A chocolate maker uses raw cacao beans to create chocolate through processes such as fermenting, roasting, grinding, and tempering. This is different from a chocolatier who uses processed chocolate to create confections. Chocolate makers may add ingredients like sugar and milk before tempering.
A chocolate maker is a person or company that makes chocolate from raw cacao. These beans are the fruit of cocoa and are refined into the two main ingredients in chocolate, cocoa solids and butter. The beans are typically sent through a variety of treatments, including fermenting, grinding, heating and tempering, to process them to the desired flavor and consistency. The resulting chocolate can usually harden into bars.
The term chocolate maker is often confused with chocolatier, a culinary professional who uses processed chocolate to create sweets and confections. Cocoa beans are typically converted into usable chocolate before the chocolatier makes his creations. Others use chocolate in cooking as well, including bakers, candy makers and private individuals.
A chocolate maker starts with the raw cacao bean. Most of these beans are grown in Africa, but many other countries also produce them. They bear little resemblance to the chocolate you find in a store.
Raw beans are typically fermented before being processed by the chocolate maker. Raw cacao beans have a bitter taste and don’t taste much like chocolate. The fermentation process helps to lessen the bitterness.
A chocolate maker also often roasts the beans to enhance the chocolate’s flavor. Roasted beans are usually cracked and sieved to remove the fleshy, edible center of the husk. The fleshy flesh of the bean is called the tip. Chocolate nibs can be ground and refined to create chocolate liquor. Chocolate liqueur does not contain alcohol, but is simply liquid chocolate in its purest form.
The conch is the next step in the process a chocolate maker uses to refine cocoa beans. The liquor is sent through heated grinders that break it down into small particles. As a general rule, the more a batch of chocolate is mixed, the smoother the chocolate will be when finished.
At this stage, a chocolate maker typically sends the chocolate liquor through several stages of heating and cooling. This process is called tempering. It allows liquid cocoa butter and cocoa solids to harden into a solid chocolate bar. Chocolatiers often need to temper their chocolate again before using it.
A chocolate maker might add sugar, powdered milk, and cocoa butter to a batch of chocolate before tempering. Chocolatiers often choose to buy chocolate with these ingredients already added. High quality chocolate, called couverture, contains extra cocoa butter to add shine and a smoother taste.
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