self made bbq???could that work?

[simi]

Dear Chocolatiers...

I just started thinking about making my own chocolat... well i am a swiss living in dominican republic and my interest for making chocolat is actually a real need... Since i am a child i am used to goooood chocolat on a regular base (you could call me an addict ejjej) I don t want to accept that we have actually good cacao in the country and we need to eat hersey's....

Now my question... for me it is quite expensive to buy all those stuff you are mentioning... could i maybe use a bbq to roast small amounts of beans? we have a home made bbq... (non electric) is it possible to try it? how hard is it to control temperatures? at least for me the cacao is free so i might just try it? any chance it works? as i have seen on the country side they roast coffee like that so...

now another question... what parts can i do by myself? i mean do i need the juicer? or can i just crack the beans by hand? does the grinder support bigger parts? or does it have to be passed through the juicer? i assume the grinder i can not avoid because real good chocolat depends on the conching... but can i (at least for the start peel the beans by hand)?

thank you a lot for your help

and maybe i could also see how i could help you with dominican cacao...

[Alchemist]

Hi, welcome aboard.

You can absolutely roast in an inexpensive bbq. I have done it quite a bit. The main trick is not too hot. In a grill, 325 F is about as hot as I would take it, and the beans will not be that hot at the end (maybe 250-260F). If it will roast coffee, cocoa is easy.

You can hand peel if you want - I personally find it a lot of work, but it is a great trade off - time/energy vs money. Passing it through the juicer does get to the liquor stage quicker, but many people including myself have used the Santha along to grind, and with no husk (if you hand peel) that is a good way to proceed.