Post by kyle0654 on Mar 24, 2013 22:07:36 GMT -5
After I became lactose intolerant a while ago, I started looking for chocolate I could safely eat. I finally found some mexican-style chocolate that was both safe for me and very tasty, but I was starting to spend a lot on it. I looked around, but most varieties were either very low quality or very expensive, so I figured I might as well learn to make some myself!
I've been roughly following this video: www.saveur.com/article/Video/VIDEO-How-to-Make-Mexican-Chocolate and the linked article, with the exception of the roasting method (they say to roast in a pan, I'm following the oven-roasting directions that were on the page I ordered the beans from). I ordered a couple pounds of "Peruvian Cocoa FT/Org- 2012" from here a couple weeks ago, and have been trying it start to finish in about 4oz batches until I get it right (figured I'd fail a few times, and didn't want to use it all in one go).
I'm having a lot of trouble with the grinding. I always end up with cocoa powder, and no matter how many times I pass is through the grinder, it stays just as dry. I don't know if this means I'm not grinding it right, or I'm not roasting it right, or what. I'm roasting the beans, then hand-separating the nibs from the husks, then grinding the nibs. I've had this happen with both of the batches I've tried so far (one ground by hand with a mortar/pestle, the next ground through a grain grinder like in the video).
My full process:
1) Roast the beans (4oz by weight) - 350 degrees for 10 mins (stirring every 5 min), lower to 300 for next 10 mins (stirring every 5 mins), turn oven off and let sit in oven for another 10 mins.
2) Crack shells and separate nibs by hand
3) Pass nibs through grain grinder several times (always ends up as just powder)
Is there something I might be doing wrong?
I've been roughly following this video: www.saveur.com/article/Video/VIDEO-How-to-Make-Mexican-Chocolate and the linked article, with the exception of the roasting method (they say to roast in a pan, I'm following the oven-roasting directions that were on the page I ordered the beans from). I ordered a couple pounds of "Peruvian Cocoa FT/Org- 2012" from here a couple weeks ago, and have been trying it start to finish in about 4oz batches until I get it right (figured I'd fail a few times, and didn't want to use it all in one go).
I'm having a lot of trouble with the grinding. I always end up with cocoa powder, and no matter how many times I pass is through the grinder, it stays just as dry. I don't know if this means I'm not grinding it right, or I'm not roasting it right, or what. I'm roasting the beans, then hand-separating the nibs from the husks, then grinding the nibs. I've had this happen with both of the batches I've tried so far (one ground by hand with a mortar/pestle, the next ground through a grain grinder like in the video).
My full process:
1) Roast the beans (4oz by weight) - 350 degrees for 10 mins (stirring every 5 min), lower to 300 for next 10 mins (stirring every 5 mins), turn oven off and let sit in oven for another 10 mins.
2) Crack shells and separate nibs by hand
3) Pass nibs through grain grinder several times (always ends up as just powder)
Is there something I might be doing wrong?