Nowadays, chocolate is more accessible than ever, and it can be found at\u00a0every shop that offers food or snacks<\/strong>.\u00a0Chocolate comes in different forms<\/strong>, shapes, sizes and flavours and it is widely used in baking. But exactly how many of you have asked yourselves\u00a0how chocolate is produced\u00a0<\/strong>and where it comes from?<\/p>\n If you are curious about the secrets behind the chocolate making process, in this article we will give you some\u00a0interesting facts about chocolate bars<\/strong>\u00a0production.<\/p>\n The chocolate travels a long way from the\u00a0process of harvesting the cocoa beans through all the manufacturing steps that follow<\/strong>\u00a0till it\u2019s turned into chocolate bars.\u00a0\u00a0More than 75% of the cocoa produced worldwide comes from\u00a0several countries in West Africa (<\/strong>Ivory Coast,\u00a0Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Togo).\u00a0<\/strong>Other cocoa producing regions are Central & South America (Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Dominican product, Colombia) and Indonesia in Asia.<\/p>\n The two main ingredients that chocolate consists of are\u00a0cocoa mass and cocoa butter. According to the main ingredients we can split the chocolates into:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Aerated chocolate<\/strong>\u00a0is another type in the chocolate variety. Its structure contains air bubbles.<\/p>\n In the past, chocolate bars were made by hand but nowadays thanks\u00a0to the technical progress the manufacturing process has evolved into automated production.<\/p>\n Hand-made chocolate remains the top quality product offered by small specialized boutiques around the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The process of making chocolate bars is really interesting and complex.<\/p>\n Just like any type of fruit, the ones of the cacao tree, called\u00a0cacao pods pass through different stages of ripening.\u00a0<\/strong>Because there are different sorts of cacao trees around the world, each one has different shapes and colours of the pods it is not possible a general rule how to find the ready to harvest\u00a0cacao pods to be generated. It becomes a secret of the farmers.<\/p>\n The first steps of the\u00a0chocolate making process<\/strong>\u00a0include\u00a0gathering the ripe pods of the cocoa tree<\/strong>. The harvesters, who are specialized in this task, use a rod or machete to\u00a0remove the cocoa pods from the tree\u00a0<\/strong>and then put them into baskets. The collected cocoa pods are then brought to a cocoa processing house.<\/p>\n Cocoa harvesters leave the\u00a0cocoa beans piled in heaps<\/strong>\u00a0for a couple of days to ferment. After that, cocoa beans are spread onto trays and\u00a0left for 5-7 days to dry well in the sun<\/strong>.\u00a0It is important to\u00a0gather only the ripe cocoa pods\u00a0<\/strong>on trees because the green pods don\u2019t contain the necessary amount of cocoa butter.Another reason for\u00a0gathering only ripe cocoa pods is that the unripe ones cannot ferment. Each bean\u00a0consists of a seed coat, a kernel and a germ. Fermentation ruins the seed coat, pures the germ and gives the cocoa a good taste. To have a quality result during the fermentation the farmers use boxes with holes, placed above the ground, so the juice of the cacao pods runs off smoothly. The beans are taken out by scraping from the pods and stirred after two days. Then they are placed in a separate box. Interesting fact is that beans are not kept in the same box for more than 2 days, so for the whole process of fermentation they change the boxes between 3 and 5 times. All\u00a0fermented cocoa\u00a0beans<\/strong>\u00a0must be dried properly. Sun is the best option. All beans are spread on flat boards that are raised around 1 meter above the ground. The layer of fermented\u00a0beans is not more than 4 centimeters high because they need to “breathe”. They should be stir very often and protected from the rain.<\/p>\n Cocoa beans<\/strong>\u00a0are then prepared for the next steps of the\u00a0chocolate manufacturing process<\/strong>. They are sorted out and bad cocoa beans and other unwanted pieces are removed.<\/p>\n Chocolate manufacturers roast the fermented cocoa beans in a\u00a0special oven<\/strong>. This way, cocoa beans further develop their\u00a0aroma and taste<\/strong>.<\/p>\n After cocoa beans are oven, they are put into a special machine for\u00a0winnowing or\u00a0<\/strong>de-hulling.\u00a0<\/strong>During the\u00a0winnowing process,<\/strong>\u00a0the\u00a0cocoa beans<\/strong>\u00a0are cracked and their outer shells are removed while the inner parts of them\u00a0are broken into small pieces called cocoa nibs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Cocoa bean shells are blown out and the only thing that is left are the\u00a0cocoa nibs<\/strong>. Cocoa nibs are then sieved and sorted. The whole process of winnowing is an essential part for the chocolate\u00a0quality because as bigger the share of the hull (or chaff) is, as poorer the quality is.<\/p>\n The\u00a0cleaned cocoa nibs<\/strong>\u00a0are grounded in a machine into a thick and dry cocoa paste called\u00a0cocoa liquor<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0cocoa mass\u00a0<\/strong>with a\u00a0granular consistency<\/strong>. Because the grinding process generates heat, this speeds up the process of\u00a0melting and liquefying<\/strong>\u00a0the particles of the cocoa nibs.<\/p>\n Even the top world producers of cacao come from West Africa, Europe is the leader of grinding of cocoa nibs. Over 40% of the world cocoa harvest is processed in Europe, while the Netherlands is a world champion followed by Ivory Coast. The country of the most famous milk chocolate – Switzerland is far away from them with only 1% share, equal to the United Kingdom, Canada and Peru.<\/p>\n Cocoa butter and sugar<\/strong>\u00a0are added to the cocoa liquor, afterwards.<\/p>\n Condensed or powdered whole milk<\/strong> should be added, if the milk chocolate has to be made.\u00a0\u00a0The types of ingredients added to the cocoa mass vary depending on the\u00a0manufacturer\u2019s recipe\u00a0and specific technology of the chocolate production<\/em>.<\/p>\n The goal of blending the chocolate mass is to\u00a0mix all ingredients together<\/strong>. The process can continue for several hours, and it is done at high speed.\u00a0After that the\u00a0well-blended\u00a0mixture\u00a0<\/strong>is poured into special forms and left to stay until it is fully hardened. Then it is broken down into \u00a0pieces.<\/p>\nWhat is chocolate?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/strong>Cocoa mass is made from the dry parts of the cocoa beans.\u00a0Cocoa\u00a0butter is the\u00a0fat content in the cacao beans<\/strong>.\u00a0A sweet substance is also added to the\u00a0chocolate mixture<\/strong>, and this is most often\u00a0sugar<\/strong>. Milk is used for the production of milk chocolate.Other additional ingredients such as nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts<\/em>), raisins, dried fruits, sweet or salty biscuits\u00a0are added too.\u00a0Some chocolate types also contain\u00a0fruit fillings or milk fillings.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chocolate-brands.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/types-of-chocolate-683x1024.jpg\")
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How chocolate is made?\u00a0Main steps in making chocolate bars<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Gathering cocoa beans<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chocolate-brands.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cocoa-ripening.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFermentation and drying<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Thanks to the\u00a0fermentation process,<\/strong>\u00a0cocoa beans give\u00a0the\u00a0cocoa powder \u00a0the specific chocolate taste.\u00a0They are used for\u00a0making cocoa liquor\u00a0<\/strong>afterwards. Each cocoa pod can contain up to 50 beans.<\/p>\n
Fermentation is the first step. Then comes the\u00a0drying<\/strong>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chocolate-brands.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cocoa-drying.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRoasting<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Winnowing<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Grinding<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Blending and molding the cocoa mass\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Refining<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chocolate-brands.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cocoa-beans-150x150.png\")
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