Although this blog wasn't up in time to celebrate yesterday, National Take Your Pants for a Walk Day, have no fear Milk Chocolate Day is here! One of the few days of the year where you can openly stuff your face with milk chocolate. Chocolate is a great addition to the lives of us all, here's a little about how its made.
First, the cocoa pods are harvested. Inside the pods are the cocoa beans.
The
pods are then crushed and the beans and surrounding pulp is extracted and naturally fermented
for about six days in open heaps or boxes after which the beans
are dried
The next step is also performed with coffee in that the beans are
graded then roasted. Roasting times depend on the type and size of the
beans, which can also affect the final flavor of the
chocolate.
During this stage most chocolate manufacturers put the Cocoa Nibs through an alkalisation process
to help develop flavor and color. But, some purists who produce the finest
chocolate like to rely on the quality of the beans and natural processing to
produce the best color and flavor.
The
nibs, (kernels) which are very high in fat or cocoa butter, are finely milled and
liquefy in the heat produced by the milling process to produce cocoa mass.
When cocoa mass, otherwise known as cocoa liquor, is allowed to cool and
solidify.
At
this point, the manufacturing process splits according to the final product. If
the product will be chocolate, some of the cocoa mass is reserved, the rest is
pressed to extract the cocoa butter, which leaves a solid residue called press cake.
Press cake is usually kibbled or finely ground to produce the product known to
consumers as Cocoa Powder.
After the first sentence, you may have fallen asleep, but if no one knew how to make chocolate, we wouldn't have any, and that would be a terrible, miserable world.
