The industrial processing of cocoa begins with the cleaning operation in order to rid the beans of any foreign body. This eliminates impurities by screening and suction such as strings, pebbles, wood, metal, pod debris, agglomerated or broken beans…

 

CLEANING

The industrial processing of cocoa begins with a cleaning operation in order to rid the beans of any foreign body. This eliminates impurities by screening and suction such as strings, pebbles, wood, metal, pod debris, agglomerated or broken beans, dust and sand.

 

PREDRYING

The cleaned cocoa beans are poured on a vibrating carpet heated by infra-red ramps, to obtain what we call the “pop effect”: the humidity of the beans (6 to 8%) is reduced to 4 to 6 % under heat’s effect, the hulls become more frail and the shell grain will be more easily separated during crushing.

 

CRUSHING AND SIFTING

This operation consists in separating the shell from the grain. The pre-dried cocoa beans are directed to the crusher, a type of mechanical mill, and are crushed into coarse particles. This is then poured on a cascade of sieves (called tarares), whose mesh opening decreases. On each sieve, the integument, the germ, and the hull are sucked by air and collected separately. When compacted and granulated, they will be used as fertilizer or in cattle feed. At the end of this operation, only the cocoa grain remains, which is then directed to roasting.

 

ROASTING

Roasting is a capital operation. It has several roles: lowering the moisture content to 1.5 / 2%, causing the evaporation of volatile acids, facilitating the separation of the kernel and shells and especially developing chocolate’s aroma. Like coffee, cocoa really only develops its color and aroma once roasted. Roasting is a very precise operation whose intensity and duration must be carefully regulated according to the peculiarities of the beans. The cocoa beans therefore go through a roaster, a rotating cylinder equipped with a double envelope. The air circulating in this mantle is heated by a burner and transmits its heat to the product located inside the cylinder. The beans are roasted between 102 ° C and 140 ° C. They lose 5 to 10% of their weight. The degree and time of roasting vary according to the beans’ origin, and the type of cocoa or chocolate that the roaster wishes to obtain. The roaster must be able to grasp the moment when the cocoa reaches the desired color, otherwise the taste and quality may be compromised. The hot beans are then poured into a cooler (airtight tank ventilated with cold air) before being sent off for grinding.

CRUSHING AND REFINING

The cocoa beans are then engaged in grinders. They are then transformed into a liquid paste called cocoa mass (or cocoa paste or liquor). Refining is always necessary. It is carried out in grinding mills. At the outlet, the size of the cocoa particles is about 20 to 30 microns. At this stage, the refined cocoa paste will take different routes depending on whether one wants to deliver the cocoa mass in that state to the chocolate manufacturer, or squeeze it to obtain cocoa butter on the one hand (added in this same activity) and on the other hand the cakes, from which powders (breakfasts, decorations …) will be made.

 

 

Cocoa Beans
Cleaning
Predrying
Crushing
Shells
Grains
Roasting			Alkalinization
			Roasting
Crushing			Crushing
Refining			Refining
Natural Cocoa Paste			Alkalinized Cocoa Paste