How many cacao beans in a pod

There are roughly beans in a typical pod. These beans are what ultimately get transformed into cocoa powder or chocolate.

Once the pods are ripe, they are cut down from the trees, typically with machetes or, for the higher pods, using long poles with a cutting edge. Though pods can be harvested year round there are two major harvest times: the main harvest and the mid-harvest, which falls about six months after the main harvest. Once on the ground, the pods are graded for quality and placed into piles.

The pods are then opened with a machete or a wooden club by cracking the pod so that it can be split in half. The beans and pulp are scooped out quickly and either heaped in a pile on mats or banana leaves and covered, or put into a bin or box with a lid. When they are first removed from the pod, the beans have a white, mucus-like coating around each bean. It is sweet and yet tart. The beans must be carefully fermented to bring out the very best flavors.

Fermentation also removes tannins, which cause the astringent flavor in chocolate and making it more enjoyable for most palates. Fermentation is essential to the development of a high quality cacao bean that will be transformed into gourmet chocolate. Fermentation times from five to seven days are typical.

When the fermentation is complete, the cocoa beans must be removed from the boxes or from under the banana leaves and carefully dried. Drying must be carried out carefully to ensure that off-flavors are not developed. Cacao beans are often dried in the sun, which can happen on tarps, mats, or patios.

They are continually raked so that they will dry more evenly. The drying process can take up to a week. Artificial drying may be resorted to in countries where there is a lack of pronounced dry periods after harvesting and fermentation, such as Brazil, Ecuador and in South East Asia and sometimes in West Africa.

Once dried, cacao beans can be stored for years. When the dried cacao beans arrive at the processing plant they are first cleaned to remove any debris. ChocoRite Dark Chocolate Crunch.

Where are cocoa beans grown? The production of cocoa begins in the tropical regions around the Equator, where the hot and humid climate is well suited for growing cocoa trees. Is white chocolate better than milk chocolate? White chocolate, which is white in color, doesn't contain cocoa solids like dark and milk chocolates do, but does have cocoa butter, milk and sugar in it.

White chocolate often contains more calories than dark and milk chocolates. What types of chocolate are there? Types of Chocolate There are three main types of chocolate — white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. Chocolate liquor, sometimes referred to as unsweetened chocolate, is the base of all types of chocolate. White chocolate is easy to identify because of its cream or ivory color.

Where is cacao originally from? The cacao tree is native to the Amazon Basin. Is chocolate a fruit or vegetable? Ladies and gentlemen, chocolate is indeed a vegetable according the Wiki. Some also argue that it is a fruit, however regardless of your stance, it is in fact good for you. Chocolate is a product of the cacao bean which grows in pod- like fruits on tropical cacao trees.

Is cocoa a fruit? A cocoa pod fruit has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick this varies with the origin and variety of pod. The Cocao plant is thought of as a fruit plant.

The bean itself is a seed and a seed technically is a nut. The cacao tree grows to be about 30 feet tall bearing white flowers and colorful fruit.

The pollination process of the flowers of the cacao tree is done by flies, not bees. Cacao pods have a hard shell and is usually red, yellow, or orange. It takes cacao pods about months to grow and several weeks to ripe. Pods are harvested by being cut with a sharp blade. The beans are extracted and then go through fermentation and drying processes.

Each pod holds roughly 40 to 50 cacao beans. It takes about cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate. The beans take about 5 days to ferment in specialized boxes and weeks to sun dry. Generally, candy bars have less than 10 milligrams of caffeine, but the darker the candy, the higher the caffeine. Cadbury made the first chocolate bar in the world in