here they are split open and the cocoa beans are removed.

Pods can contain upwards of 50 cocoa beans each. Fresh cocoa beans are not brown at all, they do not taste at all like the sweet chocolate they will eventually produce. Now the beans undergo the fermentation processing.

They are either placed in large, shallow, heated trays or covered with large banana leaves. If the climate is right, they may be simply heated by the sun. Workers come along periodically and stir them up so that all of the beans come out equally fermented. During fermentation is when the beans turn brown. This process may take five or eight days. After fermentation, the cocoa seeds must be dried before they can be scooped into sacks and shipped to chocolate manufacturers. Farmers simply spread the fermented seeds on trays and leave them in the sun to dry.

The drying process usually takes about a week and results in seeds that are about half of their original weight. Once the cocoa beans have reached the machinery of chocolate factories, they are ready to be refined into chocolate. Generally, manufacturing processes differ slightly due to the different species of cocoa trees, but most factories use similar machines to break down the cocoa beans into cocoa butter and chocolate International Cocoa Organization, Firstly, fermented and dried cocoa beans will be refined to a roasted nib by winnowing and roasting.

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In order to facilitate the fermentation process the top layer of the beans are covered with banana leaves. The plastic, covered by the jute bags helps to further conserve the heat, and induce the "sweating" process that the beans undergo. Banana leaves are used since the bottom part of the banana leaf contains natural yeast and microorganisms, which helps to strengthen the natural fermentation process of the beans.

When the fermentation is terminated the cacao beans are sun-dried. In small plantations the fermented beans are spread by hand, and later turned over by hand or foot. In Central America the beans are dried on wooden floors which can be covered by a sliding roof if it starts to rain. On larger plantations electric dryers are used. The drying process takes weeks, and during that period the color changes from reddish brown to dark brown. Although the processing of cocoa beans has already begun, since the farmer fermented and dried them, before they can enter a manufacturing facility, they must be inspected and approved as part of a stringent quality control process.

It is only after roasting that the distinctive, chocolate aroma becomes pronounced. Prior to this stage, a person with a developed sense of smell will be able to detect a slight chocolate scent but following roasting the aroma becomes nearly intoxicating — beautiful, rich and laden with the heady, euphoric scent of pure chocolate.

This is important especially since during the fermentation process numerous bacteria are present. Roasting, like cocoa seed fermentation , is a crucial stage in establishing the final flavor of the chocolate.

The ultimate quality of the chocolate depends as much on the correct choice of roasting conditions as it does on the characteristics of the raw cocoa beans. There are several roasting processes:. Pre-roasting The cocoa beans are quickly heated with hot air or infra-red radiant heaters to separate the shells from the 'nibs', or bean meat.

Direct roasting without pre-roasting The beans, still in their shells, are roasted and then shelled all at once. This older and more traditional method allows the flavor to develop properly. Both techniques are still used today and each has its advocates.

The use of pre-roasting is more productive, but some varieties of beans, when shelled, can be damaged by a too-violent change in temperature during roasting.

Roasting dries and browns the cocoa beans and develops their flavor. This is the first important stage in the manufacturer's 'customization' of the product.

Earlier, fermentation has produced the flavor precursors: reducing sugars, glucose and fructose, and amino-acids. Even though roasting can only reinforce the results of good fermentation, it can only also spoil very high-quality beans if not done correctly.

With all of the methods, the basic technique is the same. Subject the cocoa beans to a high temperature initially, slowly reduce the temperature and stop the roast when the beans are "cracking", but before they start to burn. The initial high heat lets the beans gain some thermal momentum and allows for a good separation of the husk and nibs as the beans expand. You lower the ambient temperature so as not to burn the outside of the bean, but let the interior continue to roast.

Finally, the cocoa beans will start to pop and crack as water vapor is explosively released. This happens when the cocoa bean temperature is around F. This is your sign you are just about done roasting. Experience and smell you don't want any burned smell are the key indicators when the beans are roasted. Once the cocoa beans are roasted and cooled, try separating the husk from one.

If it comes off easily, you did well and the beans are fully roasted. Likewise, taste some. They should have a nice cocoa flavor, with no raw or burned flavors.

After roasting, the beans are "winnowed" to remove the shells from around the bean, leaving only the roasted cocoa nib, which is the key ingredient for making chocolate. Machines crack the beans open. Then powerful fans blow over the beans carrying the lighter shells away, leaving behind pure cocoa pieces called nibs. After roasting and winnowing, the cocoa nibs are ground into a paste called chocolate liquor a. Chocolate liquor contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in roughly equal proportion.

Cocoa liquor is not alcoholic; it is so named because it flows out in liquid form. Cocoa liquor is a deep, dark brown color, extremely aromatic with a rich, bitter taste. Cocoa liquor can rightfully be thought of as the "essence of the bean".