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Post by max3732 on Apr 25, 2013 14:48:36 GMT -5
I have a cocoa tree that just started producing pods. Right now I have 2 that are a few days old. Online I read it takes about 6 months for the pod to ripen. I'd like to make chocolate from the beans in these pods and have a few questions:
1. I know pods are all different sizes, but about how many beans/pods would it take to make a standard chocolate bar?
2. Is there any way to tell by looking at the tree or the pods what kind of cocoa I have? I called the nursery where I bought it and they didn't know
3. Does anyone know how to care for the pod as it's growing?
4. Since I will (hopefully) be making chocolate from fresh beans do I need to adjust the fermentation, roasting, or anything else?
5. Any other tips?
This website is amazing and I'm excited to learn more about making chocolate at home.
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Post by anish on Apr 25, 2013 22:15:56 GMT -5
Good chocolate comes out of well fermented beans. good fermentation requires at least 50kg beans, 100 or more is fine. One tree can't yield that much fruit. With a little surfing you can easily find out pictures of 3 different kind of cocoa fruits. Plant more trees to give sufficient quantity of beans for fermentation. for now you can buy beans from this site.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Apr 26, 2013 1:03:20 GMT -5
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Post by anish on Apr 26, 2013 2:49:05 GMT -5
Gap- it seems like it may work.
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Post by Sebastian on Apr 26, 2013 5:11:45 GMT -5
it's called microfermentation. the yeast is to outcompete the mould that is in the air; it can work, but it's a bit tricky. it becomes, in essence, an ethanolic fermentation largely due to the fact you're not going to have your lactic acid or acetobacter present in sufficient quantities to give you a fermentation that mimics what occurs in the wild - this essentially mimics what occurs during 'phase 1' wild fermentation, but doesn't get to phase 2 or 3. does it matter? try it and decide for yourself it can not be stressed enough that if you get mould growth other than white - discard it.
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Post by max3732 on Apr 27, 2013 7:33:28 GMT -5
Thanks for the help. I will have to try the technique with the yeast.
I live in South Florida, which is north of the normal growing area so I'm surprised I was able to grow the trees. I have 2 of them, but only one has a lot of flowers. The other will get 1 or 2 every few days. I'm hoping it will become more prolific in time.
Another question is about storing the pods after they're ripe. Are you better off taking the pods off the tree and storing them in the refrigerator or someone else, or fermenting and roasting the beans and then storing them?
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Post by anish on Apr 27, 2013 8:38:44 GMT -5
Normal practice is to store dry beans after fermentation. Cocoa some times grow in most unexpected terrain, Here in India it grows well in a south eastern area where temperature is usually high and rain fall below 100cm in an year. Anyway i appreciate your initiative to plant cocoa in your area.
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Post by Sebastian on Apr 27, 2013 14:43:09 GMT -5
I wouldn't store harvested pods for more than a few days. Once they're separated from the tree, it's a slow burn of degradation.
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