Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

128 THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY kind of “ mangle cle luxe,” that is to say, it is given a number of grinds between granite, porcelain or steel rolls. The chocolate goes into the nip of two rolls revolving at different speeds, so that the particles are torn apart as well as crushed. As overheating would be detrimental to the chocolate, the steel rolls are water-coo'ed. One effect of the refining is to make the dough stiffer or to convert it into dry flakes. It is now put into a hot cupboard to recover its plasticity, or to obtain the same effect, mixed in a melangeur with a little cacao butter. Grinding and melangeuring are repeated three, four, or five times, until the chocolate is fine enough to satisfy the public taste. The crunchy chocolates which sold in quantity only five to ten years ago have gone, the public now demanding a chocolate with a smooth velvet feel. This is most effectively obtained by means of a machine peculiar to chocolate, called a conche, in which the chocolate is worked con-tinuously for three or four days. Along the concave bottom of the conch a heavy roller is thrust backwards and forwards under the chocolate. Many clever attempts have teen made to supersede this tedious and costly process, but, in spite of local seccssions, it still holds the field. The remaining processes are concerned with making the chocolate look pleasing to the eye. The chocolate dough is moulded into bars, cakes, discs (croquettes) or small rectangular tablets (Neapolitans). The temperature of the chocolate going into the moulds has to be very carefully controlled by tempering machines, and the temperature of the cooling chambers, through which the chocolate is automatically conveyed, kept within narrow limits, to ensure the glossy appearance, the fine brown colour, and the crisp snap of good chocolate.