Process of Chocolate Bar Making
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From Bean
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The process of making a chocolate bar begins with the cacao beans grown on cacao trees which are found only in rain forests near the equator. The pods containing the beans are harvested by farmers who then cut them open to separate the beans from the pulp they are in. The cacao beans are then dried and shipped to Europe and North America. Once the cacao beans have reached a chocolate factory, they are poured into a sorting machine that cleans and sorts them according to size. Next, they are roasted to enhance their flavor. Once they are roasted in the roasting machine, the beans are so brittle that the cracker-fanner machine can easily break them open and blow away their shells. This is called winnowing and the end product is the cacao nib--the inner kernel of the bean.
To Liquid
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The cacao nibs are then ground and pressed by a grinding machine with large rollers to produce cocoa liquor. Some of the cocoa liquor is then put into a machine that squeezes the cocoa butter out leaving behind solid cakes of powder. These solid cakes are called presscakes, which are ground into cocoa powder. The butter is mixed back into the cocoa liquor intended for chocolate bars to make the chocolate a soft, creamy texture with a rich taste. This is when the sugar, vanilla and milk are added as well. Dark chocolate will have less milk and more cocoa. White chocolate will have no cocoa, just cocoa butter, sugar and milk.
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To Chocolate Bar
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The mixture is then put through another series of heavy rollers to smooth out the chocolate even more. After this, the chocolate goes to the conche or conching machine, which is the machine that stirs the chocolate mixture at the temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit for as long as three days to create the smooth texture and flavor of the chocolate bar. Next the chocolate is tempered in large kettles with paddles that stir constantly as the chocolate is warmed and then cooled repeatedly for several hours. This is a tricky process that needs to be carefully monitored to insure the chocolate is not ruined. When the chocolate is ready, it is poured into the molds until it has cooled. Once they are cooled, the bars are tipped out of their molds and travel on a conveyor belt to be checked for quality before a machine seals each bar in foil and covers the foil with a familiar paper wrapper. The chocolate bars are then packed into boxes, loaded onto trucks and shipped to warehouses and stores where they are then sold to the public.
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References
- Photo Credit Photograph by em connell mccarty
