From the cocoa bean to chocolate

Varieties and ingredients

Chocolate consists of a finely tuned mix of different ingredients such as cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, milk, vanilline or real vanilla and lecithin as an emulsifier. Lecithin - derived from the soybean - ensures that the fat content of chocolate mixes with other ingredients to a homogeneous mass. The taste of chocolate depends mainly on the quantity of cocoa. A minimum content of 60 % cocoa must be prodvided in bitter chocolate; 50 % cocoa in dark chocolate, 30 % cocoa in whole milk chocolate and milk chocolate must provide a minimum content of 25 % cocoa. However in ‘white chocolate’ the cocoa mass is entirety missing. White chocolate consists mainly of cocoa butter (obtained by pressing the raw cocoa bean), sugar and milk.

Ingredients of the chocolate:

54,0 % Cocoa butter
11,5 % Eggwhite
9,0 % Cellulose
7,5 % Starch und Pentosan
6,0 % Tannins
5,0 % Water
2,6 % Minerals und Salts
2,0 % organic acids and flavors
1,2 % Theobromine
1,0 % different sugars
0,2 % Caffeine

Cultivation

The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) belongs to the genus Theobroma in the family of Mallows (formerly genus sterculia). This genus comprises around 20 species: evergreen shrubs and small trees, which mostly grow in the undergrowth of Latin America’s rain forests. The cocoa tree’s botanical name was given by the Swedish scientist Carl von Linné, who named it Theobroma cacao, food for the gods (from the Greek word ‘theos’: ‘god’ and ‘broma’: ‘food’).

Although the tree can reach up to 15 meters, it is cropped to max. 8 meters on plantations. The leaves can be up to 35cm. The ‘five-counting’ flowers grow directly on the trunk (this is called ‘cauliflory’), the fruits have a leather-like surface and - depending on the sort – in the state of ripening yellow to dark brown color; they are 15 to 25 cm long and weigh up to 500 g. Under a very hard shell, arranged in five rows, 30 to 60 seeds are contained, surrounded by a white, slimy and sweet, very tasty flesh (pulp).

Harvest

Cocoa fruits are still harvested by hand, one by one – just like the Aztecs did so many years ago. With sharp knives, the fruits are carefully cut down from the tree. The wounds are then sealed so that the next blossoms can grow. Immediately after harvesting, the fruit is split and its seeds are removed and left for fermentation.

Fermentation

The seeds of the cocoa fruits are spread out on banana leaves or filled in vats. The white seeds then very quickly start to ferment and reache temperatures of about 50°C! The incipient germination of the seeds is determined by the fermentation of the resulting alcohol and the beans loose some of their bitter substances. During this approximately 10 day process they develop their typical taste and aroma as well as their brown colour; and now they are called “cocoa beans”

Drying process

The drying is traditionally done in the sun. The cocoa beans are spread out on mats or wire grids. Due to regular turn over exposure to fresh air prevents moldiness.
The drying process takes - depending on the weather – between 5 and 7 days. During that time the water content of the beans decreases from 50 % to only 7 %! The beans lose about half their weight and size.
Packed in jute sacks, the beans now start their journey to chocolate producing countries mainly Europe and Northern America.

Storage – processing - roasting

The cocoa beans are stored under strictly controlled conditions (temperature, humidity, ventilation).
Only directly before processing, they undergo a purification process in special facilities. With the help of air flows, filters, brushes and magnets, small and smallest stones, wood particles, fibers, nails etc. are removed.
The purity is a major quality factor for the further processing.

In large, computer-controlled systems the beans are roasted between 10 and 35 minutes, depending on the different sorts and the desired degree of browning. Cocoa for consumption is roasted at approximately 125°C, ‘fine cocoa’ below 120°C.
Either the already peeled and chopped beans or whole beans are roasted, until the seed and shell seperate.

Crushing and milling

The cocoa beans were roasted ‘in whole’ then cool down and afterwards are mechanically broken and seperated in shells and seeds. The shells are used by the chemical industry for the extraction of theobromine. What remains is the core of the cocoa-breaking – the so called ‘Nibs’. They are further crushed (mechanically) and then milled. At the same time the containing cocoa butter melts through the heat of friction and encased the cell and starch particles. The liquid brown-shining cocoa mass is pumped off and kept in motion in heated tanks to further processing.

Fine Milling

The cocoa mass is mixed up with the recipe-dependent components, such as cocoa butter, sugar, cream or milk powder for milk chocolate, spices or flavorings such as vanilla, cinnamon or coffee and, where appropriate nut seeds, almonds or other solid components at a temperature of 40°C to 50°C. Then the mass passes through a multistage rolling mill until it is removed in the end with a particle size of 0.02 mm grain diameter as a fluffy chocolate powder from the last roller.

Conching

Conching is the last stage of refinement the basic chocolate mass. In the first step, called dry-conching, the waltzed/rolled chocolate is “kneaded and beaten” at a temperature of 30°C, which reduces the moisture content to less than 1 %, some of the bitter substances volatilize and a soft cover of cocoa butter submits to the solid particles.

After approximately 10 hours the mass is more liquefied by adding cocoa butter and conchered (in that case: liquid-conching) to create a truly homogenous mass. This process takes up to 4 hours - depending on the desired quality. After already 1 hour according to the recipe more cocoa butter or lecithin as an emulsifier is added for an easier casting in forms.