Madagascar Sambirano super acidic....

[choconutz]

Quick question before I go ahead and start craking my roasted beans.
Last night I roasted 3 lbs of Madagascar beans with the following times and temps:

Convection oven
350 for 10'
300 for 10'
275 for 10'

Final bean temp 235

In the end the beans are super acidic (acedic acid?) to the point I have to spit some when testing. This is the first time I get this result and I was wondering if I under roasted or over roasted the beans? Any idea out there...


HELP

[Alan]

Madagascar cacao is known for its tartness. Have you tried any chocolates from this origin before? They are often described with words like tart, citrus, red fruits, rasperry, wine, etc. Some people like that and some don't.

The acids in the cacao will be volatile and non-volatile. The volatile acids, such as acetic acid, can be reduced by longer roasting and/or longer/hotter conching. The non-volatile acids will not be reduced by either.

[Alchemist]

The Madagascar is quite sharp, and as stated, what some people like about it. I would a do roast that a bit longer. I would shoot for a final temperature around 265, but that is only an estimate. I target EOR is when I no longer smell the acid. And keep in mind, some will go away as you refine, leaving behind other complex flavors.

Since you have the beans, I would suggest making half into chocolate and see what the resulting chocolate is like. How much does the acidity change, etc. THEN go from there. You may find you like "snappy" chocolate.

Oh, and report back. We all learn that way.

[choconutz]

Thanks Guys for the advice.

I will go ahead and prepare 1/2 and report. Now if it is not all that great is it possible to "re-toast" beans that have cooled ?

[choconutz]

Choco-luvah,

I live near the Scharffenberger company and the only Madagascar chocolate I could find there was mixed with some Ghana beans so I could not experience the real 100% madagascar. Any recomendation?

Choconutz

[Alan]

choconutz said:

Choco-luvah,

I live near the Scharffenberger company and the only Madagascar chocolate I could find there was mixed with some Ghana beans so I could not experience the real 100% madagascar. Any recomendation?

Choconutz

Yeah, that "African" Scharffenberger bar will not give you a good idea of what to expect from a single-origin Madagascar bar. Some things to try if you can find them are:

Organized by ease of obtaining them in the US, not by quality:

Madagascar by Lindt
Ambanja by Guittard (E. Guittard line)
Ampamakia by Valrhona
Manjari by Valrhona
Madagascar by Theo
Mangaro by Michel Cluizel
Madagascar by Domori
Sambirano by Domori
Madagascar by Pralus
Madagascar by Bonnat
Madagascar by Amedei

Most of these can be had by ordering through www.chocosphere.com

or, since you are around SF, try Fog City News:
www.fogcitynews.com/

or the Bittersweet Cafe:
www.bittersweetchocolatecafe.com/

I hope that helps. Personally I am a big fan of the origin, and I rarely meet a Madagascar bar that I hate...though it has happened more than once.

[choconutz]

Thanks Choco-luvah, I will order some this weekend to get a better understanding of this bean.

[Sebastian]

FWIW, it's one of my all time favorites. Of course it's hard to say exactly what you have (i have no way of knowing how it was fermented), but it's SUPPOSED to be pretty acidic. If it tastes like you've got a mouthful of vinegar, than something's probably amiss, but a little playing with the roasting conditions and conching can go a long way to fix that. alternatively, you could also make up a weak basic solution to soak your bean in prior to roasting to neutralize some of that acid if it's excessive.

[kellymon]

Thanks for this post, I'm sure glad I read it!
When I made my first attempt at Madagascar beans I loved the tart fruity flavor of the chocolate, but I was afraid that if I hadn't roasted enough to drive of the acetic acid, maybe I hadn't roasted enough for safe sterilization either.....now I know that probably isn't the case.
BTW, there may be a Santha in my future, but for now I use a food processor with acceptable, albiet somewhat grainy results.
namaste,
kelly