Have you ever pondered how chocolate is made? The simple story is that chocolate is produced from bitter cacao beans and then molded into Chocolate Bars. If you were a chocolate company like Hershey’s, you would require a good deal of them and to give you an idea how it is made, the following is a guideline in the manufacturing process.
The very first thing that needs to be performed is to harvest the cacao beans. Big companies buy these from farmers or buy the farm and harvest these themselves. They will then place these in an oven at a temperature in between 120 to 163 degrees Celsius that is around 250 to 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 to 35 minutes. Of course, you will steadily reduce the temperature and quit roasting them when the beans begin to crack.
So there are usually two reasons why cacao beans stay in an oven at different times. First and foremost is to protect them from burning. Second, the cooking time of cacao beans varies depending on the kind of bean that is being utilized. Since companies make chocolates in large quantities, the cacao beans are kept in drums and then rotated over a gas grill. After they are roasted, the beans have to be cracked into tiny bits better known as nibs while those that can’t are eliminated.
The following step is to grind the nibs into a cacao liqueur. For which, you will need a device to liquefy this and at the same time divide the leftover husks that were not removed after roasting. You then conch and refine the chocolate so you are able to give the chocolate its unique taste. This is what makes Hershey’s chocolates different when compared with M&M which can be accomplished by using a heavy duty wet grinder.
You first have to melt the chocolate and the cocoa butter in the oven at about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. You should then combine non fat dry milk powder, sugar, lecithin and a vanilla pod for around an hour. This blend is then poured into a grinder together with some heat to keep the chocolate in liquid form. This should be refined for at least Ten hours but not more than Thirty six hours. When the mixture is ready, you then temper the chocolate so it looks shiny and soft enough to easily melt in your hand.
The next to last part in making chocolate is to form this into whatever shape or form that you would desire. To generate these in large quantities, chocolate companies buy custom made molds. The chocolate is then poured there and after this is cooled, this is then packaged and prepared for delivery to stores. Some companies even sell these in the form of blocks so folks can purchase them, melt it and mold this to whichever shape they want.
Making chocolate is simple as long as you have the equipment and all the ingredients necessary. It doesn’t matter if this is produced in large volumes or in small quantities because the principle behind it is the same. If you want to find out more about making chocolate, sign up for some classes or read through our extensive articles here at The Chocolate Store.
