The main stages in chocolate making
1. COCOA PRODUCTION :
The pods are picked when they reach maturity, which is determined by the colour and the sound the pod makes when tapped.
Shelling consists of opening the pod by tapping on it with a club, to retrieve the contents. A pod contains 30 to 40 grains set in rows and surrounded by a rich and sweet pulp: mucilage
Fermentation of the kernels, which frees the beans from the mucilage, takes place in crates or large baskets and lasts 4 to 7 days. It produces a fermentation flavour that is crucial in the subtlety of the final flavour.
After fermentation, the beans still contain 60 % moisture, which needs to be reduced to 7% to ensure the cocoa can be preserved and transported under optimum conditions. It is done in the sun or in drying rooms, and lasts 8 to 15 days. This gives the cocoa beans.
A pod weighs around 380 g
A fresh bean weighs around 2.5 g
A dry bean weighs around 1 g
25,000 pods will provide a tonne of dry beans
2. MAKING CHOCOLATE :
Roasting: this operation consists of grilling the beans in a roaster, between 120 and 140°C, for 20 to 30 minutes. Roasting will develop the flavours and remove the moisture in the beans, while observing the specific characteristics of each origin.
Crushing: once they have been cooled, the beans are put in the crusher. The kernels are separated from their shell and are reduced to a coarse paste called "grué".
Blending: chocolate is often produced with a mix of beans from different crops (just as grapes from different varieties are needed for wine production). This blending comes at this stage of the process and lends the chocolate the desired taste.
Grinding: The "grué" is ground fine between steel cylinders. Under the dual effect of grinding and heat, it is transformed into a liquid paste: cocoa mass or cocoa liquor.
At this stage they either want to get cocoa butter (present naturally in the beans) and cocoa powder, in which case the cocoa mass will be pressed to obtain them, or they want to produce chocolate, in which case they will:
1. Mix the cocoa mass with sugar, cocoa butter and dried powdered milk if they want to make milk chocolate.
2. Grind a second time to make the chocolate as fine as it needs to be.
Conching: the paste is worked for several hours. This is to:
- Eliminate any trace of residual moisture
- Eliminate undesirable aromas
- Remove excess acidity and bitterness
- Bring out the flavours
- Obtain a smooth and soft paste.
3. CHOCOLATE SWEETS :
Making:
- Coating: the fillings are placed on a mesh conveyor belt passing through a liquid chocolate fountain. The excess chocolate flows through the mesh and is collected. The sweets are then cooled in a cooling tunnel. All the chocolate sweets in the Impériale range are coated.
- Moulding: the liquid chocolate is poured into moulds, which are then turned over so that only a fine layer of chocolate is clinging on: this gives the chocolate mould, which is then turned over again and the fillings are poured in, and then covered with a chocolate cap. They are then cooled.
CHOCOLAT ACCESSORIES
