How Does Cacao Become Chocolate?

1. Cacao trees are grown for the chocolate industry throughout South America and Africa, generally within 20 degrees of the equator. The trees produce large, melon-like fruits that contain the cacao beans used to produce chocolate. Wild cacao trees, which are native to Brazil, can reach as high as 60 feet. Those used for chocolate production are trimmed to approximately 20 feet high to allow workers to collect the cacao pods.
2. 
    
   Inside a Cacao Pod (Creative Commons image by Lall)
   Cacao fruit is harvested by hand. Workers cut the fruit from the tree using machetes. After the harvest, the pods are cut open and the contents removed. The fruit is filled with a soft, white fruit that contains 20 to 40 cacao beans. The flesh and cacao beans are scraped out of the fruit into large boxes lined with banana leaves. They are then left to ferment for up to 1 week before further processing.
3. Once fermentation is complete, the beans are separated from the fruit's flesh and left to dry in the sun. This process takes about a week, depending on the local weather. The dried beans are then shipped by train to chocolate factories to be processed further. Once the cacao beans arrive at the factory, they are cleaned and stored until they are needed.
4. The next step in processing cacao beans is roasting. Depending on the variety of beans, they are roasted for between 1/2 hour and 2 hours. Roasting takes place in large metal drums that can withstand prolonged and repeated heating.
5. Roasted beans must be hulled before they can be used. This is accomplished with a custom machine designed for this purpose. Once the hull has been removed, the cacao beans are called nibs and are ready to be turned into chocolate. In some cases, different varieties of nibs are combined before further processing to make a blended chocolate.
6. Cacao nibs are ground finely, or milled, which causes the cocoa butter to be released. The heat from the milling process causes the nibs to partially melt and blend with the cocoa butter. The resulting liquid is called chocolate liquor, although it does not contain alcohol.
7. Chocolate liquor may be used on its own as an ingredient in desserts, but most undergoes further processing. Often, most of the cocoa butter is removed from the chocolate liquor. The remaining product is cocoa powder. Chocolate liquor destined to become solid chocolate has ingredients added. Cocoa butter is always added. Depending on the type of chocolate being manufactured, sugar, powdered milk and vanilla may be included in the mixture.
8. Once the ingredients have been added to the chocolate liquor, it must undergo additional processing. The mixture is first ground under rollers. It then undergoes a process called conching. Conching was named for the shape of the granite receptacles originally used for this process, which resembled conch shells. Conching chocolate may take anywhere from a few hours to 3 days. Higher-quality chocolate is usually conched for longer periods, giving it a finer texture.
9. 
    
   Chocolate bar -- Creative Commons image by Everjean
   Once the chocolate has been conched, it must be tempered. Tempering consists of precisely manipulating the temperature of the chocolate to promote the formation of certain types of crystals. The chocolate is kneaded or stirred by machine during the entire tempering process. Well-tempered chocolate makes a characteristic snapping sound when broken. It melts at approximately body temperature. The tempered chocolate is poured into molds to create chocolate bars. The bars are then sold to the public, or to manufacturers who use them to produce a variety of chocolate candy and other products.

Resources

• Hershey's video tour of chocolate production
• How chocolate is made
• Chocolate Alchemy: The Art and Science of Homemade Chocolate

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