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Post by jabanico on Feb 13, 2012 17:15:44 GMT -5
Hi. I'm new to cacao processing and new to discovering the health benefits of raw cacao.
I have a question regarding the claimed health benefits and anti-oxidant properties.
I see that packages of raw roasted cacao powder are being marketed as retaining all the nutrients of cacao, being cold-processed and all.
I was wondering if the same health benefits and nutrients may be retained in cocoa liquor, since the process of making cocoa liquor does not reach a temperature that destroys them.
Also, I'm looking at turning this into a health drink for my own consumption. Is there any difference, healthwise, between brewing from raw cacao powder and boiling cocoa liquor?
Thanks.
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Post by oakandsage on Mar 1, 2013 15:26:29 GMT -5
Disclaimer: I am quite new to this myself and have not tried making drinks from cocoa liquor, nor have I done any chemical analysis of anything, or made cocoa powder. I'm not sure why yould want to boil the liquor if you want a raw food If you ignore specifics of individual processing, the difference between cocoa liquor and cocoa powder is that the liquor still contains the cocoa butter. Depending on your dietary requirements and preferences you might find this desirable because it is a more "whole" food, or undesirable because it is made of fat. Because of the high fat content you will not get a drink identical to hot chocolate. As for what kind of drink you *could* make there are a few posts on the boards about this. You may find something useful by searching for the word drink. Personally, if I were trying to formulate a drink with cocoa liquor, I'd start with the assumption that I am basically dealing with extremely dark unsweetened melted chocolate, and so any hot chocolate recipe that calls for actual chocolate will work. For example, perhaps you could carefully mix it with heated milk/cream to get a very rich chocolate drink. For a more authoritative answer on the nature of cocoa liquor vs powder, I refer you to the Alchemist: chocolatetalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=questions&action=display&thread=1099 Ask the Alchemist #5 (Sorry, I can't seem to make the link tag work right) According to this, cocoa powder is usually made by pressing cocoa liquor to get the butter out. As such, cocoa liquor is strictly less processed than cocoa powder, and who knows what temperatures were achieved during pressing. I don't know if "raw" cocoa powder is made differently, however. Definitely, if you are processing the cocoa liquor, you can control the temperature it is made at. However, if you are serious about limiting the maximum temperature the food has ever reached in its life, you might also want to reference chocolatealchemy.com/the-truth-about-raw-chocolate/regarding chocolate processing temperatures. You may also want to keep in mind that raw cocoa beans have a lot of microbes in them, not all of which you necessarily want in *you.* (Anything you choose to put in your mouth is your business and your own risk, I can only provide you with information you might find useful in making a decision) Note: If you want the purest, least processed form of chocolate you can possibly ingest, your best bet would be to eat the nibs. Turning them into liquor is, after all, a form of processing. I personally find raw nibs pretty gross, but everyone's different.
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