In this text, we are going to talk about a product that is widely used by most people practically every day: powdered chocolate. It is a basic ingredient for many recipes, such as the delicious brigadeiro. But it really stands out when it comes to use in milk. Who can resist a chocolate milk, right?
Surely you and your friends have several indications on how to use this delicious powder, but does everyone know how powdered chocolate is produced? Do you know where it starts? If your answer was no to the questions, we will resolve that issue right now.
THE chocolate powder production and other types of chocolate have the same origin. The fundamental raw material for its production is cocoa, a fruit (of different colors, which can be green, yellow, purple or orange) produced by a plant of approximately eight meters in height: the cocoa tree.
Cocoa has 20 to 50 seeds inside. These seeds, in turn, have a generally ovoid shape; 2 to 3 cm in length, in addition to being covered with a white pulp with a sugary taste. White pulp is intended for the production of jellies, juices and vinegar, for example. The cocoa seed (almond) is intended for the production of chocolate in general.
Amount of almonds (seeds) present in cocoa
After harvesting in the cocoa tree, the seed is immediately separated from the pulp and undergoes a sun-drying process that lasts around eight days. During this period, the objective is to remove all liquid material and prevent the germination of new seeds.
Then, the dried seeds are placed in an electronic oven that performs a procedure called roasting, which slowly roasts the cocoa beans. During this process, the cocoa aroma becomes sharper due to the complete removal of water.
Right after roasting, the seeds are cooled, passed through a crusher and ground in a mill. In this phase, the seeds are completely disintegrated and form, due to the high fat content, a mass with a pasty characteristic, the liquor.
Substances called alkalis (such as sodium carbonate) are added to the liquor to reduce the acidity, and then it is packaged in an equipment that promotes a press in the mixture and results in the separation of two products, one called cocoa butter and the other, cake. cocoa. For the production of powdered chocolate, cocoa cake is used.
The cocoa cake goes through a process of crushing and sieving, which gives rise to cocoa powder. The last step in the production of powdered chocolate is the addition of sugar.
Ready-to-use chocolate powder, then becoming a mixture of cocoa powder and sugar
By Me. Diogo Lopes Dias
