Chocolate is an eatable that is loved by all age groups. Dark chocolate is considered nutritious and is a healthy product. You can find a number of brands in the market who manufacture chocolates but all of them do not have equal taste or ingredients. The base of any chocolate is cocoa beans and sugar. It depends on manufacturers whether they add milk solids to it or not.
Manufacturers make chocolates in large quantities everyday as demand for chocolates never stop. There are number of industries that are involved in bulk dark chocolate manufacturing. Dark chocolates are basically used in bakeries and these chocolates have very less sugar content. Dark chocolates are enriched with high antioxidants.
Procedure of Making Dark Chocolates
- Before Entering the Manufacturing Plant – Dark Chocolates are manufactured using cocoa beans that are grown inside a covering known as cocoa pods. Cocoa beans take five to six months to completely grow inside a cocoa pod. The pods are collected using machines or by hands. The ripe beans are then taken out from the pods. The beans and the fruit pulp are fermented for 2-8 days in a basket covered with banana leaves.
- The fermentation process is done in order to mix up the fruity taste of pulp to the bitter taste of cocoa. These fermented beans are sun dried and separated out from the pulp. These beans are now set ready to be dispatched to the chocolate manufacturers.
- In Manufacturing Plant – When these beans reach the chocolate industry, these are washed and separated for further processing. These beans are dry roasted in a moving drum at 250-degree Fahrenheit to 350-degree Fahrenheit. The time of roasting the beans completely depends upon the moisture beans that can vary from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The roasting is done to increase the flavor and give the beans a soothing color.
- The roasted beans get to the winnower in which the shells blow off from the beans after that the beans are crushed to nibs.
- The nibs are heated and grinded to a thick paste known as chocolate liquor. From the chocolate liquor cocoa butter is taken out which is used to make chocolates by adding fat and sugar.
- The chocolate is processed through the rollers to smoothen out its texture, now this smooth mixture is poured to the conching machine where it is grinded and other non- tempting flavors are removed. This chocolate is now ready to be molded and cooled down till hard.
