From Cocoa bean to the basic ingredients for chocolate

From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate Ingredients

Keyword: Belgian chocolate, chocolate

Checking Maturity – Before harvesting begins, the cocoa fruit should be carefully inspected to ensure it is fully ripe. Ripe fruits have a deeper color and are softer.
Hand picking – Usually the cocoa fruit is picked by hand to avoid damaging the beans. This is a labor-intensive process.
Opening the Fruit – The cocoa fruit is opened, usually using a machete, to extract the cocoa beans and pulp.

Merging Pulp and Beans – The cocoa beans are put into bins or baskets along with the pulp. The pulp aids in fermentation.
Covering and Stacking – The bins or baskets containing cocoa beans and pulp are covered with banana leaves or other material to seal them from the air.
Fermentation Time – Fermentation time varies, but it can take several days to a week. During this period, complex flavors and aromas develop.
Controlling Temperature and Aeration – During fermentation, temperature and aeration must be controlled to ensure the quality of the beans.
Daily Checks – During the fermentation process, the beans are inspected regularly to determine when they are sufficiently fermented.

Drying – After fermentation, the beans are sun-dried to reduce moisture and improve shelf life before further processing.

The dried beans are cleaned – pre-roasted – broken & dehulled. What remains is called nibs.
The nips are roasted again and this process determines the final taste. So here a manufacturer can add additional coloring and flavoring to optimize the flavor of the cocoa pieces (nibs).
The nibs are ground into cocoa mass.

The cocoa mass is pressed to remove the fat (cocoa butter) from it. What remains is a cocoa cake that is ground into cocoa powder.

And so we obtain two basic ingredients for chocolate : cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Together with sugar and milk powder , we have then listed the 4 ingredients of chocolate.