[Sca-cooks] cacao nibs

[Dragon]

Beth Ann Bretter did speak thusly:

>I'm also not aware of any further processing that the nibs need to 
>go through other than grinding and mixing in order to make 
>chocolate.  In fact, I just saw a program about a Hawaiian chocolate 
>maker on the Food Network yesterday and all the intense processing 
>(fermentation, roasting, breaking up of the seed pod into nibs) 
>takes place before the nibs are formed, not after.
---------------- End original message. ---------------------

The main further processing that most chocolate goes through are the 
following steps:

Grinding
Pressing the chocolate liquor to separate the cocoa butter and solids 
(done on almost all types of chocolate to allow setting the proper 
cocoa butter content when it is blended)
Blending with the other ingredients including the addition of more 
cocoa butter than is usually found in the nibs naturally (in most 
varieties, except for the very high solids types)
Conching (a long, slow mixing process where some flavor continues to 
develop, especially any acidic notes)
Tempering (the process of making chocolate silky smooth by 
controlling the temperature and crystallization of the product)




Dragon

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  Venimus, Saltavimus, Bibimus (et naribus canium capti sumus)
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