Chocolate_characteristics

Chocolate

With this term we call a well-blended mixture of roasted cacao, thinly powered (from a half to a third) with sugar (from a half to two thirds) often flavoured with cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and other spices.
The making of chocolate includes preliminary phases of cleaning, choosing and classification of cacao and roasting, skinning, degerminating, mixing of different types of cacao. It is mixed with sugar when it is hot (< 40% for milk chocolate, till 70-80% for other chocolate) often vacuum-sealed these phases end with a refining by hot basining(it lasts 24/80 hours in traditional long basins and 10/24 hours in modern circular ones). In this way dampness, disagreable volatile substances and air bubbles are removed and quality features of refined chocolate are developed. Then we have a phase to reach a controlled cooling and modeling; warm chocolate flows from a hopper into a batcher then it is distributed in prearranged containers on a belt carrier(usually 30 measures a minute). The following phase of shaking eliminates any absorbed air and settles down chocolate in the different shapes.
On sale we can find various types of chocolate:
Chocolate in true sense is made up exclusively of cacao pasta (not less than 32%), sugar (saccharose,generally from 55 to 65%), various spices, sometimes a bit of cacao butter and lecitina. Sweet chocolate contains an average of 40% of cacao and 60% of sugar; unsweetened chocolate contains 60% of cacao and 40% of sugar.
A good chocolate must have a pleasent and clear taste of cacao, lightly greasy, it can be broken under some pressure and its broken surface has to show a very thin and homogeneous grain.

ADULTERATIONS AND METHODS
Chocolate is often adulterated; with the addition of different flours (nut) and of starch( starched chocolate). Sometimes cacao is not skinned or its skins are grinded instead of the seeds; another adulteration is when people remove natural fat from cacao seeds and substitute it with animal or vegetal fats (margarine, coconut oil). Sometimes vanilline is used instead of vanille and roasted almonds or chicory are added.At present we have new cromatographic and spectrumphotometric methods next to the traditional ones coming from analitic chemistry. These methods can reveal extraneous fats or additives.

PREPARATIONS
Different foodstuff products use chocolate as basis and add to it other elements: eggs, vitamins, malt that reinforce nutritional value of chocolate. Sometimes chocolate is used in drugs intended for children (vitamins,laxatives etc.)

	Cleaning, choosing and classification

	roasting

	basins

	Hot basining