How to Process Cacao Beans
Cocoa, cocoa butter, chocolate and cocoa liquor are derived from the cacao bean, which is also referred to as the cocoa bean. The cacao bean comes from the cacao pod, which looks like a large fruit. Cacao trees are evergreen and grow primarily in South America. Processing of the cacao bean includes many steps to extract and make each derivative. This is easiest to do in an industrial setting, though it can also be done at home. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Large knife
- Plastic container
- Cacao leaves
- Greenhouse or tarp
- Thick blanket
- Sheet pan
- Cast-iron or heavy-bottomed sauté pan
- Large rock or solid-surface counter
- Food processor
- Fine sieve or chinois with pestle
- Cheesecloth
- Bowl
Instructions
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1
Cut open the cacao pod with a large knife and scrape out the seeds and pulp into the plastic container.
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2
Cover the pulp and seeds with cacao leaves, overlapping the leaves to fully cover the inside of the container over the seeds.
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3
Place the plastic container in the greenhouse or under a tarp outside in warm weather, at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover the container with the blanket and allow the beans to germinate for flavor.
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4
Remove the blanket and leaves and turn the seeds and pulp every two days and replace the leaves and blanket after turning to continue germination. Allow the contents to germinate for seven days.
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5
Remove the seeds and pulp after seven days and spread them in a single layer on the sheet pan.
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Place the sheet pan in the oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit for about four hours or until the seeds are no longer moist or sticky to the touch.
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Turn the oven temperature up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours to roast the beans. Remove the beans and allow them to cool for 20 minutes.
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Spread the roasted beans in a single layer, but close together on a rock or a solid-surface counter top. Place the cast-iron or heavy-bottomed sauté pan over the beans and firmly press down on the pan, holding it with both hands on opposite sides of the pan. Rock the pan over the beans to crack them. You should feel the beans crushing under the pan. Move the pan around the full surface of the beans until all the beans have cracked into small 1/4-cm-sized pieces, about the size of a match tip.
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9
Remove the thin shell, or chaff, that is stuck to the pieces of cacao beans by peeling them off each piece and discard them.
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Place the small pieces, also called nibs, in the food processor, filling it only a quarter full at a time. Process the cacao nibs on high in the food processor for about eight minutes or until they become a paste. This paste is cacao liquor and is made up of about 50 percent cacao butter.
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Line the sieve or chinois with a double layer of cheesecloth and place it over a bowl.
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Pour the cacao liquor into the chinois and press the liquid out through the cheesecloth with the pestle, into the bowl below. Once fully pressed this should look like a dry brown cake of cocoa in the cheesecloth and a yellow to light brown viscous liquid in the bowl. The liquid is cocoa butter and the cake is a cocoa cake used to make cocoa powder and chocolate.
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Tips & Warnings
The cacao beans will smell, and the beans will run with liquid when they first begin to germinate. This is normal and should go away after about four days.
To make cocoa, the cocoa cake must be ground further in the food processor until it is a powder.
To make chocolate, add cocoa powder and cocoa butter together with melted sugar, molded and chilled to harden.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit nah aufnahme kakao bohnen image by Lucky Dragon from Fotolia.com
