Chocolate. Production technologies

A lot of people adore an amazing taste of chocolate. How did people invent chocolate and how is it manufactured at our factory? We suggest you should learn more about it.

In fact, chocolate is a unique product due to its taste and a long shelf life. The chocolate production process consists of a range of stages, which are necessary for transforming cocoa beans into a finished product, including sorting, cleaning, roasting, grinding, milling, conching and other.

1. Roasting of cocoa beans

The production of a chocolate mass begins with the processing phase, roasting in particular. To achieve the desired flavour and taste, to make beans lose redundant moisture and become of an even dark brown colour, cocoa beans are previously cleaned, sorted and roasted. Roasting is a very important stage of the production process, as it largely affects the quality of the chocolate, its flavour and taste.

2. Winnowing and Milling

Once the cocoa beans have been cooled, they are placed into a winnowing machine, that refines and peels them (to separate the so-called cacaovella), and then crushing the seeds to produce cocoa nibs.

The cocoa nibs, roasted and refined, are greatly milled. The more the cocoa nibs are milled, the finer and richer the taste of chocolate will be. The solid cocoa particles should not be more than 75 µm after grinding. This is cocoa mass, also called chocolate liquor. This liquor is a nonalcoholic liquid and is called so only because of its being fluid.

3. Pressing, Mixing, Refining

Grated cocoa contains about 54% of cacao butter, which is the basic component of fine chocolate. To extract cacao butter, the grated cocoa is heated until a certain temperature is achieved (95–105°). The heated grated cocoa is pressed. This is the way the cacao butter is separated from the solid remains, used for further production of cocoa powder. It should be emphasized that various cheap substitutes lack cocoa butter. This is the reason for selling a chocolate bar, weighting 200 g, at a price of a 100 g bar.

Grated cocoa, sugar and part of cocoa butter are mixed in a certain proportion. The mass produced is grinded. The more the mass is grinded, the more delicious the taste is. Production of chocolate from crushed cocoa beans through mixing of a various components is an ingenious part of the process. To produce chocolate the cocoa mass is to be enriched with cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla. These ingredients are mixed and then kneaded until a smooth and uniform mass is obtained.

The percentage of natural cocoa products, that chocolate contains, predetermines its quality and price. It especially regards cocoa butter, which is the most expensive component of chocolate.

4. Conching

This is one of the most important stages of a chocolate production process. After mixing and crushing the chocolate mass undergoes further intensive mixing at a high temperature. It is a long process, that results in evaporating excess moisture, removing incompatible flavours and tastes, as well as the remaining lumps, and expel acids and excess bitter taste, while solid cocoa particles become round. As a result, the chocolate consistency becomes more homogeneous and melting.

To produce high-quality chocolate, cacao butter and lecithin are added in order to liquefy the chocolate mass and to optimize the molding process. Vanilla makes chocolate taste delicate and refined. Usually, conching is done for about 24 hours or longer, depending on desired quality of finished product. Some sorts of our chocolate can be conched for up to 5 days, because insufficient conching may result in undesirable taste and excessive acidity of chocolate.

5. Tempering

Tempering is the key stage of a chocolate production process. This is where all the crystals in chocolate are set so that the bar created has a good clean snap, a good shine, and a good melting point for a long time.

The tempering process involves smooth cooling of hot chocolate mass down to 28°C, followed by reheating up to 32°C. Changes in technological process even at one of the tempering stages will affect the form and structure of chocolate.

When tempering is done the chocolate poured into warm moulds. Depending on a chocolate production formula, this stage may also include enriching chocolate with various adjuncts, such as nuts. Thereafter chocolate bars are placed into refrigerators, where they become solid and glittering. Then it remains only to invert the moulds and to shake out the bars onto conveyer belt. The product is ready for packing and shipping to customers.

When the next time you enjoy the rich and refined taste of SPARTAK chocolate bars, please remember the whole production process starting from treatment of bitter cocoa beans growing in tropics till the final production of chocolate delicacy that you hold in your hand.