Partial Defatting of Cocoa Mass for High-Cocoa Dark Chocolate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dark chocolate production processes are inefficient and complex, particularly when aiming for high cocoa content, as they require additional steps like cocoa powder addition and extensive processing, which complicates logistics and increases costs, especially for single-variety chocolates.
Innovation Solution
The process involves partial defatting of cocoa mass using a decanter or solid bowl screw centrifuge to reduce fat content, allowing for high cocoa mass fraction production without adding cocoa powder, enabling direct processing and simplifying logistics by maintaining cocoa particles and butter fractions within the chocolate mass.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional high-performance pressing is used to reduce fat content, then cocoa powder can be produced, but the process becomes complex and requires additional processing steps and external cocoa powder
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential function of fat removal from the complex high-performance pressing system and implements it through a simple decanter centrifuge. This extraction principle allows the system to achieve the desired cocoa content without requiring complex pressing equipment and multiple processing steps, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical high-performance pressing system with a centrifugal separation system. By substituting the mechanical pressing mechanism with a decanter centrifuge that uses centrifugal force, the process achieves fat removal more efficiently, reducing the need for additional processing steps and external cocoa powder, thus simplifying the overall process while maintaining cocoa content precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If extensive processing steps are used to achieve high cocoa content, then chocolate quality improves, but production efficiency decreases and logistics become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the fat removal function with the existing cocoa mass processing stream by using a decanter centrifuge that operates inline. This integration eliminates the need for separate high-performance pressing steps and external cocoa powder handling, thereby improving production efficiency while maintaining high cocoa content quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous processing through the decanter centrifuge, which operates continuously to separate fat from cocoa mass without interrupting the production flow. This continuous action eliminates batch processing steps and external material handling, thereby enhancing productivity while ensuring consistent high cocoa content in the final product.
3Ease of manufacture
If external cocoa powder is used to achieve desired cocoa content, then production is simplified, but availability and cost control become problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the system to produce its own cocoa powder internally by using the decanter centrifuge to separate and concentrate the cocoa mass. This self-service capability eliminates dependence on external cocoa powder suppliers, ensuring reliable availability and better cost control while maintaining production simplicity.
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 the production of dark chocolate with high cocoa content (up to 75% by weight) efficiently, reducing the need for external cocoa powder, lowering capital and operational costs, and enhancing the purity and quality of single-variety chocolates by maintaining cocoa components within the chocolate mass.
Implementation Method 1
partial defatting of the cocoa mass using a decanter or solid bowl screw centrifuge
Data Source
AI summary
A process and a plant are proposed for producing dark chocolate which make it possible to produce dark chocolate, in particular also single-variety dark chocolate, having a high cocoa content without cocoa powder needing to be produced and/or added. By means of a partial defatting of the cocoa mass in a process step which is connected upstream of the mixing, grinding and/or conching, the fat content in the cocoa mass is reduced to the extent that dark chocolates can be produced having a high cocoa content without cocoa powder needing to be added. The partial defatting of the cocoa mass is preferably carried out using a decanter (50). The cocoa butter fraction (2) according to the invention occurs on decanting as a high-fat fraction which still contains a fraction of 17 to 21% by weight, a maximum of 30% by weight, of fat-free cocoa dry matter. In the novel process according to the present invention, the expenditure for producing a highly defatted cocoa powder is avoided, since the cocoa mass (11) is only defatted to the point that the mass produced therefrom can be comminuted without problem using rollers (30) and can subsequently be conched. The cocoa butter fraction is added during conching after the comminution in a ball mill.