Chocolate Manufacturing Process Yield and Wear Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing chocolate manufacturing processes face limitations in throughput and equipment wear due to the need to refine cocoa liquor with other ingredients, and they do not allow for efficient addition of cocoa liquor during or after the conching process, which affects yield and equipment longevity.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a size-reduction step on a chocolate ingredient mixture with minimal non-fat cocoa solids, followed by the addition of cocoa liquor during the liquefying phase, after the liquefying phase, or after conching, to form a chocolate mass, which reduces equipment wear and increases yield while maintaining product characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If cocoa liquor is refined together with other chocolate ingredients in the size-reduction process, then the chocolate product achieves proper mixing and homogeneity, but the equipment experiences increased wear and energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The process divides the chocolate manufacturing into separate stages: first refining other ingredients without cocoa liquor, then adding cocoa liquor after the size-reduction process. This segmentation allows the size-reduction equipment to process only the other ingredients, reducing wear and energy consumption, while still achieving homogeneous mixing of all ingredients in subsequent conching stages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by completing the size-reduction of non-cocoa-liquor ingredients before adding the cocoa liquor. This preliminary processing of the base mixture allows the subsequent addition of cocoa liquor without requiring re-refining, thereby reducing overall equipment wear and energy consumption while maintaining proper mixing.
2Stability of the object's composition
If cocoa liquor is added at the beginning of the conching process, then proper mixing is achieved, but the throughput and yield are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary size-reduction and conching of the non-cocoa-liquor ingredients before adding the cocoa liquor. This preliminary processing creates a prepared base mixture that can be combined with cocoa liquor more efficiently, increasing throughput by avoiding the need to process the entire mixture through the size-reduction equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The process extracts the cocoa liquor addition step from the size-reduction process. By taking out cocoa liquor from the initial mixture and adding it separately after size-reduction, the patent increases throughput by allowing parallel processing of different ingredient components, thereby improving overall manufacturing efficiency.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the chocolate ingredient mixture includes cocoa liquor during size-reduction, then all ingredients are properly processed, but equipment wear increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing by separating cocoa liquor from the size-reduction process. Other ingredients are refined and conched first, then cocoa liquor is added afterward. This segmentation protects equipment from excessive wear caused by processing cocoa liquor during size-reduction, thereby extending equipment longevity while still achieving complete processing of all ingredients.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by completing the size-reduction and initial conching of non-cocoa-liquor ingredients before introducing cocoa liquor. This preliminary processing protects equipment from wear during the most intensive processing phase, while ensuring all ingredients are still properly processed and mixed in subsequent stages.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables a higher yield for a given batch size with reduced equipment wear and energy usage, producing chocolate products with characteristics similar to those made by traditional methods.
Implementation Method 1
performing a size-reduction step on a chocolate ingredient mixture
Implementation Method 2
the size reduced chocolate ingredient mixture is conched
Data Source
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AI summary
19 ABSTRACT Process for the Manufacture of a Chocolate Product FIG No.2 In a process 10' for the manufacture of a chocolate product, a chocolate ingredient mixture 5 24' containing no, or only small amounts of, cocoa liquor 12 is subjected to a size-reduction process 26 and the size reduced chocolate ingredient mixture later combined with cocoa liquor 12 to produce a chocolate mass. The size-reduced mixture 24a' may be conched 28 and the cocoa liquor 12 added during the liquefying phase of conching or after conching. In one aspect, the mixture 24' comprises more than 15 wt. % fat. In another aspect, the cocoa 10 liquor 12 is added to the size-reduced mixture 24a' after conching 28. The cocoa liquor 12 may be ball milled prior to addition. The process 10' enables a higher yield in finished chocolate product for a given batch size without comprising taste or mouthfeel.