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Post by mark2004 on Apr 13, 2010 5:17:27 GMT -5
Wish you guys could offer raw cocoa in powder form too someday Mark
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Post by Sebastian on Apr 13, 2010 10:29:28 GMT -5
There's no such thing - at least as defined by not exceeding thermal limits - which happens often during cocoa processing - i can count at least 5 times (fermentation, drying, alkalization, grinding, and pressing (i've skipped roasting, obviously).
Even if you could make a cocoa powder that was prepared in some fashion by keeping each of those steps below 120F, would you really want to eat it? I suppose you could irridate it using Cobalt-60 to sterilize it - it'd have a terribly high microbiological load on it. Because it wasn't roasted, which often includes some water injection, you're also increasing the levels of toxins such as mycotoxin, and heavy metals such as lead (both of which adhere to the shell of the bean) - gamma irridation doesn't do much to help that problem i'm afraid.
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Post by mark2004 on Sept 18, 2010 8:26:41 GMT -5
Sebastian,
Sorry Im not expert, are you meaning all the raw cacao powders out there are useless? I mean in health benefits...
I am choosing *raw* to have all the cacao goodies which is absent in processed powders or chocolates...that's what at least i am told about Raw cacao powders...
So do you recommend me just keep up with raw Cacao nibs? I love nibs too, i grind them, add hot water and drink up
Id love to have cacao in my diet!
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Post by Sebastian on Sept 18, 2010 9:30:16 GMT -5
I mean, generally speaking, the 'raw' community considers, from what i understand, anything that exceeds a temp of 118F to no longer be raw. the process of fermentation, which most cocoa beans go through, easily sees temperatures exceeding 140F routinely. It's a natural process. Also, to create cocoa powder, 99.9% of processors will roast the bean (again, exceeding 118F), and then press it to create the powder. The hydraulic press generates massive amounts of heat, so even if you manage to get unfermented beans (say, from indonesia), and skip the roasting step, you're going to get very, very hot during pressing. I've left out alkalization and drying steps, but b oth of those will also expose the nibs to temperatures in excess of 118F.
From a microbiological perspective, i'd absolutely, unequivocally not advocate eating unroasted cocoa beans regularly. Yes, i know there are those who do. Yes, i've done it. Microbiologically speaking, it's a terrible idea, and a very good way to get ill.
My experience is that almost all of the 'raw' cocoa powders commercially available aren't raw at all. It's quite easy for me to look at them and determine if they've been roasted or alkalized, and there's only one i've looked at which doesn't appear to be (it did appear to be irridated, most likely cobalt-60). this suggests to me that most products marketed as 'raw' cocoa powders are simply repackaged cocoa that someone is buying from a major processor, such as ADM or Cargill, and re-branding it.
If you're after the healthy components of cocoa, i'd suggest the following: 1) Eat raw beans, directly from the pod - they're very good, and because the pod's an aseptic interior (usually..), you're not going to have any micro, lead, cadmium, mycotoxin risks. Of course, it's hard to obtain fresh pods if you're not in origin countries.... 2) If it's the powder you're after, go with a natural cocoa powder - alkalization wreaks havoc with the flavanols - which is what i'm assuming you're after when you say 'goodies' that are present in cocoa
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Post by mark2004 on Sept 19, 2010 1:29:51 GMT -5
Thanks Sebastian!
I had a hunch, of all you said.
I would really love to turn into Nibs completely! quick roasting them would be my choice then,
Also do you think simply putting raw unroasted nibs in very hot water, would be fine? hot water already kills any possible microb fungals?
Thanks alot!
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Post by Sebastian on Sept 19, 2010 6:28:03 GMT -5
I doubt it. Something to consider might be to get an induction plate (they're pretty cheap), and a pressure cooker. Put a little bit of water into your pressure cooker and add your nibs. Use the induction plate to bring your water to a boil as quickly as possible, which will pressurize your cooker. I've not tried this, but in theory, the induction plate will boil your water very quickly, and the high heat of the steam combined with the high pressure inside the cooker will allow for sterilization in a short time, meaning that only the surface of your nibs will be 'cooked', with the internal nib temperature not necessarily rising nearly as much. Will it work? who knows but it looks good on paper....
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Post by jcandy on Jan 4, 2011 3:52:57 GMT -5
The process begins with the highest quality organic raw cacao beans and cold pressing them to make a dark brown paste called chocolate liquor. The paste or often called liquor is cold pressed at 112 degrees F to separate out its fat (cacoa butter). What remains is a "cake" also known as cocoa solids this part is then cold milled to become organic, truly raw unsweetened cocoa powder.This has the highest level of cocoa flavonols because it's the least processed. Also, because the fat has been removed and it contains no extra ingredients such as sugar, it's the healthiest form of chocolate you can ever find.Nice information.
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