Harvesting Cacao by Carmen SanDago

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Harvesting Cacao
by Carmen SanDago

The majority of the cacao

harvested during the last fifty

years has been of the Forastero or

low grade Trinitarios varieties;

only 5% per year comes from the

higher end Trinitarios and

Criollos. While modern technology

has been introduced into the

harvesting process of Cacao, there

are still major processes that

must be followed.

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The cacao pods which surround the

beans and the sweet white pulp are

harvested, (the cacao tree has no

natural ability to spread the

cacao beans in order to

propagate), in nature this is

dealt with by rodents (squirrels,

rats and monkeys) on plantations,

this process is dealt with by

humans. The sweet white pulp is

what the rodents are actually

looking for, as a rule they leave

the bitter beans alone. The beans

and pulp are removed from the pods

and left to ferment in bins or

piles for somewhere between three

and seven days.

After fermentation it is necessary to

dry them quickly to avoid growth

of mold, this is done by spreading

them in the sun whenever possible

and if the weather permits it.

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The next step is to roast the

beans at a very high temperature

over a short period of time.

After being graded and ground the

cocoa butter (or fat) is removed,

the remaining liquid is called

chocolate liquor. There are two

methods of removing the cocoa

butter from the beans:

· The Broma process was

discovered by Domingo Ghirardelli

in 1865, he noticed that when you

hand a bag of ground cacao beans

in a warm room, the gat (cocoa

butter) would drip off, the

remaining residue is what is used

to make ground cocoa. It is the

common method of cocoa and

chocolate production in America.

This method extracts a better

quality of cocoa butter than the

process of pressing. The taste is

also more intense as no alkalis

are added to the process.

· The Dutch process was

developed by Coenraad Johannes van

Houten around 1828, his system

treat the cocoa with and

alkalizing agent then it is

pressed with a hydraulic press,

which changes it color and gives

it a less bitter flavor. Most of

todays candies are made using the

press method.

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Thank you,

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Author's Biography:

C. SanDago used to be an office and motel cleaner earning minimum wage on a contract by contract basis, working very hard to make ends meet. Being forced to stay at home after her baby, she says it was like a

Posted on: February 28,2008

Email: bkoffice@ez1click.com
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