Logo

To make 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of chocolate, about 300 to 600 beans are processed, depending on the desired cocoa content. In a factory, the beans are roasted. Next they are cracked and then de-shelled by a "winower". The resulting pieces of beans are called nibs. They are sometimes sold in small packages at specialty store and markets to be used in cooking, snacking, and chocolate dishes. Since nibs are directly from the cocoa tree, they coantain high amounts of theobromine. Most nibs are ground, using various methods, into a thick creamy paste, known as chocolate liquor or cocoa pasre. This "liquor" is then further processed into chocolate by mixing in (more) cocoa butter suger (and sometimes vanilla and lecithin as an emulsifer) ,and then refined, conched and tempered. Alternatively, it can be separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter using a hydraulic press or the Broma process.This process process produces around 50% cocoa butter and 50% cocoa powder. Standard cocoa powder has a fat content of approximately 10-12 percent. Cocoa butter is used in chocolate bar manufacture, other confectionery, soaps, and cosmetics. The book covers the origin, history and taxonomy of cocoa, and examines the fairtrade and organic cocoa industries and their influence on smallholder farmers. This book can serves as a desk reference for all those engaged in the business of production, marketing, processing and consumption of cocoa and chocolate worldwide.