Chocolate Making Flow Chart
Pressing
Harvesting and fermentation
Cacao pods are harvested by
hand and split open which
exposes both the beans and the
pulp. These will then be
fermented the fermentation will
kill the bean and allow the
chocolate flavor and color to
develop in the later stages of
production.
Drying and Roasting
After fermentation the beans are then dried
preferably by the sun for 5-14 days but can be done
by machine although this may introduce negative
flavors to the beans. After the beans are dry they are
then roasted for 30 min to 2 hours. Roasting kills
pathogens, removes moisture, develops flavor and
coloring.
In order to make chocolate a
portion of the cocoa liquor is
sent to be pressed for cocoa
butter to be added later to make
chocolate.
Winnowing and grinding
Once the the beans are dried they’re cracked open
exposing the interior of the bean called the nib and
then through a process called winnowing which
separates the nibs from the shell. At this point the the
nibs can be dutched if desired but whether or not
they are ground and due to the high fat content these
ground nibs form a semi plastic which is called
chocolate liquor.
Conching
Conching is essentially a mixing process that
allows the fat to be evenly distributed throughout
the chocolate drastically improving its quality. He
cocoa butter and other compounds are added to
the liquor in order to obtain a finished product but
other processes may occur afterward such as
tempering.