Francisco Migoya

Winnowing

Appears in
The Elements of Dessert
The Elements of Dessert

By Francisco Migoya

Published 2012

  • About

Winnowing is the act of removing the husk from the bean. Once the cocoa beans are roasted and cooled to room temperature, pass them through a cocoa mill (a grain mill adapted to handle cocoa beans; see Resources). This breaks the bean into fairly uniform sizes while pulling the husk away from the nib. Having nibs the same size helps to make the winnowing much more efficient because less nib is blown away.

Use a good-quality blow dryer to blow away the husk and leave the nibs remaining. Toss the nibs up with one hand and point the blow dryer toward the nibs you are tossing; this will help make it easier for the husks to blow off. Surround the area in which you will be winnowing with large plastic bags, or do it outdoors, because the small flecks of husk can make a huge mess. Trial and error will determine the ideal distance to position the blower from the nibs to most efficiently blow away husk but not nib as you pick up, drop, and agitate the contents of the bowl.