Bean Cleaning
Cocoa beans pass first through a cleaning machine. Some of the extraneous materials removed include sacks, stones, strings, iron weights, nails, bullets, coins and other materials such as dust, loose shells, small fragments and clumps of cocoa beans. The cleaning process consists of a series of operations, which by means of screens of varying meshes, brushes, airlifts and magnetic separators remove the unwanted materials. The cleaned beans may be conveyed into silos for storage or go straight
for processing.
Roasting
The processor has the option of roasting the beans before the shell is removed or removing the shell before roasting.. The first one is whole bean roasting through Roaster I while the second one is through nib roasting in Roaster 2 after the micronizing of the whole beans and then winnowing prior to roasting.
Roasting-before-shelling: In this method, beans are roasted before they are shelled. This method is generally believed to give better control over the degree of roast and therefore on resulting flavours. It is thus often used to process fine or flavour cocoa beans destined for the manufacture of fine chocolate. Shelling-before-roasting: Under this second method, the beans are predried,generally by exposing them to infrared light; they are then shelled and the meat is roasted to the desired degree. Pre-drying reduces the size of the beans which, because they are also unshelled, can be subjected to a much more uniform and quicker roasting process. This makes the method suitable for processing large tonnages. In addition to achieving economies of scale, the method prevents cocoa butter migration, rendering it even more cost-effective. The method has another advantage in that it results in the elimination of unwanted flavours. The method is however less suited to the development of specially desirable cocoa
flavours.
Micronizer
During this treatment the raw cocoa beans are subjected to radiant heat at intervals ranging from 60 to 120 seconds, the energy being supplied either by gas or by electricity. The beans are conveyed in a thin layer beneath the heaters along a vibrating steel bed, with the motion causing the beans to be continuously turned so that all surfaces are equally exposed. Through this method, the shells of the beans are rapidly heated. dried, expanded and detached from the nibs. The nibs are heated and dried to a much lower degree but slight expansion assists in loosening the shells. Because the nib remains tough, there is less breakage and less dust is formed, in contrast to traditional roasting processes, in which the nib is more intensely heated and dried. This property helps in the winnowing process as it is well recognized that the smaller the percentage of the fine particles or dust in the broken beans, the higher would be the yield of the nib. The micronizing treatment also contributes to the reduction of
microbiological contamination and causes the destruction of rodent hairs and insect fragments. A further advantage of micronizing is the decreased transfer of fat from the nib to the shell, which, in some roasting processes, can represent a considerable loss of volatile cocoa butter.
Sterilization
Most micro-organisms will have been destroyed in the early stages of roasting under moist conditions; a final sterilization ensures the destruction of heated resistant bacteria and spores. The procedure is to
inject, over a period of twenty seconds, a fine water spray of steam into the roasting drum at the end of the roasting period. This will guarantee a considerable reduction of the micro-organisms. Introducing sterile air that has passed through a bacteria filter cools the roasted nibs.
Breaking and Winnowing
The valuable part of the cocoa bean is the nib, the outer shell being a waste material of minimal value. Cocoa shells may be used as garden mulch as charcoal brickets for fueling boilers and as ash for making soap. The objective of the winnowing process is to produce two basic fractions, the nib, which contains the minimum of shell and germ, and the shell, which can be divided into various grades that should be free from significant amounts of nib. The principle of separation by the winnowing process depends on the difference in the apparent density of the nibs and shell. Winnowing machines make use of the combined action of sieving and air elutriation. The shell is loosened by roasting or partially drying the beans, which are then lightly crushed with the object of preserving large pieces of shell and nib and avoiding the creation of small particles and dust. This process is called breaking. The mixture of broken shell pieces and nibs is then winnowed. The new winnowing machines use a multi-layer sieve frame with meshes of different sizes, one above the other, with the largest mesh at the top. The shell pieces are removed by pneumatic suction at theoverflow of each sieve, with the remaining nib piece being directed to chutes at the side of the machine. The sieves are kept free from blockage by means of vibratory movement and a system of raking. The fine dusts are collected in a cyclone system following the winnower.):
Alkalization
Alkalization is used mainly to change colour, improve dispersability or suspension in water and also affects flavour. The alkalization process raises the pH from 5.2 - 5.6 to near neutrality at 6.8 - 7.5, depending on the quantity of alkali used. The chemical reactions occurring during alkalization are not precisely known there is certainly more than neutralisation of the free fatty acids but no saponification occurs. The polyphenolic substances are modified as shown by the colour variations that can be obtained and there is physical swelling of the cocoa particles. Some protein breakdown also occurs. The process consists of the treatment of the beans nibs, liquor, cake or powder with solutions or suspensions of alkali, usually potassium or sodium carbonate. Other alkalis may also be used. The solution of alkali is sprayed into the drum after it is charged with the nibs. The alkalized nibs are slowly dried at a temperature below 100°C (212oF). This develops colour and is followed by roasting at higher temperatures. Slow drying in
the initial stages is an important factor. Cocoa liquor and cocoa cake can also be alkalized.
Cocoa Liquor
There are many machines for reducing cocoa nibs into liquor. The nib has a cellular structure with the fat (cocoa butter approximately 55%) in solid form. locked within the cells. In the grinding process the cell is ruptured. Frictional and applied- heat melts the fat, the particle size of the non-fat constituent is reduced, and the paste becomes progressively more fluid. The viscosity of the liquor is related to the degree of roasting preceding the grinding and to the moisture content of the nib. The higher the moisture contents of the roasted nibs, the more viscous the liquor. The heat generated by this process causes the cocoa butter in the nib to melt, forming the cocoa liquor. It is also known as 'cocoa paste' 'chocolate
paste' 'cocoa masse' or according to the United States food standards of identity, simply as 'chocolate'. When further refined, it is also called 'unsweetened baking chocolate.' The grinding process can be achieved by stone mills, disk mills, horizontal millstones, pin or hammer mills and bead or ball mills. The milling process may take two or three stages using the combination of the principles of the above mills. The refined cocoa liquor is heat treated in storage tanks at a temperature of about 90 - 100°C for aging and microbial destruction. The treated cocoa liquor could be packed in cartons lined with polyethylene for
sale or the liquor subjected to hydraulic pressing to extract cocoa butter/cake.
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter is extracted from cocoa liquor in hydraulic presses. The fat obtained by this process is clear and slightly yellow in color. It is usually of a bland cocoa flavour, unless it has been obtained from alkalized liquor (also known as dutched liquor). It is subsequently filtered and it needed refined and deodorized with steam before storage. It is then either molded directly in plastic-lined cardboard cases or is kept liquid in heated storage tanks for direct shipment to the chocolate industry. The residue in the
presses is known as cocoa press cake. It is removed from the press and is ground to become cocoa power. If alkalized liquor is used in the pressing process, the butter will have a more pungent and less desirable flavour and odor and will have to be deodorized to make it suitable for chocolate production. Cocoa butter obtained from untreated liquor is known as “pure prime pressed natural cocoa butter, and butter pressed from dutch liquor and subsequently refined is normally sold as pure prime pressed cocoa butter”. Cocoa butter is also obtained by solvent extraction. This This butter is known as pure
refined cocoa butter” or cocoa butter USP. Solvent extraction butter issold at a discount and is used primarily in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.
Cocoa Cake/Cocoa powder
The residue obtained after the primary processing of cocoa nib to cocoa liquor is known as “cocoa press cake”. The cake is removed from the press and grand to become cocoa powder. Good quality cocoa powders are prepared by hydraulic pressing of finely ground liquor – which must have been manufactured from well winnowed, high-grade cocoa beans. Hydraulic presses are used for this process and
are now modernized in design and increasingly automated and accurate in obtaining the required fat content in the cocoa cake. The pressure applied in these processes is up to 6000 Ibs/in (520kg./cm2) and the larger presses will take a charge of up to 250Ib (113.4kg) of liquor per one pressing cycle. The control of fat content is largely on the basis of time. Two kinds of cocoa cakes can be obtained by this process:
(a) High fat cake i.e. 22% - 24% residual fat in the pressed cake
(b) Low fat cake, i.e. 10% - 12% residual fat in the cake.
The operation of the presses is completely automatic and the time cycle (15 to 25 minutes), weight of cocoa butter extracted and distance of ram travel control the ultimate fat content of the cocoa cake. At the end of the pressure/time cycle, the direction of the ram is reversed and the pots open and allow the cocoa cakes to drop into a bin or onto a conveyer, from which they are removed for grinding. The cocoa butter extracted is also discharged into receptacles, from which it is pumped into an intermediate tank for further processing. With modern presses to obtain optimum yields in a minimum time various factors have to be taken into account, including the following:
- Temperature of the liquor
- Moisture content
- Degree of roast/protein coagulation
- Homogenizing
- Particle size
- Presses
- Pressure
- Bean Cleaning
- Roasting
- Micronizer
- Sterilization
- Breaking and Winnowing
- Alkalization
- Cocoa Liquor
Chocolate Processing at CRIN involves:
Clean Beans
Roasting
Shelling (Nibs)
Grinding
Mix with other ingredients
Refining
Conching
Tempering
Moulding
Packaging
Making of CRIN cocoa wine involves
Starting Material (pulp, sweating, powder)
Addition of yeast
Fermentation
Filtration
Ageing
Racking
Packaging
Making of CRIN soy-choco, choco-gari, choco-bread
Involves:
soyabeans Cassava-tubers ingredients
Blanching Peeling Cocoa powder
Grinding Grating Mixing
Mixing Mixing - with Cocoa powder Dough
Sieving Fermenting Fermenting
Boiling + Sugar Sieving Cutting
Soy-choco Roasting Choco-bread
Choco-gari
Making of CRIN soap involves
Cocoa pod husk
Cocoa pod ash
Boiling
Potash solution
Mix with palm kernel oil,
heat and stir + addition of
colourant and perfume
Liquid detergent
Packaging
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