Post-harvest methods and guidelines.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Is this the book?
Forum Activity for @Jeffry Lukito
Post-harvest methods and guidelines.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
I googled the book and nothing about book came out.
Looks like it's gonna be very hard to find, but well, finger crossed. 
Thank you for the warning.
I am currently learning about chocolate and cocoa.
One thing I've learned is that the quality of beans in Indonesia is below standard(mostly) due to the post-harvest care.
I have a dream to have my very own bean-to-bar chocolate factory in Indonesia.
I realize that it's gonna be time-consuming, that's why I might as well start now.
Post-harvest methods and guidelines.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Thank you for the reply.
You mentioned "here are a number of techniques that can be applied to the fermentation itself to direct flavor development"
Can you tell me some of these techniques or any references(books or websites)?
What are the guidelines for the procedures?(e.g appearance of half-cut of beans, level of water, smell,etc)
Do you have any example pictures on how a fermentation or drying is correcly(or wrongly) executed?
Post-harvest methods and guidelines.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
As far as I know, post-harvesting, chocolates are then fermented,dried, sorted, and then bagged. The cacaos are then shipped to factories to be roasted, crushed, conched, tempered, then made to bars.(Correct me if I'm wrong)
What I'm about to ask is the post-harves methods(not the factory processing).
I live in Indonesia, where these things are often neglected or done incorrectly so that the crops are usually bad(not that they're all bad, but most of the bulks are far lower qualities than West African's).
What I am wondering is what are the methods of each those steps?
Like in fermenting, I know that some plantations cover them with plantains, some others uses a cabinet-like thing. Is there other ways/methods of this step?
And in drying, I know that some are sun-dried, and some others are smoked.
Is there other ways/methods?
And what are usually the guidelines of those methods?
Is there a particular signs(cotyledons, degree of dryness,etc) that should be noted during this process?
updated by @Jeffry Lukito: 04/19/15 05:27:09AM
Cocoa butter and cocoa solids
Posted in: Tasting Notes
"So why do think there's generally higher fat content in higher percentage bars? By adding extra cocoa butter the makers are decreasing their profit margin. It doesn't seem like it's for taste because IMO extra cocoa butter weakens the taste."
IMO, whether the cocoa butter is deodorized or not, I think each manufacturer uses whichever to achieve the flavor they wanted.
It may be true that cacao powder is more flavorful than cocoa butter, but I think chocolate is not just about "chocolatey" flavour burst.
The notes, the mouthfeel, and the aroma might be enhanced or muffled by the ingredient they use.
Too much cocoa powder might overpower the taste details and notes of flavor. That may be one of the reasons why they decided to use cocoa butter instead of powder.
CMIIW.