COCOA PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY 3 Flashcards
After the grinding process, the mass is passed through sieves and over strong magnets
to remove any remaining coarse cocoa or
metal particles.
Quality parameters for cocoa mass
Fat content Min 53%
Moisture Max 2%
Total plate count Max 5000 cfu/g
Moulds Max 50 cfu/g
Yeasts Max 50 cfu/g
E. coli Absent per gram
Salmonella Absent per 750g
Cocoa Butter
The highest quality cocoa butter is obtained through pressing
the cocoa mass in a horizontal press.
At pressure 40-50MPa, cocoa butter is
extracted and leaves a hard material (hard round disc known as cocoa press cake)
containing 8 to 24% fat.
Cocoa butter is hard and brittle at temperature
30oC to 32oC
Cocoa butter is melting point is between
32°C to 36°C
After cocoa mass has been pressed
the remaining by product is
known as cocoa cake.
A “cake” is a circular disk,
about 30 cm in
diameter and about 3-4 cm thick.
The cake is then broken into small pieces
a process known as “kibbling”.
Kibbled cake can then either be
further processed for colouring and flavoring in cocoa based food products.
In production of cocoa powder,
the cocoa cake must be pulverized
by using pin or hammer mill to produce cocoa powder.
The aim of pulverizing is to
separate the particles to give a similar
size distribution.
After pulverization, the powder is cooled so that
the fat of the cocoa
powder crystallizes into its stable form.
Next, the free-flowing powder is passed through sieves
and over magnets prior to packing in paper bags or in bulk containers
Most low-fat cocoa powder have fat contents of 10-11% which represent a
good compromise between pressing time and fat content.
If cocoa powder with a fat content below 10% is required
then the solvent extraction process
must be used.
Three (3) types of cocoa powder are recognized according to their
fat content:
High fat cocoa/Medium fat coca/Low fat cocoa
High fat cocoa
- High fat cocoa prepared by pulverizing the
residue material remaining after part of the
cocoa butter has been removed from ground
cocoa nibs. - Containing more than 22% of cocoa butter.
Medium fat cocoa
- Medium fat cocoa contains less than 22%
but more than 10% cocoa butter
Low fat cocoa
- Low fat cocoa contains less then 10% cocoa
butter
Natural cocoa powder is made from cocoa
beans
beans that are simply roasted, then
pulverized into a fine powder.
Dutch-process cocoa powder is made from
cocoa (cacao) beans
beans that have been washed with
a potassium solution, to neutralize their acidity
Storage of Cocoa Powder
Cocoa powder contains a significant proportion of cocoa butter is very sensitive to high temperature.
Temperature fluctuations may result in the melting and
re-crystallization of the cocoa butter and cause:
- Visible as fat bloom, changing the external color of the powder.
- Lead to lump formation.
