Francisco Migoya

Cleaning

Appears in
The Elements of Dessert
The Elements of Dessert

By Francisco Migoya

Published 2012

  • About
Care must be taken to ensure that no foreign matter is mixed in with the cocoa beans before processing. It is not uncommon to find small rocks, twigs, and small pieces of metal in a bag of cocoa beans. These foreign objects can be detrimental to the final flavor of the chocolate, but they can also damage the cocoa mill and mélangeur.
The cleaning process is as follows:
  1. Place the cocoa beans in a perforated container or colander. Use a shop vacuum to suck away any dust and small fibers from the batch. Conversely, the beans can be shaken in a drum sieve to remove the dust.
  2. Spread the beans on a sheet pan and visually inspect them to make sure that there are no foreign objects, especially rocks. Remove any that you see. You must go one by one. This can be tedious, but it is necessary.
  3. A small, powerful magnet can be waved over the beans to attract any small pieces of metal that may be present.