How to Make Chocolate: Methods and Detailed Steps

Nearly all chocolate products in the world come off the assembly lines of large factories run by four or five major companies. However, "handmade chocolate" is becoming a trend, drawing more and more people who become deeply absorbed in it. These delicate flowers are the beginning of every piece of chocolate you have ever eaten. Cocoa flowers grow directly on the trunk and main branches of the cacao tree, eventually forming brightly colored cocoa pods. This photo was taken in Hawaii, the only place in the United States where cacao can be grown.

Passionate chocolate lovers are enthusiastic about the whole process, from picking cocoa beans to finally making a chocolate bar. Dom Ramsey from London is just such a chocolate maker, and here he explains in detail the magical "bean-to-bar" process of making chocolate. In this photo, you can see cocoa pods growing directly on the large branches of the cacao tree. The photo was taken in Grenada.

Cocoa pods of strange and wondrous colors. The differences in color come from the diversity of cocoa varieties and minor genetic differences. Taken in Hawaii.

A riot of color.

Inside each pod is white pulp, wrapping 25-40 cocoa beans.

The sweet white pulp that wraps the cocoa beans.

These are the cocoa beans. Different varieties of cocoa beans have different colors; they are generally this purple color, but some cocoa beans with even better aroma are almost white.

After harvesting, the pods are cut open and the cocoa beans and pulp are removed. The beans are put into some kind of container - usually a large wooden box - and covered with banana leaves to let them ferment for 5-7 days. This fermentation process is crucial to the formation of chocolate flavor. This is the sweet pulp fermenting, and when it becomes like this, it turns into liquid and drains away, leaving the beans a brown color. During this process, the temperature of the beans can exceed 50°C (120°F), so if you have ever eaten a product called "raw chocolate," it is almost certainly not raw.

After fermentation, the beans are placed in the sun to dry for 7-10 days.

During drying, the beans must be turned frequently to ensure they dry evenly. In some places (such as Grenada), cocoa beans are turned by people walking among them, a process usually called "dancing the beans." Or, if you do not want to use your feet to turn the beans, you can use a tool called a RaboT!

After drying, the beans are packed into burlap sacks and shipped to chocolate producers around the world.

The first thing we do after receiving the beans is to sort and classify the cocoa beans by hand. This step is mainly to pick out broken beans, twigs, stones and other debris that may have been mixed in during fermentation and drying, ensuring that the best beans are used to make the best chocolate.

A roasting setup converted from an oven. Handmade chocolate enthusiasts like Dom Ramsey cannot own a full set of professional equipment, so they have to make do with simple, makeshift methods. The cocoa beans need to be roasted in a rotating drum for 20 minutes.

After roasting, the beans are crushed in a crusher and sifted.

After winnowing and cleaning, the cocoa nibs go on to the next step: grinding.

The cocoa nibs are poured little by little into a Cocoatown melanger grinder - made up of a granite base and a granite wheel weighing 50 kg. As the wheel turns, the cocoa nibs are crushed. During this process, the heat generated by friction melts the cocoa butter in the nibs (about 50% of the weight of cocoa beans is cocoa butter), and the melting point of cocoa butter is about 34-38°C. At this stage, we add cane sugar (dark chocolate), milk powder (milk chocolate) and the flavorings we want.

Two days later... after three days of grinding, the chocolate is smoother. This refining process is also beneficial to the formation of chocolate flavor. Continuous grinding and heat reduce bitterness.

Small batches of milk chocolate are produced on a tabletop grinder. This is exactly the same process as production in large factories, just on a very small scale.

The ground chocolate is put into a large plastic bucket and then allowed to solidify. Letting it rest for several weeks helps further develop the chocolate flavor.

A wave of chocolate!

The chocolate is tempered to make it smoother and glossier. Chocolate exists in several different crystal forms, and this is achieved by raising and lowering the temperature very precisely.

The finished chocolate bar.

The packaged chocolate bar.

A panoramic view of Dom Ramsey's chocolate production workshop, which can be described as "small but complete in every detail."

Dom Ramsey's storefront with its workshop in the back, in London.