Student Article
How Chocolate Is Made: From Bean to Bar
Cacao (noun): The beans used to make chocolate.
Ferment (verb): To change the flavor of food using bacteria or yeast.
Roast (verb): To cook something with dry heat.
Mold (noun): A container used to shape something.
Chocolate starts as beans from the Theobroma cacao tree, which grows in the rainforests of Central and South America. The tree produces pods that can be yellow, orange, or purple. Inside these pods are cacao beans covered in a sweet, white pulp. From pod to packaging, here is the process that chocolate follows!
Growing
The cacao tree grows flowers that turn into pods. The pods take about five or six months to ripen.
Splitting
The pods are harvested and split open to reveal the beans inside. The beans are bitter, but the white pulp around them is sweet and fruity.
Fermenting
The beans and pulp are taken out of the pods and left to ferment. This process changes the flavor of the beans.
Drying
The beans are dried in the Sun to remove moisture. This helps develop their flavor.
Roasting
The beans are roasted to bring out more flavor and kill any bacteria.
Cracking
The roasted beans are cracked open to remove the outer shells.
Winnowing
The lighter shells are separated from the heavier beans, called nibs.
Grindin
The nibs are ground up, and sugar is added to make the chocolate sweet.
Tempering
The chocolate is slowly heated and cooled to make it smooth and shiny.
Molding
The chocolate is poured into molds to cool and harden. Then it's ready to be packaged and eaten!
© Holly Spanner / Our Media
Cacao (noun): The beans used to make chocolate.
Ferment (verb): To change the flavor of food using bacteria or yeast.
Roast (verb): To cook something with dry heat.
Mold (noun): A container used to shape something.