How chocolate is made step by step

How chocolate is made step by step

Chocolates is always a delight whether it’s in a dessert or just as a snack. Making chocolates is a fascinating process and here is a step by step guide to fully appreciate how chocolate is made:

Interesting fact: The cocoa beans are in individual packaging in accordance to their type and origin. This is in order to control the flavor while it is being roasted. To ensure freshness of the cocoa beans, they are stored in vacuum–sealed bags as well.

Step 1: Cleaning
The cocoa beans will pass through a machine that will remove the dried cocoa pulps, pod pieces and other materials that are not needed. Afterwards, the processed cocoa beans will be weighed and carefully blended in accordance to preference and specifications. Other unneeded portions from the cocoa beans will then be filtered through a vacuum. After that, the cocoa beans are transferred to a chemical process to extract the valuable compounds.

Step 2: Roasting
The beans are roasted on rotary cylinders in order to bring out the characteristic chocolate aroma. It could last from 30 minutes to 2 hours at a temperature range of 250° F and up, depending on the desired end result.

Step 3: Shell Removal
The thin shells are then removed by a winnowing machine. Once removed, these “nibs” will then be blended in accordance to a desired variety of mixture.

Step 4: Grinding the “Nibs”
The nibs are refined by way of using large grinding stones or heavy steel discs which produce a cocoa paste. The same paste is then put through hydraulic pressure which will produce cocoa butter.

Step 5: Cocoa butter separation from cocoa
The essential component of chocolate is the cocoa butter which actually comprises of about 25% of the total weight of chocolate bars. To separate the butter from the cocoa, it will be pumped through hydraulic presses. They will then be drained through metallic screens.

Step 6: Creating the chocolate liquor
At this point, the chocolate is being prepared in accordance to individual recipes. In the case of a milk chocolate, milk and sugar is added together with the cocoa butter to create the chocolate paste.

Step 7: Chocolate paste gets kneaded
The last refining process to fully reveal the final taste is when the chocolate paste is kneaded by way of conches that are equipped with heavy rollers that will operate from hours to even days.

Step 8: Tempered Chocolate
Tempering is needed to make the chocolate have a delicate composition, uniform structure as well as a versatile flavor. The still warm chocolate goes through a tempering machine in order to be steadily cooled.

Step 9: Temporary storage
The tempered chocolate is poured into molds to make up with the actual design of chocolate bars and individual packs.