Chocovivo.com Reveals How to Make Chocolate the Bean-to-Bar Way

2024-04-20 08:38:07 Business

576

The bean-to-bar method of preparing chocolate has increasingly become popular as individuals seek artisanal chocolate over the mass-produced products of big-scale manufacturers. Large companies generally purchase beans from numerous farms and use different ingredients to attain consistency in taste.

However, when you prepare chocolates this way, the taste varies across batches. That's because chocolate flavors are reliant on various factors, ranging from the climate to how you roast the beans. Here's how to make chocolate the bean to bar way.

Bean Selection

Finding quality cocoa beans isn't easy. You can visit a local chocolate maker or outsource from a different country. During the selection, ensure the beans appear clean, smell nice, are the same size and color, and are mostly intact.

Roasting

You need to roast cocoa beans to eliminate any bacteria and sharp flavors, and to develop final chocolate flavors. Numerous roasting techniques exist depending on your choice. You can roast them in a pan, roaster, or a drum. If you want to attain consistency, consider using an oven or coffee roaster. Ensure you don't overcook or burn them. After roasting, spread the beans over a cloth underneath a fan to cool them rapidly.

Cracking

This step is necessary to eliminate the husks from the nibs in the winnowing stage. Fold the cloth in half and use a rolling pin to smash the beans lightly. Pour them into a bowl and take them outside for winnowing.

Winnowing

This process involves the separation of the external shell using airflow. Pour the crushed beans into a winnowing tool such as a fan, tray or bowl and toss them to remove the nibs from the outer shell.

Ingredient Selection

The ingredients you choose depend on the type of chocolate you?re making. If you want dark chocolate, you simply need cocoa nibs, sugar, and cocoa butter while milk chocolate also contains milk powder.

Grinding (Conching and Refining)

Refining involves reducing the size of the sugar crystals and cocoa solids, while conching is the mixing and heating of chocolate to create texture and taste. Once you?re ready to prepare your bean chocolate, add the ingredients gradually to the stone grinder.

Heat the stones before adding some cocoa butter. It's up to you to determine when to include other ingredients. Leave the chocolate in the machine for 24-48 hours to permit it to conch and become silky smooth.

Tempering

This stage is the most difficult when making bean chocolate. It takes practice and time to get it right. This stage requires a marble slab or tempering machine. You'll pour the chocolate from the machine into a bowl and place the bowl on top of a pan of water to make a double boiler. Make sure the bowl doesn't contact water and don't allow the water to boil. You want to avoid water splashing into the chocolate.

Molding and Coating

This part is enjoyable but messy. Once you've tempered the chocolate, heat the molds and pour the chocolate into them. Use a spatula for spreading the chocolate around the mold to fill every gap. Tap the molds on the table to discharge any air bubbles and scrape excess chocolate off the molds. Once you've used up all the chocolate, place the molds in the fridge for approximately 20-30 minutes.

You can also use the tempered chocolate to coat fruit, nuts or other treats. Drizzle chocolate over strawberries or make your own chocolate covered almonds.

Preparing bean to bar chocolate is satisfying but hard work. It will be extremely rewarding to share your own candy bars, chocolate covered almonds, and other confections with family and friends.