• 0Shopping Cart
Anarchy Chocolate
  • Home
  • About
  • Club
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Retail Locations
    • Payment Methods 2022
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • English
  • Menu Menu
Bean to Bar Process

The Art of Chocolate Making

The Art of Chocolate Making - Anarchy Chocolate

The art of chocolate making is a fun process that makes millions of people happy each and every day. But how exactly is it done? Follow along for a trip through the process that produces our very own bean to bar chocolate made in Trat Thailand.

Let's Break This Down: hide
1 First What is Craft Chocolate?
2 How is Chocolate Made?
2.1 Sourcing
2.2 Roasting
2.3 Cracking
2.4 Winnowing
2.5 Grinding
2.6 Conching
2.7 Tempering
2.8 Molding
2.9 Let’s Wrap this Up

First What is Craft Chocolate?

Craft chocolate refers to small batches of chocolate made from ethically sourced cacao beans. The emphasis is on each batch’s individual flavour profile instead of mass marketing. Bean to bar chocolate is a phrase often used because the chocolate maker is in control of the entire process – from the picking of the bean to the making of the bar.

Anarchy Chocolate - The Art of Chocolate Making

How is Chocolate Made?

The short answer: very carefully! The more precise answer: chocolate is made in an eight step process that turns the fresh pods picked from a cacao tree into the delightful treats enjoyed each day. This process includes sourcing, roasting, cracking, winnowing, grinding, coaching, tempering, and molding. If each of the steps are followed carefully, a smooth, shiny piece of chocolate is produced.

Cocoa Fermentation Box

Sourcing

The first step to making craft chocolate is to source quality beans. Beans are sourced from cacao trees, and special care is taken to not harm the tree when cocoa pods are harvested. The pods are open, and then they are set aside in boxes in order to ferment.

Growing and processing the beans has an impact on the final flavour of the chocolate. Chocolate makers must pay special attention to how long harvested beans ferment, as fermentation is the biggest player in the taste of the end product. Other aspects that change the taste of chocolate is the amount of rain to which the beans were exposed, the climate’s temperature, soil conditions, and the process used to dry the beans after harvest. After appropriate fermentation, the beans are moved to the roaster to dry them out further.

craft chocolate making by Anarchy Chocolate
Roasting

Roasting the beans is done to promote the development of the best flavour possible. Lightly roasted beans tend to taste bitter, as the flavour profile does not fully form. Heavily roasted beans ignore the subtle flavours of the bean and just taste burnt. The middle ground is where the true flavour of the bean exists, and beans roasted this way produce the highest quality chocolate. Once roasted, the beans are ready to be cracked open to expose the cocoa nibs.

Cracking

After roasting and cooling, the beans are then churned through a mill in order to crack the outside shell and separate it from the cacao inside, often called the “nib.” As they come out of the mill, the shells and nibs fall into buckets. These buckets are covered with screens to further separate the shells and nibs. Once separated, they are now prepared to be winnowed.

Winnowing

Winnowing removes the bean shells and leaves the nibs behind for further processing. This process involves blowing air across the buckets. As the shells weight much less than the nibs, they blow away, leaving only the cocoa bean body ready for grinding. The shells are then put aside and later packaged as chocolate tea, and the nibs are taken to the grinder.

Grinding

The nibs then go through a grinder, where they are ground until their consistency is smooth. Cocoa butter and sugar are added during this time if required. The concoction is ground until fully smooth, and then it is moved to the conching machine.

Conching

Conching is where the chemistry that forms the chocolate’s final flavour profile and texture happens. Ingredients with solid particles, such as cacao and sugar, become round and smooth as the cocoa butter envelops them; this determines the overall texture of the final product. Chemicals like acetic acid evaporate, and the final flavour profile of the chocolate is determined.

It is important to pay close attention during the conching process. If the product is conched too much, the more subtle flavours of the profile will disappear. After carefully being conched, it is moved to the tempering machine for one of the final steps. At Anarchy Chocolate we temper chocolate by hand.

Tempering

Tempering is changing the temperature of the now liquid chocolate in order to expand or shrink the crystals of cocoa butter so that the correct matrix is created. Chocolate that is tempered correctly is shiny, and when bent it snaps. Incorrectly tempered chocolate has a matrix that is disorderly or odd shaped. This chocolate lacks luster and will simply melt in a chocolate maker’s hands.

Molding

After being run through the tempering machine or tempered by hand, the liquid chocolate is then put into a mold. These molds can be custom made to reflect any brand and are typically made of food safe polycarbonate.

The chocolate is allowed to solidify at a cool temperature, and then it is popped out of the mold to be packaged and enjoyed.

https://anarchychocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-Art-of-Chocolate-Making-Anarchy-chocolate-VDO.mp4

Let’s Wrap this Up

The art of chocolate making is a long and precise practice. Because of this precision, chocolate makers have developed a plethora of flavour profiles that make chocolate tasting not only enjoyable, but an adventure as well.

To enjoy the ‘Taste of Freedom‘ visit our online store and browse Anarchy Chocolate products while stocks last.

 

The Art of Chocolate Making

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://anarchychocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-Art-of-Chocolate-Making-2.png 1260 2240 Perry Stevens https://anarchychocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/logo-Anarchy-Chocolate-2021.png Perry Stevens2021-05-25 05:38:352021-05-31 03:29:40The Art of Chocolate Making
You might also like
Cacao Trees | Anarchy Chocolate 12 Fun Facts About Cocoa Trees That Will Make You Love Chocolate Even More 
Fermenting Cocoa Beans in Thailand How Do You Ferment Cocoa Beans?
Anarchy Chocolate Box Marketing Out of the Chocolate Box – 4 KickAss Strategies
Anarchy Farm Open Weekend Anarchy Farm Open Weekends
Anarchy Chocolate - Thai Cocoa The Taste of Freedom
Anarchy Chocolate - 15 Palms Resort - Koh Chang Discover Anarchy Chocolate on Koh Chang
Cocoa Mass by Anarchy Chocolate Cocoa Mass
Ceremonial Cacao
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News Articles

  • Valentines Day - Dark Chocolate for Your HeartThis Valentine Discover the Surprising Benefits of Dark Chocolate for Your Heart and MoodJanuary 31, 2023 - 6:05 am
  • Best Chocolate in ThailandBest Chocolate in Thailand – Surprises from the Thailand Chocolate MarketJanuary 28, 2023 - 3:18 pm
  • Craft Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe - Anarchy ChocolateOur Anarchic Home-made Craft Chocolate Ice Cream RecipeDecember 9, 2022 - 2:33 pm
  • Delicious and Easy Chocolate Brownie Recipe by Anarchy ChocolateCraft Chocolate Brownie RecipeDecember 8, 2022 - 3:47 am
  • Ceremonial CacaoSeptember 12, 2022 - 8:05 am

Follow us on Facebook

We now accept payment in cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin Accepted Heremonero acceptedLitecoin Accepted HereEthereum Accepted Heredash accepted hereArrrmada - Pirate Chain Accepted Here

logo anarchy chocolate thailand

© 2023 Copyright Anarchy Chocolate All Rights Reserved.

Built with ♥ by Blend Local Search Marketing | Accessibility | Privacy

Women in ChocolateWomen in ChocolateCombatting Climate Change with CocoaCombatting Climate Change with Cocoa
Scroll to top