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Post by borneobean on Apr 27, 2011 1:08:09 GMT -5
Hello everyone. Need help. Am from Malaysia side of Borneo island.
Am new to all these. Well, almost new...have seen and been around cocoa trees, pods and beans but never get around to have any interest in it until now.
Have been googling and reading up info but so far couldn't find any answer. Problem is the cocoa beans from my area are all unfermented. Need to know what should I do with the unfermented beans before I roast it. This wonderful forum have all the info I need to do the bean to chocolate steps, except the question of handling unfermented bean.
Would appreciate all helps and advice. Have a nice day everyone.
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Post by Brad on Apr 27, 2011 1:40:42 GMT -5
My suggestion would be to teach your local farmers the IMPORTANCE of fermentation. Unfermented beans are more or less useless in making eating chocolate, as the mailard reaction needed to transform the meat of the seed into the compounds which, when roasted give cocoa beans their characteristic "chocolate" flavor, and eliminate the bitter and astringent nature of the seed isn't present in unfermented beans.
Bottom line? Fermentation is THE MOST IMPORTANT process in the lifecycle of a cocoa bean from tree to chocolate bar.
Cheers Brad
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Post by cacaufarmer on Apr 27, 2011 5:22:51 GMT -5
Brad is 100% correct in his opinion regarding cocoa bean fermentation. Beans that are improperly processed are worthless for chocolate production. The process requires careful evaluation of conditions and constant manipulation of the process to produce truly quality fermentation. A FEW of the factors to consider:
1. maturity of fruit at harvest 2. time allocated for beans to remain in the pod between removal from the tree and opening 3. delay in placing beans into fermentation facility after opening fruit 4. selection and removal of diseased or non-conforming beans from fermentation pile 5. mass of fermentation lot 6. size and configuration of fermentation container 7. rate of drainage for excess pod liquids 8. ambient temperature 9. oxygen levels within the fermentation pile The list goes on....fermentation continues throughout the drying process and into sacking, weighing and storage.
A VERY COMPLEX PROCESS AND ONE FREQUENTLY BUNGLED BY SHORTCUTS OR INCOMPETENCE!
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Post by cocoaffee on Apr 27, 2011 12:45:02 GMT -5
Get right pods and shell , get awooden box with spaces down to allow drainage , place banana leaves ,load freshly opened beans to it and cover with leaves on top so that it allows fermetation to take place. depending on how hot or cold your area is 3-5 days good enough but you need to turn it may be daily or so to allow oxygen in to brake the sugers . AS THE ABOVE PROS OF SAID ITS COMPLEX BUT THIS IS BASIC AND GIVES GOOD FLAVOUR FOR ACOUPLE OF BEAN FERMENTER.
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