I would like you all to welcome guest blogger Marcela De Vivo in her first post on something that’s been creating a big buzz in the chocolate world and that’s bean to bar chocolate.
Image Courtesy of A30_Tsitika | Flickr.com
The production of chocolate from the cacao bean to the chocolate bar is an art form. Multiple steps are involved to ensure the flavor of the chocolate is at its finest. The specific recipe used to make the chocolate is up to the manufacturer, but the process of production is essentially the same, and has been the same for hundreds of years (with only innovations in technology that has made the process more efficient).
Chocolate making starts in the field with cacao trees. These trees flourish in tropical environments, where temperatures are high and there is consistent rainfall.
There are three main types of cocoa plants: the Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario.
Criollo
Due to the plant’s susceptibility to disease, the Criollo cocoa plant is difficult to grow, but its bean is highly sought after for its distinct and complex flavor. The few plantations that grow this bean are located in Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, Venezuela, Columbia, and the Caribbean islands. Since its taste is rare and it is hard to grow, the Criollo bean is also the most expensive cocoa bean.
Forastero
The Forastero been is widely cultivated and thus the majority of the world’s chocolate comes from this type of cocoa bean. The Forastero are easy to care for, the beans grow fast and in multitude, and unlike the Criollo bean, the Forastero cocoa plant is more resistant to disease. Most Forastero plants are located in Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, West Africa, Guyana, and south Venezuela.
Amenolado
Amenolado is a variety of the Forastero cocoa. It has a mild, delicate flavor and is produced mostly in Ecuador.
Trinitario
The Trinitario plant is a fusion of the Criollo and Forastero plants. First planted on the island of Trinidad, the Trinitario combines the flavor of the Criollo plant with the sturdiness of the Criollo to produce a flavorful bean that is typically used in dark chocolate.
Harvesting
Harvesting the cacao pods is done by hand to ensure the buds are mature and ready. They are cut from the tree without damaging the flower buds or the surrounding stems and immature pods.
The cacao beans are found within these pods within a protective, fibrous white pulp. The pods itself are carefully broken to reveal the cacao beans, which are gathered onto a mat made of banana leaves or in covered bins.
Fermentation
Yeast in the air and heat generated from the pile of beans converts the pulp surrounding cacao bean into alcohol in the process of fermentation. The beans are gently mixed as oxygen is further introduced, turning the alcohol into lactic acid or acetic acid, which leaks out of the pile to leave in its place the beans.
During this process, the beans plump and change their flavor into what are the beginnings of chocolate. The fermentation process can take as long as eight days, and at the end of it the beans are referred to as cocoa beans.
Drying
Due to their high moisture content, the beans are dried either directly in the sun or in sheds. When they reach a moisture content of about 6 or 7 percent, they are sorted and packaged based on their size and quality and then delivered to chocolate manufacturers.
Image Courtesy of Moyan_Brenn | Flickr.com
Manufacturing
Once they reach the manufacturers, the beans are carefully inspected for defects, insects, size, aroma, and flavor. They are then thoroughly cleaned and sent to roast for 10 to 35 minutes to separate the shell from the bean kernel in a process known as cracking.
The cracked beans, or cocoa nibs, are then put through a grinding machine to liquefy the cocoa’s butter to produce chocolate liquor, or chocolate liquid.
A refining machine is used to further break down and even out the liquor. This is another crucial step in producing the distinct taste of chocolate.
Based on the manufacturer’s specificity, the conching process further rolls out the chocolate liquor and its other ingredients over hours or days for its defined taste and texture. From there, the chocolate is molded into bars, and they can get sent to other manufactures to create specific chocolate retail products.
And thus, the production process is as charming as the chocolate itself!
Marcela De Vivo is a freelance writer from Los Angeles. Her writing covers everything from health to marketing and manufacturing. She’s always been interested in how things are made, and as an avid chocolate lover, she finds the process fascinating!
We’re also starting to see a lot of bean to bar chocolate being made from the Nacional variety of Theobroma cacao which was previously thought to be extinct.
Have a great day!
Annmarie Kostyk, Founder Pod72
The post From Bean to Bar Chocolate by Marcela De Vivo appeared first on Annmarie Kostyk.