Cocoa processing

Technology

Cocoa processing and chocolate manufacturing are two different processes that, although linked, require different procedures to obtain the products wanted. Cocoa processing means basically converting the beans into nib, liquor, butter, cake and powder. Chocolate manufacturing covers the blending and refining of cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and other ingredients such as milk and sugar.

In order to start processing the beans, they must be thoroughly cleaned from foreign matter. Beans may then be either roasted before the shell is removed or without the shell (nib). In general, chocolate manufacturers prefer to roast the beans before shelling them, while cocoa processors favor roasting the nib.

Once the beans have been roasted and shelled, the nib is ground into a paste, which is also known as cocoa liquor. Cocoa liquor destined for processing into cocoa butter and cake is refined to a very small particle size, while for chocolate manufacturing it does not need to be as finely ground. The liquor is put into hydraulic presses that remove a percentage of the cocoa butter, leaving behind a cake.

The cocoa cake is ground into a fine powder that is mainly used in the baking and confectionery industry. The cocoa butter is mostly used in the manufacture of chocolate, where it must be mixed with cocoa liquor and sugar. Once mixed, this blend is put into large agitators who stir it under heat called conches. Conching smoothes the particles and may last from a few hours to three full days. The liquid chocolate obtained will then be used either by the confectionery, dairy and baking industries or converted into bars for sale to the consumer market.

The process of pressing cocoa to make cocoa butter and cocoa powder, as well as alkalization for neutralizing acids with a less desirable taste, and for improving the color of powder and its dispersion in water, was invented in the early nineteenth century by a Dutchman named Coeraad Johannes van Houten. Since then the process has remained practically the same with little evolution in the applied technology.