How are cocoa beans harvested and processed?

How are cocoa beans harvested and processed?

Harvesting Cocoa Harvesting involves removing ripe pods from the trees and opening them to extract the wet beans. The pods are harvested manually by making a clean cut through the stalk with a well sharpened blade. The pods are opened to remove the beans within a week to 10 days after harvesting.

How many steps are involved in cocoa processing?

11 Stages of Cocoa Bean Processing.

How is chocolate manufactured?

The seeds of the cacao tree have a bitter taste and must first be fermented to develop flavor. After fermentation the beans are dried, cleaned and then roasted. The shell of the cacoa bean is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground to produce cocao mass or pure chocolate in a rough form.

What 2 products can cocoa liquor be processed into?

Chocolate liquor can be used directly as baking or bittersweet chocolate. Or, it can be separated into constituent parts of cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

Where does cocoa come from?

The Theobroma cacao tree originated in the upper Amazon basin region (Brazil, Colombia, and Peru). Today, cacao is grown by 40-50 million cocoa farmers in more than 50 countries around the world. 90% of the world’s cocoa is grown on small family farms, while only 5% is grown on larger commercial plantations.

How is cocoa liquor made?

It is produced from cocoa beans that have been fermented, dried, roasted, and separated from their skins. The beans are ground into cocoa mass (cocoa paste). The mass is melted to become the liquor, and the liquor is either separated into cocoa solids and cocoa butter, or cooled and molded into blocks of raw chocolate.

What is milling of cocoa beans?

There are various stages involved in processing the cocoa bean. The harvested beans are first cleaned and then they go through a roasting process to develop flavor and color. The nibs are then milled to produce cocoa liquor: cocoa particles suspended in cocoa butter.