GB622628A - Improvements in and relating to the production of chocolate and cocoa powder - Google Patents

Abstract

Unroasted cocoa beans are steeped in water or an aqueous solution and comminuted to produce an aqueous bean dispersion and subsequently dehydrated and roasted. The roasting may precede the dehydration. The unroasted beans, either in whole or crushed condition, are steeped in water or a suitable aqueous solution, e.g., a solution of potash, and are then finely divided to produce an aqueous bean dispersion. According to one method, this is followed by dehydration and then kneading under heat to form a paste. The paste is roasted by being passed as a thin film over heated rollers or through a high frequency electric field. Cocoa butter may be added to the dehydrated bean mass before roasting. The dehydration and roasting may be carried out simultaneously by spray-drying the bean dispersion in a hot gaseous medium, which may be air or combustion products. As a further alternative, the roasting, which may take place in an autoclave, may precede the dehydration. In any of the above processes, the bean dispersion, before dehydration and roasting, may be wholly or partly freed of cocoa butter by electrophoresis or centrifuging, or cocoa butter may be added. The comminution of the beans may be carried out in such a way, as by rolling, that only the ribs are finely divided, the shells being torn into relatively big flakes. The shells may then be separated, as by means of a sieve, after dehydration.