Food processing: Prime pressed cocoa butter

Prime pressed cocoa bitter is designed as the fat obtained from good quality cocoa nib commercially free form shell by means of mechanical (hydraulic) pressing. No subsequent refining other than filtration is employed.

Cocoa butter, which forms about 45%b of the bean is extracted by removing the beans from their pods and allowing them to ferment before they are dried, roasted, shelled and ground to the paste known as ‘cocoa liquor’ or ‘cocoa mass’.

The cocoa liquor is then by hydraulic, screw expelling or solvent extraction to produce cocoa butter. There is usually some oil remaining on the cocoa powder - it is impossible to take out all the fat simply by pressing.

Pressing liquor made from highest quality nibs gives the best quality cocoa butter which is designated ‘pure prime pressed’, but butter produced by expeller pressing of good quality nibs is almost equivalent. Solvent extraction is used only from extraction of cake residues from the expeller process or of other, waste, residues.

Prime pressed cocoa butter is usually used directly in chocolate without any further processing. This makes it unusual among fats in the most fats are refined before use to remove unwanted minor components such as free fatty acids, pigments, oxidation products and off-flavors.
Food processing: Prime pressed cocoa butter

Cleaning process of cocoa raw beans

The first process that must precede the manufacture of chocolate or cocoa is that of cleaning. Raw beans contain surface frit, occasional small stones and hessian fibers. Impurities may cause wear and damage to subsequent processing machinery.

The raw cocoa beans are cleaned by passing them over a shaking table covered with a metal screen which has holes smaller in size than the beans.

A set of vibrating screens removes both very large and very small particles by sieving.

The machinery consist of a series of separations, which by means of screens of varying meshes, brushes, air lifts and magnetic separators – removes fiber, stones and grit, metal bean cluster and immatures.

Sand, dust and other foreign material are screened out. Stones, metals and other heavy materials drop to the bottom of the chute which is counterpoised by weighted lever.

Removal of dust and sand is very important, due to its abrasive nature, which will rapidly wear the balls mills, or the surface of refiner rolls.

Immature beans and clusters not be allowed to proceed to roasting and subsequent manufacturing processes, but may be included in bean blends with other winnowing products for expeller pressing to produce cocoa butter.
Cleaning process of cocoa raw beans

Cocoa Powder Processing

There are two types of cocoa powder, natural and Dutch processed.

Natural cocoa powder tends to be acidic and in many cases, harsh because inferior quality cocoa beans are often used to produce it.

Dutch-processed cocoa powder has been treated to reduce its alkali.

Adding alkali to natural cocoa powder mellows its flavor and darkens its color.

The process adding alkali to cocoa powder was discovered in the early nineteenth century by Coenraad Van Houten, who was Dutch: that’s the reason this type of coca is known as Dutch processed cocoa powder.

Van Houten patented a press that removed most of the bitter fat which accounts for more than half the weight, from the ground, roasted beans.

Through the use of Van Houten’s invention, two distinct products were produced: a hard cacao cake and cacao butter.
Cocoa Powder Processing