No. 12 02/2007 Our International Wire&Mesh Magazine for Existing and Prospective Customers Our Customers – The Winners! Dear Reader! What can be better for a supplier than to know that their customers are being suc- cessful with the products that they sup- ply? That is why, for example, we were very pleased to hear that one of our cus- tomers has just won the German environ- mental prize. Or when the Ariane 5 safely PACO and Chocolate Production: launches another two satellites at a time into orbit. Or when somewhere in the world, a piece of chocolate slowly melts in Extracting Excellence! somebody’s mouth and this was made possible by our sieving and filtering tech- Numerous processing stages influ- Houten recognised that the cocoa bean nology (see our main article for more in- ence the way that the cocoa bean is had got everything that was needed to formation). Whenever our customers are transformed into a piece of mouth- be a success in the mass market. But watering chocolate. Some of these first of all a solution had to be found to successful, we automatically share their require demanding sieving and fil- take the fat out of the cocoa bean. success. tering procedures. That is why it is Otherwise, the high fat content would Our contribution is a quality that helps no surprise that you will find PACO interfere with the intended solubility in sorting things out here. More than water or milk. all of our customers to succeed: an under- that: we have been supplying sieves standing of what they need, wish and want and filters to the manufacturers The principle of the cocoa press – to achieve – at the highest level. Invalu- and users of chocolate filter press- nowadays a high-tech product es around the world for a number of To take the fat out of the cocoa bean, C. able for this is our extensive experience of years. The fascinating thing about van Houten invented the cocoa press in a wide range of industries, a variety of working with cocoa and chocolate 1828. Regardless of whether whole processes and numerous technologies. producers is not just the technical beans, de-shelled cocoa nibs or fine nib challenge. It is also about being as- dust is pressed, the resulting products All of this provides a synergy potential sociated with a craft that has a long are the same: yellowish-white cocoa but- from which all of our customers can tradition which began with the Ma- ter and brown cocoa press cake. Today’s benefit. As far as we are concerned, the yas and Aztecs and has continued cocoa presses, which have been perfect- with names like C. van Houten or ed through modern technology such as best success is when our customers are Rudolf Lindt – with no foreseeable hydraulic operation, electronic control the winners in their markets, among their end in sight. and a high pressing forces in excess of customers and with the juries that judge 500 bar, enable the fat content in cocoa The cocoa bean has a problem: to be dropped to only 9 %. This compares their products. it is rather fat to a figure of 20 % in the days of Van The Aztecs took their cocoa beans as Houten’s original press. Best Regards they found them – after all, they consid- The cocoa butter that is extracted ered them to be a present from Quetzal- using this method is not only used in the Peter Ruppel coatl – the god responsible for their fer- production of chocolate. It is also an in- Managing Director tility. When the Spanish conquistador gredient in cosmetics (e.g. creams and lip - Hernando Cortez arrived to conquer stick) and medicines (e.g. suppositories). Mexico in 1519, the Aztecs offered him The press cake is turned into cocoa ”chocolatl“. The extremely bitter taste of powder which is either sold pure or fur- the drink made of fermented and crushed ther processed to produce a range of cocoa beans was, however, one that he other products. didn’t quite readily acquire. After the Spaniards had brought co- From bean to cocoa powder: coa back to Europe, it found its way into only the best is good enough the homes of the royal families – togeth- The quality of the cocoa powder and co- er with sugar – as a delicacy that was coa butter will, of course depend on the completely beyond the reach of normal quality of the beans. The best come from mortals. This wasn’t to change until the equatorial regions of South America and Dutch industrial pioneer Conrad van Continued on page 2 Cocoa Beans Cocoa Beans No. 12 02/2007 Cleaning Cleaning PACONews Pre-Drying Pre-Drying Deshelling Deshelling Alcalisizing PACO and Roasting Roasting Cocoa Mass Roasting Chocolate Grinding Grinding remelting Grinding Production Cocoa Liquor Cocoa Liquor Alcalized Liquor Continued from page 1 Hydraulic West Africa. Famous varieties Pressing are, for instance, Criollo or Fo- rastero. Nevertheless, no mat- Production Flowsheet Cocoa ter how good the beans are, they Cocoa & Chocolate Presscake will not provide satisfactory products when their quality is not matched by that of the manufacturing and processing Cakes procedures. To begin with, the cocoa beans are cleaned to remove all extrane- Filtration Schmelzen Milling Deodorization Kakaobutter Stabilizing Cocoa Butter Cocoa Powder Dark White Chocolate Milk Chocolate Chocolate Dosing: Dosing: Dosing: Liquor/Butter/ Liquor/Butter/ Liquor/Butter/ Sugar Sugar Sugar ous material – to all intents and purpos- es, the first sieving process. In most cases, the beans are then roasted to in- Pre-Grinding Pre-Grinding Pre-Grinding tensify their aroma and bring out the Fine-Grinding Fine-Grinding Fine-Grinding typical cocoa colour. Following this, the Conching Conching Conching roasted beans are broken open and sieved again to separate the so-called late“ – because of the high number of nibs from the shell remainders. The co- metal wire cloths, sieves and filter solu- coa nibs are then milled to form a liquor tions that are needed in its making. In Liquid Storage and heated to 70 °C or more. Due to the common with other sieving processes, high fat content, heating will cause the the efficiency with which the bulk mate- liquor to become thinner so that it can rial is separated is of the utmost impor- Tempering be efficiently pumped into the cocoa tance – from whole beans, through Depositing press. And this is where both product nibs and shells to ultra-fine Cooling and processing technology are tested to cocoa powder. PACO filter their extremes: the cocoa butter is liter- elements put in a tremendous ally pressed out of the cocoa liquor. performance in the cocoa press. To en- Depending on the desired residual sure that they can withstand the enor- Solid Chocolate fat content, a pressure of up to mous pressure placed on them, they are 1000 bar will be exerted on the inserted in layers. The basis is formed by wire to break, any metal fragments can alike. And what would a cappuccino be press cake. This not only places PACOPERF perforated supported discs, easily be removed from the cocoa with without a topping of cocoa powder? an intense load on the mechan- PACOMESH woven support and backup corresponding magnetized tools. The highest form of artistry and craft ics of the cocoa press, but also screens and PACOSCREEN woven filter of the chocolatier are, of course, prod- on the filter media that separates cloths. They are mounted onto filter The final step: welcome to paradise! ucts such as pralinés, petit fours, confec- the cocoa butter from the press cake. plates that are individually designed for One of the secrets of the success of co- tionery products and a number of des- Finally, further sieving and filtering each specific type of press. The most coa is that it harmonises so well with serts. It is, therefore, no surprise that the operations are needed to produce the commonly used filter cloths are PACO other aromas. Apart from its long-stand- leading manufacturers of cocoa presses cocoa powder and further process the SIMPLEX, PACO DUPLEX and PACO TRI- ing companion sugar, these include cin- come from the countries that are re- cocoa butter. PLEX (for specifications, please refer to namon, cloves, cardamom, coffee or va- nowned for their cocoa and chocolate www.paco-online.com). The 1.4016 (T 430) nilla. The Aztecs also combined their products: for instance, Italy, the Nether- PACO solutions for cocoa and material that is used these days for the “chocolatl“ with extremely hot chillies, a lands and Germany. At PACO, we are fa- chocolate processing from A - Z metal cloth is magnetic. This means that taste that has come back into fashion miliar with the manufactures of cocoa When you take a closer look at a bar of should the combination of high pressing among chocolate gourmets. Cocoa drinks presses – and also the sweets and can- chocolate, you could also call it “PACO- force and material fatigue cause a metal remain popular among young and old dies that their machines help to produce. PACO Factory Herolz: Expanding Capabilities with an Additional Area of 1800 m2! At the end of January 2007 a further phase of the factory extension at used to expand our manufacturing op- the PACO site in Herolz (between Frankfurt/Main and Fulda) was commis- erations. Before the end of 2007, eight sioned. This consists of additional storage area that increases capacity to high-performance looms built by our 1800 m2 and a new office building with 200 m2 space for the accounting own engineering group will be installed and human resources departments.