502 COCOA 



CHAP. 



The above-mentioned simple operations are also the 

 most important in the modern manufacture of chocolate. 

 In the manufacture of cocoa-powder, which is at present 

 mostly used in the preparation of cocoa for drinking 

 purposes, the cocoa undergoes still another important 

 manipulation, namely, the removal of a great part of 

 the cocoa-fat or cocoa-butter. 



It was the Dutch manufacturer, Van Houten, who 

 in 1828 took out a patent for this invention, which has 

 proved of the greatest importance for the manufacture 

 and consumption of cocoa, as was already mentioned 

 in Chapter I. The many powdered cocoa-brands, which 

 are turned out to-day by different manufacturers, are 

 all more or less manufactured by means of the method 

 invented by Van Houten. 



One of the important tasks of the up-to-date manu- 

 facturer is to select his various cocoas and to mix them 

 in order to obtain the desired taste. The proportion 

 in which this is done is the secret of the manufacturer. 



The first manipulation in the factory is always the 

 cleaning. This is generally done in a machine, by 

 which the beans are revolved in a cylinder made of wire- 

 netting or some other stuff, through which the impurities 

 but not the beans pass. After this the beans are again 

 sorted. 



By the succeeding process, the roasting, the aromatic 

 flavour is more fully developed and the bitter taste 

 reduced, at the same time the cuticles are made more 

 brittle, which makes them easier to be removed. For 

 this purpose large boxes are used which are kept con- 

 tinually and rapidly turning, and are heated by means 

 of hot air or steam. Care must be taken that the right 

 temperature is maintained, and that the beans are left 

 neither too long nor too short in the boxes. 



The breaking is done by the breaking-machines, in 

 which also the kernels and cuticles or shells are sepa- 

 rated. In order to obtain an accurate separation, a rather 

 complicated construction of these breaking-machines is 

 necessary. By means of a strong current of air the 



