2. INTRODUCTION
● Everyone defines chocolate differently. It can be creamy,
sweet, decadent, or all three combined. Many don't know
chocolate comes from tropical fruit trees called Theobroma
cacao.
● It takes weeks to turn that colorful fruit into a tasty
chocolate bar, which takes ten steps. Chocolate manufacture
includes harvesting, fermentation, drying, roasting, winnowing,
refining, and tempering. Most chocolate bars you've ever
eaten were made following these steps.
● In this presentation, you will learn all ten steps in chocolate
manufacture, chocolate-making materials, and making
chocolate in a factory.
3. Raw materials used for making Chocolate
The flavour determines which of the following ingredients are used in preparing chocolates.
• Pure cacao butter
• Cacao powder
• Cacao nibs
• Sugar
• Condensed or powdered milk
• Vanilla
• Cloves
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Honey
• Soy lecithin
• Caramel
• Mint
• Pecans, almonds, and other nuts
• Berries, oranges, and other fruit
4. Chocolate Manufacturing Process
Step1—Cacao Fruit Harvesting
Cacao trees are known for their football-shaped fruits that grow all over their trunk and branches. Cacao fruit pods come in
various colors and types, but when ripe, they change color brilliantly.
With a sharp knife, usually a machete, pods are cut off at their base, preventing tree damage. Depending on the size, you can
find pods as small as your palm or as large as your head.
Cacao pods ripen year round, meaning that harvesting does too. Harvesting cacao
requires a sharp implement to remove the large pods from the tropical trees on which
they grow. The most common tool used to harvest cacao pods is a machete, a long
sword-like object which allows farmers to cut pods from the base.
Since cacao, or cocoa, can grow directly on the trunk of the tree, farmers have to use
very sharp tools so as to not damage potential future pods.
When a pod is ripe it often changes color, signaling to farmers that it may be ready to
be picked.
But not all ripe pods will fully change color, so some farmers also knock on pods to
check ripeness; if the seeds have just started to loosen, then the pod is ripe enough
to harvest.
You can also scrape the outside of the husk to check the color of the shell. If it’s
green underneath, then it’s still not ripe enough to be harvested. If you remove cocoa
before it’s ripe, it won’t continue to develop off the tree, but rather begin to
germinate or ferment.
5. Step 2-Cacao Fermentation
Fermentation occurs in a farm's central area after harvesting all ripe pods. In the pods, you
will find about a dozen almond-shaped seeds surrounded by aromatic white pulp that smells
like lychee. Scooping the seeds from the pods and stacking them is the next step.
A box containing cacao seeds- commonly called cacao beans- is covered with banana leaves so
heat cannot escape. Maintaining high temperatures throughout fermentation is essential to
develop chocolatey flavors and prevent sprouting.
Cacao beans sprout fast after removing them from trees, so moving them to boxes must be
done quickly. After that, they will remain in those boxes for 3-7 days, when yeast and
bacteria from the air will consume the fruit's natural sugars, completely altering their taste.
Cacao beans are often fermented in tiered boxes, allowing sugar-eating bacteria to get
enough oxygen when they transfer between the boxes. During this process within the beans,
acids are formed, and bitter compounds are transformed, which are also necessary for wine
and beer production. Fermentation is, therefore, a crucial step in chocolate production.
6. Step 3-Drying Cacao Beans
The chocolate manufacturer dries cacao beans to a low
moisture level after fermentation. An ideal level is around
7%. Some farmers use fire to dehydrate beans in high-
humidity areas.
Farmers dry beans as much as possible in direct sunlight,
usually 5-7 days. Chocolate makers can receive cacao once
it has been dried and packed into bags. The beans must be
dry enough so that mould cannot grow during shipping,
usually by boat.
7. Step 4-Cacao Beans Roasting
A chocolate maker must inspect and clean their cacao after it is
received. Chocolate materials, including twigs, cacao pods, and
trash, can be disposed of this way. Roasting occurs in an oven or
a pan over the fire, sometimes in a specialized roaster.
In the same way that fermentation takes less than an hour,
roasting takes less time, but the temperature and timing
determine the chocolate's final taste. Different flavors are
associated with light, medium, and dark roasts of cacao beans.
Cracking and removing the shells from cacao beans, like cracking
peanuts or Brazil nuts, are necessary. Despite its hardness, the
exterior has little to no chocolatey flavor, and it may still have
bacteria from the farm.
8. Step 6-Winnowing and Refining of Chocolate
A winnowing machine can easily separate the beans
from the shells after cracking. A winnower blows
air beneath the beans, removing the lighter covers.
In this stage, the shells are called "husks", and the
broken parts of beans are called "nibs.“
A cacao nib's transformation into chocolate
involves refining and conching. The first step is to
reheat and grind cacao nibs into a paste form,
which only takes two minutes to reheat.
Cacao fat must be reheated before grinding to
speed up the process. Because cacao contains
approximately half fat (cocoa butter) and half
solids (cocoa solids), the beans are half and half
fat. It is bitter and acidic and is known as cacao
mass.
A refiner then processes the cacao mass for 24 to
72 hours. Refining cocoa solids involves crushing
them into smaller particles, which giant machines
can control more precisely. When chocolate melts,
it creates that smooth, uniform texture we
expect.
9. Step 7-Tempering of Chocolate
You can eat chocolate straight from the machine after
the refining process is possible! Most chocolate sold in
stores undergoes a process called tempering before
packaging. Heat, cool, and then rewarm chocolate to keep
it smooth and shiny is the process of tempering.
Cocoa butter's fatty acids are forced into form V during
the tempering process, giving the chocolate a glossy
surface, a snap, and a smoother texture.
Chocolate manufacture must temper unless diluted with
a cheaper oil that coats the cocoa and sugar better. This
tempering process helps to prevent cocoa and sugar
solids from sticking to one another,
Untempered chocolate will have grey streaks or bubbles
of fat caused by a mixture of the six cocoa butter
crystal formations. It is common for chocolatiers to let
their chocolate mellow out for a couple of months
before tempering it to allow the flavor to develop fully.
It is possible to mould chocolate into chocolate bars,
make bonbons, coat candy bars, or sculpt it into
beautiful forms after tempering.
