How Candy-Coated Chocolate Beans are Made
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Cocoa Beans
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Candy-coated chocolate beans start with the chocolate beans, or cacao beans. Cacao farmers harvest the pods and remove the beans. They spread the beans out to ferment for about a week. This fermentation process will help remove the beans' bitter taste and let the taste of the fruit pulp around the beans seep into the beans. After fermentation, the beans will begin to dry. As they dry, the pulp is removed. The dried beans are shipped to candy makers.
Roasting and Winnowing
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The candy makers clean the beans and roast them at 300 degrees F for about 1 to 2 hours. This roasting will enhance their chocolate flavor and further remove the cocoa beans' natural bitter taste. As they roast, the shells around the beans will become loose. After roasting, the beans are sent through a winnower where their shells are blown off.
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Coating
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Candy makers use a chocolate candy coating called confectioners' coating, or summer coating, when they coat their chocolate beans. These coatings come in different colors and can be made from white, milk or dark chocolate. Confectioners' coating often contains a small amount of paraffin to increase the candy coating's melting temperature. Paraffin also adds a slight sheen to the coating and makes it slightly more malleable and therefore easier to work with. Some coatings, however, contain only chocolate and vegetable oil. The candy maker melts the coating and holds it at a stable temperature, usually 95 degrees F. The candy makers dip the beans briefly into the chocolate coating, then remove them to allow them to dry. Once they are dry, they are packaged for sale.
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