Alkalisation of Nibs

[devansh]

Dear All,

I have been making chocolate from beans itself. So far, I have had mixed results.

Certain batches tend to be acidic and astringent.

One way I can neutralise the acidity is thru alkalisation. However, there is very little information on how to go about doing so.

ADM manual briefly mentions that the nibs are "treated" with potassium carbonate.

Can anyone shed light on how to "treat" nibs with potassium carbonate?

1) What tempreture is required during the process?

2) How long do they have to be "treated" with this alkali?

3) Potassium Carbonate is available in powder form.. How do we exactly use it to treat nibs?

Any help is much appreciated!

Regards,

Devansh

[Sebastian]

That's going to be very difficult information to find freely i'm afraid. it's generally going to be regarded as a trade secret. Effectively it involves making an alkaline solution, soaking your nibs in it at x time for y temperature at z concentration, and then drying them out. the specifics are going to likely be difficult to find freely.