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Over the course of the history of chocolate production, the processing procedures for cacao have changed in the sense that they have become much more mechanized and refined, but the basic steps have remained the same. The invention of factory machinery helped to industrialize the process by which chocolate is made. Today, cacao is fully processed into usable chocolate with little-to-no manual handling. The mechanization of chocolate manufacturing happened incrementally; this occurred through both the development of completely new ideas and the application of already existing machines for chocolate processing purposes.
In order to make large-scale commercial production possible, Walter Churchman invented a water-powered engine to operate his stone mills in England in 1728 and was given a patent by King George II in 1729. The driving force shifted from water to steam in 1789, when Joseph Storrs Fry began utilizing a Watt’s steam engine to grind cacao beans. In Amsterdam, the mechanized butter press was developed by Coenraad van Houten and patented in 1828. It allowed the leftover cocoa solids to be preserved and utilized by avoiding the use of water in the cocoa butter extraction process. The resulting cakes of solid matter could then be milled into cocoa powder, sold, and consumed. In the late nineteenth century, German chocolate manufacturers, such as J.K. Lehmann, developed a variety of winnowers to improve the yield of nibs and the accuracy of separation of shell from nib.
Model of a Hydraulic Press Joseph Bramah, possibly 1820 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Model of a Hydraulic Press (1820)
Model of a Hydraulic Press (1820)
The hydraulic press was invented in 1795 by Joseph Bramah and eventually led to the creation of the mechanized butter press in 1828 by Coenraad van Houten, which made it possible for the leftover cocoa solids to be preserved and utilized by avoiding the use of water in the cocoa butter extraction process. The cocoa butter press also reduced the amount of time and manual labor involved with the processing of cacao.
Excerpt from Richard Cadbury, Jr.
Excerpt from Richard Cadbury, Jr.
Although harvesting cacao is still done by hand, each step of the processing of cacao as been mechanized over the years. The result hs been an increase in productivity, efficiency, and consistency. Here, Cadbury describes a portion of that mechanized process within his factory in detail.
“The Cocoa arrives in sacks weighing from one to two cwt., and as it varies considerably in kind and quality it has to be stacked in large piles, ready to undergo the first process of sifting and picking, so that no unsound berry or any foreign material is passed into the roasting room. The sieves used for this process are long barrels on a slight incline, which slowly revolve and sort the nuts into various sizes, while at the same time removing dust or smaller matter that may come with them. By an automatic process the nuts are carried into the hoppers of the roasters, which are each capable of roasting one ton at a time. These rotate slowly, and the roasting is done by high-pressure steam, which is much cleaner and more economical than the old-fashioned plan of roasting by coke or gas” -Richard Cadbury, Jr.
Cocoa: All about ItRichard Cadbury, Jr. 1896London, Sampson Low, Marston and Company, Limited
Henry Maillard's exhibit-- Machinery Hall: Chocolate Manufacture Centennial Photographic Co. 1893 Free Library of Philadelphia.
Photograph of Henry Maillard’s Exhibit in Machinery Hall
Photograph of Henry Maillard’s Exhibit in Machinery Hall
The 1893 Columbian Exposition featured many innovations in the world of chocolate achieved by various companies, who displayed these novelties proudly. Henry Maillard’s exhibit in Machinery Hall included ingredients and newly developed chocolate making machinery, which would go on to be widely adopted.
Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa Recipe
Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa Recipe
Because of the innovations in the chocolate processing technology, Walter Baker & Company was able to create an extra finely ground cocoa powder that could combine much more easily with water. This fine cocoa powder became their signature breakfast cocoa and was used in easy to prepare recipes, such as this one.
Baker, Walter, & co; Bugbee, James McKellar. Cocoa and chocolate; a short history of their production and use, with a full and particular account of their properties, and of the various methods of preparing them for food1886University of Toronto.
SourcesAfoakwa, Emmanuel Ohene. Chocolate Science and Technology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.Allen, Willis H. “Brownie’s Food.” Recipe. Machias Cookbook. Machias, Maine, 1899, pp. 23.Coe, Michael D., and Sophie D. Coe. The True History of Chocolate. United Kingdom, Thames & Hudson, 2013.Greweling, Peter P. Chocolates & Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner. 2nd ed, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2013, pp. 31-32.Olson, James Stuart, and Abraham O Mendoza. American Economic History: A Dictionary and Chronology. Greenwood, 2015, pp. 71-72.Snyder, Rodney. et al. “From Stone Metates to Steel Mills: The Evolution of Chocolate Manufacturing” Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage, Wiley, 2009, pp. 611-623.Verna, Roberto. "The history and science of chocolate." Malaysian J Pathol, vol. 35, no. 2, 2013, pp. 111-121.Westbrook, Nicholas. “Chocolate at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1964” Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage, Wiley, 2009, pp. 199-207.
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