Confessions of a
Chocaholic
World Chocolate Production
Fermantation



4 to 7 days fermentation of the pectinaceous
Yeasts, lactic-acid, and acetic-acid bacteria
grow during which high temperatures of up to
50 degrees C and microbial products, such
as ethanol, lactic acid, and acetic acid are
produced
This combination of temperature and acid kill
the beans and cause production of flavor
precursors.
Three +1 Families of Cocoa Beans
 Criollo
 Forastero
 Trinitario
 Arriba/Nacional
Criollo





Considered the finest cocoa from which the
best chocolate is manufactured
1% of the world production
From Central America and Mexico
Fragile and delicate
Acidic, aromatic, lightly bitter
Forastero





Widely grown
80% of world production
Mostly grown in Africa
Very resistent
Strong flavor and aroma, very bitter
Trinitario





Hybrid of Forastero and Criollo
15% of world production
Grown in Trinidad
Hearty, withstand infestations well
Excellent flavor, mildly bitter
Arriba/Nacional



Another excellent variety of cocoa
4% of world production
Full smooth cocoa flavor with additional floral,
nutty notes
To Make Chocolate
Drying
Cleaning
Roasting
Shelling
Manufacturing of cocoa mass
Cocoa Mass/Chocolate Liquor
 Cocoa
Bean
50-55% Cocoa Butter
 45-50% Cocoa Solids

Grind and refine = Cocoa mass

Cocoa Powder can have as much as 25%
cocoa butter
Tempering Chocolate
Lipid structure
 Crystallization
 Polymorphism

Phase Transitions

The transformation of a thermodynamic
system from one phase or state of matter to
another at the molecular level

Phase transition of cheese
Phase transition of water
Phase transition of chocolate


Cocoa butter



Cocoa butter is largely triglycerides
There are several stable crystal polymorphs
Good chocolate can only be made from the
stable crystals
Fatty Acids in cocoa butter

Stearic Acid 34%

Oleic Acid 35%

Palmitic Acid 26%

Plus about 5 others
Triglycerides take on a tuning fork configuration
Polymorphism. Molecular packing can
vary by angle, and by stacking
As the oil cools the fat molecules
slow down
Eventually try to “stop” in contact with
another molecule (crystal lattice)
It takes time to get into optimal
position (most dense)
Pre-existing nuclei can help form a
template
Chocolate in the liquid state
Chocolate cooling and the formation
different nuclei (crystal formation)
Continued homogenous nucleation.
Random crystal growth
Rapid cooling leads to less well ordered structure
This is an example of homogeneous nucleation
By raising the temperature, unwanted crystals are
melted out
Heterogeneous nucleation

It takes
more
time for
the beta
5
crystals
to
nucleate
than the
lower
form
crystals

Chocolate
in Temper
Key Facts






Desirable forms have a high melting point
The higher melting point, the more stable
More stable fats are more dense
More stable forms are slow to form
Like crystals will grow from like
Cocoa butter can convert from a less to more
stable form
Couverture
Determined by composition
Couvertures is at least 32% cocoa butter
This means the cocoa mass has at least 32%
cocoa butter
A couverture labeled 60% means 60% cocoa
mass and 40% sugar. There is no specificity
for cocoa butter
Additionally, vanilla and, maybe lecithin





Types of Couverture

White Chocolate: No Cocoa Solids with a
miniumum 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk
solids,3.5%milk fat, and 55% sugar


Not really chocolate
Milk Chocolate:30% to 50% cocoa mass,
20%milk solids, 40%sugar, sometime
additional cocoa butter
Types of Couverture


Semisweet Chocolate, AKA Chocolate: cocoa
mass of more than 50%, and the balance in
sugar
Bittersweet, Extra Dark, etc.: these
chocolates will specify the cocoa mass %.
The manufactures will not disclose the exact
percentage of cocoa butter
Solid Fat Content at temperature
20°C
30°C
Butter
43%
5%
Pork Fat
28%
9%
Cocoa Butter
75%
33%
Hydrogenated palm
Oil
85%
62%
35°C 40°C
0%
0%
5%
5%
0%
0%
48% 30%
Compound Chocolate



Sometimes called summer coating,
confectionary coating, coating chocolate.
Chocolate that has its cocoa butter replaced
with other vegetable fats
Some chocolate producers go to great
lengths to use a modified vegetable fat that
mimics cocoa butters mouth feel. Also some
will leave some cocoa butter in the chocolate
as well
Compound Chocolate

And my personal favorite name for this kind of coating:
Mockolate
Cocoa Butter, crystallization, tempering and bloom PPT
Globalhasin.blogspot.com
etawau.com
herbmuseum.ca
corbisimages.com
milbanio.com
Berry-callebaut.com
Tootoo.com
Department of Biology, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, Brazil. rschwan@ufla.br
Wikipedia