I first tried burning hulls by simply throwing them in wood stove. It never flamed well. Next, on side of strongly burning woods. The shells next to strong flame burned but never continued to reduce the rest to ashes. I stopped there. I thought it was not possible. Fuel is not the only possible use […]
Read on... »
Why are all the trays dirty right before using. I need to wipe them hard with damp towel every time. I am sure, I have never used it on any other purpose except roasting dried and fermented cacao beans. Stacking and storing them dry right after every operation. Still, they are dirty before every roasting. […]
Read on... »I have been doing my best to make my product the best as possible. However, my best always seems not enough. Through reading, I am always finding a better technique to experiment on. A possible way to improve it further. Recently, I read a post in chocolatealchemy.com. A man asking about removing the bean radicle […]
Read on... »
After two long weeks of vacation, I got my hands on cacao again. It was not a break I opted to. It was the lack of cacao supply that forced me into hiatus. We are always placing our order whenever our cacao stock goes down to half. That was an ample margin already. The processing […]
Read on... »
For the reason so many beans are wasted. Many of them actually have good nibs (broken, halves, shells off). However, they are likely to get burnt when roasted together with selected batches. I am throwing them all away with little hesitation. For the reason, there are small chocolate makers who are successful in winnowing raw […]
Read on... »
If I focus myself enough and not take it too fast, I can easily spot stones while sorting out cacao defects. I know I need to. First, I never want to feed myself and my customers with ground stones. Second, it may affect flavor. Render the product inedible in extreme cases. Third, it damages equipment. […]
Read on... »