Most of people love chocolate. It can be made into various kinds of foods. Starting from the main course to many kinds of snacks, the options are plenty. However, most people may not be aware that chocolate is made of cocoa powder. The powder is not as sweet as the chocolates found in snacks and even ice cream. In case you are curious about the powder and it production process, you can check the information below.
Production of Cocoa Powder
Cocoa powder is made of certain bean. The beans are harvested from cocoa fruits. What people look for is not the fruit, but it is the seeds. However, before it can become chocolates and other kinds of foods, the seeds pass through various processes. These are some essential steps needed to produce the powder.
- Seed inspection and storage
After the cocoa fruits are harvested, the beans are separated and collected for inspection and storage. During the process, the beans are picked and categorized based on some criteria of quality. Then, the qualified beans are stored in controlled temperature and humidity. These are necessary to maintain the quality of beans before these are processed further.
- Impurity removal
During the process of fermentation and other procedures, the beans of cocoa fruits are not cleaned enough. Even, the beans coming from storage are called impure so there should be cleaning process before the beans are roasted. Debris should be cleaned totally from the body of cocoa seeds so those impurities will not affect the taste once they become cocoa powder.
- Roasting
After the impurity removal, the cocoa beans are ready to be roasted. Then, these are delivered to the roasting machines. The process requires high temperature and normally the heat should be around 120 to 160 degrees Celsius. This process is necessary to remove moisture contained in the beans. After the process, the unique aroma of cocoa beans will appear. Through the roasting process, it will also make it easier to remove skins or outer shells. Of course, the roasted beans are easy to grind so it shorten the process of producing the cocoa powder.
- Peeling
As what is mentioned before, roasting process allow the skins easily removed. The skin of each bean is not necessary because they can affect the taste of cocoa powder. The outer layers are completely removed and there will only be cocoa nibs that will be grinded.
- Grinding and slurry storage
Grinding becomes one of the main processes to get cocoa powder. The process require special machine to maintain the size of ground beans. After the grinding process is completed, the slurries of cocoa are put into tanks for storage. In order to maintain the quality, it requires temperature around 80 degrees Celsius.
- Sterilization
The cocoa pulp will pass through another process of cleaning. The sterilization process is necessary to remove the bacteria and other microbes. To completely remove the microscopic beings, it requires temperature up to 120 degrees Celsius.
After the sterilization, the slurry or pulps are ready for grinding. After that, the cocoa powder can be obtained and it is ready to distribute. Surely, the processes are long and complicated. However, these are necessary to provide powder in great quality.
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